Only Ugandans can liberate themselves

It is commonplace to hear Opposition leaders ask for the West to intervene in our politics towards removing President Museveni from power.

It is unfortunate that we seek liberation from America, or any other foreign power, and not ourselves. 

Foreign-led liberation is another means of conquest, especially when expressed outside its own borders.

So those who pray for a foreign invasion against a regime they dislike, are praying for a chance to slit their throats in order to spite their stomachs. 

A cursory glance at African history will reveal how foreign “assistance” has never ended well. 

Take the mining magnate Cecil Rhodes, for instance. He was asked by Queen Victoria to secure Central Africa for the British crown in 1890.   

So, he and his Pioneer Column trekked into Matabele country. 

Then, they promised honey and spice with all things nice when they met the Ndebele King Lobengula.  

The civilised Lobengula promised Rhodes the mining concession that he asked for and told his army, the Impis, not to attack ‘the Whites’.   

Lobengula assured Rhodes with the words, “There is a wall around the word of a king.” 

A smiling Rhodes first sent settlers, then troops, and finally began to consort with the Ndebele’s enemy, the Shona. 

The classic divide and conquer hand were dealt. And it proved to be a hand clenched into a fist that would knock out Lobengula.  

He, Lobengula, then likened himself to a fly before a chameleon “that advances very slowly and gently… until at last he darts out his tongue.” 

When the Ndebele finally went to war, it was too late, they were slaughtered. It was Rhodes who had darted his tongue.  

Half a century and some change later, the CIA was involved in the assassination of Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba.

Even with such harrowing histories of foreign ‘assistance’, some Ugandans still believe some outside forces will come to their liberation.

I ask such Ugandans to consider what Nato forces did to Libya; now nearly one million people in Libya are in detention centres overrun by robbery, rape, and murder.

Moreover, Black people were sold at auctions in Libya for $400!

We want change. But not on pain of our continued enslavement to others.

So, let’s be clear: foreigners cannot rebuild Uganda, Ugandans can only do that. 

These foreign powers are driven not by idealistic notions of liberty, but by their own special interests.

The number of civilians who died during the war in Iraq ranged from 151,000 to 655,000. Millions more died from the embargo that led to shortages of food and medicines. 

There are ways that outsiders can help Uganda, however. Namely, through relocating labour-intensive businesses to Uganda.

American agricultural firms such as Monsanto, for instance, can build farms in Uganda which employ Ugandans and thereby reduce the unemployment rate in the country.

It is a well-known fact that farming jobs are jobs Americans largely ignore.

In the North Carolina farming industry, there are thousands of jobs advertised in state employment agencies.

However, those Americans who apply for them comprise a fraction of the jobs advertised. 

This number of American applicants reduces further when it comes to the harvest season as the number of Americans who actually work in the jobs advertised reduces to about 0.1 percent!

Ugandans can and will do these jobs, thereby providing us with household incomes and the country with increased liquidity.

This is the only foreign assistance Ugandans require and it must come in the form of a partnership.

Mr Matogo is a professional copywriter  

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