Jacqueline Asiimwe
You need to start to look at the larger picture. Let me tell you a true
story. For a long time in the Papacy history, a Pope attends a function in
St. Peters Square which ends with his address of the people. Popes these
days go after the wars for we have very many out there, and usually end up
the speech by releasing two doves to fly away as a sign of peace from
captivity. By the way those doves are a huge investments for they are rented
out for functions, so you pay for them and they are brought to your
function, you release them and they fly back to their owner back to the
cage, so they dont literary fly away to freedom. We have a huge farm here
renting them out for weddings funerals and so on, but they are trained to
fly back to their cages thus owner. Think about it if you release a caged
bird trained to feed from a cage how does it survive outside? Back to
my story.
On this last Sunday the Pope spoke about the problems in Ukraine, he pleaded
for peace and argued to the people of Ukraine to stop violence. After the
speech he opened the window and two kids set free two white doves to fly
away as a sign of peace to Ukraine. For the very first time in the history
of Vatican, the two Doves were attacked in front of the Pope by a Seagull
and a large Crow. They were attacked right as they left the window in the
eyes of the Pontiff. One of the Doves lost some feathers as it broke free
from the Gull but the Crow pecked repeatedly at the other Dove. It was not
clear what happened to the doves as they flew off, and the Pontiff was
rightly upset.
I fear when people expect peace.
EM
On the 49th
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gwokto La'Kitgum
Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 3:07 AM
To: ugandans-at-heart
Subject: {UAH} We need liberation from the liberators
<http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29871%3
Awe-need-liberation-from-the-liberators&catid=93%3Acolumnists&Itemid=74> We
need liberation from the liberators
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WEDNESDAY, 29 JANUARY 2014 06:34
WRITTEN BY JACQUELINE ASIIMWE
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Twenty-eight years ago, when the rag-tag army of the National Resistance
Movement entered Kampala, there was a sense of euphoria, as we all
anticipated the change that we so desperately needed as a country.
Ugandans had experienced serious birth pangs in the effort to bring forth a
nation and the birth itself had been difficult, resulting into a sort of
deformed Uganda, where anarchy and misrule were the order of the day.
Twenty-eight years ago, a glimmer of hope was born.
Twenty-eight years later, one can indeed see some visible signs of progress.
The economy has grown, the population has grown, big business is booming
alongside small business, there is relative calm in most parts of the
country, we promulgated a new constitution, we hold elections periodically,
primary school enrollment has gone up, and sometimes crime comes down.
If you look on the surface, there is a happy veneer that many do not want to
disturb. But bubbling beneath the surface is a growing urge for something
more and something better for the motherland.
The glossy exterior of our current existence does not take away from the
deep-seated issues that we still must grapple with as a nation.
Yes, we hold elections every five years, but we have never seen or settled
the issue of peaceful transition from one president to another, and going by
all indications, we wont see this happen in the 2016 polls. Yes, we conduct
elections, but it is mostly form and little substance.
While the present government went to the bush ostensibly because elections
were rigged, it has been accused of the same, if not worse rigging,
with each successive election. Elections have become more commercialised
than ever, and the vote goes to the highest bidder, and not to the best
leader.
The Electoral Commission itself is suffering a huge crisis of confidence yet
it soldiers on under the misguided belief that doing more of the same thing
will somehow make us trust them. One of the highlights of the NRM rule was
the 1995 Constitution, a largely progressive constitution by all accounts.
However, the very administration that birthed it, is now consistently
committing what Prof Joe Oloka recently called a constitucide, the
deliberate killing of the Constitution. The first abrogation of the
Constitution was in 1996, when the president increased the size of cabinet.
And the rest has been downhill since.
The liberators rode on the promise of fundamental change and while we
acknowledge the changes made over the years, on the critical political
questions,
nothing has changed fundamentally. Where Ugandans wanted to be free to
express themselves, the liberators have gradually narrowed the space for
speech that they do not like.
They have closed media houses at will, harassed and arrested journalists,
banned ebimeeza which were citizen-initiated forums that were spaces for
vibrant discussions about the issues of the day. Where Ugandans wanted
freedom to associate, parties were muzzled and we, like cattle, were all
herded into the Movement kraal.
When that didnt work, the liberators opened up space for parties through a
highly-restrictive law - the Political Parties and Organizations Act.
Through the Act and subsequent government actions, political parties are
allowed to exist and operate on a very short leash.
For all intents and purposes, it is still unpopular and many times dangerous
to align with or belong to the opposition in Uganda. Where Ugandans wanted
freedom to pursue their highest potential through quality education, the
liberators gave us what my good friend Godber Tumushabe describes as an 18th
century education that cannot address 21st century challenges.
Where Ugandans wanted freedom of assembly, they have to seek permission to
assemble and more often than not, protesters have been beaten and
tear-gassed off the streets, while the issues they raise persist unaddressed
by the establishment.
When all is said and done, the liberators have slowly turned full circle
into oppressors of liberty, and we are now in dire need of liberation from
the liberators.
And this is by no means a call to arms. Rather, it is a call to all Ugandan
citizens to be fully engaged in crafting a truly free and peaceful country.
We can no longer subcontract liberation to others to do for us. We have to
do it ourselves.
Twitter: @asiimwe4justice
<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
___________________________________
Gwokto La'Kitgum
"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower
<http://www.regainyourtime.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Monkey-Suit-Tablet
-300x1991.jpg>
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