The Dichotomy of M7's rule in Uganda!

A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts: jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and mutually exclusive: nothing can belong simultaneously to both parts. In Uganda's case this dichotomy is exemplified by M7's adoption of the trappings of democracy alongside the pitfalls of despotism for the sole purpose of overextending his stay in power. M7 has in fact adopted "two divergent impulses": one that seems to promote civil rights and political liberties; and another that virtually curtails those same rights and liberties with violence and repression on a whim!

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The Best Narrative of M7's Autocracy in Uganda

Click here to read this book's author's introduction If every Ugandan read this book, M7's perversion of our democracy would be ended. Its similar to but more detailed than Dr. Kobusingye's book, "The correct Line? Uganda Under Museveni", both of which came out at about the same time, but successfully dismissed and ignored by M7's government just a few months before last year's elections. Ugandans have plenty of time now to read and digest the critical information in these books and see in clear perspective the avoidable cliff M7's overextended rule is taking our democracy! In 2009, a documentary about Mubarak's Egypt was broadcast by the BBC world service about the effects of Mubarak's overextended stay in power was having on the country's democracy and Mubarak and his government dismissed and ignored it. Two years later Mubarak's government imploded. Its doubtful M7's overextended stay in power is immune to the realities of a modern informed democracy!

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"Watered Down Democracy!"

There is an interesting article about the recent protests in Africa, in the July - September 2011 issue of Focus on Africa magazine, in which BBC Focus on Africa gathered "three thinkers in Cyberspace" to debate the ramifications of those protests. This included Uganda's managing director of the New Vision newspaper Mr. Robert Kabushenga whose opinions I found not suprising, but peculiar!

Focus on Africa is a subscription only magazine, so I cannot reproduce the entire article here. I will only highlight particular sections:

On the question of whether the days of benign long-serving autocrats are numbered: Uganda's Kabushenga has an emphatic: No. he goes on to say the following: "in Uganda you have an opposition leader - Kizza Besigye - who lost an election and was about to loose the leadership of his party and faced the prospect of an end to his career. So he incited a group of people to turn to violent protests." Professor Stephen Chun, another pannelist in this forum had the following response: " ... Noth Africa will appear more progressive than Eat Africa, where Uganda President Museveni simply doesn't have the imagination to rule with a modicum of flexibility, .. " On the question of whether governments have turned these social protests into political ones as in Uganda. Pfrofessor Chun had the following to say: "The reaction of the Ugandan government turned what was largely a social and economic demonstration into a political one. The luck of dynamic change and new ideas enabled some political undercurrents in the protests. Mr. Kabushenga still insisted that: "What was going on in Kampala was a well organised violent protest by a political section of the opposition. The issue of food prices was just an excuse! Mr. Kabushenga called Besigye a sore perpetual looser; to which professor Chun had the following response: "Robert's point about the sore loser, in Uganda's case the perpetual loser, needs to be balanced with the determination of the perpetual winner to keep perpetually winning. There is a problem about rotation of elites in Uganda. In Egypt, Mubarak kept winning elactions as well. What strikes me about Uganda is the mantle Museveni sometimes dons of having been a "liberation" leader. ... to the effect that liberation leaders are somehow irreplaceable ... "
In a colomn by Ghana's vice president Mr John Dramani Mahama: there is the following quote: The hopes and aspirations of an entire nation are no longer invested in one individual"

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M7's Democratic Masquerade !

Over extended stay in power is an untenable premise in a democracy. It can only be maintained through coercion & manipulation of the democratic process. Unchecked, it's bound to implode soon or later like we've witnessed in the middle east!

In Uganda, M7 continues to masquerade as a democratically elected leader when in fact he is a nuanced version of the middle east despots that have just fallen.

M7 has overseen the changing of the constitution that favored his stay in power.
He has basically perverted our democracy through patronage, largess, and violence against any group that demonstrates against his regime.
M7 recently compared Ugandan's fundamental right to demonstrate peacefully to rioters.
He has imprisoned opponents on trumped up charges.

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