Uganda: Museveni's "whitewashed" regime

 Examples of firms that whitewash the human-rights violations of despotic regimes include Bell Pottinger, Qorvis Communications , Brown Lloyd James, and Hill & Knowlton, which has made a  fortune working for Yoweri Museveni and has offices in every major world capital.

 General Yoweri Museveni has ruled Uganda for more than 25 years. Since taking power in a 1986 military coup, he has stacked this Central African country’s voting commission with his henchmen and stolen its elections. Having abolished presidential term limits in 2005 in a sham referendum, he plans to rule for life.

 Museveni has used the state treasury to build a climate of fear through a security apparatus that persecutes dissidents and critics with imprisonment, torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings. He has reduced the country’s parliament to a rubber-stamp body, censored the nation’s media, and militarized its civil institutions.

 Reports from groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch confirm the country’s descent into authoritarianism. According to British journalist Peter Tatchell, today’s Uganda is, “in effect, a constitutional dictatorship,” and Museveni is “the new Robert Mugabe.”

 Most readers may have heard a very different story: one about how Museveni’s “strong leadership” has brought stability, economic growth, and a successful HIV/AIDS policy to war-torn Uganda. Indeed, Bill Clinton once lauded him as the head of a “new breed” of African leaders. As the Economist noted, Museveni has been “kindly treated” by the international media.

 In large part, Museveni’s transgressions have continued to be downplayed because he took power in the wake of Idi Amin’s butchery and disastrous civil war. But the main reason Museveni has escaped criticism is that he enjoys an excellent public relations service.

 As the Economist noted, Museveni has been “kindly treated” by the international media.

 Having ruled Uganda since 1986, Yoweri Museveni has been likened to Robert Mugabe

Dictators like Museveni often hire PR firms to whitewash their records. These companies, mostly based in the U.S. and Europe, specialize in distracting the public from evidence of human-rights violations with glowing rhetoric about stability, economic growth, and commitments to help the poor. Their propaganda finds its way into sources that are deemed reliable by many journalists, from articles in respectable news outlets to citizen media like Wikipedia.

 Examples of firms that whitewash the human-rights violations of despotic regimes include Bell Pottinger (was for Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak), Qorvis Communications (was for  Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang), Brown Lloyd James (was for  Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi), and Hill & Knowlton, which has made a fortune working for Yoweri Museveni and has offices in every major world capital.

When companies are exposed or criticized for their activities, they respond that their associations with these regimes are “limited engagements” lasting only a few months or that their assignments have to do exclusively with “tourism” or “economic progress.” If the true nature and extent of their work is revealed, they say that they are consultants helping to create “economic opportunity,” providing a guiding hand to governments as they seek to improve the lives of their country’s poor.

 On its webpage, Hill & Knowlton claimed that “since becoming president in 1986, Yoweri Museveni has introduced democratic reforms and has been credited with substantially improving human rights.”

 This couldn’t be farther from the truth about Uganda, where political opponents disappear, where journalists are arrested for criticizing the government, and where any comprehensive human rights report contains appalling anecdotes and disturbing analysis about a country where the judiciary has very little independence and where the regime has very little respect for the rule of law.

 An example of effective media manipulation is how the Hill & Knowlton quote provided above from their webpage can be found word-for-word in the BBC country profile of Uganda. From there, this mendacious fantasy has spread like wildfire (Go ahead, Google the quotation).

 PR agents try to alter the public perception of reality, distracting us from human-rights violations so that deals and foreign aid can flow faster and in larger quantities (usually into Swiss bank accounts) — while the PR agents themselves are rewarded handsomely.

 25 years ago, upon the death of Bergen University professor Thorolf Rafto, a prize was created to honor his lifetime commitment to human rights. Professor Rafto began to pursue human-rights work after reading Vladimir V. Tchernavin’s I Speak for the Silent Prisoners of the Soviets. He organized student protests against the Gulag and devoted the rest of his life to individual rights. The 2011 Rafto Prize laureate is Ugandan individual-rights activist Frank Mugisha. He is recognized at a ceremony here in Bergen for standing up against Museveni’s scapegoating campaign against Uganda’s community of sexual minorities.

 Not being globally advertised, the Rafto Prize is not well known beyond a small but significant set of public intellectuals and policy institutions. But it has the distinction of having been awarded more than once to people who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Aung San Suu Kyi, Shirin Ebadi, José Manuel Ramos-Horta, and Kim Dae-jung were all presented with the Rafto Prize years before they were recognized by the Nobel Institute.

 The Rafto Prize was first given in 1986 — a quarter century ago. That is how long Museveni has treated Uganda as his personal fiefdom and violated the human rights of millions. Perhaps Hill & Knowlton will recognize the 25th anniversary of the Rafto Prize by doing some pro bono work for human rights defenders like Frank Mugisha.

Uganda:Opposition might face Noble Mayombo's fate

the mysterious deaths, disappearances and unexplained car accidents that have taken place since the National Resistance Movement (NRM) shot its way to power nearly 30 years ago and claimed the lives of many Ugandans from all corners of the country.

 Grenade attacks have taken place at the homes of two Ugandan opposition MPs, including singer-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi.

The investigation will look beyond 1986, the year the NRM came to power and try to understand who was and continues to be behind the killing of prominent people that include heads of state, businessmen and women, politicians, ordinary citizens and most of all, high ranking officers and men of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF).

Our investigation will start with revealing what we have been told is the thinking of the UPDF. How long are they going to let their fellow officers be killed, subjected to unexplained arrests and sent to die in battles in foreign lands? Is the Uganda army surely still solidly behind Gen Yoweri Museveni? Who are “The Three Musketeers” now running Uganda with an iron fist?

Many people inside and outside Uganda have agreed to join us to take on this mammoth task. Many are still serving in the Museveni Government, something that clearly shows all is not well inside the Museveni camp. We will discuss why the bush general is now walking with his eyes fixed behind him, not sure whether to trust even his closest bodyguards.

Mr Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, said he was targeted for opposing the ruling party's plan to scrap the presidential age limit.
Mr Kyagulanyi and MP Allan Ssewanyana said their homes shook and windows were shattered by the explosions.
A government spokesman denied the government was behind the blasts.
"Flash grenades at opposition MPs' homes could be own scare tactics to frame government," Ofwono Opondo was quoted by the state-allied New Vision newspaper. "There is no record or history of this NRM government killing political opposition," he added.


Mr Kyagulanyi said he had received death threats on a daily basis because of his opposition to the removal of the presidential age limit.
He would not be intimidated by the "cowardly" attacks, he said
"Thankfully no-one is hurt. But what kind of country are we now living in?" he added in a Facebook post.
Mr Ssewanyana said the attacks took place in the early hours of Tuesday.

Last week, an explosive device was thrown into the property of another opposition MP, Moses Kasibante.
The MPs have been at the forefront of a fierce campaign against a motion currently before parliament that seeks to scrap the presidential age limit of 75 - a move that could allow President Yoweri Museveni to stand for re-election in 2021.
Chaotic scenes broke out in parliament last week as MPs openly brawled during a debate over the motion.

Mr Museveni, 73, has been in power since 1986.
His critics accuse him of presiding over an authoritarian regime.

 Many have sent us comments that former Speaker of the Uganda Parliament James Wapakhabulo died from AIDS, Really? We have information to the contrary. The same has been spoken about Lt Col Serwanga Lwanga. We will look at what we have been told could have actually happened to him.

Do you remember Maj Gen Kazini – the tall general who was allegedly clobbered to death by his girlfriend who is now serving a prison term? Our sources will name “the giant” that Gen David Sejusa spoke about last year as being the one responsible for Kazini’s murder. On whose orders was this assassin operating? We will reveal the information we have been supplied by a UPDF ‘insider’. And what about Gen Dr John Garang de Mabior? Did he really die as a result of a helicopter crash? .

 For those of you who were mature and living in Kampala soon after Idi Amin was overthrown in 1979, you will perhaps recall the sudden rise of killings by unknown gunmen who traversed the capital’s streets in a bus and carried out killings involving strangers that had nothing to do with politics. The bodies of their victims were left lying on the streets of Kampala for several days. Ever wondered why no investigation has ever been carried out about these killings? Who was behind them and why? We will investigate.

 What happened behind the scenes on the day the then National Resistance Army entered Kampala? Was it indeed a ‘bloodless coup’ as we have been made to believe? Shock! Horror! . This investigation starts on Mothering Sunday. Many mothers will sit and remember their loved ones who were taken away and no attempt has ever been made to explain who was behind their deaths.

 we have come across ‘a pattern of things’ that will shock everyone. Why haven’t we ever looked at this pattern before? Who are the main players in this pattern? Are they still alive? In today’s world, those behind this pattern of killings would be described by psychiatrists as having the mind of a serial killer. Do we then have a serial killer on the loose in Uganda? If we do, who is it? We will investigate.

 Throughout our investigation, we will encourage Ugandans to put aside the fear they have of the regime and embark on the road to liberation. The regime has used the fear of death to silence the majority. We will be appealing to you all to rise up and put fear aside and confront those that have put us under this spell. For it is only through being courageous that we will save Uganda. There will be many roadblocks on the way, but by now we surely have become used to going around them.

To Continue.........

Museveni "Elective Dictatorship",the new trick

The party which commands a majority in the in house should consequently be able to pass any bill 

they wish,that is elective dictatorship.

 

 the National Resistance Movement (NRM), has been involved in a contentious bill to revise the country's constitution.

“THIS is a generational cause,” says Bobi Wine, back in his studio after a long day in parliament. In June the singer and self-styled “Ghetto President” (real name: Robert Kyagulanyi) won a sensational victory in a parliamentary by-election. Now he is the spokesman for Uganda’s frustrated youth in a struggle to stop Yoweri Museveni, the actual president, from extending his rule. “All the power has been packed into the presidency,” he says. “We want to take it back to the people.”

Mr Museveni used to say similar things himself, blaming Africa’s problems on “leaders who want to overstay in power”. But after 31 years at the top he has changed his mind. Politicians in his ruling party are trying to scrap a clause in the constitution which says candidates must be no older than 75 to run for president. The goal is to let Mr Museveni, 73, stand again in 2021—and probably rule for life.

 There were fist-fights and flying chairs on September 26th as Mr Museveni’s supporters tried to start the process in parliament. The opposition stalled things by incessant singing of the national anthem. The next day MPs such as Mr Wine were dragged out of the chamber by security forces and the proceedings began. The amendment needs a two-thirds majority to pass, and almost certainly will. The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) has a thumping majority and most MPs are pliable. The legislature has helped Mr Museveni out once before, voting in 2005 to remove term limits. On that occasion MPs were each given 5m shillings (then about $2,500), officially to “facilitate” discussions with constituents.

 Still, the state is taking no chances. Three-quarters of Ugandans want the age limit to stay, according to a survey in January by Afrobarometer, a pan-African research network. Demonstrations have been banned. Police have tear-gassed protesting students and raided the offices of two civil-society groups. The mayor of Kampala, the capital, who opposes the bill, was arrested in the middle of a television interview and bundled into a police van.

 This is not the “fundamental change” that Mr Museveni promised when he took power in 1986 at the head of a rebel army. He restored stability to most of the country, which had been torn apart by dictatorship and war. Simeo Nsubuga, an NRM MP, says Ugandans should be grateful to Mr Museveni for ending “20 years of turmoil, suffering and killings”. Many are. But four out of five Ugandans are too young to remember those days.

 Instead, the young complain about crumbling services and too few jobs. For the first quarter-century under Mr Museveni growth in income per person averaged 3% a year; in the past five years it has been just 1%. Yet few dare take their grievances to the streets. Even the young “live under the canopy of history”, notes Angelo Izama, a local pundit. Uganda has never had a peaceful transition of power, and few citizens think Mr Museveni would ever leave office without a fight. The old warrior sometimes dons his uniform, a reminder that this is still, in some respects, a military regime. Last November over 150 people were killed during army operations in the restless Rwenzori mountains.

  Meanwhile Mr Museveni is the pivot on which power turns, intervening in everything from land disputes to the regulation of motorbike taxis. When a minister showed up recently to address local leaders, they hurled water and chased him away; only the president would do, they said. “There are no institutions,” sighs Anna Adeke, a 25-year-old MP. “Everything can be changed by a phone call.”

 So “the old man with a hat” will carry on, at once the guarantor of stability and the greatest threat to it. The age-limit clause is “the last remaining check to ensure an orderly succession”, says Frederick Ssempebwa, a lawyer who helped draft the constitution. Without it, he adds, the president is “almost invincible”. Yet one day Mr Museveni will die and Uganda, its politics warped by the whims of one man, will face uncertainty once again.