Mulindwa, Everybody cares, read on.
"The Kabaka pleaded with the government to end the 17-year-old insurgency in the northern region." Kabaka Mutebi said that he feels a lot of sympathy especially for the innocent children suffering in the north. “We pray that everything possible is done to restore peace in this region,” he said. © 2003 The Monitor Publications LM --- Mulindwa Edward <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ugandans > > It is very interesting to see Dr Mulera writing this > kind of statements today, but I think he is too late > to join the rest of Ugandans who have condemned > daily these kinds of killings in Northern and > eastern. And we must as well remember that Ugandans > who are in those areas know full well who have > supported their being killed. For let us not kid our > selves, killing Northerners was not started > yesterday, it has been going on for the last 20 > years, so I will not challenge my friend Mulera to > go back into history very long ago, so I will ask > him only two very simple questions. > > 1) In the early 80's when Yoweri Museveni stated > "Northerners are Biological substances, and many of > these people are not fit to live with us" Can Dr > Mulera produce where he publicly opposed that > statement? > 2) When Kiiza besigye stated "Acholis and Langis > should be eradicated from Uganda" Can he produce > where he opposed it? > > You see the danger is that today Northern Uganda has > become a public case, and there is no one who has > done this apart from the Northerners them selves, > and if today in 2003 people like my friend and > neighbour Dr Muniini Mulera can come up with such > sentiments, can you imagine if he stood for the > population in Northern Uganda from 1984 when he was > the best seller of the NRM government in Canada? > > There is allot of blood that has been poured in > Northern and Eastern Uganda, but we must never > delude our selves that it is Museveni alone to > blame, for that will be the greatest delusion. > > Em > > The Mulindwas Communication Group > "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" > Groupe de communication Mulindwas > "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans > l'anarchie" > ----- Original Message ----- > From: gook makanga > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2003 6:16 PM > Subject: ugnet_: By Muniini K. Mulera In Toronto > > > Letter to A Kampala Friend > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > By Muniini K. Mulera In Toronto > > Northern killings bring out racism of Ugandans > August 4, 2003 > > Dear Tingasiga: > On July 22, 2003, a Uganda People's Defence > Force [UPDF] helicopter gunship killed nine > civilians in Obalanga, Katakwi District. The victims > were attending a funeral ceremony. > Two days later, a military helicopter > gunship killed 13 civilians who were tilling their > gardens in Acholi-Bur, Pader District. Many others > were injured. > > While these killings were duly reported by > the Kampala news media, there has been little > manifestation of our collective outrage at these > massacres of unarmed civilians. > > I have scanned the newspapers from Kampala > and around the world. The Kampala paers have told > the story. The rest of the world's scribes have been > silent on the matter. > > I have read postings on UNAANET, an Internet > Discussion group that brings together largely > sober-minded and empathetic Ugandans in North > America. Silence. > > Save for statements by a few Ugandan MPs and > Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi's statement to > parliament expressing "the government's sadness" at > the news of the Pader incident, there has been > little public expression of outrage by regular > citizens. It is business as usual. > > Perhaps the explanation is simply that > Ugandans have murdered each other for so long that a > few more deaths are neither here nor there. > > Perhaps we have become a nation of hardened > souls, immune from the pain of losing fellow > citizens, viewing violent death as part of doing > government business. > > Yet I doubt that this is the explanation. > After all, weren't Ugandans rightly outraged by the > killings of innocent Iraqi citizens by US and > British fighter jets during the recent war against > Saddam Hussein? > > Of course it could be that the deaths of > Arabs in Mesopotamia at the hands of Americans > engendered deeper emotions than the death of > Africans at the hands of fellow Africans. > Colonialism has had a deep effect on our self-image. > > However, I think that the major reason for > the lack of public outrage over the massacres of > fellow Ugandans in Katakwi [Teso] and Pader [Acholi] > is racism. Uganda-style racism; the old north-south > divide. > > The truth is, Tingasiga, the massacres in > Katakwi and Pader happened to "them," not to "us." > > They occurred "over there", in the land of > "they" who did it to "us" in the Luwero Triangle and > elsewhere before "we" overthrew them from power in > 1986. > > That the vast majority of people of Acholi > and Teso had absolutely nothing to do with the > crimes committed by the pre-Museveni regimes is a > truth that must not be allowed to interfere with > such prejudices. > > That the people of Acholi and Teso are our > brothers, our kinsmen, fellow Africans, bound > together by a history that we cannot undo, fated to > a common destiny, is a detail that must not be > accorded room in our consciousness. > > To do so would ruin the great illusion of > being different from "them" who are from "over > there." It would make it hard for us to say, with a > smile, that "they" deserve it. > > Whether it is the Kanungu massacre or the > violence in Bunyoro, the violent cattle-rustling in > Karamoja and Teso or the abduction of girls from > Lango and Acholi, many Ugandans see these crimes as > purely local matters, of concern to members of the > relevant "tribes." It is "their" problem, not > "ours." > > This is the same attitude that has been > shown by many people from the southern parts of > Uganda, especially from Buganda and the Western > Region, in response to the long nightmare that has > gripped the Acholi people for nearly two decades. > > While few would openly admit to such racist > attitudes, many have expressed in private > conversations that the nearly one million Acholi in > concentration camps deserve the dehumanizing fate > that has been theirs for more than a decade. > > This is the attitude that almost certainly > informs the reaction of many people from south of > Lake Kyoga to the recent massacres in Katakwi and > Pader. > It is "them," not "us." > > Another possible explanation for this > reaction is that these killings were perpetrated by > a UPDF gunship which was presumably hunting for > anti-government rebels. > > Ours is a society where we ration > condemnation of injustice and crime. > > Opponents of President Yoweri Museveni's > government find it hard to condemn criminal acts by > the regime's armed opponents. "The enemy of my enemy > is my friend." > > Some even celebrate the brutality of crazed > fellows who butcher fellow citizens in the name of > the Lord. > > On the other hand, supporters of President > Yoweri Museveni and his government feel duty-bound > to remain silent in the face of the most > indefensible crimes of the state against the > citizens of Uganda. Citizens massacred and > terrorised by the state in Acholi, in Teso, in > Rukungiri, in Kinkizi. Silence from supporters of > the regime. Solidarity even in crime. > > That is why the latest high profile son of > Teso, Minister of State for Health Mike Mukula, is > unlikely to condemn the actions of the UPDF which > killed "his people." > > Mukula, who has taken to playing an army > officer === message truncated === ===== LM __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
