“We thank the mujahideens that carried out the attack. We are sending a message to Uganda and Burundi, if they do not take out their AMISOM troops from Somalia, blasts will continue and it will happen in Bujumbura too.”

Earlier, the head of Uganda police, army Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura had told the local press that he suspected Al Shabaab to be behind the blasts that rocked Kabalagala, Kamwokya and Lugogo around 4:00 PM local time. Bombs that failed to explode were also found in another GABA Road location and in Makindye.

On its part, Uganda’s dictatorial NRM government has reacted with threats of retaliation. Without providing detalis, Uganda army spokesman, Felix Karuyigye said: “Our promise to the people of Uganda will be fulfilled. Whoever brings the war to us, we take it to him. We will take the war to Al Shabaab if they have claimed to be responsible for this act.” In reality, the Uganda army’s ability to act is fully dependent on the American and Europen countries who pay for the salaries and food of the Uganda forces in Somalia. In fact at least 50% of the total national budget is also funded by Western donor countries. Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda with an iron fist since 1986 and, during that period, his army has has been involved in war and occupation in Buganda, Rwanda, Congo, Southern Sudan and now Somalia.

Speculations over who is responsible for the blasts are running wild both in Uganda and outside. According to a story by AP, the Uganda police commander, Kale Kayihura quickly claimed that he suspected Somali terrorist group al-Shabab to be the bombers. The AP also reported that Sheik Yusuf Sheik Issa, an al-Shabab commander, told the news agency that he was happy with the attacks in Uganda. However, he did not claim responsibility. The western countries appear to be quickly coming to be accepting the Uganda’s governments story and have started promising assistance. However, in the opposition and Baganda nationalist circles there is strong suspicion that the NRM government could have planted the bombs to change the political dynamic in the country.

 A source in the Uganda opposition has told us: “When you look at the despicable things this government has done to keep itself in power, you have to include them among the suspects. How many Acholi died with the Kony hoax? Look at the Budo virgins they sacrificed in a fire and the thousands of Baganda they murdered in Luwero claiming that it was Obote’s army. They even went to Congo and slughtered thousands of Lendus. Have you forgotten the Kayunga riot massacre in October 2009? The NRM government breathes war, blood and genocide and they have a motive to do this. America and Europe will stop the noise about fair elections in 2011 if they fall for the trick. And if Baganda and Ugandan opposition parties are terrorized, many people will slow down political activities. By the way, even if it is Somali’s who did it, you can still blame this suffering on Museveni’s obsession with war and killing which pushed him to volunteer to take the UPDF to Somalia.”

On March 6, 1987, Dr. Kayira was murdered in cold blood. Saturday, March 6, 2010 marks the 23^rd Anniversary of his death.

With his Uganda Freedom Movement Dr. Kayira was serious on liberating Uganda from dictatorship. With his UFA his approach was a surgical one. M7 with his NRA the approach was of a protracted and resistance war.

In early eighties Dr. Kayira landed a sizeable and effective consignment of armaments. Before taking any surgical moves with them he had consultation with M7. He suggested that he was going to hit Obote’s life nerve, the army barracks positioned in the Lubiri. He requested M7 and his troops to participate in the exercise of taking over Kampala and returning the country to the people. M7 refused to participate. Instead he chose to harass Kayira till Kayira could no longer see the light of this world.

This is one of the examples of  the effects of the ogu nenki syndrome (=who is this syndrome) which continues to bedevil Uganda. Kayira will go down in the history of Uganda for his advocacy of federalism that would help Ugandans to be proud of what they are and save Ugandans from being arrogant because of what they are.

Please, remember Dr. Lutaakome Andrew Kayira.

Aloysius Muzzanganda Mugerwa Lugira

Professor of Comparative Theology Emeritus
Theology Department Boston College
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA 01467 USA

Tel: 617-552-3539 work 781-937-3954 house

E-mail: lugira@bc.edu or Aloysius.lugira@yahoo.com

I was amused when I found that the Obote bogeyman was being used against me. Some people have started a whispering campaign that my name Mao stands for Milton Apollo Obote! Yet in reality this is a clan name from the P’Mao clan of Pawel in Acholiland whose great great great grandfather was called Mao. I also have over a dozen other Acholi names given to me by my many relatives. But this is the nature of the game. But we shall not be cowed. Our counter attack will be lethal.

We can report that during his student days at  Namilyango College in Kyaggwe county, Mao encouraged schoolmates to believe that his name stood for Milton Apollo Obote. A Namilyango old boy who informed us about Mao’s Facebook page told us: “Since the mid 1980s Nobert never complained about the Milton Apollo Obote thing when we said it. In fact he started as a strong UPC supporter, like his late father.  If anything, he encouraged people to think his name was connected to Obote. I can believe him now if he says that it is not true but why claim it is a new whispering campaign?” We have independently confirmed this with two other Namilyango old boys.

By Seezi Sewagaba

The situation as it stands at the moment, with the impending general elections in about a year’s time, with all signs showing that it is going to be rigged, then all ingredients [that] are necessary to spark off a civil are in place. People are so fed up of the NRM, that picking up arms as honourable Hussein Kyanjo hinted is the only viable alternative. Museveni has underestimated the people of Uganda as his predecessor Milton Obote did. He has put his trust in the gun and even armed his tribesmen to the brink. This is going to be his undoing. In this coming civil war, three tribes are going to be more involved than the rest, namely Baganda, Banyankole and Bakiga. The remaining tribes will as usual side with the winning side. All pleas to Museveni have fallen on deaf ears. He has great confidence in the ability of his armed forces to uphold and sustain his regime. He might not be as lucky as Robert Mugabe and Muamar Qadaffi whose regimes have lasted longest in Africa’s political history.

As I said in [an earlier] article a few months ago, a civil strike can definitely cripple Museveni’s regime. Museveni’s military machine is just a paper tiger, behind which the coward Museveni hides. A determined civil disobedience or strife, sustained over a period of one month can definitely bring Museveni’s ramshackle regime down. All we need is determination and the willingness to sacrifice a few lives. All I know is that we have got a lot of allies in the armed forces and the police who are tired of this regime with its tribalism and corruption. What is needed is to set off the spark and the whole edifice will burn down.  Museveni will get more and more dictatorial and paranoid as his regime lasts in power. We have seen nothing yet about this dictatorship.

Every year parliament looks helplessly as billions of taxpayers’ money is allocated to the State House to be used by members of one tribe namely the Banyankole. Almost every weekend, lavish weddings are held by Museveni’s close tribesmen and women marrying off their daughters using taxpayer’s money. A lot of money is dubiously allocated without any rules to be followed.

People close to the President have built mansions which don’t match their incomes. The finance department of the UPDF at Mbuya is all manned by Banyankole. Even a mere clerk working there, eats daily at the most expensive restaurant in Bugolobi, a high income Kampala suburb, where a meal costs 4000 shillings. The workers in this finance department drive very expensive cars which don’t match their incomes. By comparison, the police personnel live in dilapidated houses at Naguru. Some live nine people in a room. They only survive because of taking bribes from civilians. This shows how Museveni and his tribe’s people are so selfish. I cannot see how the police personnel and many non- Banyankole soldiers in the army can fight to defend Museveni’s regime if Museveni cannot see the pathetic conditions under which they live.

People like David Jamwa who embezzled peoples’ pension funds and even went to the extent of gambling using that money in an American Casino is still at large plus Patrick Mbabazi who helped himself to ten billion of it and escaped scot-free. Museveni’s call to fight corruption is a two edged sword. This is because corruption starts with Museveni himself, before it spreads to the rest of the country. He cannot accuse others of corruption without them accusing him of the same thing. That is why Mbabazi got away with it. If we are not careful, then I am afraid that one tribe might disappear from the map of Uganda. We saw it in Rwanda, and the same scenario can be replicated in Uganda.

The killing of thirty Baganda by the security forces following the riots which took place after the Kabaka was refused entry into Kayunga, was just a dress rehearsal of the misery to come. These people though branded thugs by Museveni, did not die in vain. Museveni thinks that Baganda are expendable creatures, that is why he sacrificed many Baganda lives in Luweero in order to come to power. That is why 80 Baganda Moslems were slaughtered in Mbarara, his tribal town. The next civil war is going to be fought hand with hand. Neighbour turning against neighbour. This time the guns will not matter much. Everybody with a grudge against another person will take advantage of the chaos and lawlessness to fulfill his revenge.

All this can be averted if Museveni steps down lawfully and allows the Constitution and Parliament to steer the country into the future. Like Saddam Hussein, Museveni will not have the time to escape should his regime fall through violence. The more he stays in power, the more he endangers the lives of his tribesmen the Banyankole. During Obote’s regime, the Baganda were the hate symbol. Now the Westerners especially Banyankole are hated more than Baganda were hated during Obote’s regime. I read about a story of an Itetso girl who saw her father shot dead by a Munyankole soldier simply because he was trying to help his friend who had been wounded. The Banyankole have repeated the same mistakes Obote and his troops made.

Seezi Sewagaba.

sewagaba@hotmail.com

On Uganda and God, the NRM chief said: “If you want anything, do it according to the laws.  In 1994/95, we elected people to represent us; they came and sat here in the CA for two years debating the Constitution of Uganda.   This constitution is the only democratically agreed constitution in the history of Uganda since God created what is now Uganda.  The one of 1962 was by some chiefs and some groups, political parties which had not even gone through elections that time. The 1995 Constitution was agreed by the people of Uganda.  So I expect, I demand; and we shall have strict adherence to the constitution of Uganda.  There should be no mistake about this.  If you want to do anything, follow the constitution. You don’t follow the constitution; I will take action against you, as the elected President of Uganda.”

A Makerere based researcher has read Museveni’s speech and sent us his analysis for publication. We will not reveal the researcher’s identity to protect his job and personal safety.

In his opening statement, the reseracher says that: “Museveni is recycling the same old NRM ideas in his New Year speech. This means that he has run out of new lies to tell on the areas where he has failed most miserably, economic development, corruption, and rule of law and human rights.” Due to the length of the researcher’s paper, we have extracted his main points below for easier reading.

Economic Development

The researcher explains: “Museveni uses the term economic growth all over but never economic development because he knows, even as a poorly educated economist, that  Buganda and Uganda have seen negative economic development since the NRM took power.

“Economic growth happens when the country owns more money or things, even if a small group has all the billions while the majority is dying of poverty, as in Uganda. When Museveni and his wife work through Allan Shonubi to build the Garden City Mall, using money that was intended for agriculture, there is economic growth even if only the richest 1% of the population can shop there. The same is true when Mrs. Museveni steals billions out of European Loan programs, with the assistance of Naomi Nasaasira and Tumusiime Mutebire, to buy Kampala International University.

“On the other hand, economic development happens when ordinary people can afford more good things and live better.  In 1970, a Muganda policeman could pay school fees for 3 children, own a motorcycle and buy Christmas or Iddi presents without taking bribes. That policeman could even have a savings account. Today, the same policeman cannot even feed his wife and children two healthy meals a day on his salary alone. Baganda as a people are facing the highest levels of economic underdevelopment since modern money became common, around 1920.  Economic development has been negative since Museveni took power. Even if the URA collects trillions and Janet Museveni owns the Garden City Mall, the average Muganda villager is now a destitute who is not ashamed to beg publicly.”

Corruption

The researcher says that: “Museveni used the word corruption only once in his 7,250 word speech, and only in a section heading. The word prosecute is totally omitted. He used the word arrest only once. And he used the word law only in connection with security, oil payments and UPE. When he used the word court, it was to blame courts for releasing suspects on bail, which happens to be a basic right under Museveni’s own constitution.  It is evident that Museveni is not interested in fighting corruption at all.

“Expecting Museveni to fight corruption is the same as expecting the pope to fight Catholicism. Just like the pope is the most dedicated practicing catholic, Yoweri Museveni and his wife are the most corrupt Ugandan alive. He started robbing Uganda was back in the mid 1980’s, working with Jim Muhweezi, Frank Katana, Nyakayiru and the late Grace Ibingira and investing in the UK, Sweden, Iceland and other places. He later shifted to skimming off arms purchases and investor money. He brought in his Sam Kuteesa, Salim Saleh, Jovia Saleh, Tom Katto, Emma Katto, Mutebire and Basajjabalaba to help this phase.  In the next phase, he included Museveni children, Edwin Karugire, Allan Shonubi, Mike Mukula, Karim Hirji, Sudhir Ruparelia, and the like. Museveni would have arrest, prosecute and imprison himself if he wanted to start fighting corruption.”

Rule of Law and Human Rights

The researcher accuses Museveni of being a pathological liar, based on his claim that his 1995 constitution is the only democratically agreed constitution in the history of Uganda since God created what is now Uganda.

The research explains: “Only a liar would claim that the  constituent assembly members were democratically elected. Who organized that fair election and who appointed that organizer? And only a pathological liar would claim that when the British handed over state power to the natives of what is now known as Uganda on October 9, 1962, God was creating Uganda. If God created Uganda 40 years ago, then who created Buganda more than 800 ago?

“Secondly, the people of Uganda never agreed to the alien concept called ‘regional tear’ which Bidandi Ssali and Museveni forcibly inserted into the constitution, for the sole purpose of frustrating Buganda’s aspirations. That is why Baganda protested against the 1995 constitution from the day it was promulgated up to now. Over 95% of Buganda and over 65% of others wanted a federal system of government. And, even though many Baganda are losing interest in Federo, in favor of secession, many non-Baganda are now demanding it.

“In 2009 the NRM occupation government publicly massacred 30 Baganda civilians and secretly murdered more in connection with Kayunga crisis. Museveni and his NRM also denied Kabaka Mutebi freedom to tour Buluri and Bugerere. During 2009 Museveni’s NRM government committed internationally prosecutable crimes against Ssabasajja and his subjects only because they demand their internationally recognized human rights to their property, freedom of expression, freedom of movement and self-determination.

“Museveni does not respect any law. If he did, why would he steal elections. He talks about the constitution only to manipulate his audience. For example, he confidently breaks the law when abusing Baganda human rights, with assistance from certain leaders he bribes in Mmengo. Being a pathological liar, however, he readily insists that he is doing it all to help Baganda. Fortunately, Baganda are now ready to take the fight to his doorstep. So, expect to see more fire from Baganda under Museveni’s feet in 2010.”

Our source is confident that Otunnu suffered no serious injuries although he was clearly shaken. She could not confirm to us if the PGB men who seem to have staged the accident were actually injured themselves. However, she said that, to make things appear genuine, it was likely that the Uganda government might announce that the PGB men were seriously injured or even that one of them died.

Apparently, Otunnu was travelling from northern Uganda where, for the first time in more 20 years, he attended the same public  function as Ugandan dictator, Yoweri Museveni. The police, ISO and PGB are all actively monitoring Otunnu’s movements since he returned to Uganda and expressed his intention to stand the position president in the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) party. They both attended the consecration of a new Church of Uganda bishop for the Acholis in Gulu on December 20, 2009.

The UPC was responsible for the abolition of Uganda’s federal government, the exile and murder of  Ssekabaka (deceased Kabaka) Edward Muteesa II, stealing 9,000 square miles of Baganda native lands and carrying out genocide against Baganda in Bulemeezi, Buluri, Ssingo, Butambala and other counties (Luweero Triangle). As  a student and young man, Yoweri Museveni was a very active member of UPC’s notorious State Research Bureau, which was central to many of atrocities against Baganda. Later he turned against Obote and seized power after a 4 year a guerrilla war centered in the Luweero Triangle. Over 500,000 Baganda were murdered in the war.  It is estimated that Museveni’s Banyankore led NRM/NRA murdered up to 30-40% of these and put the blame on Obote, to gain support and recruits.

According to the ESO source, Museveni allegedly learnt about the plot on his way back from the CHOGOM meeting in Granada. And, afraid that his enemies in Uganda might find out and try to take advantage, the Ugandan warlord decided to travel commercial. He was in such a hurry that, when British Airways said that they only had economy class seats available, he agreed to take those.

In October 2009, Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, the Al-Shabab commander, announced that his group would attack the capitals of Burundi and Uganda, the two countries supplying troops for the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia. In typical warlord style, Mr. Museveni countered next day, telling the local press: “Al-Shabab shall quickly regret such an attack because Uganda knows how to attack those who attack it.” Despite Museveni’s tough talk, Ugandan soldiers continue to frequently die in Somalia, although the numbers are difficult to establish.  As was the case when Uganda invaded the Congo in the 1990’s Museveni UPDF often return the dead troops secretly, and pressure relatives to bury their dead quietly.  If the dead has no clear family ties, they are secretly buried in Lusaze, Bulemeezi or Buluri.

Our source also pointed out that  Museveni was not amused to find out, in Entebbe, that he failed to get  sits in Business or First Class because Uganda officials has taken seats there.

Also present in the dialogue was Esteban Lazo Hernandez, VP of the Cuban Council of State and member of the Politburo of Cuba’s Communist Party.

Earlier, Museveni, who arrived on Monday in Havana for an official visit at the invitation of Raul Castro, laid a floral wreath before the statue of Cuban National Hero Jose Marti at Revolution Square.

This is the Ugandan dictator’s second trip to Cuba. He visited the Caribbean island nation in 1988, when he received the ‘Playa Giron’ (Bay of Pigs) Order. From Cuba, Museveni planned to fly to Washington DC by Wednesday, to hung around and plead with the USA White House for a chance to meet President Obama. Museveni is under pressure from his wife, Janet Kataha, to secure a meeting with Obama so that she can get a chance to meet the American president. According to sources in the Uganda foreign ministry, if Obama refuses to see him, Museveni is likely to stay as late as Saturday morning  before giving up.

Cuba and Uganda established diplomatic relations on May 9, 1974. Since the beginning of Cuba’s medical cooperation in Uganda in 1980, 179 Cuban health professionals have offered their services in that country. At present, a group of voluntary workers serve as professors at the Mbarara and Kyambogo universities.

A total of 131 professionals from Uganda have been trained in Cuba, and another 50, mostly from western Uganda, are now studying in the island nation.

When Museveni interrupted his tour of Buganda to go to Egypt he was extremely frustrated by the relatively small crowds and unfriendly questions from Baganda peasants about CBS FM Radio. The trip had been promoted as a “Bonna Bagagawale” (”prosperity for all”) tour, in the expecting that impoverished Baganda peasants were only interested in money.

The first sign that Museveni’s tour was in trouble were the relatively small crowds he got in most places in Kyaggwe and Kooki (see “Museveni’s State House Bars Pictures From His Buganda Tour As Crowds Dwindle“). They only showed one “cooked” image at a sports field next to a school, where the RDC had commandeered children from several schools in the area, to create a “crowd”. Our on the ground source tell us, however, that Mr. Museveni was most frustrated by what he calls “disrespectful peasants” who ignore his speeches and keep asking him to explain why he closed CBS Radio. Yet others ask him why he stops Kabaka from travelling freely.

The source told us that by the time Museveni returned to state house to prepare for the Egypt trip, he was so fed up and angry that everyone thinks that he might abandon the Buganda trip. Quote: “Baganda peasants had gotten to his nerves with their questions about CBS Radio, Kabaka and, even Betty Nambooze. He was so angry that you can expect him to get even harder on the issue of reopening CBS Radio.”

According to the source, chances are quite high that Museveni will use the Egypt trip and a diversion so he can abandon his Buganda tour and avoid further embarrassment by poor peasants. Adding: “I think president Museveni is especially concerned about the possibility of Kabaka Mutebi going somewhere and getting his now standard mammoth crowds, on the same day when he (Museveni) is getting harassed by Baganda peasants.”