Uganda should sort out the al-Shabaab

Jul 21, 2010

LIKE millions of Africans across the world I was elated by the successful World Cup when the unthinkable happened. The prophets of doom had opined that an African country could not host a tournament of such magnitude.

LIKE millions of Africans across the world I was elated by the successful World Cup when the unthinkable happened. The prophets of doom had opined that an African country could not host a tournament of such magnitude.

As they were eating their words because of the positive stories coming out of Africa, the old demons reared their heads in the images of the mutilated bodies from Lugogo and Kabalagala in Uganda.

When I came across the story on the BBC website 30 minutes later, I was filled with sadness, incomphrension and anger. After reflection I am still sad and angry but I can understand why this had to happen sooner or later.

As the shock wears off, it is time Ugandans take stock and charter a way forward. In some quarters, there is talk of having brought this on ourselves by intervening in Somalia and thus becoming an obstacle to the Islamists taking over the country.

It is true we have paid with the blood of 76 of our brothers and sisters. The important question is whether our intervention in Somalia is worth the price we have paid and more importantly whether we can afford such a price and even something worse. They will not stop at this one time, they will continue coming at us hoping our resolve will crumble.

Given the righteousness of our cause, we should press ahead in Somalia. Tanzania impoverished itself by supporting the liberation struggles in east, central and southern Africa. The case in point is the 1979 liberation war that ousted President Idi Amin.

Post-1990 Uganda has taken on this mantle. We have intervened in Rwanda, DRC and Sudan.

It is the same moral obligation that took us to Somalia. In all the cases, we have paid dearly, but the job had to be done and we have stayed the course.

Therefore, I argue that a befitting tribute to the people who lost their lives, the injured and their families is to finish the job in Somalia. We should be vigilant and our security forces should do all in their power to nab the perpetrators.

At the end of the day, the pacification of Somalia is our only defence because they will keep coming at us.
The writer is a student at Stellenbosch University in South Africa

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