YOU CAN'T EAT PEACE
TIME International
May 13, 1996 Volume 147, No. 20
President Museveni has given Uganda security, but the restless population wants more prosperity
ANDREW PURVIS/KAMPALA
The past is never far away in Uganda, at least not if one listens to President Yoweri Museveni. In 1986 Museveni's guerrilla army stormed into the capital, Kampala, and brought an end to nearly two decades of terror under the murderous regimes of Milton Obote and Idi Amin. Later this week, in Uganda's first general elections held in 16 years, Museveni finally must face the electorate. And he is not letting Ugandans forget where they came from or where they may be headed if they do not vote for him.
On a whistle-stop tour of the country over the past month, he has accused his main opponent, veteran politician Paul Ssemogerere, of colluding with armed rebels in the north and of plotting to return Obote, in exile in Zambia, to Uganda. Ads in the government newspaper show piles of human skulls, victims of the Obote regime. "Think," they warn in bold type. "Don't forget the past. Over 1 million Ugandans lost their lives...your vote could bring it back."
Perhaps. But 10 years is a long time--the longest tenure ever for a Ugandan President--and the prospect of another four years under the current regime is prompting many Ugandans to consider more than their troubled past. Few deny that Museveni has brought peace and economic growth, but an increasing number are finding fault with his authoritarian style.
While he is likely to win the balloting, the race has been unexpectedly tight, underscoring ethnic, religious and political divisions that many observers believe can no longer be ignored. "These elections have been about the past, whereas they should be concentrating on the future," says Joseph Mulenga, a former Attorney General under Museveni who helped form an opposition coalition. "We are grateful for security. But as we say in Uganda, 'You can't eat security.'"
Museveni, whose economic-liberalization policies have in the past made him the darling of Western donors, has drawn increasing fire for his reluctance to adopt a traditional democracy. Under the current regime, political parties are banned, and candidates are expected to run as individuals. The argument is that parties sow divisions that could return Uganda to chaos. Yet at the same time, Museveni's political organization, referred to as a "movement" in deference to its revolutionary roots, is itself increasingly taking on the appearance of a party.
While older political organizations are denied the right to formulate a platform, open regional offices and raise money for a candidate, Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM) has capitalized on its incumbency to bring out the vote. "All the advantages are with Museveni," says U.S. Ambassador Michael Southwick, who has led calls for a more open political process.
Museveni's no-party democracy has shown a growing tendency to stifle debate. In the late 1980s, for example, his NRM-dominated legislature approved, with minimal discussion, an economic-austerity package advocated by the World Bank. While perhaps justifiable in the long term, the programs have cut social spending and triggered major layoffs from the civil sector. More than 60,000 government employees have lost their jobs in recent years, many of them without compensation. The result has been considerable suffering and growing disaffection, particularly in urban areas like Kampala. "Museveni is a good man, but we need a change," says Livingston, 20, a used-clothes trader in Kampala who had to quit school for lack of money.
There are other sources of discontent. For the past 10 years, the government has been waging war with rebel groups in the north of the country, keeping that region from sharing in the economic development that has taken place elsewhere. In the south, many members of the Baganda tribe, Uganda's largest, are upset by the President's refusal to grant greater autonomy to their traditional monarch, the Kabaka. King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II was restored to his throne by Museveni three years ago, but chiefly as a cultural figurehead.
The Kabaka, barred from speaking out on political issues, said last week that "the government has shown a willingness to be more responsive to the needs of the Baganda, though some of my people think that it has not gone far enough." One of the Kabaka's cabinet members, Duncan Kafeero, was less circumspect. He and others openly support the coalition opposing Museveni, which has promised the Baganda more power in exchange for their votes. "We have been given a King without a kingdom," says Kafeero. "If Museveni comes back to power we will have to seek our goals in other ways. These will be dark days for our country."
Placating such opponents will pose a growing challenge to Museveni in years ahead. Under a new constitution, the government is required briefly to legalize political parties in 1999 in preparation for a referendum on the future of Uganda's party system the next year.
Four years should make it clear to voters whether the efforts of Museveni's movement are in the true interests of the people or toward cementing its own rule.
Many Ugandans are simply praying for calm. "We fear war," says Juma Salabwa, a butcher in Kampala's Nakasero market, who lost two brothers to Obote's army. "We don't care who will lead, as long as there is peace." That is encouraging news for Museveni. But as this election campaign has shown, such good will is fragile.
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