How true is "Only Ugandans can decide the path they want their nation to follow" when for example the country is under a government that is backed by a clientele military that squashes any possibility of overthrowing the government it backs via the ballot box through which Ugandans would normally "decide the path they want their nation to follow" ? From time to time African countries find themselves facing such impasses. The politicization of the military and police at the expense of the people, or as Gaddafi used to babble in Broken English, " di bebble"
This is one of the conscientious Pan-African fora where Burke's "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing" is often invoked/ parroted in response to all kinds of calamities, human rights transgression by either terrorists or elite power demons who in many instances with their undue use of force act exactly like terrorists, flouting every known democratic principle in order to play their best card : state-empowered terrorism against their own people.
I use the word conscientious very consciously, have in mind Kwame Nkrumah's Consciencism. I wish that my old buddy Professor Arthur Abraham ( in our student days, one of Nkrumah's early disciples), I wish that he was an active member of this forum – to sometimes lend support to the argument.
About Uganda, the question still is, "Which African leaders are not going to congratulate him?" Which African leaders dare to condemn him?
In my humble view ( really not so humble) it's most disturbing that it is mainly through the connivance and the tacit support of other African states and the Africa Union that people like Museveni can continue with criminal impunity, beating up Kizza Besigye one of the leaders of the opposition and throwing him in jail - just as Mugabe used to beat up Morgan Tsvangirai making life impossible for the opposition - opposition politicians living life wisely and if lucky, surviving but only as endangered species, Wafula Oguttu Uganda's official leader of the opposition in the Ugandan Parliament actually " losing" his seat in the last election. Nonsense !
So it's the connivance, the tacit support and the hypocrisy that keeps people like Museveni in power forever. Can you imagine (God forbid) if Goodluck Jonathan had got some thugs to beat up our Muhammadu Buhari ? Even in this USA Africa Dialogue series there would be eruptions of - at the very minimum - of verbal counter -violence - no connivance, no tacit support and certainly no hypocrisy - such action by Goodluck Jonathan would have been roundly condemned by even his most ardent supporters (and some of the sycophants) in this forum. I said "at the very minimum" in this forum in cyberspace: Nigeria has its own dynamics: if General Buhari had been ( God forbid) been badly beaten up in Port Harcourt for example - on the ground that would have led to the third Nigerian Crisis…
So, whatever happened with the Brothers' Keepers philosophy of Pan- Africanism ? What is the cause of the inertia and why are Museveni and 92 year old Mugabe not brought to order by e.g. the Africa Union ?
Unfortunately , it's not only African countries that continue to give legitimacy to rulers like Museveni , to a great extent so does the international community as business goes on as usual.
Understandably, on 3-4th July this year Israel and Uganda will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Entebbe
Question remains: PRACTICALLY, what can be done?
Same question : What should be done?
Only asking,
Cornelius
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