Friends, I gave myself the mantle of diluting whatever I personally feel or assume to be poisonous narratives especially those aimed at hoodwinking and or divide our society. For instance, President Museveni talked about how the Lubigi squatters were a recent creation. He had said that: “When I passed at that place in 1986 (on the way to liberate Kampala), that place had no encroachers!” I wrote a rebuttal and asked the president whether he has never passed around that place in the last 40 years? Of course he did.
But when did he realise that those people were encroaching on a wetland? If you recall, I personally faced Frank Gashumba and stopped him from his hitherto mission to sow seeds of divisionism indeed romantically massaging tribalism which would easily turn Uganda into Rwanda of 1994. Gashumba had created this “kiboozi- unfounded narrative” that Bobi Wine and his NUP supporters were preaching hate against Banyarwanda. I reminded Gashumba that this cannot be true since Bobi’s wife – Barbie Itungo – has Rwandan ancestry.
Therefore there was no way Bobi would antagonize his children’s uncles! Can you imagine that even Gen. MK had jumped on the bandwagon and started talking about tribalism and trying to get political capital out of it? Like his father, MK was headlining, where he went, the dangers of sectarian talk in Uganda. Like I told those gentlemen, Uganda is one country where sectarianism, divisionism, religious divide, tribalism, name others, cannot thrive any longer.
President Museveni had, in January 1986, finally cleansed those ideas from our national psyche. Of course there is ‘tribal exclusivism’ but that too cannot stop the rest of us from enjoying our beautiful country. In diversity we thrive! Later Gashumba realised that he was actually pointing his guns at the wrong enemy when the people who actually hated his “Bavandime- Rwandese born in Uganda” were openly known.
As a former liberation fighter, I will forever pay homage to Bavandimwe or Rwandese in general for their unwavering contribution to the final liberation of Uganda. Just the other day I saw a young lady from Mutukula at the passport office who was forced to produce the ID of her grandfather even after producing three genuine pieces of IDs: her own, her father and mother IDs. So Frank Gashumba you still have a long way to go but while at it; don’t create invisible enemies.
There is no true Muganda who can hate on a Munyarwanda. Simply pay attention to your history. I also caused a premature birth of a narrative which had started making rounds that NUP and Bobi Wine were actually created by President Museveni.
I think the late Tamale Mirundi was spreading this dangerous rumour. Why would Mr. Museveni ‘create’ or turn Bobi Wine into his proxy opposition leader? I wondered at the time.
Without feigning ignorance, we all know that President Museveni has enough powers given to him by the constitution and through his clever machinations to do whatever he wants to do with Uganda. Creating own opposition is vastly different from cannibalizing the opposition. Mr.
Museveni loves the latter. AND NOW ANDREW MWENDA: About Andrew Mwenda, this is the only person who led me into writing stories. He is as brilliant as the word itself; the only living person to be a senior advisor to two presidents: Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni.
He is already being seen as the ‘invisible hand’ behind a possible Muhoozi Kainerugaba (MK) presidency. Someone told me that Mwenda was a good friend of the late President of Burundi Pierre Nkurunzinza. So you know; Mwenda is the young brother to the famous Lt.
Gen. Kayanja Muhanga who is now serving as Commander of the Land forces (CLF) in the national army- UPDF. This battle- hardened soldier will one day lead the Ugandan army provided Andrew Mwenda doesn’t annoy the appointing authority.
Lest we forget, Andrew Mwenda has another powerful sibling called Margret Muhanga who is a very influential and rich politician. She has been around President Museveni like a tick on a cow. This lady was caught in the “UBC Land Saga” where she claimed to have sold her cows and goats to realise the Shs10 billion she purportedly used to buy government land.
It was estimated at the time that one of her cows might have been worth a staggering Shs11 million and a goat some Shs 6million! If course Andrew Mwenda was seen riding on a military chopper wearing a full military uniform. Other unfortunate folks are languishing in Luzira for merely wearing berets which resembles those of the military. Unless you’re a sibling of Andrew Mwenda, you cannot pull out such stunts in Uganda and live to tell it.
Then of course Andrew Mwenda is the invisible hand behind the extraordinary rise and rise of Gen. MK. Without Andrew Mwenda, Uganda and Rwanda would still be quarrelling at the borders.
But he was handy to guide the young MK and really assisted him in milking political capital out of the border saga. In a retrospect, one can be inclined to believe that perhaps Andrew Mwenda created the border saga and later brought in MK to solve it! With politics and politicians; weird things happen so never stake your money on it. Therefore, you will be surprised, as I was, when I read about Andrew Mwenda roasting the leadership skills of President Museveni or lack thereof.
For Andrew Mwenda to talk trash about his benefactor, Yoweri Museveni, it becomes an unforgivable crime almost similar to Juda Iscariot when he betrayed Jesus. He wrote a piece in his online magazine ‘The Independent’ which left a bitter truth in my mouth. He said: “The aging President Yoweri Museveni is exhausted both physical and mentally.
His ability to manage the affairs of state has been greatly diminished.” Who told Andrew Mwenda to write that? Is he therefore the man behind the narrative which birthed the now troubling statement that Uganda’s “chief thief” was actually married to the President’s daughter? I think I heard another PLU insider, Hon. David Kabanda, having the same line of conversation.
He hinted that it will be only MK who will stop the now institutionalized corruption in Uganda. Frank Gashumba, another big honcho in PLU, is parading a similar narrative of MK being the only person capable of stopping many manifesting nonsenses in the country. I understand where that ‘talk’ is coming from and the rationale behind.
But I don’t get it when those folks attacks their benefactor- President Museveni. The last people who foolishly antagonized their benefactor in Uganda were Generals Tito Okello Lutwa and Bazillio Olara Okello when they overthrew President Milton Obote in 1985. For that mistake, it took nearly 30 years for the people of Acholi Land to regain their true citizenship.
If Andrew Mwenda and friends succeeds in isolating Mr. Museveni and in the process power slips through their fingers, it might take another 100 years before they get closer to that power again. But as I like to quote here a clever Nigerian saying, so the same is coming over here.
The saying: “The ant which eats the palmnut (and kills it) lives in the nut!” This, unfortunately, is the nature of things as God intended them: all great empires collapses from within. Come to think of it: Why would Gen. MK tell the nation, through a series of tweets, that his “Mukko- brother in-law” Odrek Rwabogo is actually a thief: A broad- day- light charlatan who steals without shame! And what does the ‘Muko’ say in return? Well, we have to exercise “PG- Parental Guidance” here.
Friends, this is the problem: Andrew Mwenda now coming up to tell us that President Museveni is a spent force. And his own fresh and blood telling us that: “How can you, my dear father, take a photo with Uganda’s chief thief?” Many of you may take this as a stunt or even a joke, but this marks the beginning of things getting haywire within the Kagutas family. And we should all condemn it.
Our people have a clever saying that “when two elephants fight, it is the grass which suffers!” In between that family feud is a country of 50 million people called Ugandans who deserves better leadership! And Andrew Mwenda classified Mr. Museveni as being tired mentally, therefore often angry or impatient which can put him in bad mood. He may become short-tempered or irritated, snapping at people more often.
Well, if Andrew Mwenda is telling us that the emperor is mentally tapped in, he is practically and logically telling us to look around for a successor. After all the American democratic party recently kicked out a ‘mentally’ incapacitated Joe Biden and instead brought in the beautiful and often smiling Kamala Harris. Andrew Mwenda carried on with his tirade and said inter alia the following: “While Kampala’s infrastructure is collapsing, government is everyday finding money to fund a private sugar factory at Shs500 billion, a collapsed road construction company Shs200 billion, and Shs1.
3 trillion to build a ghost hospital in Lubowa etc.” “How is this possible?” Andrew Mwenda sheepishly wonders. It is possible Mr.
Andrew Mwenda except that you have been enjoying the ride or hiding your head in sand like the proverbial stupid ostrich! Where does this leave the rest of us “banakukunyedda- the wretched” who long lost most of our rights? The patriarch- Mr. Museveni- is tired; his beloved son- Gen. MK- is unhinged and swimming at the same time drowning in “uchafu” courtesy of excessive privileges, while the supposedly ‘intelligent’ son in-law (Odrek Rwabogo) “is engineering the robbing of his own in-laws wealth or Uganda!” Friends, ‘waliwo ekifumbibwa- something is being prepared in the pots” at Rwakitura and you won’t be invited to partake in.
For the last 40 years we have been at the periphery watching and looking in, so we should continue doing the same. But Andrew Mwenda thinks strongly that: “..
.an aging President has not only concentrated power in the presidency, but dangerously concentrated it in his hands.” Does Andrew Mwenda even remembers that this same power is also concentrated in the hands of MK, the soldier he supposedly advises? BY WAY OF CONCLUSION: A Canadian- Somali friend of mine told me, actually paused this age-old riddle but with a twist: “When you show a monkey two hands with one with a wad of cash in it and the other a banana; what do you think it will choose?” He asked with a smile on his bespeckled face.
“It will pick the banana of course,” I nonchalantly replied. Then he caught me completely unaware when he concluded thus: “But the monkey has no idea that with the wad of cash, it can actually buy many bananas!” You can decipher these two sayings of the wise and visualise the future of Uganda. LAST WORD: “Bwebaba babulirira owabwobwe, nga owomunaku amaatu otega- when they’re advising their favorite child; you the unloved simply pay extra attention!” – Baganda people saying.
