The NRM government newspaper Bukedde of March 10, 2010, published a story showing that vote buying in school prefect elections is the norm in Uganda schools. At the swearing in of Shafina Nangobi as the headgirl at Pic Hill Primary School in Kawempe, the young lady openly said that she had spent about US$1 ,500 on her campaign. Shafinah Nangobi explained that she spent most of the money buying snacks and food for student voters. She then offered the runner-up in the election to be her deputy.

Shafina is the daughter of a Ugandan celebrity, Sylvia Namutebi, better known as Maama Fiina. Ms. Namutebi attended her daughter’s swearing in ceremony. She told the students and teachers that this is the beginning for her daughter. The plan is for Shafinah to compete for a seat in the Uganda national parliament when she grows up. Then Maama Fiina bought lunch for everyone present.

For the last more than 10 years, becoming a class monitor or dormitory prefect in Ugandan schools involves serious political campaigns. The NRM government encourages politics in schools, claiming that it teaches democracy to the youngest Ugandans. The problem is that now children buy votes to become primary school prefects or class monitors and parents and teachers encourage it. Children are learning corruption at at the same time as addition and multiplication.

David Kasozi

I have just watched the US ABC TV network program 20/20 and seen a story on child sacrifices in Uganda. Although the story is professionally done, I was surprised that it said nothing about  the the economic and social chaos which provides the environment for this bizarre practice of  child  sacrifices. For example, the story did not talk about the cult-like NRM dictatorship government in Uganda for over 20 years, with over 50% of its budget funded by the foreign donors.  The story also fails to mention that Uganda is one of the most corrupt countries in the world and is a haven for  smugglers, ex-convicts, money launderers and others with satanic practices. How could they have missed all the stories on the corruption in Mr. Museveni’s own family?

In a sign that all black African are the same to ABC TV, the story leaves out information about the fact that a huge majority of the child sacrifices are happening in Buganda and that the victims are mostly Baganda. Yet, the practice of child sacrifices was unheard of in Buganda until  the Uganda army occupied Congo and NRM top brass from Western Uganda started looting gold and adopting child sacrifice and other strange practices from Eastern Congo. The only authoritative Muganda who was interviewed, Sekagya, a Muganda , made it clear that child sacrifice was unknown in his culture. ABC did not ask him what his culture (Baganda) is.

The coverage of the ABC investigation is also surprisingly shallow because it is limited to the small fish. The story claims that the NRM government has created a 1,000 man police unit  to fight the sacrifices but does only shows two poor peasants and small time businessmen peasant for examples. Surely, how come the 1,000 strong police unit has no convicts to show?  Even a  6 year old Uganda child will tell you that 1,000 people force is only a channel to tap in American aid dollars but not to fight anything.  Otherwise how come that the NRM government’s police failed to deal with hig profile cases such as the mass fire sacrifices of girl virgins at Budo Primary School (see http://www.bugandapost.com/main/archives/347) or the famous case of Edwin Muguluma case (http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/513533)?

When the Rwanda genocide happened many international  news organizations claimed that there were no warning signs. The truth is that these organizations were too ignorant about African people to see the sign. To them all Africans are the same, with no strong cultural differences that can even cause a genocide. That is why ABC News and their 20/20 program say in their story that “Uganda is thriving”. How can a country thrive when its budget is 50% funded by foreign aid? They could not see that Buganda and that is under armed occupation by the Ugandan NRM dictatorship. They even missed the bloody Kayunga civil disturbances and police massacre late last year. They don’t see that the failed state status is a clear sign that genocide could very easily happen in Uganda.

The ABC News story helps to expose the severe failures of Museveni’s NRM government to protect Uganda taxpayers. However ABC wasted a big opportunity to understand the background, root causes and long term effects of child sacrifices in Uganda.

You can find the ABC story by searching on “Child Sacrifice in Uganda” at www.google.com.

Prime Minister Prof Apollo Nsibambi of Uganda shocked his family and Baganda, in general, when he disowned his supposed cultural norms and declared a daughter his heir (musika). Nsibambi, who is reported to be fighting a bout of severe depression, chose a conference on population policy at Sheraton Kampala to declare his daughter, Rhoda, his official musika. Among Baganda, it is taboo for a person to have a musika who is not of the same sex and clan.

One Muganda elder who went to Mengo School with Nsibambi,  told this reporter that Museveni’s prime minister is a very selfish man. Quote: “Since he was a small boy Apollo has been a self-centered ‘kabandabe’ (show-off) person. In primary school, he used to do very selfish things such as telling lies about classmates to gain teachers’ favors. Even at university level, he relied more on people manipulation skills than on his raw brains. His problem now is that today’s Baganda see through him, and his master Museveni knows it too. It is the ‘kabandabe’ inferiority complex mixed with insecurity that made him name the daughter as a musika. But now it is the daughter and her husband and children who will be stigmatized for the rest of their lives. Can a 70 year old be more selfish than that?”.

Every Muganda like Nsibambi belongs to a clan; the clan of his or her father. In Baganda culture, an adult person never fully dies because after his or her death a person of the same clan and sex is selected to become the deceased’s musika. Typically a person chooses their heir. Their child, grandchild, brother, cousin or nephew for men. And a sister, cousin or niece for women. This custom is called okusikira (to replace). It is so important to Baganda that even if a 10 year old female cousin becomes musika to the mother of a 46 year old, he publically refers to her as “my mother”.

It is important to note that the okusikira custom is independent of property inheritance rights. For hundreds of years Baganda men without have willed large proportions of their wealth to their daughters without naming them the musika. Baganda women have historically done it even more, often giving virtually everything to their daughters and sons and only a token of appreciation to the official musika.