David Mafabi
27 August 2008
column
On July 27 President Yoweri Museveni asked the Baganda [Mengo] to stop abusing him. "They should stop abusing me. How can they abuse me like a child? Even a child cannot be abused like that. I am no longer going to accept that....." The article explains why the Mengo officials of Mr Charles Mayinga, Mr Medard Lubega and Land Bill activist Betty Nambooze were arrested.
The person of the President should not be abused but does our President have the internal preparation and moral justification to say this? Does he nurture a similar heart of rejecting abuse in us by abusing himself; the kind that prompts us to double over with laughter when we watch him abuse?
While on the trail in western Uganda, President Museveni regarded the opposition as night dancers [8 January 2007].
In Busoga, the president likened Bugweri MP, Abdu Katuntu and other opposition members to poisonous mushrooms, jiggers, night dancers and under this government, we have seen Ugandans being likened to 'cockroaches, Mavi Yakuku' etc.
While on the tour in Bugisu sub-region between August 4 - 9 at a public rally at Mbale SS, the President remarked, "FDC is like millet spill over, UPC is a dead party that failed to treat Uganda twice and DP is empty and has failed to treat the country."
Now when our dear President shifts position and says people should stop abusing him, we see him as the type who preaches unity yet at the same time balkanising our country into unenviable units along political and regional lines.
The traditional Bagisu have a saying that 'Mugamba nemakungula gobyale kyelelo,' meaning, tomorrow is the harvest of what we plant today. If our president planted potatoes yesterday why does he think that he will harvest beans the following day, for that case tomorrow? Today, abusive language in our political terrain ceases not to be merely an ethical problem, which erodes the moral fibre of society; but it is iniquitous and shows how political morality is wanting in our leaders and explains volumes how peaceful political transition is being retarded and undermined.
What seems evident is that government leadership, cadres and the political converts abuse the Opposition with impunity and then turn around very fast to condemn it especially when others do the same. They disregard the rules and regulations of politics knowing that when they breach them nothing will happen to them because those who wield state power protect them.
My grand mum used to tell us that "When you are staying in a house of glass, avoid throwing stones at your neighbours." And using her own experience, I drew one lesson that if you feel you have a lot to be abused, then don't abuse and nobody will abuse you.
Under the movement government, forgiveness and tolerance has been a fantastic, healthy landmark in Uganda's history and the biggest bouquet goes to Mr Museveni for being a "forgiving and tolerant leader" But when he forgets shortly after and begins abusing opposition, as Ugandans who understand the serious issues embedded in our politics, we begin to believe that the president is being emotional, has missed a point and preaches what he cannot practice.
By preaching this and he does the other, the President is losing the little faith 'we the peasants' still have for him because we are discovering that there are things that have been going on behind our backs.
The best way our dear President should save his political image and government is to live up to his word. Otherwise the way things stand today our political terrain remains bleak. With President Museveni at the helm of abuse, generation of neglect of political morality has landed Uganda's transitional period in its deepest.
I don't know what to make of this but it seems our dear leaders are consumed by visions of attaining and dispensing political power and patronage through all the dirty channels possible. And when it is said that behind everything is the problem of leadership, this is close to the truth. Should all forms of thought and practice under NRM persist without challenge?
Should Ugandans lose sight of all other possibilities? Cover up potholes in our courtyards and roads with grass and say to ourselves because our eyes cannot see the potholes then Ugandans can prance about as they like?
For a peaceful political transition and democracy and political maturity in Uganda our leaders to give way to forgiveness, unity, constructive criticism and political morality by use of civil language.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
