Saturday 28 January 2012

Federalism will not end corruption in Uganda

For the first five of her years, Uganda was run as a federal state.  By the time the Federal constitution became thoroughly unmanageable, a cultural head of one of the federal units (and ironically President of the country) was telling the government to remove itself from that unit's soil.  You remember?  So, when you say, "...why not do something and fail so that we learn our lessons...", you leave me wondering unless I misunderstood you.  


In fact Unitarism came into the picture when federalism was about to precipitate the demise of the country as we know it.


On the assertion that corruption comes from the centre etc, some of you seem to be saying that when you translocate a hyena from a game park to a cage in a zoo it becomes an angel.  I say no to that!  It still remains the same old hyena, and even a more desperate, voracious and dangerous one!  When who is she, er, Kabakumba is made chief whip of Bunyoro, she will still pilfer hardware.  She will be so desperate that she will even personalise kingdom silver!


The elite of a society which is still scrounging for initial capital will carry out primitive accumulation where ever you place them within the country.  That makes the debate over federal/unitarism a sterile whistle in the wind.  Corruption results from another kind of logic that has nothing to do with the system of government. 


The fact is that our elite back home do not have other nations to enslave or to colonise to get initial capital, unlike the elite of the earlier modernisers.  Ours have to do all their primitive accumulation from within the borders of Uganda.....that is my guess...a corporal's guess...on the political economy of corruption in Uganda.  Chances are that I am wrong. 


I specifically refer to the political elite and these are not 34 million (which would make it every Ugandan).  The elite are 2.7361 million.  

Still using the hyena analogy, may be some of you are misreading the Nyoro saying that "Empisi y'owanyu ekulya nekukumakuma"...that the local hyena in your village devours you gently.  May be that is the the argument those conflating corruption with unitarism can advance.  But alas, gentle or otherwise, the hyena will still have eaten you!  Its table manners will ultimately not matter!   


Some of you talk of the list of the corrupt.  Of those 2.7 million elite not (yet) making it to the list of the corrupt, I use the hyena metaphor again.  A shortage of prey or lack of access to goats does not turn a hyena into a herbivore.  It will still be the same old hyena except this time it will be desperately hungry, waiting for the chance to also make it on the list.  Get any of those not making it to the list because they have no access (yet), put them in the right place and they will show you their true colours! 


On the problems between Mr Mutesa and Mr Obote, do I read that Mr Obote was merely being paranoid? He may as well have been that and other worse things, but let us face the facts.  Assume he was paranoid, is it not foolish to play in the hands of a paranoid creature?  Was it probably not a case of paranoia vs paranoia?


Those who have always claimed that Mr Obote was paranoid have in fact already been let down by none other than Mr Mutesa himself.  The other day I grabbed a copy of his "Desecration of My kingdom" from a binyebwa seller on Luwum Street for 1,000/= (she was using the book's pages to wrap njugu for customers).  On page 186, on Mr Obote's claim that Mr Mutesa was plotting a coup with foreign embassies, Mutesa admits that he 'sounded out' (Wa la la la!...nduulu) a certain European embassy and a selection of African ones for military assistance. 


To show what he really thought about Obote, Mutesa later contradicts the motive of the above action by stating that, 'though I would have liked to see him destroyed, I took no part...perhaps I was foolish not to do so.'  So, either man was baying for the other's blood and it was a question of who pounced first.


Recall that by that time, Mutesa, the President had attempt to flagarantly subvert the referendum of 1964, refused to sign the subsequent referendum bill as was required by the constitution, he refused to open parliament after the referendum, once again as required by constitution.  I hear people saying that Obote abrogated the constitution!  He merely put the last nail in the coffin.  President Mutesa, by way his unconstitutional acts killed the constitution and Obote cremated it.


Remember also the uncoordinated troop movement (3 battalions) ordered by President Mutesa at 13:52 Hrs on 19 Feb 1966 when Obote was in Nairobi for some meeting.  That was a few hours after the contacts with those embassies......and Brig Opolot's visit to Mutesa around that time etc etc...with plans for "kujjula" on 22 Feb...


With all that, if Affande Jesus had been in Obote's shoes, I do not know what he would have avoided doing to save Mutesa!

Mr. Otto Patrick
UAH forumist in London

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