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Last week some man nearly made me choke
on my breakfast. The man, who goes by the name Abbey Walusimbi, had just
written a heap of balderdash in Bukedde, The New Vision's Luganda sibling
(see Besigye: Watya Nga Yesonyiye Museveni? (Bukedde, April 28). Loosely
translated into English, the title was warning Besigye against attacking
Museveni.
I decided to take a closer look. Mr
Walusimbi, looking menacing in the picture accompanying the article, with
a serious one of Dr Besigye above his, started off aggressively:
"FDC stalwart Kizza Besigye should be
careful about what he says, and avoid insulting President Yoweri Museveni
if he is not to be re-arrestedÂ…
“Even if President Museveni sometimes
loses his temper and uses bad language against Besigye, because he is the
President, people disregard his behaviour, for they see him as a father
scolding his son. However, they cannot tolerate Besigye insulting Museveni
because they see him as his father." I could not believe it.
If you are wondering who he is,
Walusimbi is a Ugandan who lives in the United States - that freest of
countries. Where he lives, no one becomes everybody's father simply by
virtue of being President. And sane people would be insulted by the notion
that the country's President automatically qualifies to be their father.
Most of all, no sane person would dare
suggest that the President was at liberty to insult his opponents and that
the latter had no right of reply. I do not know how long Walusimbi has
lived in the US. I know, though, that he is the chairman of the National
Resistance Movement, USA chapter, which suggests he has been there for a
long time.
I cannot imagine a newcomer being
elevated to his exalted perch. How sad then, that he appears to have left
this country, carrying certain (peasant) attitudes in his head and
steadfastly clung to them, remaining stubbornly impervious to new
influences.
I have always heard people claim that:
"you can take a man out of a village, but not the village out of him". I
have never paused to think seriously about it until I read Walusimbi's
article.
There is no doubt about it; he left
Uganda long ago, but Uganda, by way of some of the worst attitudes one
encounters here, such as unquestioning subservience and tyrannical
self-righteousness, remains deeply etched into his psyche.
One only has to read newspapers and
listen to radio talk shows, especially the vernacular ones, to get a clear
idea of how widespread Walusimbi's affliction is.
The only difference between him and
others who share his attitude towards leaders is that he lives in a
country where life offers one a chance to unlearn attitudes, which nurture
despotism. In a country where people believe a President must be
untouchable and enjoy the right to insult and not be insulted back, one
should not expect common decency from powerful people.
Today the incumbent is allowed to
behave whichever way he chooses and is at best applauded, at worst
'forgiven' when he behaves outrageously. Those in opposition are condemned
for standing up to the bullyboy tactics of their
tormentors.
Well aware of people's attitudes, when
they become the incumbents tomorrow, today's opposition become the new bad
boys and adopt the behaviour of their former tormentors. Thus, in the same
way post-colonial leaders adopted some of the worst tactics, which
colonial rulers used against them during struggles for independence;
tomorrow's politicians will turn to today's worst excesses!
Brainwashed
After all, by conniving
in their own oppression today, people would have taught them that once you
are in power, you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. Meanwhile
tomorrow's opposition leaders will have to carry the thankless burden of
fighting for the rights and freedoms of a large number of people who, let
us face it, would not care less.
As anti-Apartheid activist, [the late]
Steve Biko once said, the greatest tool in the hands of the oppressor is
the mind of the oppressed.
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