Kasangwawo, Where have you been ? You have been off the net for too long ! I was wondering. Nice to hear from you again.
DMN ----- Original Message ----- From: jonah kasangwawo To: The First Virtual Network for friends of Uganda Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2007 7:12 PM Subject: RE: [Ugnet] Fwd: Obote was right to attack Lubiri (Abbey Semuwemba) BWambuga, is it then any surprise that this topic of Buganda/Obote keeps coming up, when people like you are persisting on distributing misinformation about what really happened ? It is not about whether Obote was stupid or dumb. It is a well-known fact that he was cunning as a fox and ready to usurp all powers by any means. This included pretending to be nice to people he didn't particularly like, in order to deceive them about his ultimate intentions. So it is no wonder that Buganda and the Kabaka at first believed him. But it didn't take long for his true colours to come out. In his book (the correct name is "Desecration of my kingdom"), Kabaka Mutesa II clearly explained the reasons why he, in his capacity as President, had requested for foreign troops. The request for troops was not to invade Uganda, as you and Obote claim, but on the contrary, it was an attempt to save the country from a Prime Minister who was bent on overthrowing the constitution by force of arms and wrest all powers to himself. Statements had been made by members of parliament that troops were secretly being trained to do just that. Army officers who did not share this illegal aim were even detained or suspended. On his return to Kampala from his hiding place in the North in February 1966, Obote himself admitted that there was great alarm due to troop movements, especially in Kampala. Neither Mutesa, as the Commander-in-Chief, nor the Brigadier, who was head of the army, had authorized these troop movements. Obote had ordered the movements himself. The Kabaka states in the book that when he requested for foreign troops, he was thinking about something similar to the intervention Obote had initiated 2 years before this incident. Hopefully you are aware that in 1964 Obote had invited British troops to quell a mutiny by Uganda soldiers in Jinja who, incidentally, were not attempting to take over the country but rather were just demanding for higher pay. This he did without informing the President who was Commander-in-Chief of the Uganda Army. It appears this was his modus operandi. In any case, Obote used this incident to sack some soldiers and promote those he wanted in control to carry out his illegal manipulations, among them the then Major Idi Amin. If you want to learn more about this go to the following link: http://www.federo.com/index.php?id=144 The claim that Obote's regime wired money to the Kabaka when he was in exile in London is also a myth, without an iota of truth. There is concrete evidence that Obote's government kept on protesting about the treatment they thought the British were giving to the Kabaka (Obote felt they were still treating him as king by refering to him as Kabaka). The British govt. on the other hand was not ready to support the Kabaka financially or otherwise, leaving him to rely on support of friends - they were even pressurizing him to sell his property back home in Buganda in order for him to survive. In short, they viewed him as a burden. In these circumstances, the British would not mind anyone giving him support, as long as it wasn't them. Therefore, for you to claim that they were concerned about the Uganda government wiring him money, is an outright lie. The only proposal Obote's government was ready to consider was the remittance of private funds (from the sale of Kabaka's property) to England for Sir Edward. Kasangwawo. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:46:42 -0700 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Subject: [Ugnet] Fwd: Obote was right to attack Lubiri (Abbey Semuwemba) B Wambuga2 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:45:40 -0700 (PDT) From: B Wambuga2 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Obote was right to attack Lubiri (Abbey Semuwemba) To: Ugandans At Heart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> CC: Bwambuga <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> “Buganda should forget Dr. Obote, who has long departed to join his creator, and move on with what is here to be done if they are to avoid becoming irrelevant in the Ugandan context.” My friend Abbey Semuwembo, Your article was great in your attempt to place the blame on Dr. Milton Obote’s door steps. I was indeed intrigued by it since one of the problems we are having in Uganda is not so much the presence of people like Milton Obote amongst us, but rather rewriters of Ugandan history camouflaged in their unquenchable thirst to paint Mr. Obote such terrible negative pictures. Let me quickly mention here that if Dr. Obote was really that stupid and dump, how could the whole Buganda Kabaka in the person of Sir Fredderick Edward Mutesa accept to join hands with him and form the first post colonial Uganda Government knowing well that the historical turn would determine the fate of a virgin country like Uganda. And more, if Dr. Obote was really such an imbecile, how could he have convinced all those “intelligent” Ugandans at the turn of Uganda’s political history and work his way into becoming the Prime Minister of Uganda with a gun shot, live alone any weapon for that matter. It all goes to say that DR. Milton Obote was a brain to recon with. I swear that if Museveni had existed then, with his militaristic mannerism, the British would not have granted Buganda and Uganda Independence at the time when they did it. Let me now get the second point as food for thought for you here, Kabaka Sir Frederick Edward Mutesa II admits and mentions it in his own words in his book, “The of my Kingdom”, that he sought for military ware from the British Government who turned it down. SO he went elsewhere to get the weaponry. His ultimate motive was to start a war if need be. To this therefore, he sought for an approval from the Lukiiko to legitimize his actions. That is why the Lukiiko had to pass it and request the Uganda Government to move out of Buganda. What you continue not to mention in your skewed argument is that, Amin, who was the commander of the Army at the time, was already well aware of the animosity that some Baganda had on him, and there was also the talk about him being censured for his participation in the mutiny in the army in Jinja in particular. Secondly Amin was already aware also that his actions in subduing the Sudanese rebels in Southern Sudan, and the massacre he carried out in Kenya when he was sent to recapture and return the stolen cattle from the Kenyan Turkana, were issues already coming out in the parliament of Uganda. Let me also mention that one of the reasons for the mutiny in Magamaga was because of the fear that the Amins were having, including Tito Okello, about the eminent retrenchment in the Army following a parliamentary advice to the Government to professionalize the Uganda Armed services. Now, you say Dr. Obote breached the 1962 Constitution, which constitution was already in trouble because there was a section of the Baganda who were already calling it the “ebbiyoya bya enswa”. The constitution was already headed for a crisis within Buganda, since it emphasized the supremacy of Uganda as an entity in the new country. The Kabaka wanted to have both his roles reflected in the Constitution of Uganda. There were people who then suggested and preferred the creation of a country where the interest of all Ugandans could be taken care of inclusively under the same flag. Some Baganda then realized that they were not going to have their way if those people won. And this was already very likely. Let me mention here again very quickly that the reason Dr. Obote was overthrown by the military twice is because he was not a war monger let alone his principle of not mixing the military with national politics. Mr. Obote was a man who believed that differences could be resolved by debate and discussion. That was why he liked the parliamentary debates like his baby. Unlike Museveni who only shows up in parliament when he is coming to push something down the throats of Ugandans. Dr. Obote may have his short-comings as a person like all of us, but using the military to score a political goal was not his alternative. That was why he could be overthrown by the military but not defeated in a debate. Museveni could not win by his rebel activity in Luweero; he owes his success to the Okellos. Actually you could see the involvement of some Baganda in the Luweero misadventure as a continuation of the plans of some people in the Lubiri in 1966. But to get back to the attack on Lubiri, and in the light of my points about Amin and co. it was therefore carried out on Amin’s orders. Dr. Obote only deployed the special force to go to, first, have Amin withdraw the army back into the barracks, and then have the special police force calm down the situation and restore order. In that confusion, and since you could not tell who was who, Dr. Obote himself apologetically says that regrettably, chaos ensued and people were killed. Unfortunately, the did had already been done by Amin, and the Kabaka had already fled. In an attempt to redress the unfortunate incident, Dr. Obote then tries to get in touch with the Kabaka while he was still in Kigali to no avail. The Uganda Government did not stop his allowances from being sent to him later wherever he was. The Kabaka eventually settles in London and the Government continues to wire his allowances there. It was after the concern of the British Government that how could Sir Frederick Edward Mutesa II justify his claims of prosecution when he was continuing to receive money from the same Government that allegedly was persecuting him, that the funds were finally stopped. As for the mutiny you referred to, I have already given you a quick synopsis about it. Remember that the non-commissioned army personnel and other armed officers were being paid minimal pay sine they did not fall anywhere in the Ugandan Civil Service pay structure. Some of them complained that they should be paid like other civil servants since they were also working for the same government. Meanwhile, the citizenship of some these people were also under review. So you are talking about so many issues that the new Government at the time had to deal with, and from scratch mark you. They were dealing with everything from scratch, with no previous experience and/or record to deal with. Forget about Museveni coming to power with an elaborate record keeping and civil service procedures. On the issue of the tribes in Uganda, and their sizes, I think you better revise your history about that. Each of those East African countries have not only huge tribes in themselves, but several diverse peoples that Uganda just looks a baby. Take for example, the Luo of Kenya who out number the Baganda in Uganda. Then take the Kukuyu who out numbet all the westerners of Uganda put together, if you want take also the Meru of Kenya, which is a small tribe by the way, they are the size of Buganda, live the Masai alone. Go to Tanzania, you will even be more shocked. Uganda at the end has the least population in the whole of East Africa. So saying that tribalism in Uganda in such a difficult thing to deal with is an indication of the exact nature of the problems we are dealing with: absolute ignorance and outright stupidity. Some Baganda, with their uninformed beliefs think exactly like that to the detriment of the entire respectable Buganda community. There are Baganda out there who are truly Ugandan in their perspective, and they have benefited tremendously from their advanced perspective of the Ugandan experience. On the issue of how Museveni has handled Buganda, let me say this, Museveni is a very intelligent student of Dr. Obote’s. Remember I said earlier how Dr. Obote regretted the Lubiri incident, there is therefore, no way Museveni would go along that road. In any case, there is no body else who is interested in pursuing that line like Amin personally had it. More so, the external factors that were interested in pursuing that line no longer hold anything against anybody in Uganda. Those external factors who had earlier granted Buganda independence in a hurry well knowing that it did not solve the Buganda question knew that that was an issue they would use later to continue to exert control over Uganda, which indeed they did. Now fourty years latter, and satisfied that they have achieved what they wanted, viz, make Buganda royalty pay for its stubbornness, they are not interested anymore in the issue. Buganda is a non issue to them now, it is history, and this is rude to say the least. My friend Mr. Semuwembo, some of your points are just meant to justify the hatred you harbour for Dr. Obote, and they are not going to resolve any of the recurrent problems of Uganda. For instance the issue of the Government not employing Lawyers because all of them were Baganda, or Betty and Kyanjo are not put in jail because Museveni is more whatever than Dr. Obote, **&%$ it; I think all that is mere crap. I mean today as you and I write, the high court is still complaining about the number of judges, we have “safe houses” all over Uganda where Ugandans are being forced to share space with snakes and crocodiles, etc etc, I wonder whether it is still Dr. Obote’s ghost in charge? Traders in Kisseka Market are striking because of Museveni’s policy; did you hear anything like that under Dr. Obote? Tear gas was introduced in Uganda for the first time under Museveni, do Ugandans deserve that when all they are asking for is simply to have the right to protect their God given inalienable rights? I swear that Kabaka Mutebi is a much better Ugandan to run the Uganda affairs than Museveni, and I do not understand why instead of Baganda vigorously pursue for his leadership as the President of Uganda so that Buganda can have its way in the Ugandan general context people like you Semuwemba are wasting time hating Dr. Obote and praising Museveni. If Buganda cannot solidly define their aspirations, or better yet if the Betty’s and Kyanjo’s who are parliamentarians cannot realize they could use the august house to push for the Buganda agenda, like the westerners have done so under Museveni, they should just shut up and stop wasting the time of their people. All their struggles and political innuendos will be nothing but “ebbiyoya bya enswa”. Buganda should forget Dr. Obote, who has long departed to join his creator, and move on with what is here to be done if they are to avoid becoming irrelevant in the Ugandan context. They are continuously beating the drums whose sound has long died away. No body is listening anymore. Whether Dr. Obote was right or wrong, it is of no consequence now. Let those who are still serious about the secession get down to real work and get the task done. Let those northern folks alone now; you got the seat of leadership; use it now to get what you want. Other rest your case and let Ugandans live in peace. UPC is here, and it is here to stay because it was a movement started by Ugandans for Uganda and in Uganda. Museveni tried all possible means to kill it but Uganda People’s Congress has defied all logic of doom Sayers. And Mr. Semuwemba will be shocked at the number of Baganda who support UPC when the moment of truth comes in Uganda. FOR GOD MY COUNTRY Bwambuga wa Balongo -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. Michael BWambuga wa Balongo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Invite your mail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces. It's easy! 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