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Libya: Open Letter to Colonel Gadaffi
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The Monitor (Kampala)
OPINION
24 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008
Jack Sabiiti
Comrade Gadaffi, I am compelled to ink this missive following your reported counsel to President Museveni to rule for life "since he is doing good and has the will of the people of Uganda"
Your recommendation for a monarch and law of rule in Uganda at this time lays you open to ridicule and is overly insensitive to thousands of Ugandans who have fallen victim of the bloody struggle for democracy and rule of law in Uganda since independence in 1962.
You may recall, for instance, that in 1980 Museveni and a handful of Ugandans launched a protracted bush war that would last five years whose agenda, or so it was claimed, was restoration of constitutionalism in Uganda.
It was a costly war in terms of both human life and socio-economic infrastructure. It took a solid 10 years for the victorious NRA/M led by Museveni to sort out the mess in the aftermath of the war, before calling for elections.
For five years from 1988, the country incurred so much in kick-starting, processing debating, enacting and promulgating a constitution whose preamble reminds us of our history characterised by political instability," recognises "our struggles against forces of tyranny and oppression and emphasises " a commitment to building a better future by establishing a socio-economic and political order through a popular and durable national constitution."
Indeed, in pursuit of sustainable peace and political stability, it was a unanimous decision of the Constituent Assembly that enacted the Constitution to limit presidential terms to only two of 5 years each, in order to guard against political greed and overzealousness in future.
At the time of the new constitution, Museveni had already ruled for 10 years which, in retrospect, constituted two terms, meaning that by 2006 when elections were held, be had ruled for 20 years equaling four terms.
In 2005 as it were, Museveni masterminded an irregular and/or fraudulent constitutional amendment that occasioned' deletion of Article 105 (2) of the Constitution on term limits, in effect creating an open term that allowed him to seek re-election as many times as he chooses.
Your life presidency recommendation henceforth only seeks to buttress what Museveni has all along been implementing. And it is not surprising that Museveni has reportedly told the ruling Movement's National Executive Council to consider your fascist suggestion that elections be put aside in Uganda as food for thought.
In 1982, I was sponsored by Uganda Patriotic Movement to undergo military training in your country and I witness what your 1969 coup turned revolution had done to transform the lives of Libyans. Within 13 years, your Green Book Revolution had afforded each Libyan free housing, fully paid-up healthcare, water, electricity, education, a car for each family and a revitalised socio-economic infrastructure.
In sharp contrast, 26 years of NRM rule in Uganda have been disastrous, defined by malevolent dictatorship, human rights abuse, corruption and embezzlement, nepotism and patronage, Political instability and socioeconomic decadence . 70% of the population lives below the poverty line.
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So, even if Ugandans were to subordinate Constitutionalism and rule of law to "goodwill and "performance which of course they can't now afford, you are overly wrong and unkind to urge them to espouse your view because Museveni neither performs nor has their will and trust.
The writer is FDC Treasurer General
*We were unable to run Ms Kamya's column today. Editor
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