1 August 2009
editorial
President Museveni has taken the nation by storm declaring that elective leadership positions in the oil-rich Bunyoro region be exclusively for ethnic Banyoro.
This pronouncement, first echoed about a month ago by Information Minister Kabakumba Masiko, is not only a reckless and dangerous gamble but also illegal.
For the Constitution guarantees every Ugandan the right to live in any part of the country, vote or be voted in any election as long as they are of the majority age - 18 years - and not encumbered by other considerations. As of February 1, 1926, Uganda had 64 indigenous ethnic groupings elaborately listed in the 3rd schedule of the Constitution. And logic tells us that framers of the country's supreme law were alive to the fact that citizens of these diverse cultural backgrounds would migrate to different parts for socio-economic reasons.
But most importantly that wherever they may be, no one should be stripped of the right to determine how they are governed including migrants who must also be allowed to contest elections. President Museveni's populist take might sound good for political expediency in the feverish run up to the 2011 general elections but it's a recipe for disaster.
Firstly, it lends credence to claims that government's criticised decision to fracture the country into non-viable districts aims to divide people as seen in the Maracha-Terego saga as well as the fallout between the Iteso and Japadhola of Tororo District, which is up for a constested split.
Therefore, the Bunyoro case is a litmus test on how the government handles ethnic tensions, and in no way should tribal contests be resolved in a manner as to embolden other myopic agitators. This country belongs to all of us and so too are the natural resources, the oil in Bunyoro inclusive. True statesmen do not relent to tribal pressures and the President has a chance to demonstrate that he is above common suspicion.
And let's pause a simple question: should the other ethnic groups in Uganda all demand that political positions in their areas be filled by kith and kin? Well, this country has bled enough and government should stop fanning ethnic divisions.
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