Kyankwanzi: The indoctrination of irrelevance…

As I was preparing to pen my next piece for these columns, a photo – almost certainly from Kyankwanzi – and, almost certainly of incoming NRA/NRM legislators being ‘baptised’ as part of their ‘orientation’, hit my inbox. Immediately, thoughts raced; here is a new season for electoral and parliamentary charade.

Looking back, immediately after the arrival – by force – of NRA/NRM into State power in 1986, word had it that civil servants were being forced or rather, instructed to go for ‘training’ at Kyankwanzi.

The ‘trainings’ were, in fact, nothing but indoctrination, the kind the kadogos had to go through in the bush in effect, nothing but national ‘initiation’ into NRA/NRM. Initially it was heads of departments, organisations and institutions like in case of schools, head teachers.

Then it became mandatory. Then it became criteria for getting or remaining in certain jobs. Then it became national. Many sensible citizens refused and nearly all of those who refused lost their jobs or, opportunities for jobs.

They were right as there was (still is) no co-relation between being an effective head teacher and having been ‘schooled’ in Kyankwanzi. But being an early strategy for State-capture and control of the minds of Ugandans – mbu – for all of them to belong to allegedly ‘all embracing movement’, it worked.

I once visited a local health facility in my constituency in Tororo and the public official in charge looked at me as if I was a nuisance who had attended the facility to arrest him. Turns out I was doing the decent thing; fact finding, courtesy call, talking to the patients and assisting some.

Only at the end of an hour did he realise that I was a net asset to his own job and well-being, the patients and the facility rather than the ‘UPC enemy’ he must have initially thought. Even better, it turned out that the facility – now in crutches – had been built, equipped, stocked and staffed to excellent levels by a previous UPC government.

A good friend recently told of how they once attended Kyankwanzi through work and, a senior ‘tutor’ who happens to be a senior military officer went furious when he was ‘asked a difficult question’ around the subjects ‘taught’ and the relevance of their retreat.

Simply put, the guy – a lawyer and of a background-not-expected to have had problems with Kyankwanzi – had in fact raised a major national issue, spoilt the party and had to be stopped. He was rudely interrupted. Thankfully, he did not lose his job on return and nor could he as he was lucky to be sufficiently connected.

So looking at the picture posted onto my inbox in which a military officer is seemingly baptising ‘legislators’, one wonders: what are the latest purposes for incoming NRA/NRM legislators spending time in Kyankwanzi? Are these baptisms or rather initiations about loyalty to NRA/NRM, Parliament, the chief guest or is this the perfection of patriotism?

Whatever the answer/s, I still have issues for, a previous letter allegedly from NRA/NRM secretary general (to Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah) seem to give theme to these events: ideological orientation for social-economic transformation; what exactly does this mean and what has it done to this country after 35 years?

Even more so, who is in charge of Kyankwanzi, who owns it and is it only for NRA/NRM leaders? Regardless, who is paying for this so-called retreat?

Whatever the case, if Kyankwanzi is a national ‘leadership institute’ for Ugandans then I am looking forward to other political parties and organisations holding events at that venue and, I cannot wait to hold a briefing session for UPC leaders – unfettered – there soon.

Otherwise, these ‘baptism’ are no national service, are contrary to (Romans 12:1) and, NRA/NRM are merely national users-for-selves and nothing else. You decide.

The writer is a former UPC spokesperson
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