Sources in the Uganda Foreign Affairs ministry have informed us that president Museveni changed his mind about leaving the USA early after reconciling with Libya’s Moammar Gadaffi, getting some badly needed sleep and overcoming much of the panic he had about Kabaka Mutebi back in Kampala. Apparently the lowered stress also led to a reduction in Museveni’s foot pain, which kept him seated in the UN even when everyone was standing or walking around (see “Kabaka, Obama, Foot Pain, and Baganda Demos Force Museveni To Leave USA“. Museveni reportedly arrived in Boston on Friday and, if his feet remain stable, he will be the chief guest at the 2009 NRM Forum.

Our reporter in Boston has learnt that the Kabaka’s anti-Museveni subjects made no changes in the demo plans, even after word came that the Ugandan warlord might not show. They were willing to demonstrate even if Ruhakana Rugunda was the chief guest. An estimated 500-1,000 are expected to demonstrate against Museveni and his anti-Buganda NRM government.

In the meantime, last week Baganda from the whole North East USA announce plans to protest at the NRM Gala, which will be hosted at the Marriott Copley Place Hotel, downtown Boston (see “USA Baganda Demonstrations Set for Boston NRM Gala“. The Baganda demonstration will take place at We will be holding a rally tomorrow, on Saturday September 26, 2009 at the Boston Common on the same also at 110 Huntington Avenue in Boston. Museveni is expected to start speaking at 10:00 AM and the Baganda intend to start their demonstration one hour earlier and continue after he finishes. Major news media organizations are expected to be present.

On September 23, 2009, Museveni decided to leave the USA early and skip the NRM Forum after being snubbed by President Obama and getting embarrassed by a large pro-Kabaka demonstration at the UN by about 100 Baganda. Museveni fortunes changed when Libyan military dictator, Moammar Gadaffi, agreed to meet with him in New York City. According to our sources, the two African warlords reconciled and agreed to work together on the  Buganda  issue.  Museveni was reportedly cheered up by the Gadaffi, reconciliation because believed reports by his dysfunctional  intelligence that Mmengo was getting assistance from Libya.  The Libyan side has down played the reconciliation however, a sign that Museveni needed it much more than they did.

In an indirectly related story, we have received unconfirmed reports that although Museveni’s feet became much better on Thursday after he got some sleep, he still needs to keep then in a basin of cold water to relieve pain. And he is still anxious to return to occupied Buganda and continue his efforts to  force Kabaka Mutebi to talk to him.

A reliable source in the Uganda Foreign ministry has discreetly informed us that Uganda’s military strongman, president Yoweri Museveni will probably leave the USA prematurely on Thursday or Friday this week. Previously, Museveni had planned to stay until Sunday so that he could attend the annual NRM Gala in Boston. According to the source, Museveni had planned to go to New York after humiliating Baganda by succeeding to force Kabaka Mutebi to meet him. Certain influential Baganda who expect to personally benefit if Buganda accepts the Regional Tier government and CBS Radio is reopened, had promised to deliver Kabaka Mutebi by last Saturday. However, by the time Museveni left for the USA the Kabaka had said “No” to what seems to be a trick to make him (the Kabaka) appear like he is prostituting himself in exchange for re-opening CBS Radio.

Our source said: “The frustration that the president feels about the Kabaka’s tough stance has made it so difficult for him to get sleep and aggravated his feet problem, to where he cannot stand for 10 minutes.”  The source gave this as the reason why president Museveni greeted several important personalities at the UN while sitting, even when everyone around him was standing.

Our source also reveals that Museveni had gone to the USA with the expectation that he might have a one-on-one meeting with President Obama. However, Mr. Obama preferred to meet all African leaders together and give them a lecture about the need to stop dictatorships and create jobs – the things where Museveni is doing worst. The source adds that: “The bipolar president was not amused to then hear that about 100 Baganda were going to hold a major demonstration during his UN speech and accuse him of genocide in front cameras from major USA news organizations.  With the increasing worry about the Kabaka situation, the Obama snub, the burning pain in his feet and hostile American Baganda, Mrs. Museveni convinced her husband that staying in the USA longer is too risky.”

Museveni and his wife plan to depart from the USA sometime on Thursday or, latest, on Friday. At the time of posting this story, it was not clear if Museveni’s state house had even informed all concerned ambassadors or the NRM Gala organizers in Boston.

Musajja wa Kabaka Damiano Kigoye, based in In Southern California, has issues a statement announcing a demonstration in Los Angeles against Yoweri Museveni’s terrorist government.  The demonstration is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 19, 2009, in Los Angeles. Mr. Kigoye’s statement is reproduced below:

Dear Community Members, fellow Baganda, friends of Buganda,

As the United States was remembering the horrors of the 9/11 terror last week, Buganda Kingdom in Uganda was under attack by terrorists with orders to kill unarmed civilians rioting for the well-being of their King and Kingdom from Uganda’s central government!!

These acts of terror under Museveni’s command, various media houses observed, have been long in waiting!!! This was not just a matter between central government and Buganda Kingdom, it was rather a well organized tribal fighting between Buganda and the Banyala incited by Museveni’s government.

To the ordinary Muganda and Ugandan; you and I, this was a wake up call for Unity in preparation for what tomorrow might bring. The mad man is still at large. The world MUST be informed in advance that ethnic clashes in Africa end up in genocides.

The equipments and weapons that were used on civilians last week are just a hint that the mad dogs are ready to do whatever it takes to cleanse Buganda!

Though some Baganda (NRM MPs) have indicated their extremism by supporting Museveni as opposed to their King and Kingdom, the rest of us MUST come together in the fight for our Kingdom.

The peaceful demonstrations organized in almost every location where Baganda resides worldwide is a true sign of Unity for Buganda and Uganda as well.

We therefore call upon every Muganda and all friends of Baganda and Buganda to participate in these demonstrations so that we can send a clear message to the world that the genocide that took place in our backyards in 1994 in Rwanda is bound to happen in our living rooms.

In Souther California, the largest ever demonstration is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 19, 2009, in Los Angeles.

The Assembly which will be escorted by LAPD will be flagged off at exactly 11:00 am at 11600 Wilshire Blvd. We will be marching eastwards, singing patriotic songs of Buganda to Federal Building Lawns where we will be addressed by different leaders.

The  event will be covered by all major media houses; ABC7, CNN, BBC, Los Angeles Times , New York Times, NPR , and many more.

We encourage traditional dressing: Men in Kanzu and Ladies in Busuuti.
Bring Placards and drums.

More details will be communicated to you.

Thank you for your support.

Ssabassajja Kabaka awangaale.

Damiano Kigoye
Muzukulu wa Nakigoye e Kyasa, mu Buddu.
Chairperson, Organizing Committee.

Following in the footsteps of Milton Obote and Yoweri Museveni, UPC’s Olara Otunnu has, over the last 6 months, secured a deal (“mukago”) with respected foreign based  Baganda to promote his presidential candidacy. According to a press release dated July 11, 2009, Mr. Otunnu, an Acholi, has been joined four USA based Baganda men,  James Ssemakula (California), John Mayanja (Massachusetts), Mubiru Musoke (Massachusetts) and  Aloysius Lugira (Massachusetts) to form the Campaign for Democracy and Justice in Uganda (CDJ). According to our sources in New York, this is a major step in Mr. Otunnu’s plan to sell himself as the next savior for Baganda – following Obote, Amin, Okello and Museveni.

All Mr. Otunnu’s Baganda partners, with the exception of James Ssemakula, are long-term DP activists and it is not yet clear how their new relationship with UPC’s designated 2011Uganda  presidential candidate might affect their politics.  Additionally, Otunnu’s Baganda partners are all old men over 50 years old who have lived out of Uganda for decades. Interestingly, Mr. Otunnu has not included any of his many American based fellow Acholi’s in this group. Yet his UPC political and security infrastructure in Uganda is getting constructed exclusively by Acholis and anti Miria Obote Langis.

The CDJ leadership is clearly dominated by Baganda who are known to put Buganda and Kabaka first.  However, their press release does not even include the word “Buganda”.  Some Buganda watchers might interpret this as a sign that, like Nsibambi, Gilbert Bukenya, Sekandi and Kiddu Makubya, the CDJ Baganda members fear that direct promotion of Buganda interests would be “tribalistic” and embarrassing.

The press release announcing the formation of Mr. Otunnu’s CDJ is reproduced in full below:

—

PRESS RELEASE
 
Ugandans Launch Campaign for Free and Fair Elections
 
Kampala, Boston, London, Toronto
 
11th July, 2009
 
Today a broad spectrum of Ugandans launched a major national and international campaign for free and fair elections in Uganda. This collective patriotic mission is called Campaign for Democracy and Justice in Uganda (CDJ).
 
The interim president of CDJ, Mr. John Mayanja, stated: “Previous elections conducted by the Museveni regime, which has been in power for 24 years, were massively rigged and manifestly lacked a level playing field. We must absolutely change this. This is the primary reason for the formation and launching of CDJ.”
 
CDJ will campaign for the following norms and standards:
 
. genuinely free and fair elections;
. transparent democratic practice and process;
. the rule of law and accountability;
. justice and equity for all Ugandans;
. national unity.

 
These norms and standards constitute the foundation for democracy and good government in Uganda and worldwide.
 
CDJ is not a political party. It is a non-partisan advocacy project committed to advancing the norms, principles, and standards set out above. CDJ is not affiliated with any particular political parties in Uganda; it is a broad-based network of Ugandan patriots, within the country and in the Diaspora, of diverse political affiliations and persuasion.
 
A particularly important date is approaching on the Ugandan political calendar. The country is preparing to hold national elections in 2011. CDJ will not support any parties or candidates in the forthcoming electoral contests. Its preoccupation is to mount a vigorous campaign for genuinely free and fair elections, with a level playing field for all.
 
The interim chairman of CDJ, Olara A. Otunnu noted: “Today, Uganda is a country in the throes of a grave national crisis and distress. The best way to combat this malaise is the institution of genuine democratic practice and process, beginning with free and fair elections. This would allow the Ugandan people to freely choose and shape their own destiny. It would ensure that leaders are held fully accountable for their actions before the law and the electorate. Democratic process also is the best way to prevent resort to violent conflict.”
 
CDJ calls on Ugandan patriots of all hues, both within the country and in the Diaspora, to come together and mount a robust campaign for free and fair elections in 2011. The interim secretary, Professor Aloysius Lugira stated: “The norms and standards for free and fair elections are now universally accepted. Uganda must not continue to be a perennial exception to universally accepted standards”.

This campaign is in support of the demands for electoral reforms which have been jointly tabled by the political parties in Uganda. The campaign is being launched today on the occasion of President Barack Obama’s speech in Accra; we are inspired by his seminal message, in particular on free and fair elections, accountability, anti-corruption, anti-ethnic sectarianism, anti-nepotism, and equitable opportunity, as indispensable components of democratic governance. Significantly this campaign also echoes and is in line with observations and recommendations made in 2006 by all election observers, including the European Union, the Commonwealth, and Ugandan civil society led by the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) and the ruling of the Supreme Court of Uganda.
 
2011 must inaugurate a new era for Uganda–an era of free and fair elections, with a level playing field. Ugandans demand, deserve and will accept nothing less. As President Barack Obama stated today, “History is on the side of these brave Africans.”
 
Signed by:
 
Mr. Olara A. Otunnu (Interim Chairman)
Mr. James Ssemakula (Interim Deputy Chairman)
Mr. John Mayanja (Interim President)
Mr. Mubiru Musoke (Interim Treasurer)
Professor Aloysius Lugira (Interim Secretary)
 
For further information, contact:
 
Mr. Jude Mbabaali
Foundation for African Development [FAD]
P.O. Box 2326, Kampala
Tel: 041 4510 486/041 4269 562
Mobile: 0772 444 663
Email: mbabaalij@yahoo.com; fad@infocom.co.ug
 
Professor Aloysius Lugira
Tel: 617-552-3539 or 781-439-3875.
Email: lugira.cdj@gmail.com; lugira@bc.edu

Louise Edwards
Programme Officer – Access to Justice (East Africa)
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Professor Philip Alston, presented his detailed report on Kenya at the recent 11th Session of the UN Human Rights Council.  In an extraordinary week of political maneuvering, reinforcing the internal tension that plagues Kenya’s Grand Coalition Government, the Kenyan delegation responded with an oral statement to the Council that contradicted their earlier written response. Having initially denied Professor Alston’s accusations of the widespread and systematic use of extrajudicial killings by the Kenya Police Force, the delegation conceded that there is a problem, but stopped short of acknowledging Government complicity.

The proceedings and outcomes at the 11th Session have received much local and international press.  Now, two weeks later, the focus must shift to action taken by the Kenyan Government to address the issues raised by Professor Alston and the fall out from the publication of his report, which included the killing of two human rights defenders that had previously cooperated with his mandate.  Despite the eventually positive response from the Kenyan delegation in Geneva, early signs of action are not necessarily promising.

Professor Alston’s report articulated what concerned local and international organisations have been saying about the Kenya Police Force for many years and which the Government failed to acknowledge until their oral statement to the Council – that extrajudicial killings are part of the policing landscape in Kenya. The oral statement also contained a public acknowledgement of Kenya’s weak police oversight mechanisms, the need to establish a local independent police commission and assurances that no human rights defenders would be intimidated or harassed as a result of their cooperation with the UN Special Procedures mandate-holders.

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether the promising outcomes in Geneva will translate into credible action in Nairobi.  Successive promises of reform articulated in a number of strategies and processes over the past 10 years have not been completed or sustained by the Kenya Government.  Kenyans continue to be policed by an organisation that lacks sufficient accountability structures, fails to protect or uphold basic human rights and is continually subject to illegitimate political interference.  Millions of dollars have been invested in the development and publication of commission reports, task force findings and reform strategies without any genuine steps by the Government to implement systemic reform.

The concerning state of policing in Kenya has received significant national and international attention over the past 18 months.  The police response to the 2007 post-election violence brought the issue of political partisanship, impunity and brutality to the fore.  The Waki Commission report into the violence strongly recommended comprehensive reform of the Kenya Police Force and Administration Police and Professor Alston’s report reinforced the brutal and corrupt practices that have been permitted to flourish by the unreformed, colonial policing model. 

Police reform is a daunting and long term process.  It requires substantial law reform, a radical shift in policing culture from one of impunity to accountability and the restoration of trust between police and the community.  None of these urgent reforms will happen in Kenya without the political and financial commitment of the Government to undertake reforms of this scope.  The recent establishment by the President of a special Police Reform Task Force represents a positive step towards delivering credible advances.  However, the Government must translate the Task Force’s recommendations into actual reform that goes beyond improving operational capacity to address governance, accountability and legal structures.  Otherwise the Task Force, for all its good intention, will become another failed reform vehicle.

Drawing on the previous recommendations and those foreshadowed to appear in the current Task Force findings, the Government should implement the following minimum reforms:

• Constitutional and legislative amendments that clearly separate the operational control of the police from the direct control from the political Executive and provide for transparency in monitoring police performance and conduct,
• Strengthening internal and external oversight mechanisms, including the enactment of legislation and budgetary allocation to give full effect to the Police Oversight Board plus the establishment of an independent complaints mechanisms,
• Establish a clear demarcation between the role of the Kenya Police Force and the Administration Police,
• Improve police human rights training and resourcing to strengthen human rights compliance and operational effectiveness in the prevention, detection and investigation of crime, and
• Establish clear legislative guidelines on the use of force, torture and adherence to basic due process that accord with Kenya’s existing obligations under international law.

If the Government is serious about reforming the police, a commitment to implementing past and current recommendations is not enough.  It must also take immediate steps that both demonstrate its firm commitment to reform and restore public confidence in the reform process.  A positive first action should be the investigation, prosecution and punishment of those police officers who commit or acquiesce to illegal acts including, but not limited to, those responsible for the 2007 post-election violence and the perpetrators of extrajudicial killings.

Other immediate steps must include measures to implement the Government’s guarantee of protection to individuals who have been intimidated or subject to retribution for their cooperation with the UN Special Procedures mandate-holders.  Human rights defenders, including members of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights have been subject to threats and some have been forced to flee Kenya.  The high profile execution of two prominent human rights defenders, who cooperated with Professor Alston, and the failure by the police and Government to identify those responsible, highlights the inadequacy of protection and security for human rights defenders.  While Kenya has a witness protection programme, reform is urgently required to ensure the integrity of its internal processes (including accountability, Executive control and information storage and sharing) before those who are most in need of protection will have confidence in the systems that are designed to deliver it. 

The 2007 post-election violence, followed by the findings in Professor Alston’s report, and the tragic consequences for human rights defenders who cooperated with his mandate, have kept the problems with Kenyan policing firmly in the international spotlight.  Whether the political will to commit to genuine reform is present in the Grand Coalition Government remains to be seen, but what is clear to the international community is that the need for police reform is more crucial than ever.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) is an independent, non-partisan, international NGO working for the practical realisation of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth.
www.humanrightsinitiative.org

President Omar Bongo of Gabon died on June 8, 2009. At the time of his passing, he was the longest serving leader of an African country at 42 years. His death has led to a lot of reflecting in the international media on the leaders in Africa that have held life long terms. The top ten list includes Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni at number seven with 23 years in power. The entire list is as follows:

1. President Muammar Gaddafi of Libya   39 Years
2. Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equitorial Guinea    30 Years
3. Jose Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola   30 Years
4. President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe   29 Years
5. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt   27 Years
6. President Paul Biya of Cameroon   26 Years
7. President Yoweri Museveni    23 Years
8. King Mswati III of Swaziland    23 Years
9. President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso  21 Years
10. President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia  21 Years

Following Afrikaans, Swahili is the second African language to launch a Facebook page.  In the past five years Facebook use has been spreading all over Africa to become one of the most popular social networking sites on the continent. A group of Swahili scholars approached the California based Internet firm to get permission to launch the new version of the site. The organizers of the Swahili version said that they launched the new version to safe guard the future of their language.

Facebook tested the new feature for months. And they claim that 60% of users in East Africa are already using the new Swahili version. The bulk of Swahili-speakers live in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, and Mozambique.

Facebook already exists in some 60 language versions.

SAN DIEGO, (April 20, 2009) – Being one of the first is nothing new for University of San Diego graduate Judy Ann Kamanyi. In 2003, she graduated as part of the first class to receive a master’s degree in peace and justice studies. On May 2, she will be first graduate to receive the Author E. Hughes Career Achievement Award from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies.

Kamanyi, who lives in Uganda, has worked in the public and the private sector over a period of 20 years and has been engaged in social development work at national, regional and international levels for more than a decade. She led one of the pioneer women development organizations in Uganda, Action for Development, and also headed The East African Center for Constitutional Development, a regional organization working on issues of democratic development, good governance and human rights.

“As one of the more experienced peace practitioners in the inaugural class, Judy always took the time to share her practical field experience with the other students and the professors, giving us examples and cases that illuminated our readings and helped us see the difficult choices that have to be made,” said Diana Kutlow, Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice senior program officer, who graduated with Kamanyi. “Since she left the program, she has worked with the military, police officers, development planners and women’s organizations to consolidate sustainable peace in northern Uganda and elsewhere in Africa. I couldn’t be more proud to consider her a friend and fellow alum.”

After graduating from USD, she returned to Uganda and worked closely with local and international civil society organizations, the government, and development partners, including bilateral and multilateral agencies, on poverty reduction, good governance, peace and conflict resolution and transitional justice. Kamanyi is passionate about gender equality and has interacted with movers and drivers of change in numerous regional and international conferences at which issues of human rights and gender equality have been deliberated. She is currently working as an advisor and consultant in her country.

Other Alumni Honors recipients for career achievement include L. Doug Robert, senior program manager for ITT Corporation; Sandra M. Cassell Farrell, retired marriage and family therapist; Denise M. Boren, a member of the Navy Nurse Corps;  John M. Cappetta, president, Capital Partners, LLC; Leona Makokis, president, Blue Quills First Nations College and Patricia A. Makokis, director of Research and Curriculum Development, Blue Quills First Nations College; Richard M. Bartell, president Bartell Hotels; and Heather Raffo, award-winning playwright of “9 Parts of Desire,” about the lives of women in Iraq.  Zuzana Lesenarova, 1999 NCAA women’s singles tennis champion, will be inducted into the Chet and Margeurite Pagni Athletic Hall of Fame.

USD Alumni Honors, part of the university’s 60th anniversary celebration, is a gala evening of dinner, tributes, and entertainment, honoring outstanding graduates in the areas of career and athletic achievement, contributions to humanitarian causes and volunteer service to USD.