KARIMOJONG YOUTH IN SEARCH FOR AN ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOOD

In pursuit of my passion – to see young women and men taking Uganda to another level; I set out to Karamoja-a region in North Eastern Uganda known for many challenges but mostly for its unique and strong culture. Karamoja includes the old districts of Moroto and Kotido and more recently, the newly created districts of Kaabong, Abim and Nakapiripirit. I dream of such a day when every Ugandan would be able to afford basic necessities and not live in the extremities of lack- that is the story of Karamoja. Karamoja has two sides to it: a side that has been known to be the worst to her neighbors, the Iteso, Langi, Acholi and Bagisu and on the boarders to Kenya. Decades of cattle rustling have made Karimojong the sworn enemies of their immediate neighbors. On the other hand the Karimojong are people that stand out for their resiliency- despite the grave challenges they have of extreme poverty, lack and desperation; they ‘survive’ alongside these challenges and many Ugandans live in oblivion of the situation of Karimojong.

I have always wanted to contribute to the transformation of this part of the country even if is by just placing one block to a building being constructed or other ongoing work to transform the region. The opportunities are always presented and this particular opportunity came through a small programme supported by Youth Action for Change Forgotten Diaries project. Forgotten Diaries is a project that is trying to document stories of young people in conflict areas that are often unheard of and unknown to the world. The Karamoja conflict has been overshadowed by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel conflict that has had engulfed Northern Uganda for more than 20 decades. Little is still known of the challenges that these Ugandans live in even by Ugandans themselves. When this opportunity came, I jumped at it heading straight to Karamoja to document the stories of young people in a remote village of Nabual. Deep in my heart I know, that the future lies with young women and men of this region. If only young people can see the world in another perspective, then, we would be able to see a different Karamoja and a Ugandan very soon.

I travelled to Nabual village, in Iririr Sub County in Moroto district with the objective of conducting a peace campaign and particularly meeting with young people of this area and share with them on leadership. The journey took two days with a stopover in Mbale because I missed the only bus that would leave straight from Kampala to my destination. Iriirir Sub county is blessed with some of the most fertile land in Karamoja particularly Nabaul where I was headed. Nabual is home of Karimojong settlers from the Pian and Bokora clans and border Katakwi and Amuria district to the East. There have been inter clan conflicts between the Pian (Nakapiripirit) and Bokora (Moroto) for several generations and these conflicts have consisted of cattle rustling, theft and many killings over time. On the other hand, the Karimojong have also attacked their neighbours in Katakwi and Amuria district causing a lot of havoc which resulted into the displacement of people in these districts into camps. These ethnic conflicts have resulted in chronic poverty among the affected people and also hampering other economic activities in Karamoja and its neighbours.

The recent government disarmament programme and continuous sensitization of the natives on the need for them to settle and engage in productive life other than nomadic life and cattle rustling has born some fruit. There is now, relative peace and security in the region with fewer theft, ambushes and killings happening. This has attracted families to settle and even consider the life of settled agriculture rather than nomadic movements. The lives of Karimojong especially the youth are now at croos roads as they seek to redirect their lives to something else other than cattle rustling which had pre occupied the young men of this region.

‘There is hope for Karamoja. One day, we shall overcome all the challenges
we face in Karamoja but only when we work ourselves to provide solutions to
improve our conditions. Nobody is going to change Karamoja except if
Karimojong themselves do so and the task lies in you young people’

Monicah Amoding, Girls2Leaders Movement.

I met with about 30 young men aged 16-35 years resident in Nabual village. I got to hear the challenges that young people in this village face and shared with them how they can participate in promoting peace and developing their community. I shared with them that the young generation of Karamoja has an important role to play in solving the problems that Karamoja is facing.

The young men noted that hunger affects every Karimojong family, but young people are more affected than the elders, because the burden to feed their families is now falling on young people, who have to go and do casual work or business in trading centres to be able bring back food to their families. Due the chronic famine, young people have had to go to towns where they find themselves jobless and beggars on the streets in towns like Busia on the border to Karimoja, Mbale, Tororo, and Kampala in search for food and income for their families. What they get in town, they bring back home to support their impoverished families. They also noted that because they no longer go raiding, they have found themselves very idle with nothing to keep them busy and as a result many young people now spend a lot of their time idling in trading centres in search for local brew. Music at such times has proved to the most important social event for these young people.

I emphasized that young people are the leaders of today and tomorrow and that means that the present and the future ultimately belongs to them. By helping their families put food on the table, they are minimizing hunger in their homes and they are reducing the potential of conflict in their communities over food and other resources. By preventing the occurrence of conflict in their communities, they are also assuring themselves of a better future. I also urged them to engage in productive activities that can earn them and their families an income to avoid engaging in illegal activities in which they can get killed. I also asked them to be role models to other young people in other villages by not engaging in cattle rustling and also reporting any other people who engage in this activity emphasizing tolerance and love towards other young people from other clans and neighboring districts to Karamoja.

Who Killed Muteesa?

Who Killed Muteesa ?
There are some figures in this era who cannot be repackaged , but must be revealed. These are outsized figures whose achievements defy attempts at trivialisation. Because their influence is so profound myths, legends and mysteries cloud the actual facts of their lives. In Uganda's case one man in our history relates immensely to such a figure and his death has remained a mystery to many.A dark cloud of fear and uncertainity descended upon the kingdom of Buganda on the morning after Nov . 21, 1969 the date on which the royal fire had stopped burning. Fredrick William Luwangula Walugembe Muteesa had succumbed to the treacherous hands of his lifelong tormentors. Muteesa like his father Daudi Chwa had met a mysterious death and like many assasinations , a complexity of theories have been manufactured to shroud his demise in uncertainity with many pointing to Milton Obote as a possible accomplice. His death like his father's was humiliating. According to Crawford Young, The Politics of Cultural Pluralism, Muteesa had died the of a lonely death of exile in a drab east end London flat. The coroners jugdement was alcoholic poisoning ,a verdict which failed to allay all suspicions. Muteesa, a victim of the 1953 deportation to England, the survivor of the 1966 Palace attack ochestrated by Obote, a veteran of the Pre-independence politics did not live long enough to retur to his kingdom from axile and most regrettably did not attend his birthday the next day, a ceremony he usually marked with pomp and pleasure amidst his subjects at his london encalve. Most certainly his killers must have been known him at a close level and must have been well briefed about his movements and schedule on the eve such that eve the solsier he was and a man of many enemies he atempted not to smell any air of foul play at the kasiki party usually attended by close relatives and inseperable friends. While it was identified by the Official British Police report as suicide, the death has been viewed as assassin ation by many who claim Mutesa may have been force-fed vodka by agents of the Obote regime. A British journalist, John Simpson, who interviewed King Freddie in his flat just a few hours before his death,stated that he was sober and in good spirits. This was confirmed by people who were around him in his last hours. Simpson actually reported this to the police upon hearing of the King's death on the following day. Incomprehensibly, this line of inquiry was not pursued by the Britishpolice who ruled out the possibility of foul play instead claimed that the King died of excessive drinking even when he was not known to be a heavy drinker and most of all indulging in excessive drinking amidst his most trusted friends and family.
Where the Scotland Yard covering something?
To uncover the mystery sorrounding the death of Muteesa emotions and wounds are re-opened but always the truth is settled by history. As Obote is implicated among the accomplices in the murder of his former UPC-KY ally, objectives attempts are paramount in tracking what could have been his role. Observers point to the climax of the UPC-KY fallout in 1966 resulting in the attack of the Lubiri by Obote's forces led by Amin and the exile of the Kabaka in UK. That Obote followed Muteesa in exile to end his life is a basic fact of life to many Baganda across generations. Muteesa was in Obote's words 'the ugly head of feudalism' which required beheading. Since the stability of the Ugandan state much depends upon factors playing in Buganda which are dictated by the Mengo hierachy headed by Muteesa, it follows reason that to counter Buganda and consolidate power the activities of its leadership had to be curtailed. Muteesa was known to have potential to direct events even when in exile and this can be confirmed by the British who failed to put constitutional changes in place even when he was in exile bwtween 1953-1955.
Was an exiled Muteesa a threat to a socialist leaning Obote?
The question is as good as an obvious answer. Was Obote fearful of the Israel and theWest returning Muteesa as an alternative to his socialist ideology? Was Muteesa a viable alternative caught in between cold war politics?. Since no single politician gathered as much popularity and acceptance as Muteesa certainly Obote must have felt insecure but even then the relationship between Buganda and the Queen's government were not much admirable to excite any fear of working together to oust Obote.It is true that Obote was suspicious of Muteesa and his British connections. It must be remembered that Muteesa was a Grenadier Officer and a Knight and according to one of Obote's reasons for the attck of the Lubiri in 1966 were intelligence reports that Muteesa had procured arms from Britain to topple his government.
The rise of Obote as a politician was a counter-surge against Buganda domination of politics. His activities in the LEGCO as a Lango representative and later leader of the anti-Buganda wing of the Uganda National Congress reflect a dislike of Ganda grandeur which Muteesa represented. The formation of UPC with Obote’s inspiration out of the amalgamation of Uganda People’s Union {an anti-Baganda party} and Obote’s UNC wing was to counter Buganda ’s demands to the Colonial government. Yet the tactful Milton married a Muganda wife and crowned his victory with the conclusion of the KY-UPC alliance. The general feeling in Buganda after the 1966 crisis was one of distaste for Obote. Interestingly Milton revealed in a 12 August 1980 memorandum to close party members during the election period to remember ‘how much the Baganda hate me personally’. According to a witness during the Commision of Inquiry on the Violations of Human rights 1995, Obote had at a rally in Soroti warned the people their not to behave like a certain tribe they knew very well. He ended his speech with the now famous dictum, a good Muganda is a dead one. Could he have forgotten his Muganda wife or was she as good as a dead one? The arrest of prominent Baganda including royal family members and kingdoms indicated to the Baganda that Obote had potential to kill Muteesa. The countrywide search for Muteesa amidst the 1966 imbroglio and the energy used in the exercise informed many Baganda of what could have happened to Muteesa had he landed into the hands of the feared General Service Unit. It rests therefore that Obote not only had the capacity but the intention too of killing Muteesa. It rests therefore according to Obote that Muteesa became a good Muganda with his death in 1969. Since no great man has a blameless record, Obote should take his share of reproach and while regard must be shown to the dead, more respect is to be paid to history without exalting fame or aggravating infamy. The charge which history will make against him is that he was the architect of the 1966 palace attack that resulted into Muteesa’s exile under which he was assassinated.
The Anglo-Israel Connection
.Despite the fact that the death of Obote was celebrated in Buganda for his percieved role in the death of Muteesa, members of the Uganda Peoples Congress have put Muteesa’s death to the machinations of Obote’s enemies. If we are to be swayed by this conviction and that an identification of Obote’s enemies is of any assistance then fate leads us to Israel and Britain working in collaboration with Amin. The enmity between Amin and Obote was phenomenal climaxing into the British-aided and Israel-abetted January 1971 Amin coup. Why would Amin want to appease the Baganda by promising to return the late King’s body with barely one day in office? How could he the commander of the search and destroy attack on the Lubiri in 1966 become Buganda ’s best friend in so little a time? Was the death of Muteesa an advantage to Britain ? Was containing Obote more easier than containing a stubborn Muteesa, the victim of the 1953 deportation? Both Muteesa and Obote had strained relationships with the British with Obote’s move to the left and Muteesa’s stalling of the constitutional process proving too cumbersome to Her Majesty’s government. Was it better for Britain to return a dead Muteesa in post-Obote Uganda ? No man could single-handedly assume acceptance than Muteesa with a deposed Obote. Was Muteesa a hindrance to the Colonial exploitation project with the overthrow of Obote. If by retuning Muteesa’s body, Amin was projecting himself as a pro-Buganda leader, were there attempts to install the new king with all the trappings of the position and office? Wasn’t Amin’s policy towards Buganda copied from Obote’s Notebooks? Can it be denied that Amin was a full member of the UPC and therefore was well grounded inObote’s anti-feudalist ideology? At one meeting of all cultural leaders in 1971, Amin informed those present that Uganda was to remain a republican state. It therefore highlights an influential role played by Amin in covering up for the murder of Muteesa. According to the Obote Family, the Nyamurungu never attempted even to kill a lice (even when he had a heavy hairstyle). It is argued that he did not through out his two presidential terms sign a death warrant. To crown his kindness it has been argued that even Sebadduka, the Lugogo assassin whom Obote narrowly missed, was never killed and is still alive today after serving his life sentence. They have blamed Muteesa’s death on the western powers working to disorganize Obote’s socialist Uganda by creating dissent to spark off a revolution in Uganda between 1968-1971. Yet Obote’s choice of Lusaka and Dar-el-salaam as points of refuge holds some pint of truth. Did Obote know a thing or two about exile in the western world especially for naughty African nationalists?Is my guess as good as yours?

Who Killed Muteesa ?

There are some figures in this era who cannot be repackaged , but must be revealed. These are outsized figures whose achievements defy attempts at trivialisation. Because their influence is so profound myths, legends and mysteries cloud the actual facts of their lives. In Uganda's case one man in our history relates immensely to such a figure and his death has remained a mystery to many.A dark cloud of fear and uncertainity descended upon the kingdom of Buganda on the morning after Nov . 21, 1969 the date on which the royal fire had stopped burning. Fredrick William Luwangula Walugembe Muteesa had succumbed to the treacherous hands of his lifelong tormentors. Muteesa like his father Daudi Chwa had met a mysterious death and like many assasinations , a complexity of theories have been manufactured to shroud his demise in uncertainity with many pointing to Milton Obote as a possible accomplice. His death like his father's was humiliating. According to Crawford Young, The Politics of Cultural Pluralism, Muteesa had died the of a lonely death of exile in a drab east end London flat. The coroners jugdement was alcoholic poisoning ,a verdict which failed to allay all suspicions. Muteesa, a victim of the 1953 deportation to England, the survivor of the 1966 Palace attack ochestrated by Obote, a veteran of the Pre-independence politics did not live long enough to retur to his kingdom from axile and most regrettably did not attend his birthday the next day, a ceremony he usually marked with pomp and pleasure amidst his subjects at his london encalve. Most certainly his killers must have been known him at a close level and must have been well briefed about his movements and schedule on the eve such that eve the solsier he was and a man of many enemies he atempted not to smell any air of foul play at the kasiki party usually attended by close relatives and inseperable friends. While it was identified by the Official British Police report as suicide, the death has been viewed as assassin ation by many who claim Mutesa may have been force-fed vodka by agents of the Obote regime. A British journalist, John Simpson, who interviewed King Freddie in his flat just a few hours before his death,stated that he was sober and in good spirits. This was confirmed by people who were around him in his last hours. Simpson actually reported this to the police upon hearing of the King's death on the following day. Incomprehensibly, this line of inquiry was not pursued by the British
police who ruled out the possibility of foul play instead claimed that the King died of excessive drinking even when he was not known to be a heavy drinker and most of all indulging in excessive drinking amidst his most trusted friends and family. Where the Scotland Yard covering something? To uncover the mystery sorrounding the death of Muteesa emotions and wounds are re-opened but always the truth is settled by history. As Obote is implicated among the accomplices in the murder of his former UPC-KY ally, objectives attempts are paramount in tracking what could have been his role. Observers point to the climax of the UPC-KY fallout in 1966 resulting in the attack of the Lubiri by Obote's forces led by Amin and the exile of the Kabaka in UK. That Obote followed Muteesa in exile to end his life is a basic fact of life to many Baganda across generations. Muteesa was in Obote's words 'the ugly head of feudalism' which required beheading. Since the stability of the Ugandan state much depends upon factors playing in Buganda which are dictated by the Mengo hierachy headed by Muteesa, it follows reason that to counter Buganda and consolidate power the activities of its leadership had to be curtailed. Muteesa was known to have potential to direct events even when in exile and this can be confirmed by the British who failed to put constitutional changes in place even when he was in exile bwtween 1953-1955.

Was an exiled Muteesa a threat to a socialist leaning Obote?

The question is as good as an obvious answer. Was Obote fearful of the Israel and theWest returning Muteesa as an alternative to his socialist ideology? Was Muteesa a viable alternative caught in between cold war politics?. Since no single politician gathered as much popularity and acceptance as Muteesa certainly Obote must have felt insecure but even then the relationship between Buganda and the Queen's government were not much admirable to excite any fear of working together to oust Obote.It is true that Obote was suspicious of Muteesa and his British connections. It must be remembered that Muteesa was a Grenadier Officer and a Knight and according to one of Obote's reasons for the attck of the Lubiri in 1966 were intelligence reports that Muteesa had procured arms from Britain to topple his government.

The rise of Obote as a politician was a counter-surge against Buganda domination of politics. His activities in the LEGCO as a Lango representative and later leader of the anti-Buganda wing of the Uganda National Congress reflect a dislike of Ganda grandeur which Muteesa represented. The formation of UPC with Obote’s inspiration out of the amalgamation of Uganda People’s Union {an anti-Baganda party} and Obote’s UNC wing was to counter Buganda ’s demands to the Colonial government. Yet the tactful Milton married a Muganda wife and crowned his victory with the conclusion of the KY-UPC alliance. The general feeling in Buganda after the 1966 crisis was one of distaste for Obote. Interestingly Milton revealed in a 12 August 1980 memorandum to close party members during the election period to remember ‘how much the Baganda hate me personally’. According to a witness during the Commision of Inquiry on the Violations of Human rights 1995, Obote had at a rally in Soroti warned the people their not to behave like a certain tribe they knew very well. He ended his speech with the now famous dictum, a good Muganda is a dead one. Could he have forgotten his Muganda wife or was she as good as a dead one? The arrest of prominent Baganda including royal family members and kingdoms indicated to the Baganda that Obote had potential to kill Muteesa. The countrywide search for Muteesa amidst the 1966 imbroglio and the energy used in the exercise informed many Baganda of what could have happened to Muteesa had he landed into the hands of the feared General Service Unit. It rests therefore that Obote not only had the capacity but the intention too of killing Muteesa. It rests therefore according to Obote that Muteesa became a good Muganda with his death in 1969. Since no great man has a blameless record, Obote should take his share of reproach and while regard must be shown to the dead, more respect is to be paid to history without exalting fame or aggravating infamy. The charge which history will make against him is that he was the architect of the 1966 palace attack that resulted into Muteesa’s exile under which he was assassinated.

The Anglo-Israel Connection.
Despite the fact that the death of Obote was celebrated in Buganda for his percieved role in the death of Muteesa, members of the Uganda Peoples Congress have put Muteesa’s death to the machinations of Obote’s enemies. If we are to be swayed by this conviction and that an identification of Obote’s enemies is of any assistance then fate leads us to Israel and Britain working in collaboration with Amin. The enmity between Amin and Obote was phenomenal climaxing into the British-aided and Israel-abetted January 1971 Amin coup. Why would Amin want to appease the Baganda by promising to return the late King’s body with barely one day in office? How could he the commander of the search and destroy attack on the Lubiri in 1966 become Buganda ’s best friend in so little a time? Was the death of Muteesa an advantage to Britain ? Was containing Obote more easier than containing a stubborn Muteesa, the victim of the 1953 deportation? Both Muteesa and Obote had strained relationships with the British with Obote’s move to the left and Muteesa’s stalling of the constitutional process proving too cumbersome to Her Majesty’s government. Was it better for Britain to return a dead Muteesa in post-Obote Uganda ? No man could single-handedly assume acceptance than Muteesa with a deposed Obote. Was Muteesa a hindrance to the Colonial exploitation project with the overthrow of Obote. If by retuning Muteesa’s body, Amin was projecting himself as a pro-Buganda leader, were there attempts to install the new king with all the trappings of the position and office? Wasn’t Amin’s policy towards Buganda copied from Obote’s Notebooks? Can it be denied that Amin was a full member of the UPC and therefore was well grounded inObote’s anti-feudalist ideology? At one meeting of all cultural leaders in 1971, Amin informed those present that Uganda was to remain a republican state. It therefore highlights an influential role played by Amin in covering up for the murder of Muteesa. According to the Obote Family, the Nyamurungu never attempted even to kill a lice (even when he had a heavy hairstyle). It is argued that he did not through out his two presidential terms sign a death warrant. To crown his kindness it has been argued that even Sebadduka, the Lugogo assassin whom Obote narrowly missed, was never killed and is still alive today after serving his life sentence. They have blamed Muteesa’s death on the western powers working to disorganize Obote’s socialist Uganda by creating dissent to spark off a revolution in Uganda between 1968-1971. Yet Obote’s choice of Lusaka and Dar-el-salaam as points of refuge holds some pint of truth. Did Obote know a thing or two about exile in the western world especially for naughty African nationalists?
Is my guess as good as yours?

Kampala City Authority or Kampala Corruption Agents

Kampala City Authority or Kampala Corruption Agents.
Investigating the feasibility of taking over Kampala.

Tensions are high between Buganda government and the NRM Government over the proposed take-over of Kampala in what has been dubbed the clash of the moment between the two centers. For starters Kampala is a district of Buganda according to the 1995 constitution, while at the same time occupying the noble role of being the country’s capital city. The central government proposes to transform Kampala into a Metropolitan City extending its frontiers to as far as Zinga islands. The same will see the frontiers extend to include such areas as Entebbe, Kasanje, Kira and many parts of Wakiso district.
Kampala is the micro-cosm of the 600 year-old Buganda kingdom with a known royal lineage line of 36 kings. It follows from history that each ruler of Buganda erected a capital(Kibuga) developing from a palace which soon became enclosed within protective townships developed by the King’s chiefs thus what came to be known as Ekibuga(Capital City) from okubugiriza embuga ( luganda term for enclosing the palace). Despite that rich history, the new bill seeks not only to erase that invaluable historical development equaled only by developed European capitals in significance but also seeks to break the constitution of Uganda the supreme law of the land forcefully taking over people’s land in direct contravention of the constitution which states that all land belongs to the people. It is an open secret that much of Kampala land is Private Mailo land exclusively owned by private landlords. In 1900 the Buganda government leased Kampala to the imperial government for development of a capital city for 99, consequently the lease expired in 1999 but ever since then talks for the return of Buganda property including have always ended in deadlock. The plan to disintegrate the 600-year old Buganda kingdom I have argued in many works has taken the form of administrative obstacles, legal gymnastics and sheer use of force and in this new bill a legal trap has been set. It is simply an enjoiner with the regional tier bill, which now seems to be refined to a specific goal having realized that the desecration of Buganda cannot be implemented by an ambigious regional tier bill which was a cocktail of many contradictions. Having tested the anger of Baganda over the land bill 2007 and its many refined disguised forms, the architects of this historical mistake now seek to use partisan politics to takeover Kampala by claiming that with the opposition out of Kampala, the development of Kampala will be a pie-eating task.

What is Kampala’s problem?
President Museveni has always maintained that the problem of Kampala is its management which is also true but even Uganda’s obstacles to development stem from poor management. Uganda’s managers are even not ashamed of Uganda’s position on global corruption index rankings. They still claim to have the moral authority to fight corruption and mismanagement when their relatives have assumed positions of corruption czars. Bad governance and corruption are not restricted to Kampala but Uganda as a whole. If corruption and mismanagement of Kampala is blamed on the opposition, what role do NRM cadres at Division and Municipality play in checking these tendencies? Who is directly responsible for Kampala heartland in the central division? Hasn’t Nyakaana been implicated in toilet investment scandals? What about Kira’s Mamerito and land grabbing wrangles attributed to him? Should we regard these as saints? If Kampala City Council is the most corrupt institution to warrant a government takeover, then Ugandans have a right to remove the current government which holds the mantle for having the most corrupt ministers in the country’s history.


Another Mengo betrayal or Truth twisting.
Many members of the ruling party have (as if pre-coached) at bimeeza and other informal forums maintained that this is a pre-determined position a result of consultations between Mengo and the center. Even if Mengo went into talks with the center over the proposed takeover of Kampala how sure can we be that Mengo accepted such a nasty deal given the regime’s record of twisting the truth? Could Mulwannyamuli’s delegation during the 2005 talks have betrayed Buganda’s sacred interests based on the nyamantono principle? What will remain of the geographical composition of Buganda with over 50% of Wakiso ceded to Metropolitan Kampala? Logic suggests that with Kampala extended to areas of Wakiso, Mukono and other Districts of Buganda (see 1995 constitution), the reduction of Buganda’s surface size will be concluded. Thus the final dissolution of Buganda as a geographical entity will be implemented. The calculation has been simple; starting in the countryside, land has been forcefully or voluntarily (due to biting poverty) acquired by the holders of power evicting indigenous Baganda. Consequently Abasatuusi as Kabaka Mutebi fondly calls them (illegal immigrants) mainly from Uganda’s western cattle corridor have occupied land initially and legally belonging to the Baganda. One army general in Uganda owns over 30 square miles in Mubende, Kiboga and Nakasongola. There’s no expression of an imminent desecration of Buganda plan than this example. Jubilation of talking over Kampala can be heard from NRM circles but where would Kabuye, Mamerito, Kintu and other Baganda leaders go.
The bill is calculated to mix politics to win the support of the common people as their heritage is usurped.
Who is responsible for the chaos in Kampala?
While sense can be found in the argument that Kampala is way too disorganized, to attribute this disorganization to Kampala City Council is to accuse the wrong people.
A cursory look into the causes of disorganization in the city exposes the multi-faceted role played by the government acting as protectors of the common man at the same time tormentors of the same. Who owns the blame for the congestion of the city with the buses, who owns the buses? It has been argued that Market Vendors pose a serious challenge to the urban development of Kampala but there sustenance has been maintained by government through Veteran schemes. The city is held at ransom by armed people of various shades of uniforms claiming to be veterans as if the city is their main source of livelihoods. One cannot deduce whether Kampala is Luweero where Veterans scuffle for public land to erect markets. We all agree that UTODA is a contributing factor to the disorganization of the city but where do they derive all that power? Who owns the Kibooko squad? Where are Abel Rwendeire and Kisamba Mugerwa of the National Planning Authority in all this? Why should we forego institutions for the sake of political longevity?
Another Authority!!
I have developed a dislike for the word Authority not that am archaic but it’s gross misrepresentation in Uganda civil life has had me hate the word. Ever since the NRM started Authorities, the level of corruption has reached grand levels. From Revenue (URA), Planning (NPA) Electricity (UETA), Environmental Management (NEMA) to Roads (URA) and Forestry (NFA) the most lucid expressions of nepotism, ethnicism and corruption have been witnessed in Uganda in the last quarter of a century. A transparency international report for east Africa has included Uganda’s revenue authority as a leading corruption parastatal in the region. NEMA itself has been accused of selective justice, NPA itself seems to be a corruption planning authority.
Moses Kalanzi
Uganda Citizen.

Museveni asks for another term

MUSEVENI ASKS FOR ANOTHER TEN YEARS AS MENGO REJECTS KAMPALA TAKEOVER.
It is now official president Museveni’s ambitions of becoming Africa’s longest serving ruler have been confirmed. Speaking on a live telecast on Uganda’s WBS TV on Sunday, the aging ruler admitted that he would consider serving until expiry of the constitutional mandated 75 years. The president’s words were timely calculated to correspond with the climax of the intrigue and in-fighting within the NRM with each group accusing each other of jumping the queue while at the same time settling doubts about his possible re-election as NRM flag-bearer at the 2011 elections. Museveni whose exact date of birth has remained a mystery admits that he will be 75 in 2019, exactly 33 years in power since his military takeover in 1986. And because the president would reach 75 while still remaining with another two years to end his visional last term, Ugandans would have to wait till 2022 to see the face of another president and that would be 35 years in power enough to break dictator Omar Bongo’s record. Even then Ugandans are not sure of Mr. Museveni’s exact birth date just as they are not sure of his genealogical records. The Ugandan leader who relates his birth to the period of the great rinderpest invasion of the 1940s in the Nkore region has been a victim of recent fresh attacks from diplomat Olara Otunnu who has challenged him to prove his Ugandan ancestry.
But while answers over his over stay in power were crucial, more important was Mr. Museveni’s tone and language when discussing his government’s strained relationship with the Buganda government. A visibly angry Museveni who was reacting to questions from a panel of journalists trashed Buganda’s demands for a Federal arrangement in a two-hour diatribe calling it unrealistic and cautioned agitators against testing his patience with calls for a federal arrangement. He reaffirmed his government’s commitment to ensure the extension of Kampala borders in the proposed Kampala City Authority. Mr. Museveni attacked the Mengo establishment for what he called double standards and vowed to resist demands for FEDERO arguing that the regional tier arrangement was the best he could negotiate with the Kabaka’s government. Mr. Museveni faced a rough time as outspoken Weekly Observer writer Semujju Ibrahim Nganda put him to task on critical issue regarding Buganda’s demands.
This is not the first time Mr. Museveni is brought to task to speak about critical issues in the country, Mr. Museveni, an avid reader and contributor to discourse since his university days has authored a number of articles in the local press and frequently appears on various radio stations in the country to explain his position.

Meanwhile Mengo has rejected the proposed takeover arguing that the central government overlooked consultation with Mengo before reaching such a conclusion. Mengo Minister for information and Lukiiko affairs Owekitiibwa Charles Peter Mayiga decried the alarming levels of obstinacy especially regarding the centers relationship with the Kabaka’s government on crucial matters of engagement. He also attacked the government owned NewVision newspaper for defaming the Kabaka’s reputation by attributing false stories to His Majesty’s person. The SundayVision carried out a lead story indicating that the Kabaka through his company Rexba had mortgaged Bulange Building to a senior cabinet Minister in the NRM government.

Hail Thee Julunga

Unanswered questions in the assassination of Tom Julunga.


The murder of Tom Julunga in the days before Heroes day must have been calculated by his murderers to give him a decent demise, divert Ugandans on this day of self-evaluation and this calls to mind for most of us with a sense of history, the return of the bad times recognized in the preamble of our constitution. The rare kind of principled young politicians Uganda needs, Julunga without exaggeration was destined to cause trouble for the ruling regime in the upcoming elections, this is however not to point an accusing finger . An energetic mobiliser, he will be remembered as one of the young men who escorted and carried Dr. Besigye shoulder-high during the trying times of Reform Agenda and later FDC. He had seen the inside of police cells a number of times, been to a safe home, had received a number of threats just like many opposition politicians in this country and had found himself in as many demonstrations and riots as had his heart permitted. I remember Julunga coming to Makerere to mobilize for the FDC candidate Gerald Karuhanga during the 2006 Guild elections and was awed by his gusto and commitment. As a UYD activist campaigning for Ssekabira, I found his campaign tactics too confronting and hoped that they were not employed at an advanced stage involving politics of the gun; little did I know that he would succumb to the gun. An ardent listener of political talk shows, I found myself listening to him more than thrice a day. His death at such an early age casts a doubt to the country’s future especially as we near the 2011 elections.
Was his murder an indicator to what lays ahead of 2011?
Many people dismiss the idea that Nankunda was assassinated just because accidents happen every day, questions remain unanswered on the possible cause of the accident that killed Francis Ayume, the untimely demise of Noble Mayombo, the former President’s A.D.C. of Patrick Musisi whom we were told died of a heart attack or Anthony Sekweyama. We were told Ayume and Sekweyama died of road crashes. How dangerous roads can be when you have many enemies!! The assassination of Julunga brings to our memory the cold blood murder of Vincent Lugonvu another vibrant young man. We have been conditioned to believe that murders like these are not accidents from official speeches where ‘bad elements’ read opposition have been promised to go six feet under. God calls each one of us on a certain date to meet him but I have a feeling that certainly some individuals for their beliefs are forced or rushed to meet him. Human rights reports have indicated the presence of safe homes within our midst and have documented the torturous activities of security agencies mtted out on politicians. In a country where a certain Magara can shoot people in broad daylight, and opposition politicians domiciled in safe places, the possibility of an assassination on Tom Julunga or Nankunda Muwanga or Lugonvu becomes obvious. Killed only two days before Heroes day, Julunga’s stand on many issues will be remembered. Assassinations are not only aimed at weakening a group but destabilizing organisations and removing a stumbling block to an Agenda. But usually in all assassinations the victims have bulky volumes of information which if revealed can be harmful.
Was this a robbery?
The killing of Julunga had all traces of organized murder, why would a robber shoot an unarmed victim 4 four times? Why was police reluctant to handover the post-mortem report to FDC officials and her mother Yudah Kagenyi? Why would the authorities increase security at the mortuary if Julunga was an ordinary Ugandan, a victim of a robbery? What did Tom Julunga, Vincent Lugonvu and Nankunda Muwanga, William Kasirye and Wasswa, the other victim of the Julunga incident have in common? What did they know that others did not know? Why would they be harmful at such a young age? Who would want to end such young lives? The Roman writer Seneca seems to have an answer. ‘He who most benefits from a crime is the one most likely to have committed it’. Have you ever asked yourself why many vibrant young politicians flee the country, others under pressure from their families drop politics into business and the little few paid by the regime to keep quiet? DP presidential hopeful Sam Lubega was a victim of harassment, earning spectacular visits to safe homes until he found his way to UK . The formation of UYD posed a threat to the regime in Kampala that soon after its first month, members were picked up on charges of treason. It was even alleged by a one Joseph Luzige now an employee of State House that Dr. Kawanga Semwogerere was training rebels in Sudan . Mr. Luzige a former President of UYD at a press conference in Kampala had alleged that UYD members also planned to assassinate NRM leaders including Mr. Museveni. He alleged that differences arose when he refused to got to Sudan for military training. This was a way of discrediting a vibrant youth organisation. The formation of the group Popular Resistance Against Life Presidency saw the arrest of many youths affiliated to this organisation formed to contest Mr. Museveni’s hold onto power. Its members have seen the inside of many Ugandan prison cells perhaps more than the prison commissioners and a few have been forced to met their creator prematurely including Julunga, Lugonvu, Kasirye,Wasswa and Nankunda. The trick has been tactical reducing them by numbers.
The Julunga Assassination in Perspective.
In all murders of such kind confusing clues are manufactured to divert attention from the real cause. It’s exactly the reason why police in the first instance could report that Julunga was stabbed and not shot. Police says he was shot in Ndeeba but he was discovered wounded and crawling into Rubaga Police post, a distance of about two kilometers later. They could well have gone on to say he was poisoned but were overwhelmed by the evidence present.
Usually after an assassination a scapegoat murderer is identified to stall all efforts of independent inquiry and the case is rested. The method is that an immediate arrest is made, suspects paraded, they can be forced or coached to make confessions such that there’s no need for further investigations. This tactic according to David Icke (Author of the Biggest Secret) works best if done immediately. Already certain individuals whose credence is doubted have been “arrested” and are “helping police in its investigations” and like election petitions will last until Julunga’s last funeral rights. Then the second stage of diversion is initiated with the media where the public is made to chase a mass of false stories and leads. Already a ‘chase car’ story has been circulated as if it were a scene in a movie. Currently two scenes of the murder have been proposed, one in Ndeeba and the other in Busega. Confusion sets in with people being fed with conflicting leads and eventually their interest wanes. That’s why we can only remember when Ayume, Mayombo, Lugonvu, Kasirye, Wasswa, Nankunda, Julunga died but forget the circumstances under which they died.
Why would police insist on Julunga making a statement in such a poor condition? The Uganda Police Motto is ‘To protect and Serve’ but it is regrettable that while police could not protect him, they also failed to serve him. With a police force that operates like the party violence machinery, I had least expectations of the truth from the Uganda police. With officers like Police Spokesperson Nabakooba speaking like party ideologues, no Ugandan in their right sense of mind would believe that Julunga, a man whose voice could be recognized by 11 year olds was killed in a failed robbery. She seems to have cross-cutting duties with Karooro Okurut, the NRM spokesperson.
Ugandans will always remember Julunga and others before him and they owe us a commitment to pursue their visions.