Goodluck Jonathan mistaken as Mwai Kibaki in Kampala

Thanks to Obama’s lineage on his father’s side, I am sure Kenya means something to most Americans by now.

(KAMPALA, Uganda) - I wrote this piece to have it posted primarily on a website based in Oregon, United States; and since Americans (no offence meant here), merely stating fact of life- are known for their proverbial ignorance.

It’s imperative to explain who Goodluck Jonathan and Mwai Kibaki are including what Kampala is or where it’s situated.

Jonathan, in accordance with his other jolly name is a man who first became president of Nigeria by dint of luck when his predecessor died in office.

Mwai Kibaki, on the other hand had to go through a bloody chicanery to cling to power as president of Kenya.

Thanks to Obama’s lineage on his father’s side, I am sure Kenya means something to most Americans by now.

At any rate, the two gentlemen from East and West Africa had to converge recently in Kampala, capital of Uganda.

What took them in that country once described by Winston Churchill as the pearl of Africa was to celebrate the umpteenth re-coronation of their comrade, Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

On reflection; I myself admitted that it was indeed an occasion that called for celebration. As I said before, the man after all achieved what Idi Amin Dada only fancied; life presidency of Uganda with style!

The only snag here, after Museveni easily sailed through an “election” in February which the so-called international observers described as “deeply flawed” in their usual diplomatic speak, skyrocketing cost of living began to put pangs of hunger in the populace.

What made it worse for Ugandans to tolerate this hard time is not the inability of the regime to find solutions for their plight. But its total insensitivity that made it spend a whopping $740 million on sophisticated fighter jets.

And this is without counting previous other obscene expenditure for luxurious presidential jet and the like. One doesn’t have to be a military analyst to know that at present there is no justification that forces Uganda to acquire such expensive military equipments.

The carnage in Somalia that Museveni dragged Uganda into is not a conflict that warrants arming the Ugandan defense force with supersonic combat aircraft. On the other hand, a sharp Ugandan journalist queried the very transaction itself vis-à-vis the airworthiness of the so-called sophisticated fighter aircraft. He invoked the scandalous scheme wherein the public coffer was plundered in 1998 on Russian made junk helicopters that got grounded immediately.

The very person who was involved in this racketeering was none other than the president’s brother, General Salim Saleh alias Caleb Akandwanaha.

As if this was not enough, Museveni squeezed the hands of his rubber-stamp parliament to grant him $1.3 million for pomp at his swearing in ceremony. When challenged by journalists about his extravagance, he justified his “wisdom” by condescendingly explaining that he had invited a number of head of states not merely to enjoy looking at their faces but for the purpose of bringing “business” to Uganda.

Indeed, as I discovered in no time, he brought business which hereinafter I call “collusion in the business of repression.” But first thing is first, so let us see how Ugandans reacted to soaring prices of fuel and food in comparison with the wantonness of the regime in Kampala.

Action for change/A4C/and walk to work/W2W/

Seeing the continued plummeting of the value of the Ugandan shilling against foreign currency and the ever escalating fuel and food price coupled with the indifference of the régime, concerned citizens and opposition figures came up with a peaceful protest.

The plan was to make the regime act responsibly pursuant to its claim as the representative of the people. The method employed was a simple and harmless one wherein the activists decided to express their solidarity to the multitude of Ugandans suffering from the exorbitant cost of living by walking every Monday and Thursday to their respective work places.

They also made a call to others to join them, thus saving some money which they normally spend for fuel in order to give it to the more needy ones. Notwithstanding the unconditional right one has over the choice of walking or jogging or driving or flying or sailing to his or her destination, it was the most charitable and exemplary activism that posed no violent threat to anyone.

Yet, from day one, the regime reacted in the most paranoid way that defies any known logic. It manhandled and repetitively detained opposition figures and MPs such as Norbert Mao, Beatrice Anywar, Wafula Oguttu etc.

The regime was particularly harsh on the main opposition figure, Dr. Kizza Besigye, whereupon it provoked the wrath of Ugandans. In the process, many lost lives and limbs through the indiscriminate firing of live ammunition and tear gas. The brutal crackdown on human and civil liberties eventually culminated in the cruelest re-arrest of Dr. Besigye in front of glaring cameras that nearly sent Kampala into flames on the 29th of April.

Collusion in the business of repression

Naturally, after such brutal mistreatment, Dr. Besigye needed serious medical attention for which unfortunately Uganda is not well equipped. So he had to fly out to Nairobi, Kenya.

Sadly, to even exercise this inalienable right, he needed the intervention of Western diplomats who invariably put some sense or rather fear on the regime through the not so charitable carrot and stick approach. Then came one more scandal that clearly shows the nature of all the regimes in the entire region.

On the return trip to Kampala, Dr. Besigye was offloaded from the Kenyan Airways flight despite being a fare paying passenger with a confirmed ticket to his homeland. Having served as a medical doctor in one of the renowned hospital in Nairobi on top of his prominence not only in Uganda but in the whole of East Africa, it’s needless to look for more evidence that Dr. Besigye was one of the regular customer of the Kenyan Airways.

Yet, the airline management disregarded all that on account of a simple call from Kampala which is often described in Uganda as “order from above.” Thus, quoting “internal intelligence information,” the Kenyan Airways chief, Mr. Titus Naikuni instructed his subordinate at Jommo Kenyatta Airport to bar Besigye from going home on his own time and schedule.

According to Mr. Naikuni, the flight would have been denied landing at Entebbe International Airport, if Dr. Besigye was on board the aircraft that day, thereby inconveniencing other passengers. In the process, Mr. Naikuni offered himself as a typical showcase proving how spineless our “executives, technocrats, intellectuals and entrepreneurs” are.

The denial of the regime in Uganda on having no hand in the matter for the simple reason that it doesn’t have the capacity to bully a sovereign state such as Kenya or a business organization like Kenya Airways is an insult to our intelligence not worthy of further scrutiny. However, the incident forces us to examine Kenya’s record on similar other cases.

Despite the influx of millions of refugees from Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and DR Congo to Kenya, the reception and treatment given to these vulnerable groups of people have for the most part contrasted sharply with the international commitment that Kenya acceded to and ratified.

On top of extorting and sexually abusing asylum seekers and refugees, the authorities have repeatedly and forcibly repatriated refugees to their country from which they fled from.

In addition to UNHCR’s periodic report to this effect, rights activists have brought this matter to the spotlight. Read “Somali refugees in Kenya; an easy prey for the police” on www.WardheerNews.com posted on March 20, 2011 by B.B. Abdi.

In total disregard of the obligation to ensure protection of refugees, on numerous occasions Kenyan officials colluded with Ethiopian security agents whereby the latter enjoyed carte blanche to round up, abduct even gun down refugees in the various refugee camps.

Not so long ago, two Ethiopian Engineers named Mesfin Abebe Abdissa and Tasfahun Camadaa Gurmessaa who sought refuge in Kenya from the jaws of the repressive regime in Addis Ababa, had been handed over by the Kenyan officials.

Both were granted asylum status and known to the UNHCR office in Nairobi. As a result of this inhumane repatriation, the kangaroo court in Ethiopia sentenced Abdissa to death while it dished out life imprisonment to Gurmessa.

Credible reports had indicated that both had undergone torture that involved physical mutilation including castration. Read “SMNE/OACC: Kenya must stop persecuting Ethiopian refugees” posted on www.Abbaymedia.com on December 30,2010.

Trading off on refugee rights and exposing them to risk has been the behavior of the Kenyan body politic that goes back to the Moi-Amin era that has seen no change to date.

According to the Weekly Observer I read in 2007-08, Miria Obote (shown below) wife of Milton Obote who was overthrown by Amin, had been forcibly repatriated from Kenya and was handed over to Amin. Kenya’s transformation to the so-called multiparty democracy has only brought more systematic rendition of refugees including its own citizen in conjunction with its counterparts in the vicinity in the name of fighting “terrorism.”

That’s why the renowned lawyer and human rights defender, Al-Amin Kimathi is locked up in Uganda without having a day in court including denial of visitation right since September 2010.

The list can go on like this. The bottom line is what happened to Dr. Kizza Besigye is the culmination of how all the repressive regimes in the region gang up to stifle human rights and civil liberty. To me this was what Museveni meant when he said that it’s to bring “business” that he had invited his cronies in the vicinity to celebrate his “swearing in” ceremony. It’s a perfect scheme to collude in the business of repression.

However, Museveni made one fatal error. And this error spoiled his show. Despite the news blackout and gagging order on local Medias not to transmit anything live that concerns the opposition, particularly Besigye, nobody was interested in the expensive pageantry and pomp in his swearing in ceremony.

The confiscation of cameras and harassment of independent journalists did not deter the public from finding out about the arrival and rousing welcome given to Besigye by thousands and thousands of people which coincided with Museveni’s re-coronation.Later, an astute journalist named Timothy Kalyegira described the event on a talk show called KFM Hot seat in the following words.

“For the swearing in ceremony, President Robert Mugabe, President Mwai Kibaki, President Goodluck Jonathan and “President Kizza Besigye”arrived at Entebbe.”

Speaking of these presidents reminds me of the news about a boda boda cyclist/motorcyclist who transports people like a taxi/who was shot dead while trying to criss cross Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential convoy.

It was also reported that the Nigerian president’s car was pelted for which reason, according to Mr. Fred Opolot Ugandan government spokesperson, that the boda boda cyclist was shot. Upon hearing the news, I asked myself why Ugandans needed to pelt the Nigerian President’s car. Could it be that they have mistaken him as Mwai Kibaki of Kenya?

After all, I saw how Ugandans were simmering in anger the previous day upon hearing Kenya Airways banning Besigye from flying home. As it turned out, nothing of the kind happened.

Thanks to Goodluck Jonathan to whom I wish good luck forever, he set the record straight. He said through his aide that no one has pelted his car. On the contrary, he explained that he passed by opposition elements during a “peaceful procession” on their way to the airport.

All these time, the Ugandan establishment tried to have us believe that the protesters are rabble rousers and violent incited by none other but Besigye.And here comes along Goodluck Jonathan to tell us that it was a “peaceful procession.”

Meanwhile, Museveni told us that among his first task right after his re-coronation are not to find solution to the ever escalating cost of living. But like his friend Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia who once churned out a draconian legislation that applies retroactively and that denies bail just to lock up his former comrade who turned as his vehement critic, Museveni too expressed his determination to scrap bail right from the constitution. I believe him.

As he did away with the term limit via intimidation, cajolery and bribery of “opposition” MPs, he can also have this draconian bill passed. And this is where a need arises to cite and recite the Latin maxim that says “Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges”meaning “The greater the degeneration of the republic, the more of its laws.”

The reason for this is clear. Ethiopia, despite being a seat of the African Union had never produced a regime that allows even the minimum space for dialogue that other people in Africa enjoy so naturally. So Kiflu's ending up as a refugee in Uganda is a blessing in disguise for it accorded him with the opportunity to write. He says at the same time he learned, unfortunately, that his refugee status would be what showed how deep the hypocrisy of the “international community” goes. We at Salem-News.com are honored to carry this gentleman's work and we hope that in the process, western people may come to appreciate the struggle of refugees throughout the world.