Following the pattern of most dictator regimes coming to an end, Museveni and his collaborators in the armed occupation of Buganda are starting to behave like grasshoppers. Getting increasing paranoid, Museveni has become ruthless in dealing with real and imagined enemies. From Betty Nambooze to Kabaka Mutebi, he is willing to be reckless in the name of survival. And like grasshoppers, the NRM top brass are now so sacred that they are starting to cannibalize each other. This is what happened in the 1970’s as Amin’s Nubians and Kakwas started to fear their own shadows.

During the last 7 days alone, three key figures in the NRM system have escaped death or been killed in what most analysts agree to be, at best, highly suspicious circumstances. The architecture of the NRM occupation of Buganda through the arbitrary decentralization system, Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, narrowly escaped death when a speeding motorcycle ran his vehicle off the road in Bunyoro. Mysteriously, the motorcycle rider and his bike both disappeared. The police commander in the area, a Munyankore named Tumusiime, insisted that although they believed that there had been an accident, they could not do anything because all the important evidence had been carefully removed. A shaken Bidandi Ssali told the local press that he was sure that some people had tried to kill him.

The same Saturday, Brian Bukenya, the son of one of Museveni’s key collaborators in the NRM occupation of Buganda, vice president Gilbert Bukenya, dies in a freak. Brian Bukenya graduated in Law from the United Kingdom before joining the Uganda occupation army (UPDF) under pressure from his father. According to sources, the vice president who is obsessed with replacing Museveni if a chance arises, wanted his son to be in the army to emulate the president’s Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Although Museveni feigned approval, a source close to state house tell us that no one in Museveni’s akazu (secret Balaalo kitchen cabinet) was amused. Key akazu figures like Salim Saleh, Jovia Saleh, Janet Kataha Museveni, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, David Tinyefuza and Sam Kuteesa all saw Bukenya’s move as a challenge. The source adds that, although it is difficult to pin down the culprits, once Brian Bukenya and his father made clear that they were bent on getting him in the Sandhurst Military Academy, his fate was sealed.

Brian Bukenya, who was reportedly born out of an adulterous relationship that Bukenya had with a friend’s wife, died when the vehicle in which he was travelling from Kabamba to Kampala overturned.  Mysteriously, the driver, who survived, told police that after the accident he became unconscious and does not know how he got from the accident scene to his sister’s house in Kibuli, an hour’s drive away. The driver, Nathan Lwanga, also insists that he was speeding because the deceased, Brian Bukenya, told him to do so.

And on Tuesday, another major contributor to the NRM armed occupation of Buganda, Maj. Gen. James Kazini died in another bizarre case. According to the Uganda occupation police force, led by Rwandese Karyekezi Kayihura, Kazini was killed by his girlfriend who struck him with an iron bar. However, Brig. Elly Kayanja one of Museveni’s most ruthless security operators insists that the story is suspect. According to our source in the Uganda’s porous security community, Kazini’s confessed killer is an ISO operative. Kayanja headed ISO about 10 years ago before he went on to form the notorious Operation Wembley.

What remains unclear is the strength of Museveni’s hand in any of the three high profile deaths of NRM diehards.  Either way, the writing appears to be on the wall. The NRM occupation army is starting to eat its own limbs, beginning with Brian Bukenya and James Kazini. And Bidandi Ssali now has a new job – watching his back. Brig. Elly Kayanja confirmed that the grasshopper syndrome has taken root when told the Uganda local press that he advises all army officers, especially senior ones, to move with their pistols on the ready.

Our source told us that since the Kayunga riots, it appears that Engineer JB Walusimbi has been rethinking his part time job as Katikkiro. She says: “First,  it looks like JB realized during the riots that Baganda youth might one of these days kill him or some of his 6 children because of the image that he is on Museveni’s side. As a person, he wants to be Katikkiro but it is impossible for him when he is much closer  to Gilbert Bukenya and Museveni than he is to Kabaka Mutebi. And the way that Baganda youths are attacking him, is giving him high blood pressure. That is why he is really losing interest, because no one trusts him. Not even most of us members of his Magunda ssiga.”

Many Baganda were incensed with the statement that Katikkiro Walusimbi issued after the “gun on your head” Kabaka Mutebi was forced to have with Uganda warlord, Yoweri Museveni on September 30, 2009 (see “Katikkiro JB Walusimbi Praises Gunpoint Meeting Between Kabaka and Museveni“).  Since then, Katikkiro Walusimbi, has all but abandoned making pro-Buganda public statements or associating himself with the hundreds of Baganda who were murdered or continue to be arrested and tortured by the NRM government. The Katikkiro is even low key on the arrests and continuing harassment of Kabaka’s officials by Museveni’s security forces. He reportedly avoided assisting Kabaka’s official ,Betty Nambooze, with her medical problems, for fear of annoying Museveni who hates her.  According to local press reports, Kabaka Mutebi was forced to personally get involved in Nambooze’s case, working through other obedient ministers to provide her with much needed medical care.

If it is true that Engineer Walusimbi is losing interest his position as Katikkiro, there is evidence that he could be developing a new interest. Over the last two weeks, Katikkiro Walusimbi’s high profile engagements were closing the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) trade show and presiding over the Rotary Club announcement of free medical operations program for the poor. At the UMA event, Owek. Walusimbi surprised many in the audience when he promised that Buganda would never reclaim the 9,000 square miles from its illegal occupiers but only partner with them to generate income from the land. The subject of how the 9,000 miles would be administered has never been discussed by the Buganda Lukiiko. Many of Engineer Walusimbi’s critics are also upset that this “Kabaka ow’ebweeru” was giving attention to Rotary Club medical operations instead of putting priority on getting Betty Nambooze the urgent surgery she needs.

President Museveni’s propaganda team were wise to bar all Uganda TV stations from broadcasting the proceedings at the NRM’s independence day celebrations on October 9, 2009 at Kololo Airstrip.  That is because, this year’s ceremony saw the smallest crowd of ordinary Ugandans in the 47 years since the British granted independence to Uganda on October 9, 2009. Leaving out the many security or government officials and about 60 boda boda’s, approximately 900 ordinary people attended. Notably, even with this small crowd, the majority wore yellow NRM party tee shirts which were given out free in poor areas to entice people to come to the event.

Conspicuously absent were foreign dignitaries from Libya and neighboring countries. Even the so called cultural leaders, who Museveni supports financially, stayed home – Omukama of Toro, Omukama of Bunyoro, Kyabazinga of Busoga, Omorimor of Teso and Rwot of Acholi. The only non-government VIPs present were a few diplomats accredited to Uganda, junior officials from Kenya, Tanzania and Southern Sudan plus Mr. Museveni’s own Ssabaluri Mwogeza Butamanya (coincidentally, it literally translates to  ”the one who speaks with ignorance”) and Sabanyala Kimeze.

State House Panic and Propaganda Plan

On October 7, 2009, Mr. Museveni’s statehouse received reliable information that over 10,000 people had greeted Kabaka Mutebi in Mityana (Ssingo county), on his way to the Buganda independence event in Mubende, Buwekula county. They knew right away that Kabaka’s crowds could embarrass Museveni at the Uganda independence celebrations on the 9th. So, they turned their attention to controlling the news about Kabaka Mutebi’s activities.

According to our sources in Mr. Meseveni’s ISO, the plan which was hatched by Tamale Mirundi, Robert Kobushenga, Kabakumba Matsiko and a certain Mafabi included 5 main elements: (a) Minimize the crowd in any pictures of Kabaka Mutebi’s crowds if shown in government newspapers. (b) Use physical barriers to force the crowd at Kololo into a relatively small but longish area just below Upper Kololo Terrace road so that the numbers can look big in photos taken from a low angle; (c) Have Mr. Museveni enter the ceremonies through the crowd area, so that we can take photos showing many people around the president, (d) force all major media outlets to broadcast the events at Kololo, using a single audio/video feed from the government’s Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), and (e) strengthen enforcement of the rules which Godfrey Mutabazi had placed on radio stations, barring any praise of Kabaka or Buganda.

The Monitor Does Not Cooperate

On October 8 and 9, New Vision and Bukedde reported on Kabaka’s tour of Buwekula but omitted any mention of Buganda Independence celebrations, only referring to bulungi bwa nsi (national service) but without translating it to English. Also, they have avoided any picture which show the huge crowds that the Kabaka attracted in Mubende or Mityana. The crowd at the main Mubende celebrations was approximately 25,000 people.

In a sign that the Aga Khan’s The Monitor newspaper editors may be starting to rethink their anti-Buganda sentiments, they defied Museveni and published a photo showing Kabaka Mutebi with thousands of his subjects jubilating around him. Furthermore, they published parts of the Kabaka’s tough “47 Years Wasted” speech, although with incorrect translation in some parts (see “Kabaka Mutebi Disowns Katikkiro’s Apologetic Tone“).

Ghost NRM Independence Day Celebrations

On October 9, Mr. Museveni’s worst fears came to pass. Despite the efforts of his propaganda people, the 900 or so crowd was to small for anyone to ignore. However, state house forced WBS TV, NTV, and NBS to suspend regularly scheduled programming and transmit the UBC TV feed from Kololo live for over 5 hours. And the UBC camera were continuously glued on the marching troops and the VIPs, skipping the miserable crowd. And in a sign that Museveni is losing confidence, he gave his shortest independence day speech ever even though the event lasted from 10:00AM to 3:30 AM.

Uncharacteristically, Museveni read his independence day speech strictly from the script, without any of his trademark long strays to abuse or threaten Baganda, aid donors and others. Also, although he had been fully briefed about Kabaka Mutebi’s statement that Buganda has gained nothing out of 47 years of independence, the Uganda warlord did not mention the subject at all (see “Kabaka Mutebi Disowns Katikkiro’s Apologetic Tone“).

Museveni’s speech included nothing he has not said over the last few years.

• He boasted of his record on education and raised eyebrows when he interpreted the rampant unemployment in Uganda as a sign of his successes, saying: “We no longer have to be frustrated by these people who don’t want to work. You find a problem person somewhere, you act, get rid of that person and get another one because they are many here now.”
• He pledged, as he has done numerous since 1986, that he will fight corruption. But immediately warned that the war on corruption, which is now much worse now than in 1986, will not be won overnight but through a protracted struggle. This time, he spared judges and the police and blamed accountants, auditors and accounting officers for the persistent corruption. However, he promised his outwardly bored audience that he has new army of young “clean” accountants and auditor to lead the war on graft. He did not mention where the got their education or earned their professional experience.
• He made the “obvious” observation that recent oil discoveries would increase self-reliance and make Uganda less dependent on foreign aid.
• Mr. Museveni (once again) revealed that problem of theft of drugs is a serious problem in the health sector. He did not mention the status of the corruption charges against his ministers and NRM stalwarts Michael Mukula and Jim Muwhezi.

Museveni’s Colonel’s on Empty Stomachs

The otherwise dull event could not end without typical Ugandan breakdown. The man in charge of the parade at the very long ceremonies, UPDF’s Col. Peter Ekweru, fainted and fell on his face due to hunger and exhaustion. Sources could not confirm how a whole colonel could command an important national parade on a empty stomach.

International rallying co-driver Moses Matovu narrowly missed out on a podium finish on last weekend’s Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally when he co-drove fellow Ugandan Emmanuel Katto to fifth overall and fourth registered driver in the three day long event.

The lead up to this, the final round of the 2009 FIA African Rally Championship, was not ideal, with Moses having to lend a hand to ensure the Tommi Makinen Rallying prepared Subaru Impreza N14 was ready to rally, and thus the team missed out on the opportunity to recce the special stages. This put Emmanuel and Moses on a back foot and when the car suffered with suspension problems the team focused on securing a finish, rather than challenging for the win.

On Sunday morning Moses even took the wheel of the 300 bhp Subaru for two stages and was pleased to set times comparable with rallying legend Katto on roads he had never seen before!

The Zimbabwe Challenge Rally certainly lives up to its name every year. And 2009 was no exception. We struggled with setup issues and weren’t helped by having to borrow pace notes which were in a different format to our own. The gesture by the other competitors for offering us their personal notes was fantastic and I thank everyone for all of their assistance.

We ended the rally tantalisingly close to securing our third podium finish of the season but at least we scored another finish which helped both Emmanuel and I take third in the title race.

Whilst the 2009 FIA African Rally Championship might now be over Moses still has a busy period ahead of him. The popular Ugandan will travel to Rwanda on 18 September to call notes for rising Kenyan driver Peter Horsey in a Mitsubishi Evo 9. The KCB Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally sees the young talents from across Africa go head to head for the Pirelli Star Drive, a fully funded drive in six WRC rounds in 2010!

Final FIA African Rally Championship co-drivers points

Phil Archenoul  42 points

David Shioka                31

Moses Matovu          22

For more on the team please visit www.emkarally.com

For more on the African Rally Championship visit www.africanrallychampionship.com

Moses, who co-drives for top Ugandan rally drive Emmanuel Katto in a Tommi Makinen Racing Subaru Impreza N14, began the year with a fine second overall in Tanzania. Overheating problems restricted the pair to fifth place points in Kenya, whilst their home rally was cut short after the tragic accident of close friend Riyaz Kurji towards the end of Day 1. The pair then journeyed south to Zambia for the penultimate round, but a combination of problems, including an altercation with a tree ended their rally and along with it, their 2009 championship hopes.

Emmanuel and I certainly have not had the greatest of years this year. We’ve shown that the car has the pace and the potential and are already working on plans for 2010. We head to Zimbabwe to show our support to the organisers and the other crews, and will be aiming to end our season on a high.

Moses has prior experience of the high speed roads that make up the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally. In 2007 Moses made his debut alongside Katto and the pair were lying a comfortable third overall when the engine let go. The pair will certainly be hoping that history does not repeat itself this weekend.

The Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally begins on Friday the 28th of August, and after over 230 kilometres of high speed rallying the crews will return to the capital for a ceremonial finish on Sunday afternoon.

For more on the team please visit www.emkarally.com

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

Kofi Annan, former U.N. chief and current president of the Global Humanitarian Forum, said, “The world’s poorest are also the world’s most vulnerable when it comes to the impact of climate change, and the least equipped to deal with its consequences.” He went on to add, “Today you find cell phone towers in almost every part of Africa. We have never been able to establish weather monitoring on that scale, until now.”

Today about 70% of income in Africa is from farming, most of which relies on natural rainfall. However, up to know the ability to accurately predict rainfall and wind patterns has not been available to the majority of farmers. In comparison to Europe’s thousands, the entire continent only has about 200 weather stations.

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.