|
No-Holds-Barred By Peter G. Mwesige |
If leadership is sacrifice, why can’t Kaguta retire?
September 18, 2003
|
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - It’s been a while since I last said anything about Project Third Term. And I have many friends who think that is exactly how it should be. Forget about the third term, or as my former boss once advised, write about stuff in the United States, they would say. One of my journalism professors in Cairo used to call the latter approach Afghanistanism—the tendency to write about events in distant locations that have little impact among your readers. Writers who adopt this approach normally do so because they want to play it safe (the Egyptian press particularly excels in this regard, paying more attention to events in Israel and the Palestinian territories than to the authoritarian rule of Hosni Mubarak). Likewise, I can say many things about the Bush administration, and it is unlikely that I will offend many people in Kampala. But for some of my friends, it is not just about playing safe. In any case, and in all fairness to Mr Yoweri Museveni’s regime, while media-government relations are still fraught with lots of hurdles (for instance, draconian media laws continue to be invoked by the authorities whenever their interests are seriously threatened), Ugandan journalists do get away with lots of things that would land their counterparts elsewhere in big trouble. My friends who want a break from the continuing debate on the proposed amendments to our Constitution argue that we have had enough of the third term talk. My own view is that we can never have enough talk about any issue until it has been resolved one way or the other. Talk or public _expression_, my friends, is also action. And recent events in Uganda call for more of it. Back to the third term. I have just moved to a new apartment so I spent the better part of the week sorting out packaging boxes. And in one of those boxes was Museveni’s 1997 autobiography, Sowing the Mustard Seed: the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in Uganda (I wonder how many of Gaetano’s fans have read the book, or would identify the author if they were only given the title). Although I have read the “Mustard Seed” several times, for no particular reason I decided to skim through it. As in the past, I was particularly struck by what Museveni says about leadership and the reality of his reign. I am going to repeat the most relevant paragraphs here for those of you who have not had chance to read the book, but more importantly because Museveni’s own words provide solid ammunition against his attempts to cling to power. He writes in the preface: “Although I have been President of Uganda for ten years, and have just successfully sought re-election for a further five years, I feel I should reiterate my position on leadership. This is that unless one’s purpose in seeking it is to steal public funds, leadership, especially in an underdeveloped country like Uganda, is an endless sacrifice. Those seeking to provide honest leadership in such circumstances must work with inexperienced staff and inadequate funds and equipment.” He adds: “I should emphasise from the beginning that I am not a professional politician … whose life revolves around politics. For me, political leadership is a kind of national service, because the real livelihood of my people is keeping cattle.” Museveni says he had no idea that his early involvement in politics would some day result in his eventual leadership of the country. He cites his colleagues who were killed in the “struggle,” and says he too could have been killed. “Leadership, therefore, has been a tremendous sacrifice for many of us and was never a sine qua non for my original participation in the struggle,” he says. Museveni returns to the question of leadership and power in the last chapter of the book. He writes: “My own feeling towards power is that it is the farthest thing from privilege one can experience. It is taxing; it diverts you from your own more lucrative activities (if you are thinking of making money) and it exposes the leader to endless risks, especially in a country such as Uganda where politics took a very violent turn.” He continues: “Therefore, being in power, as far as I am concerned, has been one endless story of sacrifice. Ever since 1966, when I and my comrades started opposing Obote’s dictatorship, we have never rested…” At the very end of the book, Museveni says he is “optimistic about Uganda’s future.” He writes: “Our present line of progressive development might get delayed along the way, but I do not anticipate any serious breakdown as happened in the past, unless we get confused political groups in charge. They might delay the industrialisation and economic liberalisation process, but the fundamental principles are now in place.” And he ends on this note: “There are now people of presidential calibre and capacity who can take over when I retire, and I shall be among the first to back them. By that time, I am confident that Uganda’s modernisation process will have taken root and the mission of the Movement for which we have struggled for 30 years will have been achieved.” If all goes according to plan, Ugandans who were born in 1986 when Museveni’s victorious NRA rode into Kampala, will be eligible to vote in the 2006 presidential elections and any referendum before then. And one of the candidates, again if all goes according to plan, will be Yoweri Museveni. This begs a few questions, but I will address myself to only two. First, if leadership is indeed a sacrifice, why can’t Museveni, who has not rested for 37 years, retire and take some much-needed rest? After all, the fundamental principles are now in place. In the past, Museveni used to say he would retire if the people of Uganda no longer wanted him. Well, today there is compelling evidence that a majority of Ugandans do not want him to contest again (although, again in fairness, that is not necessarily to suggest that they do not approve of his leadership). So I ask again, why can’t the man take his rest? Secondly, whatever happened to the people of presidential calibre and capacity? Over to you, Mr President! [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
© 2003 The Monitor Publications
MSN 8 helps ELIMINATE E-MAIL VIRUSES. Get 2 months FREE*. -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
