Federalism is a thing of the past What the protagonists of federalism really want is a return to the pre-1966 system, probably with a few modifications. It is really surprising that otherwise brilliant people cannot comprehend what actually happened in 1966.
If one divorces the personalities involved in 1966, it is easy to see what the underlying forces at play were. On the one hand, an ancient, unelected system which had served itself and colonialism very well had, by the end of World War II, started to show major cracks. On the other side, there was a wind of change, clamour for independence and governments coming to power all over Africa through elections. It was inevitable that these two systems could not co-exist after independence. True democracy means that for anyone to have political power over others and control the taxes they pay, then the people must also have the right to elect those persons from office. People instinctively recognised this fact and, by 1966, most had accepted that things had to change. The method used may have been unpalatable but change had to take place. One can see that even if the personalities had been different, 1966 would have inevitably happened in one form or another. We should be striving to improve the current system and not wasting our valuable time and energy looking backwards. It should also be pointed out that there appears to be a silent majority of Baganda, especially the younger generation, who are either ambivalent or against federalism. Therefore, when the Mengo establishment speaks of unanimous Buganda support, this is not true. Yusufu Musoke, London, UK. -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
