Why US must stop its disdainful treatment of Uganda

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OPINION

By Opiyo Oloya

Dear President Yoweri Museveni, enough is enough! I am very disappointed with the way the US government is treating Uganda. The time is now to tell America one simple truth — Uganda is your ally, and if you can’t see that, you are as blind as a mole.

Uganda made hard sacrifices and unwavering allyship in the fight against terror. Its contributions toward global security, stability and peace includes the 17-year-old commitment in Somalia, the just-in-time successful intervention in South Sudan in January 2014 and the current fight against terror in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Despite all that, US actions say the complete opposite — We don’t see Uganda as anything special, just another run-of-the-mill African country. First, the Biden administration passed over Uganda when considering who should lead the multinational forces to stabilise Haiti, choosing Kenyan Defence Forces (disguised as Kenyan police).

Then on the matter of tariffs, at first, the US said it would levy 10% on Uganda’s produces, but as of the beginning of this month, raised that to 15%. The latest example of the US treating Uganda like chopped liver is the push to solve its immigration problems by dumping some of its illegal immigrants in Uganda.

Reading between the lines, I am confident Uganda neither volunteered nor asked for those illegal US immigrants. After all, it’s against international law to send illegal immigrants to a third country where their fates are unknown.

By contrast, our neighbour, Kenya, is being treated with the golden gloves. There are the 10% tariffs. No mention of any US illegals being dumped in Nairobi. And the only reason is that Kenya currently has its troops in Port-au-Prince in Haiti, where it is leading the international force.

The Trump administration is rewarding Kenya because it believes it is doing a great job there. For your information, that mission is dead in the water.

Always professional, focused and a very dedicated global force, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has never publicly complained about the work in Somalia or anywhere else. It has stayed true to its Pan Africanism roots, seeing the Somalia problem as one it must work hard towards solving. It has done what needs doing without shirking its responsibilities.

And I know all this firsthand. Last month and early this month, as I have done previously, I walked alongside our troops in Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea. And here at home, I also visited our troops at Second Division Mbarara, Third Division Moroto, Fifth Division Achol-Pii and Fourth Division Gulu.

I can very proudly tell fellow Ugandans that our soldiers demonstrated great physical and mental shape, displaying the highest morale and exemplary discipline. And everywhere I asked the same question: “Are you ready, prepared and confident to take on any global security responsibility, whether on continental Africa or elsewhere on the global stage, to keep the world a safe place? The answer was always the same — a resounding YES, we are ready!

I know they are not just saying it for my own benefit. They have demonstrated it in different theatres. I have documented these successes in my books Black Hawks Rising published in 2016, and in The Best Army Doesn’t Wear Kilts, which you and Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba launched in February. Now I am working on the third book that gets into the minds of our soldiers, how they train, prepare and think with the civilian at the centre of their decision-making. The world can learn many good ideas from the UPDF about the importance of being people-centred.

But we cannot escape the simple truth that Uganda is shouldering the big costs of keeping Somalia safe. There are many commanders who have not been paid by the African Union. The equipment Uganda donated to fight the al-Shabaab remain unpaid for, and worse, this equipment is not being replaced with new ones.

Yet as I write this, the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), flush with cash and resources, has done nothing to safeguard the lives and property of the people of Congo. Instead, MONUSCO hides from Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the terror group which just a few days ago massacred more Congolese civilians, not to mention the murders of innocent women, men and children at a church service in Komanda in late July. News of that terrible event reached me while preparing to travel from Kasanda to Beni, onto Luna, where I spent the night with our troops.

Instead, every single Congolese civilian who spoke to me expressed their deepest gratitude for the UPDF’s presence in their country. Could the US government not shake the UN to provide some of the funding for our troops?

Must we continue to fight terrorists on behalf of an ungrateful world that does not care or appreciate what we are doing? Should our commitment to Pan-Africanism be at the expense of food for our soldiers, equipment for their work and security for their family?

My answer is no. Uganda can no longer take on alone the role of making the world a safe place. The global community must show up. The time is now for Uganda to remind not just the US, but the larger global community of the difficult work it is doing to uphold global security. It is time to follow Burundi, our ally in the trenches, which has finally pulled the plug and is looking to move its troops out of Somalia. Since the global community no longer sees Somalia as a priority or as a problem, Burundi has decided there is no point keeping its troops in that country.

Today, I publicly offer you the following hardline recommendations for your immediate consideration. Foremost, unless the US can work with European partners to put new money on the table to support our men and women in uniform in Somalia, regrettably, Uganda must withdraw all troops by December 31.

This money will be used for troops surge to degrade al-Shabaab to the point where it will no longer pose any issue.

The government of Somalia must be informed immediately of this plan. If the global community does not see the need for this discussion, then troops withdrawal from Somalia should begin as early as the end of October.

Secondly, the US government must step forward to sponsor a UN resolution at the Security Council that formally acknowledges and funds Operation Shujaa as a global security mission to stabilise the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as protect lives and property. It’s that simple, really.

Finally, the US government must stop its disdainful treatment of Uganda. It must begin to acknowledge the country’s role in keeping the world a safe place.

I know that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his phone call with you last week, expressed appreciation for Uganda’s role in regional (East Africa) security — but talk is cheap.

The time is now for the US, working with global partners, to demonstrate appreciation and respect for Uganda. That starts with the money — show us the money or go home.

Opiyo.oloya@gmail.com Twitter: @OpiyoOloya

Dr Opiyo Oloya is the Inaugural Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at Western University, London, Ontario, Canada