RWANDAN AGAIN DISPROVE SCEPTICS

I am currently in Rwanda witnessing their presidential election campaign. The campaign lacks the usual drama of many African general elections: the rallies of opposition candidates are not broken up by the police, their supporters are not beaten by private militias, candidates do not appeal to ethnic sentiments to garner votes and there is no bribery of voters with sugar, soap, salt and alcohol. Candidates address issues like education, health, access to clean water, agriculture, youth affairs, infrastructure and women’s rights.

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SEDITION JUDGEMENT VICTORY FOR ALL.

Last week, the Constitutional Court declared the sedition law unconstitutional. The judgment marked a major and symbolic watershed in Uganda’s democratisation process. For almost a century, the law of sedition has been used by successive regimes in Uganda to stifle free speech. Although introduced by the colonial state to suppress African demands for independence, post independence governments of Uganda have continually retreated to this law to stifle democratic expression in this country.

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THE CRISIS OF DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA.

It is rare to read an opinion about politics in Uganda in our media whose premise is our reality. Largely because of the hegemonic influence of Western ideas, most commentators begin with an abstract theory of politics based largely on a context other than our own. Any explanation of our reality is based on formal analogies about other countries. In the process, they ignore the actual interplay of our politics in the analysis.

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IS RWANDA REALLY A POLICE STATE?

President Paul Kagame last week won presidential elections by 95 percent of the vote. Such high performance was common in Sadam Hussein’s Iraq and other dictatorships. Basing on this analogy, many observers have concluded his victory was a product of political repression. But such an approach ignores the internal political dynamics that drive Rwanda and thus strip it of its history, context and specificity. A serious discussion of Rwanda must be rooted in its internal dynamics.

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DO THE HUTU AND TUTSI OD RWANDA NURSE ACIENT HATRED

In the summer of 1995, former US president, Jimmy Carter, organised a conference on Rwanda in Tunis to “convince the RPF to be more ethnically inclusive by appointing Hutu politicians to cabinet”. In attendance were the presidents of Rwanda’s neighbours: Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko, Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni and Tanzania’s Ali Hassan Mwinyi. Rwanda’s Pasteur Bizimungu was in attendance as well as former Tanzanian president, Julius Nyerere. During the coffee break, they sat down for an informal chat with Carter.

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WHY MUSEVENI IS WRONG ON SOMALIA.

I read with particular keenness President Yoweri Museveni’s article on July 25 where he defended Ugandan troop presence in Somalia. I use the words “particular keenness” because I highly respect Museveni’s analysis of security issues. While his article is strong and persuasive, I was not convinced about intervention in Somalia.

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WHY WE SHOULD PULL OUT OF SOMALIA.

Since Uganda was bombed on 7/11, Al-Shabaab “terrorist” group in Somali claimed responsibility. There has been a lot of tough talk in Kampala. President Yoweri Museveni has promised to hit back at Al-Shabaab by increasing our troops in that country. Many Ugandans support the government in its posturing for a “surge.”

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