Tales of Museveni the talker and the doer

Gone are the days when you ignored an announcement of a Presidential address because it was the same old guy who has been around for ages, saying the same old stuff. 

Covid-19 taught us to pay attention. An address may end your employment or increase the number of dependents you have to take care of. Likewise what starts as a health matter may end up being security issues and semi-tabloid stuff. 

You may recall the day a one Nakyambadde joined the Head of State. It started off as a Covid-19 national address, out of nowhere, the impromptu entrant told us how an order by a potential rapist to remove her underwear was thwarted by her dirty feet and a pair of clean bedsheets.

So the Presidential address on security found many all ears. What an anti-climax! It was like an Opposition leader or the head of a human rights NGO speaking to himself about things a government should do but deep down knowing it won’t do. ‘Security agents should not beat people. They should not shout at suspects. They should be polite etc.’

It was vintage President Yoweri Museveni. When he talks he does it so well, that gives even the greatest pessimist hope. But when he acts, you will not fail to come to belief, as he loves to say as he will go in a different direction.

This behaviour is what prompted a caller on one of the local radio stations to assert that if Mr Museveni says he is going to Masaka, it is prudent to wait for him on Jinja Road!

Back in 1986 Mr Museveni announced the start of the fundamental change and that his group of revolutionaries would be around for four years and then off to their animal farms. That Africa’s problem was the people who stayed too long in power. 

That it would only be two terms for him from 1995. That after 75 years one was not exactly fit to continue ruling. 35 years later (and well after his 76th birthday) they are still around and at it.

Oh, how he laughed at old men like Gen Tito Okello Lutwa who bought furniture from abroad yet there was good locally made furniture. Uganda is still importing furniture from outside the country. 

Then there was the jab at African leaders whose people lack shoes and suffer from jiggers, buying presidential jets to go and compete with the likes of American presidents whose countries were light years ahead in terms of development. With his people still barefooted and suffering from jiggers, Museveni has replaced a jet or two and still flies to America to stand with other presidents. 

NRM does not kill civilians except in the context of war. History recorded the Mukura Massacre of 1989, Burcoro atrocities by the NRA. All these have been explained away as the actions of the forces that joined NRA much later or the ones who left to join the RPF of Rwanda and have since passed on.

The instances of saying one thing but doing another are very many. In August 2020, an MP was beaten and Museveni said he was beaten properly. In fact, he claims he stopped the culprits from being punished because they presumably did a good job.

So why is Museveni saying another thing now? It is what happens to men when they get to the height of their powers. When all their would-be opponents have either been bought, beaten into submission, or have given up. 

The remnants are then mocked and made fun of. The statement being demonstrated is that we know about all these things but we keep doing them because you can do nothing to us. We are the people with the power and we are the ones writing the history at the moment. 

Secondly a man does this to absolve himself of the wrong doing that goes on around him (even if he is in agreement with what is going on.) He only takes shelter under the excuse that he ordered but was disobeyed. So you will hear that Museveni the man is okay, it is those who surround him that are bad.

Then there is the tactic of throwing a red herring like one throws a morsel to hungry dogs once in a while in times of great national stress. Our President knows how we love to talk and discuss national matters for days on end. 

It keeps the nation occupied as it grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic and all its retrogressive effects. Now the talking heads are at it wondering if there is indeed a change of heart because Museveni has seen the light or he is under pressure from the donors. Is he about to sack some people? 

The truth is that it is probably none of the above. The men with power from time to time will love to bring a country to a standstill and be the focal point even when there is not much to say. All eyes will be on them even the ones who loath them will have no option but stay glued to the TV.

If you doubt, just recall in October 2005 when former President Milton Obote passed on. Museveni his nemesis paid tribute to him and praised him for developing Uganda and building 27 regional hospitals.

Later he told a group of his supporters that when he did all that he was just acting. Don’t be surprised if agents continue beating and shooting ‘stray bullets’ at suspects.

Mr Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issues
Twitter: @nsengoba