In the Name of God, Go!

Oliver Cromwell

When I discovered that I had a 10 hour layover in Amsterdam on my way to Washington, DC last month, I made two great discoveries. One was the Yotel Hotel in Schiphol Airport, which I could access without leaving the terminal and going through another security check. It is a curious little airport hotel designed using amazing technologies to make the most out of the tinniest spaces. Even more exciting was my second discovery, a book entitled ‘Speeches that Changed the World’ with an introduction by Simon Sebag Montefiore. It starts off with the Sermon on the Mount by none other than Jesus Christ of Nazareth, followed by verses from the Surah al-Baqarah (Qu’ran) by Prophet Mohammed and then it quickly comes down to earth with heroes and villains like George Washington, Napoloen Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Martin Luther King and even present day Barack Obama.

As soon as I started reading it I knew I would be quoting from it for a long time and my only difficulty was choosing whom to quote first and who would make the most sense in present day Uganda. It was not an easy decision especially since I had to choose between God and man, great men and evil men.

Oliver Cromwell ‘Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland,’ would not be my ideal choice of a leader but the relevance of his speech to an infamous British Parliament on April 20, 1653 was too good to pass. Cromwell had at this time played a leading role in abolishing the House of Lords, abolishing monarchism and executing King Charles I of England.

Legend says that in 1653, after learning that Parliament was attempting to stay in session despite an agreement to dissolve, and having failed to come up with a working constitution, Cromwell attended Parliament on 20 April and after listening to one or two speeches his patience run out. He then stood up and harangued the members. The last sentence of that speech is quoted widely: “In the name of God, Go!” In Uganda we would like to read it to our executive and a significant chunk of the August House:

“It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money. Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter’d your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth? Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil’d this sacred place, and turn’d the Lord’s temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress’d, are yourselves become the greatest grievance. Your country therefore calls upon me to cleanse this Augean stable, by putting a final period to your iniquitous proceedings in this House; and which by God’s help, and the strength he has given me, I am now come to do; I command ye therefore, upon the peril of your lives, to depart immediately out of this place; go get you out! Make haste! Ye venal slaves be gone! Go! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go!”

Now you understand why I started with Cromwell’s speech.

anne@fdcuganda.org

ANNE MUGISHA FOR NAKAWA CONSTITUENCY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


Contact: Anne Mugisha,                            Party: Forum for Democratic Change

Telephone Number: 0791-770055           Email Address: anne@fdcuganda.org 

Web site address: www.fdcuganda.org

ANNE MUGISHA FOR NAKAWA CONSTITUENCY

Naguru, Kampala, July 28, 2010 — Today I have chosen to announce my decision to contest for the seat of Member of Parliament, Nakawa Constituency in order to give the people of Nakawa a real choice during the 2011 elections and to give its residents a real voice in national politics.

I have chosen to make the announcement in Naguru because this community embodies the challenges that are faced by constituents of Nakawa Constituency and greater Kampala. The community is dealing with the challenges of a rapidly expanding urban center that creates both opportunities and difficulties for those living in or close to a metropolitan area.

Some of these challenges are known to the public because of the controversy that they have stirred. Residents of the Naguru – Nakawa Estates are living under fear of eviction from their homes. The Estates are home to public servants who have lived for two generations and some refugees who fled two decades of war in the northern and eastern parts of the country. They are now being told to cede their rights to a foreign investor without specific assurances of continuity of their residence, temporary relocation or full compensation. The people living in the Estates have a proposal to redevelop their Estate into a modern residential facility but it has been rejected in favor of a foreign investor and they want to know why, especially since residents of Bugolobi flats, Bukoto flats in Nakawa as well as other areas like Kololo and Nakasero were given right of first refusal when these properties were privatized

About a year ago Naguru Health Center a public facility that provided maternal health care and HIV/AIDS counseling among other things to residents was demolished. The Clinic provided services for people who came from as far as Mukono, Bweyogerere, Kireka and Ntinda and today the services have been transferred to clinic that serves patients under a tent in Kiswa. Women are giving birth by the roadside on their way to Mulago and in they have shared information that their former Health Center is now being developed for private use.

Last night we received news that the National Environment Management Authority is planning to evict commercial and residential developments in the wetlands down the road between Naguru and Ntinda. The opportunities of an expanding city must be balanced with the aesthetic beauty of its green areas but more importantly city developers must preserve the benefits of wetlands which include slowing floodwaters, protect uplands from erosion, increasing water quality, providing a setting for recreation and study, support a diversity of wildlife across the landscape, moderate local climate, recharging groundwater and producing products used by humans like fish.

The public schools that serve the people of this area like Nakawa Katale, St. Jude, Kalinabiri, Kiswa and Kyambogo are the same schools that served students of my generation. In the meantime the population has increased and increased class sizes without a corresponding increase in public schools.

Now, this area is currently represented by a Deputy Attorney General and am sure he has tried his best in the last 10 years to address these problems but residents of Nakawa believe that he has not used his clout in Cabinet to bring positive change to Nakawa and to address their problems. That is why I say I am offering the people a real choice and a determined voice to make sure that their issues are addressed in the most partial way.

I will begin visiting the 23 parishes of Nakawa next month to ensure that I fully understand their concerns and that I listen to their own proposals for solutions of their issues as constituents and as citizens of Uganda. This is a very cosmopolitan area where you will find every Ugandan nationality or tribe residing and I have a strong affiliation to Nakawa which was my first home in Kampala District 38 years ago. I have been away for 9 years and I realize that I have to concentrate on reacquainting myself with the communities and people of Nakawa. I believe that my experiences living abroad in cosmopolitan/metropolitan cities will be very useful to the people of Nakawa. I know that my experience in Ugandan national politics over the last 10 years will certainly be beneficial in providing a loud voice for the people of Nakawa. I am a very determined individual who does not give up on a path that I have chosen.

I have been well prepared for this task and I will end by quoting a Bible verse that explains where I am today in my journey of political growth:

1 Corinthians 13:11-12

11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.[a] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

We shall never forget 7/11 - the day Al-Shaabab Struck Uganda

Yesterday, July 14, 2010 I joined the leaders of the Inter Party Cooperation to visit victims of the 7/11 bomb blast in Ward 2A Mulago hospital, Kampala. The press had been tipped off so there was a frenzy of activity with photo journalists running to and fro trying to find the best spot to capture the day’s images. The presence of the press created a bonanza atmosphere yesterday at Mulago Hospital where I had expected a somber mood. Journalists scrambled with politicians and their entourage to get the best photo opportunity.


For a moment I was taken aback by what I considered bad taste considering the purpose of our mission: To commiserate with those who were in needless pain because of a senseless incident. These mostly young, soccer fans had gone out to have fun and they were now considered the lucky ones to be in hospital with broken limbs, while their friends were killed in a vicious senseless attack by the cruel al-Shabaab (The Youth).

My concern about the fracas we were causing on the ward melted away when I came face to face with al-Shabaab’s victims. I was transfixed in the moment and could not move away from two young women, with beautiful facial features on one side and mangled features on the other.

I pulled away from the crowd, dropped the political hat and let my human one take over. We had not even reached the ward. Obviously it was filled to capacity and there were about six individuals in the waiting area, a corridor outside the ward; which was now fitted with beds. There were no curtains to separate the patients, no privacy at all. I moved closer to the two young ladies, observing the tortured looks and their ghastly wounds. The first one had half her head shaved and there were fresh stitches running down the length of her scalp. There were more stitches on her right cheek and on her chin. Her eyes were swollen in a way that I had never seen before and the skin around the eyes was red and black. I was sure that she was a fair skinned beauty the day before 7/11. Now I had to get close to her to imagine just how pretty she must have been.

I thought she was sleeping but she stirred and opened her hurting eyes, looked right in mine and greeted me. I asked her name, she told me and I promptly forgot it. I felt like an intruder on her pain. Then without prompting she started telling me her story. She must have repeated it many times already because she told it absent mindedly. She said she was not one to go to such events but she was escorting a friend. I listened but did not hear everything, at some point I started to cry. She was 22 she said, had finished studying and had a shop in Banda. She rambled on, saying her father always made sure his children had a business when they completed school. What a wise father I thought, but my thoughts were only half there. I turned away to hide my tears. Then I moved on to the next girl, who told me her story too. Viola, this time I remembered her name and I will always remember her pain and her disfigured face.

I was angry and am still angry with the bombing of 7/11. I have read many opinions from all sides of the political spectrum. There are those who say that we shall crush them and how I wish we could. In Northern Uganda we learnt that brute force does not always ‘crush’ terrorists and that they remain alive long enough to spread their terror and paralyze communities. If we could not crush the ones on home territory where the army resides and has the advantages of local terrain and community support, how will we crush terrorists that live on their own terrain and have their community’s support?

With al-Shabaab we have a new kind of terrorist working on Ugandan soil. The type that does not care to live to see the destruction they left behind, one that does not care about a reward in this life because they have been promised a harem of virgins in the next life and material wealth for those they leave behind. This terrorist does not care for those who will ‘crush them’ because such hard words are spoken after the suicide bomber has already crushed themselves.

Now is a time for grieving but it is also the time to say this: We were wrong on Somalia and we are wrong to react in the traditional way to a new and unconventional problem. This is not a time to blame nor is it a time to seek political justification with hindsight.

It is a time to correct our mistakes.

Anne Mugisha
anne@fdcuganda.org

What do I want to do for Nakawa as a legislator if I decide to run?

At all the meetings, conversations that I have attended (Ekiganiiro, Ssuubi, etc...) we have discussed issues that impact the electorate but obviously these issues do not sell papers or interest journalists as a story line.  For those who are asking why I have not yet come up with a laundry list of the things I want to clean up as an MP, I want you to know that I take a different approach to leadership. I do not 'tell' people what am going to do for them. Rather I ask them what they would like a legislator to do for them. The issues and solutions come from the people themselves.


Now ofcourse, I do stand for certain ideals that are outlined in FDC's draft and past manifestos. High up on my list are:
- Women's rights (land, succession, equal access to opportunity and emancipation, particularly political participation.)

- Political accountability - whereby voters hold leaders accountable to their campaign promises,

- Good governance which includes upholding constitutional rights and obligations, fighting corruption and abuse of office, separating the state from the ruling party, separating and promoting mutual respect among the three arms of government (executive, legislature and judiciary).

These causes, for which I have struggled the last 10 years; inform my thinking on legislating and appropriating public funds for national development. My understanding of 'taking power to the people' for example, is not creating smaller districts that are run by appointees of the central government. I would advocate for federating at regional/cultural level in larger units so as to benefit from economies of scale in administration; and also to benefit from taking governance and control of a significant amount of resources to the local level, thereby empowering these federated entities to make decisions and implement policies and programs based on their local priorities.

I have strong views on managing the population explosion which I believe is the result of a sinister population policy and neglect by the current government. I cannot address urban poverty without addressing the issue of birth control.

I am concerned by the neglect of urban infrastructure and services which makes our city look like one large slum, and am concerned by the appaling neglect of health and basic sanitary services to the highly congested 'real' slum areas.

I have questions about the application of the condominium law which enabled some residents in Nakawa Division (Bugolobi) to get ownership of their apartment units while residents of Naguru were left to fight off investors without being given the opportunity to buy their units.

As I learn more about the issues facing different constituents of Nakawa division, and after I have decided to run; I will develop a manifesto that addresses our common and diverse concerns as a constituency, one that is in sync with the overall goals of FDC and with my vision as a leader.

Consulting: Anne for MP, Nakawa Division, Kampala District

One of the most parochial views in my Inbox this morning is that I should run in some place in Ankole which is my home. This could be the turning point for me! I needed an abbusrdity like that to make me run in Nakawa whether I win or lose (and I shall win!) So this parochial view is that Nakawa does not need another 'Ruhinidi?' Why would Buganda want to isolate itself from non-Baganda supporters of its cause? And I have been a staunch supporter of Buganda through the years which is more than I can say for many Baganda MPs today!

I have spent most of my life in Kampala/Buganda (1972 - 2001) and I have studied in some of the countries best educational institutions in Buganda: Kitante, Gayaza, Makerere. My family moved to Kampala from Mbarara in 1972 when I was 6.5 years old and I have never moved back. My parents moved back to Mbarara only 2 years ago! I started my work life in Kampala, Buganda and I have never servered my relationship with Buganda. Our first place of abode in Kampala in '72 was Bugolobi Flats. I am currently establishing residence in Bugolobi Bungalows...but why should I even labor the point? I am a Ugandan citizen with a right to stand in any Ugandan constituency as long as I meet the qualifications and requirements of the electoral law.
Incidentally, I have been invited by FDC and non-FDC supporters and leaders to run in Kibingo (a new district in former Bushenyi,) Mbarara municipality, and Mbarara women's seat. I have zeroed in on Nakawa because I feel a stronger affinity to residents of that community, because of my historical links to the city and because I understand issues of urban poverty, the threats of an expanding and unplanned city and because my heart beats to the rhythm of Kampala.

I joined politics in 2000 because some people threatened me, dared me, and challenged me; thinking I was unequal to the task. I like a challenge and if this was 2000 I would perhaps have declared my candidacy at this juncture. But am older and wiser and I want to look at some facts and figures before declaring my intention conclusively.

Buganda parochialism will isolate the Baganda unless (or until) Buganda embraces Ugandans, particularly those who understand and support their cause within a united Uganda.

One Uganda, One People!

Today the Kabaka of Buganda cried

Today the Kabaka of Buganda cried.  He shed tears at the desecration of his ancestors resting place.  The Baganda will remember this day for generations to come.

Fire burnt down the Kasubi tombs last night and today when the King of Buganda laid his eyes on the ashes that remained in the place of the royal tombs, his heart broke and he grieved with his subjects and with all peace loving Ugandans.  A knife has been driven through the hearts of the Baganda and because of the acrimonious relations existing between the Kingdom and the government not many are likely to believe that this is a random act, an act of God, a careless accident.  We are more likely to believe that the tombs were destroyed by the evil hand of an arsonist.  If indeed this was the job of an arsonist then they have desecrated the Kingdom in a most despicable way.  

Within the tombs rested four Kings of the ancient Kingdom of Buganda but the structures, built in the 19th Century; were more than a resting place for kings, more than a UNESCO heritage site, more than a tourist attraction, more than a beautiful piece of ancient architecture.  The tombs were a place revered by the Baganda, not only as a physical manifestation of their rich culture, not just as evidence of the architectural sophistication of their ancestors but because they were one of the few remaining places within Kampala that they could truly call their own.  

The tombs stood for the perseverance of Buganda and were a symbol of cultural pride that has survived the mayhem, wars, troubles and tribulations that have engulfed their Kingdom through the Centuries.  There is no one living in Uganda that remembers the time before the tombs were built.  The tombs that stood proud since the late 19th Century basking in regal splendor, reminding us of the dignity and pride of the Baganda and their love for their Kabaka, even in the most adverse circumstances; have now been reduced to ashes.  In the past Buganda’s kings have been exiled from their Kingdom, and sent to far off lands when they disagreed with colonial administrators or rulers of independent Uganda but there were places like this, that remained behind for people to pay homage and identify themselves as a community, a place to remind them that their Kingdom would survive adversity as it always had for Centuries.

The mind of a Muganda might grasp the idea of an exiled king, even a king denied the right of passage through his own kingdom -- they were well prepared for such incidents by the history of tension between their kingdom and central government.  Nothing has prepared the Baganda for an attack on this significant symbol of their culture.  African cultures show great respect for the dead and all burial grounds are sacred.  Kasubi tombs was that much more sacred because it is a burial ground for the kings.  This attack will be understood by many as an attempt to destroy their culture.  

And they have seen it happen in other parts of the country where princes will never become kings unless the central government permits them; where a war has caused a whole generation of the Acholi in the North to grow up in camps, uprooted from their traditional communities, thereby severing the people’s connectedness to their culture.  An attack on the culture of a community hits at the core of a people’s identity leaving them nothing to remind them of who they really are, snatching away that intangible strength that is derived from enduring cultural pride.

And so if someone torched Kasubi tombs last night, who will stop them from torching the palace at Bulange?  Have they not already torched the King’s own school in Buddo?  How many arsonists have been brought to trial since this wave of arson hit the country.  Who is answerable for these fiery crimes?  If someone torched Kasubi last night they also torched the spirit of Buganda and an invisible line has been crossed by Uganda as a nation.  We have entered a dark, fiery, and smoky place that feels my heart with fear for the Kingdom and the country as a whole.  

As an opposition activist and a non-Muganda who grew up and spent most of my life in Buganda I see no gain for anyone from this cruel event.  The government has nothing to gain from escalating the anger that was already spilling over in Buganda before this incident.  The opposition on the other hand is already struggling to gain the trust of Buganda and recruit active leaders to strengthen its ranks in Buganda.  This event will only make the Baganda more introverted and suspicious of other nationalities, and of all national politicians.

But it must be stated clearly without fear that it is the Constitutional duty of the state to protect its people, guarantee their rights and provide security for person and property.  While many preferred to place the cause of instability in Northern Uganda on Joseph Kony and his gang of rebels many others realized that ultimately it was the duty of the state to protect the citizens of that region from the rebels and the state failed to protect the people of Northern Uganda for two decades.  It is the same with the mystery of fires that have consumed life and property from Kibwetere to Kichwamba, to Buddo and now to Kasubi.

There is still a chance that the fire of March 16, 2010 started accidentally.  Yet If indeed this was the evil work of an arsonist then ultimately the Uganda government must be held fully responsible and accountable.

Anne Mugisha

Deputy Secretary International & Regional Affairs

FDC

WOMEN'S DAY STATEMENT FROM 'WOMEN FOR PEACE'

INTER PARTY COOPERATION    
"WOMEN FOR PEACE”

PRESS STATEMENT

ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

March 8, 2010

Fellow Ugandans; women of the world.

Members of the press who are our most valued allies in our struggle for true democracy.

We, women belonging to the Inter Party Cooperation, belonging to the four cooperating parties: Conservative Party (CP), Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Justice Forum (JEEMA) and Uganda People’s Congress UPC) gather here today to mark the International Women’s Day.

We should be celebrating. But we are not. There is no reason to celebrate this day this year. This is because the government has failed to bring those changes that the women were promised 24 years ago, but instead resorted to lying to the women, hoodwinking them and exploiting them. 

They appointed some few women as ministers, created special seats for women in parliament. But they did this to deceive the women that they are now empowered. They have not done anything for us the local women who toil and suffer in villages and slums. The real women who have lost their husbands, their sons, their sisters… and have to look after the orphans. The real women who sell their radios, beds and chairs to educate their children. And even after their children they graduate, they cannot get jobs because they don’t know anyone in government.

We cannot celebrate women’s day in Uganda because our husbands, brothers, sons and sisters were murdered by the army and the police in Kampala last September(2009) when the government decided to stop the Kabaka of Buganda from visiting Kayunga, another part of Uganda and Buganda. They were shot with live bullets and killed. Some were dragged out of their houses. They were not armed. There has not been any government apology, no arrests of the police officers and army officers who killed our children have been made. NO compensation has been made to the families of the victims. We know the names of those who killed our children and husbands. We shall not rest until they are punished.  

Let all stand up for a minute of silence to remember these, our children, who were murdered by the government trigger happy army and police officers.

May the almighty God rest their souls in eternal peace and determine what to do to those who ordered their killing, and those who accepted the orders to kill.  

We are not celebrating International women’s day today because thousands of women die of over bleeding in hospitals during labor in government hospitals where there is no blood for transfusion. Others deliver babies on bare floors in government hospitals. Hundreds of thousands of our children die in infancy, before their first birthday, because of preventable diseases.  There are no drugs in government hospitals. 

All the money that should help women and their children is stolen by government officials. They stole money for AIDS treatment. Money for Malaria treatment. Money for Tuberclosis treatment. Money for immunization. They don’t steal only  health sector money. They stole NSSF money- we all remember Temangalo. They stole CHOGM money. They have stolen NAADS money. They have stolen money meant for the roads, Kampala roads look like village paths. They are buying new aeroplanes. They fly their daughters to Europe to deliver babies. They are still stealing and each time we come up to express ourselves on these matters, they bring riot police and other security forces to intimidate us. The job of the police is to catch thieves, but not to intimidate those who report and fight thieves like us. 

We are not celebrating today because the women have been impoverished and have not been assisted by the government to keep the prices of essential goods like salt, sugar, soap and kerosene affordable. No pro-people government does not step in to keep the prices of essential commodities down. They argue that this is a free market economy. Liars! Government, even in a free market economy can subsidise essential commodities to help its poor people. But government officials who would do it are the importers of these commodities. Some are business partners in the some local industries. The higher the prices of commodities, the more they benefit. The fuel prices cannot go down because most petrol stations are owned by the same corrupt government officials. We shall soon publish a list of petrol station owners in Uganda. 

We are not celebrating this year because in spite of the official propaganda that government supports girl child education, no girl schools have been established for women in the past 24 years. Instead the existing ones have deteriorated. UPE has become a disaster. Very little money is allocated to education and that little is stolen by corrupt government officials. Children don’t get food at school because the money is stolen. If there was no corruption, the school environment, where a child would get proper lunch and sit in a proper classroom would make the children look forward to going to school. Instead, because of these unacceptable conditions in our schools, girls are dropping out of school at an alarming rate. Other reasons cause girl child drop out. But they are essentially poverty related. There is poverty in Uganda, an otherwise rich country, because of corruption. To fight poverty, you must fight corruption. The “bonna bagaggawale” lie is clear to everyone now. It is another way to steal our money, just like CHOGM and NAADS.

We are not celebrating International Women’s day this year because we are worried of the violence that will occur in Uganda if a free and fair election is not held. The re-appointment of an incompetent and clearly partisan Electoral Commission is an indication that the election has already been rigged before it is held. A disputed election is a recipe for violence. We saw what happened in  Kenya, our sister state. A bad electoral commission caused the death of over 1500 people in Kenya and the destructions of property worth billions. 

Government officials have been bragging  to us that “Uganda is not Kenya, there cannot be violence here”. They had said the same before September 2009 riots in Buganda. Can they say it again? Violence is not a reserve of one country. It is not a monopoly of any body. It is the inevitable consequence of injustice. We demand that the present Electoral Commission be disbanded and replaced by an acceptable one. This is because when there is violence, it is us, the women, who suffer most. We lose our husbands, children, breadwinners, our sisters. We are raped and killed. Our little girls are defiled. This is why we shall not rest until the corrupt electoral commission is disbanded and replaced with an independent one.

Today, we will not go to dance and praise the president and government officials as our fellow women have died, and lost hundreds of their children in Buduuda because the government had no equipment to rescue our people except hand-held hoes and guns! You saw on TV and newspapers what equipment the president carried to Buduuda. A gun. Shame! Shame! Shame! Just  because  the money to buy rescue equipment was used to probably buy the president’s new plane. 

Let us stand up again for a moment of silence to remember the Buduuda landslide victims.

May their souls rest in peace.

We shall instead walk in a procession to Mulago Hospital to meet our fellow mothers in the labour ward and hand over to them the little we have collected for their temporary relief.

We invite you the members of the press to come with us to Mulago Hospital and record the impressions of the suffering women in Uganda’s biggest hospital under the NRM government of 24 years.

FOR GOD AND COUNTRY

Asia Nassuuna Kamulali - Conservative Party         ________________________________

Ingrid Turiniwe - Forum for Democratic Change    ________________________________

Ogwal Diana  -   Justice Forum (JEEMA)                   ________________________________

Jane  Mworobe - Uganda Peoples Congress              ________________________________

WOMEN FOR PEACE,   INTER PARTY COOPERATION