Nagenda, condemn in equal measure
Dec 27, 2005
SIR — Promises are fragile things. Only God makes His promises from a position of omniscience. Mr. John Nagenda made an almost similar argument in his column a few months ago, as he rallied to his boss’s defence. Which mere mortal could have foresight enough, in 1996, to recognise that there wou
SIR — Promises are fragile things. Only God makes His promises from a position of omniscience. Mr. John Nagenda made an almost similar argument in his column a few months ago, as he rallied to his boss’s defence. Which mere mortal could have foresight enough, in 1996, to recognise that there would, in 2001, be a pending need to professionalise the army?
Which mere man could, in 2001, have foreseen that the East African Federation would still be pending in 2006? So when Mr. Nagenda condemns the donors for breaking their promise, I detect inconsistency.
When he promises to continue the condemnation in the coming year, I realise that I should not invite him to the club of promise-breakers. but I also feel that I should make a request: if he must keep his promise, let the condemnation be across the board. Some of the events obtaining in the country today were perhaps beyond the donors’ foresight at the time they made the promises!
No subject inspires popular rhetoric as much as independence. And no African matches Robert Mugabe’s rhetoric when the subject is national sovereignty.
A man’s house may be his castle, but shouldn’t neighbours raise a finger when the man is battering his toddlers, especially when those neighbours usually help with the bills? Perhaps, Fidel Castro’s 1953 dock speech was the most defiantly patriotic statement of the century. More than anything else, it inspired the cuban revolution. But whether Castro is the best thing that ever happened to Cuba may be another matter altogether.
He is the Robert Mugabe of Latin America. He said, “We were born in a free country that was bequeathed to us by our parents, and the island will sink into the sea before we consent to be slaves of anyone.†And truly, Cubans are slaves of none other than Fidel Castro! Sovereignty is often the theme some leaders resort to in an attempt to evade constructive criticism. We must be very careful!
Nick T. Twinamatsiko
Kampala
Which mere man could, in 2001, have foreseen that the East African Federation would still be pending in 2006? So when Mr. Nagenda condemns the donors for breaking their promise, I detect inconsistency.
When he promises to continue the condemnation in the coming year, I realise that I should not invite him to the club of promise-breakers. but I also feel that I should make a request: if he must keep his promise, let the condemnation be across the board. Some of the events obtaining in the country today were perhaps beyond the donors’ foresight at the time they made the promises!
No subject inspires popular rhetoric as much as independence. And no African matches Robert Mugabe’s rhetoric when the subject is national sovereignty.
A man’s house may be his castle, but shouldn’t neighbours raise a finger when the man is battering his toddlers, especially when those neighbours usually help with the bills? Perhaps, Fidel Castro’s 1953 dock speech was the most defiantly patriotic statement of the century. More than anything else, it inspired the cuban revolution. But whether Castro is the best thing that ever happened to Cuba may be another matter altogether.
He is the Robert Mugabe of Latin America. He said, “We were born in a free country that was bequeathed to us by our parents, and the island will sink into the sea before we consent to be slaves of anyone.†And truly, Cubans are slaves of none other than Fidel Castro! Sovereignty is often the theme some leaders resort to in an attempt to evade constructive criticism. We must be very careful!
Nick T. Twinamatsiko
Kampala