Professor Grace Edward Galabuzi is a Ugandan Not Rwandese. What is so special about being Ugandan?

I met Professor Grace Edward Galabuzi at a conference, and upon realizing that we were both from Uganda, we got on well and we exchanged many pleasantries including sharing news about our places of origin, he told me that he is a Muganda from Masaka, he also told me about his relatives including his aunts etc in Uganda, that was some four years ago. I had no doubt about his statements; I mean why would a whole professor deny his roots when he is in a favourable position? The people should read Professor Galabuzi's book.  He is certainly a well respected member on the academic left.

What is so special in being Ugandan anyway even when you are abroad? There is no need labelling people, being Rwandese is no crime but let Rwandese be Rwandese, Iteso be Iteso or Baganda be Baganda. In the same way, I am sure a Musoga would protest if he was called a Muganda or if a Karamojong was called a Muganda, he could easily get annoyed and if he was near his home place, he could easily look for his weapon. Even among conservative people, you can suffer if there is mistaken identity, for example, I  once joked with one Karamojong girl that I wanted to marry her; she spat on the ground and looked at me as though I was some minute thing and because I spoke Akaramojong with a foreign accent, she thought I was totally a foreigner, she said she could not have anything with Iteso, and from my looks, that I was sick and that I was hiding some diseases ( by then if you did put on clothes, it meant  you were hiding diseases, that normal people wear nothing). I talked and talked but wapi, she said I was sick; but after some years, she learnt that I was not totally a stranger, for she could see me at my uncles enjoying the company of naked men lying under trees discussing politics and economy.

As for Rwandese benefiting from our resources, we have to understand that we also have Ugandans all over the world benefiting from resources in those countries. As we see from Ugandans At Heart(UAH) forum postings, we are spread all over the world. Take for example ,Mzee Mulindwa Edward,  is in Canada enjoying more than the Natives (Aboriginals). And of course there are many of us abroad, so there is no crime for any Rwandese enjoying in Uganda as long as they are law-abiding as required.

 Let us leave this tribalistic tendencies, in fact if I had powers, I would "reverse brain drain," by recruiting all those geniuses from different African countries to settle in Uganda, especially if they have a lot to offer to our country, why not, that is why countries such as Britain, US and Canada developed; so if there are Rwandese who have what we need, why not bring them? A Muganda friend once told me that the Baganda say that even a dog can be a good friend if it has gold to be extracted, why not.

It hurts to see a person you know being wrongly abused. I don't know much about Grace's origin apart from what he told me, but his academics, this I am certain of. In my discussion with Grace, we touched on many issues including improvements we could adopt in Uganda especially in politics and economy. The man in question, Prof Grace Edward Galabuzi, is well read with 2 undergraduate degrees, 1 masters and a Ph.D, and has published extensively.

According to Kyijomanyi, a Ugandan elder residing in New York, ‘’He was a great footballer who played for KCC and even the Cranes and of course his hall of residence at Makerere. It is outright nonsense for anyone to claim that Dr Grace Galabuzi is a Rwandese. He is a muganda wawu.Listen, Ugandans should stop this nonsense of labeling anyone they dislike Rwandese. Where did such hate come from among Ugandans?   Go ask Mister Bidandi Ssali and other Ugandans about him. Sure he left Uganda after the 1980 elections for he was an official in Mr Opiyo Oloya's guild government.  Sure he may have sided with NRA or whatever but that does not make him Rwandese.’’

Dr.Besigye and Bahororo

On the issue of Bahororo in our 1995 constitution, Dr.Besigye as a person  has weaknesses, but to blame him for listing Bahororo in the Constitution is way too far; and to try to ridicule my view about the issue is equally too far, though I don't mind; in that case, what nationalism are then talking about when we try to distort facts?

OKURUT SIMON PETER

USA