FRED NYANZI: Mr President, Uganda is descending into a political economic quagmire

Gen Museveni, as I write this open letter, I am on a sick bed with crutches as my walking aids.

This is because I and my colleagues were in Kyenjojo district to execute our civil duty of officiating the opening of our NUP party offices, security operatives in army and police uniforms attacked us savagely, thumping my back, head, knees, and other limbs until I became unconscious.

One of my colleagues, Ibrahim Musinguzi, was shot in the leg. While this violence was being meted out to us, you and your son, who is a serving military officer, were traversing the country conducting political campaigns.

Are you not concerned that wherever you have political opponents, your regime leaves behind trails of broken limbs, tortured victims and death? As you condemn your predecessors for their ugly historical mistakes, are you not ashamed that your regime has taken the same path?

When Dr Kizza Besigye contested for the office of president in 2001, you treated him and his supporters as criminals. In addition, hundreds of innocent Ugandans have gone through endless political persecution inflicted upon them by your regime, including the loss of life of Musasizi Kifeefe, Dr Besigye’s brother, and many others who are still languishing in prisons.

When Hon Robert Kyagulanyi offered himself to run for office as president, many Ugandans thought that your regime would behave differently. To the contrary, you commanded a campaign of terror marred with acts of torture, abductions, kidnappings, and killings against him and his supporters.

To date, your regime has not accounted for the deaths of Kyagulanyi’s supporters who were brutally killed, including Yasin Kauma, Dan Kyeyune, Rita Nabukenya—the list is endless. This is not to forget the many who are still missing and languishing in ungazetted places.

Unfortunately, you have always kept a deaf ear, and your silence suggests that you are either condoning or sanctioning these acts. This is confirmed by a statement you made on national television, where you applauded the security forces for the crime of beating Kyagulanyi “thoroughly and well.” What a shame!

Gen Museveni, let me remind you once again that when your young brother Salim Saleh was arrested by the late Paul Muwanga, a man you deputized as chairman of the Military Commission, you sounded a strong warning to him to either release your brother or face severe consequences. For goodness sake, shift the pain of your brother and place it on other Ugandans whose brothers and sisters have been subjected to the same acts of violence or even worse under your watch.

Idi Amin did this, but the consequences were dire; Milton Obote did the same, but the situation worsened. Why are you hell-bent on maintaining the same vicious cycle of violence?

KILLING OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS

Gen Museveni, just like your predecessors, your regime has literally declared a one-party state, using the cadre police and military. This has created a harsh political environment that has made it totally impossible for political parties to exercise their constitutional rights. 

The deliberate killing of political parties has not only pushed many sober leaders out of politics but has denied these organizations the opportunity to mentor and prepare leaders who would, in the future, calm down the dust that has accumulated over a period of time.

Your generation and mine have a “divine” obligation to provide a soft landing for this country. This can only be achieved if we swallow our political egos and greed and tolerate each other.

Your radical stance of killing political parties will create a vacuum that will certainly breed a headless revolution that is bound to cause anarchy, an act we should all detest. The political turmoil in Somalia, Libya, and now the Sudan was brought about by leaders who run state affairs without tolerance, exactly like you.

TRIBALISM AND NEPOTISM

Those who tortured me in Kyenjojo were accusing me of two things: one being Kyagulanyi’s brother, and second, being a Muganda. This brings me to another big issue. When Ugandans criticized your regime for the tribal imbalance in the distribution of government jobs, you justified it as a historical factor. 

By then, all army generals were more or less hailing from one village. Let me now inform you that the tribalism that started as a “historical factor,” according to you, has eroded all government institutions to the extent that you may now not draw a line between private and government offices.

Mr President, it is now apparent that almost all the RPCs, DPCs, and OCs in the police force hail from one region. The situation is even worse in statutory bodies and departments such as URA, Uganda Airlines, Prisons, National Drug Authority, etcetera.

For reference, read the Uganda Gazette that was published during the presidential nominations of 2021, and you will find that almost eighty per cent (80%) of all the returning officers and their deputies, for all the districts, as appointed by the Electoral Commission, came from the same region where you hail from. It is this Electoral Commission that conducted the much-disputed 2021 elections and declared you the winner!

Would it not be right for one to question the conduct and outcome of such an election?

I am of course cognizant of the fact that these appointments represent a clique of selfish people serving your selfish political interests and are not necessarily benefiting the population in the said region.

After the elections, you personally started a tribal hate speech against the National Unity Platform (NUP), depicting it as a Ganda party because of the heavy political loss you suffered in Buganda. NUP never grabbed Buganda land, nor did it destroy their businesses and jobs. You heavily lost Buganda because of the deep-seated anger that has accumulated against your regime and your personal mistakes over time.

Your regime is sowing seeds of genocide, which the country, including your children and grandchildren, are bound to reap if not stopped.

As I conclude, I draw your attention to the economic breakdown in the country, manned by your cronies whose primary occupation is to embezzle, grab, and amass as much wealth as they can in what is a day-light robbery of the country. The little that was left of your legacy has been totally eroded.

The use of military might to solve political questions, the sowing of seeds of tribalism, and the manipulation of laws to suffocate the population with an intent to make us forcefully submit to your regime shall one day explode like a volcano.