Opposition – a term used to describe Ugandans who carry aversion towards Museveni’s regime, mostly the top brass in parliament and their supporters in various political forums – is not used in its correct sense many a time with regard to whether the people it describes define the points of clash correctly or not, let alone if it’s true that they are in actual opposition to what they claim to oppose.
Referring to people who question the methods of Mr. Museveni as opposition is not disturbing as such, only that in Uganda the situation is predominantly worse than that prevailing where there is opposition and government, whereby the opposition can sometimes pull off remarkable success and the ground of the competition is somewhat leveled. In such cases, fundamentals like human freedom and the future development of society as a whole are unscathed. Contrastingly, here someone determines how you compete against him.
The entire competition is staged as rhetoric for PR purposes with the international community. By and large, opposing Museveni is criminal. Bandits, terrorists, idiots, agents of imperialism, and, lately, homosexuals are some of the names Museveni and his reactionaries throw in the direction of those who are averse to his reign of terror, and sometimes they form the pretexts on which he persecutes them in total violation of all rights and laws.
The law as we know it is not how it works in Uganda. Instead, the law is what Museveni wants and Ugandans cannot do anything about it. I mean, what matters in Uganda are Museveni’s interests, not Ugandans’. Faced with such a situation, he who thinks there can be successful opposition is simply one who’s deeply asleep, snoring heavily, and not responsive to any stimuli. In his autobiography, Sowing the Mustard Seed, Mr. Museveni scorned the DP stalwarts of the 1970s like Paul K. Ssemogerere, Dan Wadada Nabudere, Bindandi Ssali, et cetera, for what he called their gentlemanly approach toward Amin.
Deep inside, Gen. Museveni knows very well that a despot like Obote, Amin, or himself cannot be massaged out of power the way some in Uganda’s opposition top brass are trying to do. To be clear, elections, war (whether conventional or guerilla), coups, and negotiations are not effective ways of destroying dictatorships. In fact, wars and coups often bring in people who are ostensibly aghast at the status quo and want it changed, yet they end up becoming more repugnant than their predecessors.
The status quo is akin to that of the 1970s – absolute totalitarianism. It is perennially a captor-captive affair. Ugandans are slaves in their own country, shockingly held captive by their own. Slaves don’t just oppose; they fiercely struggle to get free first before everything. Reality presented by recent histories of countries that have faced the same conundrum as Uganda and common sense indicate that Ugandans must onboard civil disobedience (protest, noncooperation, and intervention) to regain their power from the despot. Until Ugandans are free, all other things – parliament, laws, police, et cetera – are of no value to them.
I know for sure that in this country we have an issue of comprehension, thus many people may need to be sensitized at length first before they can appreciate what I have stated above – we are dealing with both mediocrity and hypocrisy. Yes, without a jot of surprise, there are those who actually understand this salient reality, yet choose to use the situation for their own self-aggrandizement. We have many people in opposition who are certainly working for the regime.
In this category, I’m referring to the people you see speaking a lot of English in parliament, courts of law, et cetera, as though they don’t know that those institutions have since been captured.
Does it therefore raise any eyebrows when an opposition MP is implicated in a corruption scandal along with NRM colleagues? On any given day, whatever bill or anything Museveni wants done by parliament will be done with minimal resistance, and opposition parliamentarians can only stop at talking.
Nonetheless, they get paid their millions of Ugandan taxpayers’ money in monthly salaries and other not-so-legal allowances. By the way, they serve a pivotal role for the dictator – he easily proves to the world that somehow there is democracy in the country. Same thing when anyone goes to his courts of law.
Although the top brass of opposition, both in parliament and outside, and ordinary Ugandans who are opposed to Museveni’s methods may have similar aspirations in that regard, there seems to be an ulterior motive lurking behind the acts of the former category owing to the emoluments and other benefits their positions attract. There is a litany of examples to substantiate that assertion – the recent dirty money pandemonium in the FDC; the infamous 500m UGX award to Mpuuga as unearthed by the erstwhile online campaign.
Anyhow, didn’t Hon. Norbert Mao sign a cooperation agreement with Museveni, citing that transition would be at the top of his agenda? Yet, signs are clear that he was captured into Mr. Museveni’s cobweb of patronage, along with his Secretary General. The ordinary Ugandan—whether a market vendor, a jobless graduate languishing on the streets of Kampala, or a waiter/waitress in a hotel/bar—has no flicker of hope for the future. They can complain about the same leadership crisis in the country as their MPs, though the effect on them is vastly different.
The situation between the top brass of opposition in Uganda, especially in parliament and government, is akin to the one between two finalists in a UEFA Champions League final. The loser shakes the hand of the winner, gets a silver medal and some money, while the winner takes the gold medal, trophy, and more money. In this whole scenario, the actual loser is the supporter of the losing team. Somehow, the losing team has its grief mitigated by the money and the silver medals, but it’s a completely different case for their fans. Ugandans are the supporters of the losing team. Today, the majority of Ugandans [both opposition and NRM] who contest for parliamentary and other elective positions do so to earn themselves a living, not with any sense of the reality I’ve described above.
It’s really hard for me to believe that a person entitled to such incentives as those of an MP—millions of Uganda shillings in salary, free medical care, fuel, and now service awards for some—can truly feel the effects of Museveni’s rule of terror in the same way a local downtrodden Ugandan does.
This is why I’d like to opine that the true opposition to Museveni’s junta is in some sort of slumber and needs both awakening and conscientization. By true opposition, I am referring to an unemployed graduate languishing on the streets of Kampala, a vendor and shopkeeper in Kikuubo whose business URA Uganda plans to strangle with EFRIS; that peasant farmer in the village whose produce is only for home consumption; that primary school teacher who is shouting on top of his voice every day until his vocal cords produce a hoarse voice; that hospital nurse and doctor who earn peanuts while skipping meals to save the lives of Ugandans; the 19 mothers dying daily due to pregnancy-related conditions; that police officer who is ordered to clobber supporters of Bobi Wine and Kizza Besigye while he is piss-poor and hungry. Generally, it’s all Ugandans. One can also refer to them as the oppressed!
It’s therefore imperative for all oppressed Ugandans to strengthen our determination and confidence and enhance our dexterity at resistance. We need to build strong and independent social groups and institutions that generate a powerful force of resistance. Finally, we must devise a grand strategy for our liberation and execute it with discipline.
About the author: Araali Rujumba is an active member of the Rotaract Club of Kabarole. He practices medicine and uses his manhood for nothing but emptying his bladder.
