A Reality Check on M7's Campaign Rhetoric!

Museveni, addressing a crowd at Kololo airstrip | Newvision, Mon. 25th Oct. 2010

Corruption and the country's rapid population growth risk hindering economic growth

M7's Campaign Rhetoric:

Museveni said NRM’s achievements are not only recognised in Uganda, but across the world.

Reality Check:

"Uganda is not as oppressive as Rwanda and is not implicated to the same extent in the bloodletting in neighbouring Congo. But it cannot boast the same success. Peace is holding in troubled north of the country, but the economy there remains in a pitiful state."

"Indeed, judged by his original promises when he came to power in 1986, Mr Museveni has performed dismally. Democracy has increasingly been corroded by militarism and jawing about a liberation struggle most Ugandans are too young to remember. Achievements in macroeconomic policy have been offset by favouritism and corruption." - The
Economist

M7's Campaign Rhetoric:

“NRM has liberated Uganda from dictators and has brought peace to the country. Our economy is self-reliant as we can work on development programmes without depending on foreign loans and grants.

Reality Check:

Musevni's Government is a "Hybrid regime": "Hybrid regimes are fraught with contradictions. Their leaders adopt the trappings of democracy, yet they pervert democracy - sometimes through patronage and largess, other times through violence and repression - for the sole purpose of remaining in power." - Aili Mari Tripp

***Foreign aid still contributes 30 percent of Uganda's annual budget! It a false claim for M7 to say our economy is self-reliant!

Germany has extended a USD207 million grant to Uganda

How the UK government is supporting the country

United States aid to Uganda


M7's Campaign Rhetoric:

“It is us who have liberated Uganda from those problems, who deserve to be entrusted with the leadership of the country,” he said amidst ululations from supporters.

Reality Check:

Many other noble Ugandans including Dr. Besigye, Major Muntu and others that passed away fought in the liberation struggle with M7!

M7's Campaign Rhetoric:

Museveni dismissed his competitors in the 2011 presidential race asking him to relinquish power, saying they are underachievers with nothing to offer.

Reality Check:

Museveni overextended his stay in power by cajoling members of his ruling party into voting to scrap term limits for president, rigging elections, and intimidating opponents and voters. During the past 25 years, none of his opponents have had a chance to govern. How can he now call them underachievers?

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The Epicenter of 2011 Eelections

The epicenter of 2011 elections in Uganda is M7's overextended stay in power and its corrupting effect on our democracy !

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Another book indicting M7's pervertion of democracy!

Click here to read this book's author's introduction

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Olara Otunnu interview with The Observer

"Uganda doesn’t belong to Museveni and his military clique who have been plundering and terrorising the country for the last 25 years. It is high time Ugandans behaved as the owners of this country. We must resolve to take back, regain control of our country from the Museveni clique that has hijacked it". - Olara Otunnu

Written by Michael Mubangizi | THE OBSERVER
Wednesday, 20 October 2010 



Federo to be decided by national conference


Otunnu will fight corruption ‘like it is a war’

New constitution to replace ‘Museveni’ constitution

Replace UPE with quality primary education



Since UPC pulled out of the opposition alliance, IPC, on August 30, Party President OLARA OTUNNU has kept Ugandans guessing almost about everything – from his candidacy to whether he would follow through on his threat to boycott the 2011 general elections organised under the watch of Eng. Badru Kiggundu.



However, in a Saturday interview with MICHAEL MUBANGIZI, Otunnu put an end to the speculation, announcing he would run for president. He also laid bare his political plans for Uganda which include quashing the current Constitution.



How have the 14 months been since you returned to Uganda?



The period has been intense, packed with events and activities at a personal and political level. I have moved around the country several times, activating UPC structures and mobilising our supporters.



People had a lot of expectations in you. They thought you would advance UPC and the opposition cause, do you think you have lived up to their expectations?



It is for others to say, not me. But I have tried to put on the national agenda, things that had been either missing or under represented. I have made the issue of free and fair elections, replacing the current Electoral Commission, acquire a new dimension.



Although it had been discussed before I came, it hadn’t acquired the sharp prominence it has today.

My coming home has opened the question of truth telling and accountability that had been quietly spoken about. When I came I said this is the most unresolved issue on the national agenda.



Today, lawyers, judges, academia and religious people are beginning to say that I have a point.

On the rule of law, I don’t know when Ugandans had said to government officials, ministers and Police officers that, “sorry, I will not comply with this order because it is illegal,” the way I did when I snubbed Police summons.



I am surprised that people were utterly shocked when I did what is perfectly normal and legal. It shows the extent of the culture of impunity that the President has cultivated in Ugandans that whatever he says becomes law.



Even our rulers, Police, the President must rule under the law not above the law. We must not assist them to break the law with our compliance. I am respectful of the laws of this country but above all, the rule of law.



Acting the way Museveni did was undermining the rule of law and misusing the CID. Instead of letting them investigate crime, people that burn schools, sacrifice little kids, he is telling them to arrest, interrogate Otunnu!



People are terrified of doing anything that would invite reprisals from government. I have been telling people not to be afraid. We must not accept abuse, terror and victimization. If there is one thing I represent, it is seeing Uganda as one, cohesive nation despite our diversity.



As an aspect of this is the issue of Buganda, Uganda question, or UPC and Buganda. I have said we want to build one country in which a Muganda can be very proud to be one and also equally feel proud being a Ugandan.



We address the issue of 1966 not withstanding that historians will continue to debate what [former president Milton] Obote, [Kabaka] Muteesa, Mengo and the central government did. I have extended to Buganda the hand of dialogue, good will and friendship.



How are you planning to address the demand for federalism? Dr. Kizza Besigye says he will automatically grant federalism, Norbert Mao says he will subject it to a vote?



Federalism is not a Buganda issue but a Uganda issue, even though Buganda has been at the forefront of championing it. Uganda remains the most highly centralised and personalised government.



I am personally in favour of a formula in which decisions are made at the closest proximity by those affected by them. Besides federalism, there are so many pending national issues like land, monarchies and kings, development, national unity which need to be resolved.



My idea is that we need a national compact (constitution) that brings these pieces together and the way to arrive there is by convening a national conference bringing together representatives of our country.



These would debate freely and arrive at the compact (constitution) which will translate into a new constitutional order. The current constitution was imposed [on people]. It was debated, but there was tremendous pressure from Museveni and NRM leaders, so this is a Museveni or regime constitution.



We want a constitution freely arrived at by free representative citizens. We need an open, democratic forum where free citizens openly and democratically dialogue and arrive at that.



What if people at the National Conference reject federalism, will you respect their view?



Of course it has to be democratic. We won’t impose anything on anybody. I have told you personally, I support federalism and I will champion it. Happily as it turns out, most Ugandans support federalism as seen by the Benjamin Odoki Commission findings. I am not afraid that Ugandans will reject it. I think it is a question of working out the details.



So your federalism promise is not automatic. It is subject to views of the people who will attend the National Conference?



No. You are mis-framing the issue. I said me and UPC as a party support federo. I believe most Ugandans support it. I think the National Conference will agree with a federal structure. We just need a national forum to discuss it and work out the precise details of what a federal structure will look like.



If it is supported, why not guarantee it automatically instead of subjecting it to a lengthy process where it could be rejected?



How do you make it automatic? You mean the President wakes up one day and says we now go federalism? That is unconstitutional.



What if that conference rejects federalism?



Don’t ask me hypothetical questions. You know my views and UPC’s stand on federalism and what we shall be championing, pushing for and in what framework.



Museveni has been subjecting those processes to Parliament, commissions of inquiry, LCs and it has been rejected?



That is the point I am making that we want to get away from government by dictate. For this (federalism) to be sustainable and entrenched in our political culture, it needs to have popular support. It needs to have a country as a whole saying, yes, this reflects our wishes. This is not just for federalism, but other issues which I have told you.



Shouldn’t you be telling Ugandans how your government will help them get money, food, peace, good roads and schools for their children instead of investigating who killed them in wars?



Those who hold that position can’t be moral. It is very different from what people tell me when I go to Luweero, northern Uganda and Ombachi. It is different from what families of people who were massacred during the September 2009 riots, survivors of the murder of Muslims (in Mbarara) and people who were deeply affected in 1966 tell me.



People want healing and we shall never heal without addressing these traumatic episodes honestly, with humility and in a forgiving way. Knowing facts is imperative.



Does that take precedence over good roads, schools?



No body has been pressing hard for quality schools, roads, hospitals and making the wellbeing of ordinary people the preoccupation of government than myself. You have heard me ask why the state has abandoned ordinary people.



You have been sitting on the fence on key issues. For instance, it is not clear whether UPC will participate in the coming elections or whether you, Olara Otunnu, will contest [for] the presidency?



You can’t say that I have been sitting on the fence when I am the one who has been calling for truth telling, saying that we must have genuine rule of law, not a police state when I have been outspoken about the corruption in this country.



Okay, will you contest the presidency in the coming election?



Now you are talking. And on that one UPC hasn’t been sitting on the fence. We have been categorical in saying that we shall not settle for anything less than a free and fair election. We have been equally clear that we need a new, independent electoral commission and a new clean, verifiable voters’ register.



We have always said even in the IPC meetings that we are not for boycott. We are participating and UPC will field a presidential candidate. In UPC, the party president is automatically the presidential candidate.



How far have you gone with the collection of signatures for submission to EC ahead of the October 25-26 presidential nominations?



I don’t know. Because I am not personally doing that. But you can be sure that whatever the date is for the [presidential] nomination, UPC will be fully represented. We are not bystanders; we are not watching the train as it goes by.



What does your candidature offer that people like Museveni, Dr. Besigye and Mao don’t?



We have a unique package that Ugandans are crying for. UPC is a nationalist party whose vocation is to unite our country across ethnic, religious lines.



Today, our country is tragically polarized and divided by Museveni’s divide and rule policy. We need UPC and Olara Otunnu. I have personally been devoted to the issue of national unity since my public engagement on Uganda’s political scene.



If there is one thing that UPC and Olara Otunnu stand for, it is to serve ordinary Ugandans and make their well-being the central business of government.



Over the last 25 years, government has abandoned the ordinary people. So the issue of delivering social services to the ordinary people is very important. Instead of UPE, we want to rebuild quality primary education, accessible medical services and support farmers in the countryside.



We shall re-establish the cooperatives network, invest in infrastructure so that there is free movement of goods and services. The reason ordinary people are not served is because those in power are using (state) resources that should be used to benefit ordinary people to serve themselves.



So fighting corruption is like a war and enforcing accountability will be an important aspect that we will bring. I believe very strongly in an inclusive Uganda that doesn’t segregate between different regions, communities and social classes whether in education, award of scholarships and employment opportunities, decent health, education.



I want a society in which one’s fate is not determined by where they are born or their faith. We shall also address the issue of truth telling and accountability for the reasons I have told you.

Then I have told you the issue of a new national compact (constitution.)



In terms of the economy, I want an economy which works for Uganda as a whole, not just for the State House investors. I want an economy that encourages the ordinary person to sell [their produce] in India, China; a tax policy that supports and encourages local entrepreneurs to be the engine of the economy instead of punishing them as is the case today.



What gives you confidence that you will win when the UPC candidate came last in the 2006 elections and when the party has lost all the by-elections under your watch?



If you move around the country like I have done, you will see what is happening to UPC-it is an incredible resurgence and revival. Don’t waste your breath speculating about what percentage we will get, what we ask for is a genuine free and fair election. The rest will fall into place.



After quitting IPC, which party, say DP or NRM, would you be willing to work with?



The day I announced we were leaving IPC, I paid tribute to parties which aren’t members of the IPC for their contribution to democracy in Uganda. I said very clearly that we look forward to working with them and supporting each other.



I made it clear that the task ahead calls for collaboration and working together. We very much want to do that with all the parties in and out of IPC. So our leaving IPC wasn’t about closing doors for collaboration. We have kept the doors open and we have been discussing and talking to all the parties.



Even NRM?



There is no bad blood between us and NRM but there is a fundamental gap, a bridge that is impossible to overcome. I have several friends in NRM but we have not discussed the issue of collaboration between UPC and NRM. We just speak and discuss as personal friends.



As UPC we are eager to cooperate with all democracy seeking political parties. NRM is not a democracy seeking political party; it is a democracy blocking, democracy undermining and democracy killing political party. There are however people in NRM who are very patriotic, like any of us who actually want to see change in Uganda. So we would welcome them to join our broad movement for change.



What will you do with the signatures that you are currently collecting?



That is a non-partisan project. It is neither a UPC nor Olara Otunnu project. It is for all Ugandans who want to see free and fair elections in Uganda employing a strategy of positive, non-violent resistance. We are demanding a new electoral commission and a clean verifiable voters’ register.



This is part of a broader strategy. When we get a significant number, it will be a demonstration to Uganda and to the entire world that the vast majority of Ugandans want free and fair elections and are demanding a new electoral commission and a clean, verifiable voters’ register.



Is that enough to change the Electoral Commission?



I am completely convinced that if we act together on a non-partisan basis, beyond political parties, if we bring together civic, religious organizations, young women and men outside political parties, we can and we shall overturn the Museveni-Kiggundu Electoral Commission and have a new, independent Electoral Commission.



People thought you would unite the party, but former UPC leaning independent MPs have officially defected to FDC and NRM?



Before I was elected [UPC president], there were factions, a case in courts of law. Since my election and my policy of reconciliation in the party, we are not in court, we aren’t fighting each other. All those who were fighting each other are represented in my cabinet.



The MPs from Lango you are talking about have for many years not been active in UPC. They have a UPC background, but they stood as independents. In fact, all of them, during this Parliament, their memorandum of cooperation wasn’t with UPC but with FDC. They have now decided to formalize that relationship.



We disagree, but respect their decision. We wanted them to come back to UPC; I had dialogue with Cecilia Ogwal, inviting her to come back to UPC. Our door has been wide open, and many have actually comeback. It so happens that the MPs from Lango who have been independent and cooperating with FDC have decided to join FDC.



Being Langi, could they be leaving because the party is led by an Acholi?



When they left UPC [and stood as independents], a Muganda was heading UPC, not an Acholi. As far as I know there is no ethnic or personal dimension to this issue.



Last word



Uganda doesn’t belong to Museveni and his military clique who have been plundering and terrorising the country for the last 25 years. It is high time Ugandans behaved as the owners of this country. We must resolve to take back, regain control of our country from the Museveni clique that has hijacked it.



mcmubs@observer.ug

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"The censor and the inquisitor have always lost!"

Books won't stay banned.  They won't burn.  Ideas won't go to jail.  In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost.  The only weapon against bad ideas is better ideas.  ~Alfred Whitney Griswold, New York Times, 24 February 1959



Read an excerpt from the Censored Book!

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The Correct Line? Uganda Under Museveni

Also click here to read: Museveni's Uganda: Paradoxes of Power in a Hybrid Regime

                          
Click here to listen to Dr. Kobusingye's interview

You can also read a chapter a day @: http://bit.ly/cQmcDy

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Road conditions in M7's Uganda

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The Correct Line?: Uganda Under Museveni

Also click here to read: Museveni's Uganda: Paradoxes of Power in a Hybrid Regime

Click here to Check out excerpts from the censored book

"Reviewers of The Correct Line? Uganda under Museveni by Dr Olive Kobusingye say the book tackles the many ironies and contradictions that have characterised President Museveni's nearly two and half decades in power." - BBC World Service

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The Value of Dr. Otunnu's Message to Ugandans!

Inspite of his detractors, Dr. Otunnu's Message to the people of Uganda is a timely and most eloquent voice in Uganda's relentless struggle against one man rule. It encapuslates the very core of the issues that every opposition leader in Uganda should be articulating in no uncertain terms, at every opportunity, in the run up to the 2011 elections.

This message is bound to singlehandedly change the course of Uganda's fledgeling democratic process in the oppositions favour!

In the realem of democratic and civil rights struggles, Dr Otunnu's message ranks right up there with history's other notable orators: like Dr. King's Letter from a Birmingham jail, I have a Dream, and Obama's speech on Race.

Dr. Otunnu's message will go down as the most significant rethoric against one man rule in Uganda's history!

Otunnu's opponents, let alone, M7 himself, could detract little from so solid an argument!

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A Movement To End Tyranny in Uganda

"I do not offer the Ugandan youth yellow envelopes stuffed with money. What I do offer our youth is something much more valuable and enduring. I want to provide them with equitable access and opportunities, with engagement and hope. So that when they complete their studies, they are not asked what family or part of th...e country they come from, before being offered a job. I want their prospects for employment to depend on their hard work and qualifications" - Olara Otunnu


(A message to the people of Uganda)


We demand free and fair elections NOW! We must take back our country!

A most daunting challenge faces our country today. Will 2011 mark the turning point we are fighting for? Or will the forces of darkness prevail, and we sleepwalk our way into a preventable national catastrophe? The answer to this question cannot wait anymore.

We in UPC are actively preparing and mobilising to participate in the elections of 2011 .We have completed our grassroots elections in most of the country .We are now in the midst of our primaries; I might add that they are proceeding in a remarkably smooth, democratic and peaceful manner. Soon all our elected flag bearers, from the level of LC3 to the presidency, will be ready to pick and process their nomination papers.

For UPC, this moment marks the beginning of an intensive nation-wide campaign for free and fair elections. Our platform is free and fair elections NOW. Our clarion call is: We Must Take Back Our Country.

Today, we have begun the journey that must lead us to free and fair elections. Today we have embarked on positive non-violent resistance, which will continue until we achieve the objective of free and fair elections. Today we have started the march of freedom.

As we have said many times before, boycott is not in UPC’s vocabulary. We have made it clear from the very beginning, and I reiterate this today, that we are not advocating boycott or no-elections.

Let there be no confusion about this .The choice before the Ugandan electorate is not between fraudulent elections and boycott; that is a false choice. Boycott suggests that the people of Uganda will be passive onlookers, taking no initiatives, waiting for Museveni to impose his fait accompli on the country. No. The real choice is between participating in fraudulent elections, on one side, and participating in genuinely free and fair elections, on the other side. Museveni is working to impose the former option.

On the other side, we the people of Uganda must mobilize and organise as never before in order to bring about the latter option. We must deploy direct and concerted non-violent actions to create a new reality, a new political situation that will make free and fair elections the only option. We must be the agents of shaping our own destiny. We must draw a line in the sand on this issue. This project will turn on the choice and resolve of the Ugandan people, not on Museveni. We must settle the issue of free and fair elections in our country, once and for all, in 2011.

I have no doubt whatsoever that this is within our grasp, that we can accomplish this objective in the year 2011. But to do so, we must all commit to this; we must remain steadfast and absolutely firm in our resolve.

Our insistence, our non-negotiable demand, is that the elections of 2011, must be free and fair. This translates into two minimum prerequisites: an independent electoral commission; and a clean and verifiable register of voters.

Why are free and fair elections in 2011 such a political and moral imperative for our country? The reasons are very clear; because they have direct impact on the daily life and future of our people.

* The ordinary Ugandans have been completely abandoned by the Museveni regime; this government has simply migrated from providing social services. This situation will never change as long as the Museveni regime does not owe its stay in power to the support and votes of the Ugandan people. Only a government that is truly elected by the voters, will be answerable to them, and will be accountable to them for its actions. Only such a government will invest in quality education for our children, provide accessible healthcare for our families, support our farmers, pave our roads, and provide support to small-and-medium scale business entrepreneurs. There is therefore a very direct link between free and fair elections and the delivery of services to ordinary people.

* The people of Uganda are yearning for change. But the current electoral process is being organised on Museveni’s terms. As in the past, it will inevitably lead to massive fraud and rigging. Change will never happen under these conditions. After 25 years of electoral fraud and terror, this leopard is not about to change its spots, unless we compel it to do so.

* Across the country, there is great excitement and expectations about 2011. We have not seen this before. There is only one reason for this. The people believe that finally, in 2011, their vote will actually count. If this is blocked, they will lose all confidence in elections as the means for change, in political parties and their leaders as the channels for that change, and in the idea of peaceful transition altogether. Some will simply give up and retreat into despondency and bitterness. Others will feel left with no option but to seek other methods of liberating themselves from 25 years of unyielding oppression. Because liberate, we must.

* Stripped of everything else, ordinary Ugandans have this one asset left in their hands - - the power of their vote. If they are robbed of this as well, they will have lost absolutely everything. They will have no stake whatsoever in the state.

* Quite simply, free and fair elections is the right of the people of Uganda. Like citizens in other countries, they deserve no less. That is why we must fight to make the people of Uganda the true winners of the 2011 elections.

* Finally, the spectre of catastrophe hangs ominously over our land. Below a superficially normal situation, the country is teetering on the brink of a political explosion, borne of a quarter century of entrenched dictatorship, humiliating impoverishment, obscene corruption, nepotism, electoral fraud and impunity. It would be a major historical blunder to misread the current situation in the country. The last hopes of the Ugandan people are now pegged on the 2011 elections. Genuinely free and fair elections in 2011 provide the last window to avert a looming national catastrophe. This is the only preventive measure left. Let nobody say tomorrow that they did not know that the situation in the country was this explosive!

Free and fair elections in 2011 is not an end in itself. It is a means to return power to the people. It is an avenue that will lead us to higher ground. It is the passage that will unblock the barrier which separates us from the realisation of our deeper aspirations.

In our campaign for free and fair elections, we shall emphasise this link. We want to move these aspirations to the centre of our national debate and agenda.

First, free and fair elections will open the way for us to establish sustainable democratic governance.

Second, we must embark on a national project to reweave the fabric of national unity, which is gravely fractured, while celebrating our diversity.

Third, we have a broken country. We need to reinvent Uganda. We need to reconstitute the Ugandan state .We have important unfinished business on our national agenda. There is need for a new national compact which will set out a new architecture of governance and distribution of power in the country. We need a new democratic constitution to replace NRM’s regime constitution. This must be the outcome of a transparent and democratic national dialogue in a free and representative forum, a national convention. This will be the occasion to put on the table, for dialogue and resolution, major issues that have been pending on the national agenda. These issues include reconstituting the state; federalism; land; uneven development; our unity and diversity.

Fourth, we shall continue to press for truth-telling and accountability. We must have independent investigations of the major traumatic episodes in our recent history, particularly, the massacre of 10 September; Luwero; massacre of Muslims in Mbarara; Ombachi massacre; and genocide committed in northern Uganda.

These episodes remain deep and festering wounds on the body politic of our country. Even as I speak, horrendous human rights abuses are going on in Karamoja.

I want to see us, as a people, climb to the top of a certain hill - - the hill of reconciliation and healing. There to embrace in humility and prayerful forgiveness. There to wipe away the tears of the communities that have long been hurting in silent, unacknowledged agony.

But the path to the top of that hill necessarily passes through the valley of sorrow, of reckoning and of acknowledgement. We cannot leapfrog our way from the land of impunity, where we are embedded today, onto that hill of reconciliation and forgiveness. Our country cannot turn a new page; it cannot experience healing without walking through this valley.

That is why we must bring forth the truth, and the whole truth shall set us free.

And, finally, our struggle is of course about political, economic and social transformation. But it is about much more than that. It is also, at a deeper level, a struggle to recover the soul of our country.

As a people, I fear that, we have lost our sense of outrage; our sense of the unacceptable; our sense of taboo. Things that would make the heavens tremble with fury, we Ugandans take in our stride, with a mere shrug of the shoulders.

So many abominations have become commonplace and ‘normal’. How else do you explain the now routine killing of children as so-called human sacrifice? And nothing happens. The serial burning down of schools, and nothing happens; the massacre of 33 unarmed demonstrators, and the following day and the following week, it is business as usual in the country; the wholesale plunder of the country by our rulers, while our people are dying from jiggers, and nothing happens. And the corrosive money culture that rules our society today.

Our country is in the midst of a major moral crisis.

Yet we are a people of faith. Yet this is a land in which God is taken very seriously.

Where are the people of God when we need them most? When will they raise their prophetic voices, to denounce plunder and rigging, genocide and impunity, discrimination and nepotism, poverty and humiliation? How long shall we wait for them to speak truth to power? Where is the fellowship of intercessors? Beyond the palpable explosion of religion, our country is crying out for a root-and-branch spiritual revival, a radical renewal that can redeem our land from the grip of evil.

A word about the security services. I have no quarrel with our compatriots who are serving in the security services (that is the armed forces, the intelligence agencies, and the police). They are our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters. I honour their service to our country.

My quarrel is with those who exploit and cynically use them; those who give them lip service while practicing nepotism and neglecting their families. This struggle is for the future of all our children, for a life of dignity for all our families and parents. We are in this struggle together.

I have spoken recently about building a national social movement, so that together we can begin to chart a new path leading to a new Uganda. Our first order of business, our immediate priority, is the struggle for free and fair elections in 2011.

The specific strategy we have adopted for this struggle is positive non-violent resistance. This strategy for change has been used in popular struggles all over the world to bring an end to entrenched dictatorship, repressive colonial rule, systematic discrimination, and other forms of grave injustice. Our own struggle will focus on our central demand for genuinely free and fair elections--until this objective is achieved.

I want to especially invite our young people to join in this positive non-violent resistance. Because this struggle is, above all, about their future.

I do not offer the Ugandan youth yellow envelopes stuffed with money. What I do offer our youth is something much more valuable and enduring. I want to provide them with equitable access and opportunities, with engagement and hope. So that when they complete their studies, they are not asked what family or part of the country they come from, before being offered a job. I want their prospects for employment to depend on their hard work and qualifications.

I want to see again that a child born in Mucwini, a place which is difficult to find on anybody’s map, can receive quality education in that village. And from the village foundation, make his way to Gulu High, Budo and Makerere.

I want us to build an inclusive society, where a child born into an ordinary family anywhere in our country can dare to have such dreams. And I see no reason why not.

This campaign is larger than any single political party; indeed it is larger than political parties. It aims to bring together all democracy-seeking social forces: political parties; civil society; religious organisations; the business community; workers; pressure groups; the youth ; and women organisations. What unites us is a common hunger for freedom, and democratic governance in our land. This will be a citizens’ struggle.

In this, I include many of our brothers and sisters who are in the NRM. Because there are many patriotic and democracy-seeking Ugandans who are travelling in the NRM bus. I call on the NRM members who care deeply about the future of our country to join in this struggle.

There are several examples from recent history that instruct us about positive non-violent resistance: Mahatma Gandhi’s salt march campaign in India; the civil rights movement in the USA; “Solidarity” movement in Poland ; the “Velvet” revolution in Czhechoslavia; Ignatius Musazi’s boycott campaign of 1949; “Unbwogable” campaign for an independent electoral commission in Kenya; and the Save Mabira Forest campaign here.

I know we have been told that we cannot produce any change because the Museveni regime is so entrenched and ruthless, that we should accept the status quo as a fact of life; well they said the same thing about Milosevic in Serbia, about Mobutu in Zaire, about Marcos in the Philippines, about Taylor in Liberia, about Ceausescu in Romania, and about General Pinochet in Chile.

I know we have been told that change will come gradually, that we should be patient and wait. We have been waiting for a full quarter century. How long shall we wait? The time has come to borrow a leaf from President Obama who, quoting Martin Luther King, insisted on “the fierce urgency of now “.

I know they have promised to crush me; actually these small bones will be quite easy to crush, but our spirit will grow bigger and stronger. I know we have been told that Museveni’s is an empire on which the sun will never set; well the sun did set even on the British empire.

The moral force that propels our struggle is far more powerful than the fearsome Presidential Guard Brigade, the tanks, the kiboko squad, and all the awesome weapons of terror in the regime’s arsenal.

With these bare hands, waving the oboko lwedo (this is handed by elders to those embarking on a major struggle; it confers blessings, empowerment and solidarity) we shall prevail over this edifice of oppression, over the violence and terror of this regime, over the tanks and the kiboko squad. We shall prevail because our lapir (the cause for which we are fighting) is clean. And because our lapir is just, we are not alone - - we are surrounded by the blessings of our ancestors.

We shall move forward trusting in God; because He is the God of justice; because He is not indifferent to the agony and humiliation visited upon his children; because He has brought down mighty rulers from their thrones of arrogance and decadence; because He has said to the oppressor, “Let my people go!”. Because He is a just and faithful God, we are not alone.

I call on all Ugandans, within the country and in the diaspora, to join in this struggle; from Rukungiri to the Ssese islands; from Yumbe to Kyenjojo; from Rakai to Sironko; from London to Los Angeles.

We shall not be moved, just like a tree that’s standing by the waterside; we shall no be moved. Let us march in peace, in solidarity, in fellowship, fasting and praying until we hold free and fair elections. We have it within our grasp to save our country.

As the Chinese say, a journey of a thousand miles begin with one step. We shall begin the nation-wide petition marathon for an independent electoral commission today, right here. The petition marathon will continue until 5 million Ugandans have signed the petition.

We Must Take Back Our Country!

As I have gone around the country, over and over again, I have posed these questions to my compatriots: To whom does this country belong? Who are the owners of Uganda? Is it Museveni and his politico-military clique? Are we guests, squatters or refugees, here by the grace and courtesy of Museveni? Or are we the rightful owners of this country?

Invariably, the audience roared back: “We are the owners”.

We Ugandans have been reduced to subjects (not citizens) in our own country, subjugated and humiliated in our own land. The people of Uganda are being held hostage by this politico-military clique.

If this country belongs to us, then it is high time we behaved as its owners. How can we be supplicants and subjects in our own land?

That is why I say: We Must Take Back Our Country! We must regain control of our country from the politico-military clique which has hijacked it for the last 25 years. We Ugandans must take charge of our country again.

Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. This is our country.


Olara A. Otunnu is President of Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) political party

"Speaking Truth To Empower."

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