Friends
In around 2003 Canada joined the international community to head out to Somalia
and serve as a peace keeping force. Our then prime minister Brian Mulroney
responded to the George Bush’s call and offered soldiers from the Canadian
airborne regiment to head out as peace keepers. On reaching Somalia the
situation became very complicated for our soldiers went into a war zone and a
country that had no peace to be kept. Somalis became very aggressive and
started to attack Red Cross and many NGOs that had headed into Somalia.
Canadian soldiers responded by becoming violent and beat Somalis, sometimes to
death. There were a number of several human right abuse that happened in
Somalia and many were done by our soldiers. On May 22 2004 CBC {Canadian
Broadcasting corporation aired a piece called “Fall out” a piece among which a
soldier Mike Smith decided to out the rest of them and what they were doing in
Somalia. Because this was very new to all Canadians we became out raged and
heads started to roll, I remember Rex Murphy making a statement that became a
very center piece of the Somalia affair for he said “ We promised them
peacekeepers, and we sent them thugs” As all this was happening, we held a
national election which brought The Liberal under John Chretien to power.
Commissions of inquiries were carried out and witnesses of abuse from Somalia
took stands. To cut the very long story short, Chretien fired the entire
Canadian Airborne Regiment coast to coast, and the entire national defense
budget was cut by a whopping 25%. It never mattered who you were in the
regiment, it never mattered if you were deployed in Somalia or not, it never
mattered if you abused any one in Somalia, if you belong to The Canadian Air
borne regiment you are fired with immediate effect. We went back into the
country and rehired fresh soldiers. There are two things of value in this short
paragraph, a soldier saw something wrong, he documented it and reported it, but
the country stood up and reacted very angrily because that is not who we are.
For many years Acholi have treated Ugandans with impugn and we have not taken a
single step to complain about it let alone reporting it. The Acholi violence
cancer has grown slowly but steadily to becoming publicly accepted. Wewe bibi
toka kwa gari kuja hapa, the rest of taxi passengers remain sitting in the car
when a woman is getting raped in front of them for we have accepted it. Acholi
soldiers in response went on and on raping and very repeatedly. Up to today
there is not a single case that has ever been raised regarding raping Uganda
women, and because we allowed Acholi a free pass, rape has become very accepted
that in Somalia soldiers that were under command of Paul Loketch raped Somali
women over and over, yet we still have done absolutely nothing about it. We as
Ugandans, have to reach a point of questioning our priority, and what are our
expectations when we hire these thugs. But Acholi as well have a separate
issue, they take no advice from no body. To those that were close to Uganda
House, we remember very many times when the UPC hierarchy rejected the path
Acholi were taking of being abusive to the people. The Uganda House denounced
the beating of people, raping of women, and all human right abuse that happened
in Uganda especially in Kampala. UPC hierarchy opposed locking up of Luwero
people. But you had two specific problems {a} Obote was a very weak leader that
failed to stand up and go after Acholi violence, for he thought that everyone
had a good intention and knew that barbarism never work. Do you remember when
Iddi Amin stood up and fired but exported the Maleras? He managed to do that
for he had a strong leadership that Obote never had. {b} Most of Acholi
commanders and foot soldiers were just a bunch of drunkard thugs. My God an
Acholi stops to drink at 1am and he starts at 4am, when exactly do you get a
time to pump sense into him?
Now when I make a statement that broad, I get attacked for I am bullying Acholi
that are sober, but let us look at the facts at hand. The British acting
ambassador in Uganda at a time, complained that Acholi soldiers were drunk
every time, The American ambassador complained that Acholi soldiers were drunk
all the time, Amnesty International complained that Acholi soldiers were drunk
every time, USAID complained that Acholi soldiers were drunk every time, EM has
complained that Acholi soldiers were drunkards. To those that were in Kampala
at the fall of Amin will remember how Nile Mansion was turned into a mini East
African Distilleries, to a point that one of the reason The Andrew Kayiiras
wanted to blow it up, was that it failed many national decisions to be made,
because those responsible to make them were sitting in Nile Mansion only
drinking. Acholi women have complained that men drink a whole lot in Acholi
land, and fail to come home and fulfill their conjugal responsibility. All
examples I have sited are a permanent record somewhere of which I have posted
as the series continue. Why is it a crime to publicly state that Acholi are
drunkard thugs?
Friends we have a serious problem with Acholi violence that needs to be
addressed, yet we continue in our denials. An example of this kind of denial
can be found in the Jewish situation. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the former Iranian
leader had made it a habit of denying the holocaust at the UN General Assembly
gathering whenever he was given a podium to talk. And whenever he did that
most Western leaders and diplomats would walk out. What he did not realize was
that the more he denied the holocaust the stronger the case became that indeed
it took place. The Arab world has played this game for half a century hoping
the world would change in its favor. Unfortunately, this denial made the
Jewish state and its people stronger. had the Arab world had the courage to
acknowledge this historical fact, the Middle East would be different today and
co-existence would have taken place the day the Jewish people returned back to
their promised land.
The 2002 Rome Statute of International Criminal Court defines the crime of
apartheid as inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against
humanity "committed in the context of an systematic oppression and domination
by one racial group of any other racial group or groups and committed with the
intention of maintaining that regime." After apartheid ended, the Boers very
quickly accepted their role in this crime and agreed unconditionally to
participate in the Peace and Reconciliation Commission. They recognized that if
they wanted to be part of post-apartheid South Africa, that was the surest way
to safeguard their future. Indeed that worked. This is the road Acholi need to
take instead of accusing me of fueling hatred or prolonging Museveni's regime,
in which they are actively participating. If I was that powerful to prolong the
Museveni's regime, what the hell am I doing in Canada? I could have joined
the likes of late Omwony Ojok, Co. Wilson Toko (both deceased), or Chris Opoka
and Harold Achema both former residents of Toronto and very great friends of
mine by the way.
Stay in the forum for Series twenty six is on the way ------>
EM
On the 49th Parallel
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika
machafuko"
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