Uganda has failed because of lack of tested leaders

Uganda has everything except good, dedicated, tested and patriotic
leaders. When someone suddenly jumps out of a ‘corn field’ onto a
political stage and then quickly becomes head of state chances are
that that country will experience tremendous difficulties.

Look at Uganda since independence in 1962. Uganda People’s Congress
(UPC) and Kabaka-Yekka (KY) political parties were formed virtually on
the eve of independence, allowing no time to test the leaders. The UPC/
KY alliance was a marriage of convenience – not of conviction to unite
and lead Uganda to greatness.

The alliance was hurriedly put together for the sole purpose of
preventing Democratic Party (DP) from forming a government at
independence.  In this rush thorny issues like the head of state and
‘lost counties’ which could have prevented formation of a UPC/KY
alliance were not resolved before independence. The rush gave us a
complex constitution with serious repercussions.

What happened after independence did not surprise those who followed
the negotiations in London or who knew the ideological differences
between UPC and KY leaders. We ended up with 1966 catastrophe, a
pigeon-hole constitution and Amin in 1971.

Sections of Ugandans were so fed up with UPC leaders in the 1960s that
they were prepared to accept another group that jumped out of the
‘cotton field’ onto the political stage.  To them no leader could be
worse than Obote. We ended up with Amin. For a few weeks Amin was man
of the people. Ugandans hugged him, kissed and even danced with him.
We all know what we ended up with – graves, economic destruction,
environmental degradation, social chaos and cultural disintegration.

While Amin destroyed the country, her people and ecological beauty, no
concerted efforts were made to identify a possible leader or group of
people that could form the next government should Amin exit from
power. Instead Ugandans formed unviable tribal groups undermining each
other most of the time.

The sudden prospect that Amin could fall brought twenty two groups
together in Moshi Tanzania in 1979 to form a transition government.
Some groups were formed literally on the eve of the conference.
Ugandans who had never met before, or could never attend the same
function because of their wide differences or had never even heard
from one another agreed to form a government of convenience. It is not
surprising that the first head of state after Amin’s fall lasted only
68 days.

As if that was not enough many Ugandans joined Museveni in a five-year
destructive guerrilla war (1981-86) simply because they detested Obote
II regime that came to power in 1980 through contested elections.
They again reasoned that no leader could be worse than Obote II.

Then came Okello in July 1985. Ugandans danced in towns and villages
that UPC and Obote II government had been removed. Okello seized power
without a plan to hold it. “The new regime had no political programme
and was not prepared for government” writes Drum correspondent.

In these circumstances it is not surprising that Museveni became
president in January 1986, six months after Okello had seized power
from Obote. Ugandans did not know Museveni’s background or his record
of public service. Nobody even bothered to check that the core of his
guerrilla fighters was made up of mercenaries.  He hoodwinked Ugandans
and the international community with the ten-point program which he
knew he would not implement as soon as he was able to drop it.
Museveni all along wanted to colonize Uganda, impoverish or bribe her
citizens and use them as a stepping stone to greater things.

After establishing himself securely on Uganda soil, he let Uganda and
the rest of the world know what his real mission had all along been.
On April 4, 1997 Museveni declared, “My mission is to see that
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi,
and Zaire (DRC) become federal states under one nation [with Museveni
as president or emperor]”.

Museveni’s relentless push for fast-track East African political
federation -- ahead of East African economic integration -- is part of
this project. The people of East Africa and especially their leaders
should not lose sight of this admission as they deal with Museveni
within the East African context. He wants a Tutsi Empire!

We know Museveni will exit some day and possibly soon. This time let
us Ugandans make every effort to identify someone or a group of
Ugandans – dedicated and patriotic on the basis of their public record
at home and/or abroad – to do things better not for themselves but for
Uganda’s present and future generations.

Eric Kashambuzi