Prime
Rule Musevenia! Ugandans just resign to life presidency
Author: Asuman Bisiika. PHOTO/FILE.
What you need to know:
- Ugandans should just accept and declare Mr Museveni as life president.
- After all, most of actors in the executive and the legislature are yesterday’s doyens of opposition to Museveni.
Mr Museveni was ensconced in Mweya Safari Lodge and Col Kahinda Otafiire (now retired maj general) was coordinating a face- to- face meeting between President Museveni and Maj Eric Kinyamusitu (former army chief of staff of the Rwenzururu Kingdom’s military).
With Mr Museveni settled at Mweya Safari Lodge, Col Otafiire travelled through Ruti (Muruti) and Kinyamaseke to Katsungiro. His rendezvous with Maj Kinyamusitu was in the neighbourhood of the Catholic Church at Katsungiro.
Col. Otafiire was shocked when he reached the agreed rendezvous. Maj Kinyamusitu was nowhere to be seen. He had, however, sent a runner (courier) with a message: Tell Mr Museveni to come to my HQ in the mountains. A furious Museveni told Col Otafiire to cease contact with this lunatic Mukonzo.
That’s how the romance between the NRA and Rwenzururu rebellion (Part II) ended unceremoniously. Maj Kinyamusitu was later to be killed at the home of a local chief in the DR Congo in an operation conducted by the intelligence services of the NRA.
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As early as 1986, many political actors tried to remove Mr Museveni from power. The initial response to President Museveni’s takeover of power in 1986 was that of dawa ya moto ni moto (respond to fire with fire).
Mr Museveni had taken power by force of arms. And the first attempt to remove him was by armed rebellion.
After the Kinyamusitu issue was thus sorted, the Rwenzoris have been witness to three more armed rebellions namely: the fledgling remnants of Kinyamusitu’s army, National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (Nalu) and Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
It is a fact that Mr Museveni has defeated all armed rebellion purposed to remove him from power. Mr Museveni has defeated more than a dozen armed rebellions. And it is now safe to say that there is no armed rebellion on Ugandan soil.
With the unfruitful efforts of ADF and the LRA (not to mention the devastation they left in their wake), Ugandans learnt their lesson: armed rebellion was the worst form of political struggle. Indeed, as early as 2001, Dr Kizza Besigye had come to this conclusion. And for me, Dr Besigye’s biggest contribution to Uganda’s politics is his refusal to lead an armed rebellion after the 2001 General Elections. Yet 20 years later, Dr Besigye seems to accept that elections would not remove Museveni from power. In addition to electoral processes, Dr Besigye has prescribed manifestations (French: public protests). But the experience Ugandans have of Mr Museveni’s response to demonstrations is heart-cringing.
As the political dynamics stand now, we detect some kind of vertical community consciousness (what Mr Museveni calls ‘politics of identity’) as a rallying banner for national politics. This vertical community consciousness was first verified in Kasese in 1996 General Elections; and it has continued thus till now. In the 2021 Elections, Buganda region was accused of this (vertical community consciousness) phenomenon.
The current effort and attempt to remove Mr Museveni (now coached in the words ‘peaceful transition’) is the parading of the concept of ‘generational change’. And perhaps to make this palatable to Mr Museveni, some Ugandans have placed Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba at the centre of this so-called generational change.
But even that doesn’t seem to be a good flier: Mr Museveni, with his constitutionally sanctioned ‘life eligibility’ in the bag, seems to be unbothered with generational change even when his son is at the centre of it.
Ugandans should just accept and declare Mr Museveni as life president. After all, most of actors in the executive and the legislature are yesterday’s doyens of opposition to Museveni. Viva Rule Musevenia!
Mr Asuman Bisiika is the executive editor of the East African Flagpost.
