[WestNileNet] Beware! Those Fighting The Anti-Homosexuality Law In Court Are Likely To Win.
I have been pondering at the reasons for what the western media is calling a sudden backtracking by the government of Uganda on the Anti-homosexuality law recently. As far as I am concerned, the law is still law until it is scrapped or withdrawn for further review like the miniskirt bill recently, isn't it? Obviously, pressure from western donors comes to mind when we look at the reasons for clarifying the misunderstanding as government put it. As western countries withdraw crucial support to Uganda's public service, particularly the health sector, government is the first to fill the pinch. Many civil servants' salaries depend directly from donations. Citizens generally might not feel any difference for services we haven't tangibly seen or felt in our pockets and stomachs. But at a more fundamental level, there is something going on behind the scenes that could be more worrying: The legal action taken against the Anti-homosexuality law. The court action that comprises amongst others, the prominent journalist/businessman Andrew Mwenda and the Presidential Advisor Fox Odoi. While many might think that the effort of this group is futile because the Anti-gay law seemingly has overwhelming public support in Uganda, we should be alert to the fact that cases in court take their own different course based on other parameters: The Constitution, Human Rights and the laws of the land. The judges will have to consider whether any citizen has the right to free choice of sexuality. In my view, those that have taken the matter to court are most likely to win. They have alot of international experience that they can tap into from precedences in the west where the matter of decriminalizing homosexuality has seen tough battles in court already. The result has been the flooring of Anti-homosexuality laws in court. With the inexperience of having ever dealt with such cases, I doubt that the Attorney General is equipped with any experimental capacity to win. On behalf of the people who dont want to see homosexuality become an open practice in this country, I would urge the govermment to be more visionary on this matter. Imagine what happens when the bill is defeated in court. It is almost guaranteed that the supporters of homosexuality will go for the jugular: Same-sex marriage rights. And they will do this under the same principles of human rights. Is our legal framework ready for this? Has the Attorney General advised government on the courses of action available and their chances of success. Government must be pragmatic and see beyond emotions and religious arguments. Judges can't rule on a matter based on the writings of the Coran or the teachings of the Gospel. They have to stick to what the laws written by parliament advise. These laws include the Constitution which already guarantees freedom of expression and human rights. The very ingredients that defeated criminalizing homosexuality in the west. The government of Uganda has now ushered in the era of long legal battles on homosexuality. The same that we have been passively hearing about taking place in the west. In the US, individual states accept same-sex marriage, only for another judge to cancel it by a stay of execution pending other cases, and then a federal judge would strike down the state judges decision, and now we have the federal state recognizing all same-sex marriages even when they aren't yet recognized at the local state level. So are we ready for that fight as well? Because that is the most likely course of events if the case against the anti-homosexuality law is defeated in court. In fact the defeat would be more immediate in our system where one court decides what is valid for the whole country. As it stands, the issue ahead after they fight the anti-homosexuality law, is same-sex marriage. And the country (politicians, legislators and civil society) needs to prepare for that without engaging in religious quotes because those wont count for the judges in court. Their are solutions and strategies that legal and political minds should already have in the safe. The problem with same sex marriage is that if we get to a stage where the courts force govermment to approve it under the principles of human rights, then we would be opening a pandora box for all sorts of madness and love fallacies to be approved and certified by the state. I just read a story where an Australian is celebrating her one year anniversary of marrying a french bridge (Daily Mail 11/7/2014 dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2688498/Rock-solid-The-Australian-woman-married-BRIDGE-celebrates-one-year-anniversary.html ). There was another story last year of a priest officiating at a marriage between an American woman and a roller coaster ( dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2507065/You-spin-right-round-Florida-woman-gets-married-ferris-wheel-named-Bruce-previous-relationships-airplane-train.html ). Obviously something is wrong in their legislation. Because how will the
[WestNileNet] Sadly, Amin Outgrew Ugandan Politics Long Ago.
During the second Congo war where the late Kabila father fought Rwanda and Uganda, the Congolese president contacted Idi Amin for help. With just two phone calls Amin got him over 6000 fully equipped fighters with an assortment of light and heavy weapons, uniforms, vehicles, rations...etc. These fighters were stationed in the Ituri region of Eastern Congo and that is where they encountered the Rwanda Patriotic Front soldiers of President Paul Kagame. To cut a long story short, this group of soldiers sent by Amin fought bravely against the Rwandese who were considered the toughest army fighting in Congo. Remember that they had defeated the UPDF (their supposed allies) twice in Kisangani, eastern Congo, at around that time. The RPF was however overrun by the Amin boys and in one incident, 800 RPF soldiers were caught. What happened to these soldiers is a matter too graphic to discuss because war is terrible. But Mr. Kagame himself is aware of that battle where more than 1000 Rwandese died. Now if Idi Amin had any interest of being president of Uganda again, he could have just deployed soldiers to fight the Uganda government. Wasn't it just two calls that got him 6000 fully equipped fighters? To understand Amin, one has to look at the heart of the man. He wasn't a thief. He was never corrupt. He fought for the simple citizen, every Ugandan. He fought for the black African and even the African American who was still heavily discriminitated against at the time in the US. He stood against Israeli oppression of the palestinians like we see continuing today. Amin is the only African who actually fought in the Gholan heights for two weeks until Israel and Syria signed a peace deal then he returned secretely to Uganda. He fought imperialism as he called it then. I call it supremacism. He fought Apartheid in South Africa, and fought Rodhesian white rule. They say he was xenophobic when he deported the Asians who had taken over the entire economy of the country. Ugandans largely beg to differ. Hatred is a very bad thing. It fuelled the souls, thoughts and actions of those who dedicated their lives against Amin. Mere Hatred. Yet let's face it. They will never equal the stature of Idi Amin particularly on the African continent where he was a revered pan-africanist. The younger generation may be fooled by the overwhelming bad press from western media, but those who remember can stand and tell their honest story. But looking forward, we should end this competition of machismo by those who try to appear tougher than Amin in order to rule. The democratic country that we should be aiming at is one where a civilian is peacefully elected president. He then serves his two terms and hands over power to another peacefully elected civilian. That is the real political benchmark Uganda has to acheive. That is the democracy I want to see. ___ WestNileNet mailing list WestNileNet@kym.net http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ___
[WestNileNet] OK! LETS BLAME IDI AMIN FOR THE FOLLOWING:
Recently, while discussing with some journalist friends, we ended up focusing on the blame game that has become a constant in Ugandan politics. We were talking about how in the aftermath of the Luwero Parliamentary by-elections 2014, blame was poured on Idi Amin for the districts current lack of government services. I wondered how anyone in their right mind could concocte such obvious misjudgemeny in 2014, 35 years since Amin left the country. The true word up for mention is the incompetence. Many intellectuals possess a superiority complex, and they have for the last 40 years been shouting themselves hoarse about Amin. These men and women have chosen to invent a ficticious political parochialism involving Amin as long as it suits their agenda of either grabbing power or hanging on to it. Many individuals in Uganda and the region talk about the learned elite simply unable to accept a semi-literate person reaching heights they never even dreamt of attaining themselves. Thereby their subsequent, persisting negative utterances. Obviously this haters group of elitist politicians and scholars wouldn't accept any mention of Amin's positive achievements, particularly that of an uncorrupt leader struggling for the people and enjoying pan-africanist applause as he did back then when he fought for Ugandans and Africans against neo-colonialism and against apartheid in Southern Africa. It is surprising that there is a total disconnect between the Amin that ordinary Ugandans talk about, and the Amin that the media/elite talk about. How come? Is the media censuring popular opinion on Idi Amin? Obviously something is amiss. The excuse that I have heard being brought up by some editors when faced with an Amin issue, is that they don't want to hurt the feelings of those who might have suffered during the 70's. But that isn't the job of the media. When their is a story, it should be either balanced or remain unpublished. Headlines such as Killed by Amin for confronting him is a total fallacy of journalism when there is no substantiation. People, mainly opportunists, use such self-seeking tactics to appear brave. Scaring others by lying that they encountered a lion and single-handedly fought it. Then the whole village fears the crook. But Amin has never been convicted of any crime, and he was never asked to narrate his side of the story. So how can a news article on Amin be without his say included? That is unacceptable journalism. When one-sided stories on anything get printed by the media, that isn't journalism. It's Politics? Yet family members and former government officials are all over Uganda and able to say their opinion. As I said recently, article 28 of the Ugandan constitution says everyone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. So how come the media is allowed to break editorial standards, journalistic principles and the constitution of Uganda all in the same stride when it comes to reporting about Idi Amin? The media takes more seriously the verbosity of a suspected underpants thief/government spokesperson. That is a telling sign of the poor quality of our ethics, politics, judicial system and media professionalism. But to explain the political tactics that have been employed for the last 35 years, the formula is quite simple. Say that everything bad was by Idi Amin, and you cover for your failures and your hitherto glaring ignorance. That is the single biggest success of any government since 1979 when Amin left the country: Blaming Amin. That is how in todays Uganda, old, outdated politicians have managed to remain under the spotlight longer than all Miss Ugandas combined. But if someone dares to praise Field Marshal Idi Amin on a particular point, these elite turn into beasts right infront of your very eyes, with anger and venom oozing from the nostrils and all pores. You think I'm exaggerating? Try it once and see the metamorphosis happen before your very eyes. The period 1980-1990's (after Amin) saw a million Ugandans dead. It stood as the East African record until the Rwanda genocide equaled it in 1994. Was that Amin? The amusing part is that the perpetrators on both sides prefer the diversionaries of... you guessed it... Blaming Amin. And sometimes they do it together. Didn't Mwalimu Nyerere withdraw his troops from Uganda in total nausea and disgust at the chaos, criminality, ethnic killings and torture by these very people he helped? But you find that til today, for some particular individuals, there is literally no public speech without at some point the mention of Idi Amin. Even for crimes committed by them when he had already left. Ok then! Since the blame game is a serious policy, let me help. The never-ending, exponentially rising wave of continuous corruption scandals, that have paralyzed the civil service and seen disgusted international donors withdraw aid as billions upon billions of public funds are literally pillaged from the coffers of the
[WestNileNet] Maybe Obote Is The Idiot. That Makes M7 A Moron.
Letter To The Editor. I am writing on behalf of the family of our late father Al-Hajji Idi Amin Dada to request our right to respond similarly to the recent insulting article that you allowed to be published in the Daily Monitor under the unbecoming Front Page Headline Amin Was An Idiot. The Presidents language was uncalled for and we would like to protest such treatment by the media in regards to Idi Amin. In all honesty, the idiot maybe Obote. When he was overthrown the first time, one could say there is a problem with Amin. But when it happens for a second time, then surely Obote is the idiot. However, I recently saw Museveni dancing at Obote's son Akena's wedding, So I am still puzzled. Museveni could have already surpassed the level of idiot and imbecile, and is now at moron. The occasion at which the president was said to have made his utterances was a meeting with the inter-religious council where leaders from all faiths were present. How can Priests, Sheikhs and Imams attend mass officiated by a confirmed pagan who tore down all the churches and mosques in the army. Since then no soldier has been able to practice his or her faith in any barracks. Imagine if Amin had touched a single cathedral or mosque. At least Amin authorized all soldiers to practice their faith in army facilities. So how do you describe todays pan-africanist practicing a cult that aims at creating for himself the coveted post where all should worship only him and declare him sole candidate as God of Uganda? President Museveni is a moron (Musenzi in swahili). Best Regards Hussein J. Lumumba Amin. ___ WestNileNet mailing list WestNileNet@kym.net http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ___
[WestNileNet] THE BIG SECRET OF THE ENTEBBE RESCUE
For decades none has mentioned the identities of the hostage takers and what happened to them. But the European lady who hijacked the plane along with the palestinians was an Israeli secret agent (MOSSAD). Her mission had been to infiltrate Yasser Arafats PLO headquarters and training camps in Tunisia. She was to relay her findings and any intel to Israel from where commandos would launch an attack. The Entebbe raid was supposed to have happened in Tunisia. That mission failed because the plane was unexpectedly diverted to Entebbe instead. As said here earlier, Israel staged the whole incident. This lady actually left with the Israelis out of Entebbe during the rescue. Not before doing most of the killing of her palestinian colleagues herself, literally shooting them from behind as they fought oncoming Israeli soldiers. She had led them into this debacle that MOSSAD had conspicuously created using these genuine arab hijackers. Uganda was neutral. Amin had made a goodwill offer to facilitate a peaceful, negotiated solution. The Ugandan soldier who fired the shot that killed Benjamin Netanyahu's brother the commander of the Israelis, was given hero status for saving the countries honour. Because of our neutral status, Ugandan soldiers were not on combat alert on this matter. Their role here was like guarding an international football match between Israel and Palestine being played in Namboole. Lol ___ WestNileNet mailing list WestNileNet@kym.net http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ___
