'Trust in Museveni drops, rises in MPs'?

By Janet Museveni

I believe it is worthwhile to comment on the latest Afrobarometer research findings as currently serialised by the Daily Monitor newspaper, particularly last week’s issue of April 17, titled: “Trust in Museveni drops,….”.  

I am sure I speak for a great number of thinking members of the public when I venture to sound caution on how we receive and trust this faceless yet all-powerful judge of all the nations of Africa and all developments in good governance and economic performance; I mean the entity called Afrobarometer.

 We should ask ourselves, for example: How was Afrobarometer constituted and how are its research findings arrived at, that all of Africa should sit up and take note whenever this unseen ‘god’ chooses to pronounce her judgments? 

For that matter, should we ask who is behind this institution and how do the nations defend themselves in this particular court? Indeed it is intriguing to know who these are who have an exclusive right to gauge the barometer of democratic governance in our countries – the ones who use democracy as a big stick to beat those they want out of town? 

The ones who use the carrot to keep governments dancing to their tune?  It is becoming increasingly difficult to see how the opposition is supported to create discontent in the populace. 

Is it possible that perhaps there are groups who can no longer plunder the wealth of Africa at will since the whole of Africa is free? They now go through the backdoor of chaos to get their hands on what they want.

The institutions that are judged in such ‘courts’ are themselves known and their actions are open for public scrutiny; indeed they are constituted by the law of the land – the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, and other ‘watchdog’ institutions.

There is a culture that is creeping stealthily into our societies in this decade that needs to be scrutinised and questioned; I mean the culture of entities that set themselves up as unseen, inscrutable and unquestionable judges of everything governments in Africa do.  

Why have we allowed every Tom, Dick and Harry to set up camp in town and draw up their own parameters and play judge, jury and executioner over us, and yet we do not even know the motive behind those judgments?  Who gave them the big stick with which they beat those who do not meet their standards – standards that are arbitrarily arrived at in many cases? Was it the electorate of Uganda?  

We know where the Executive, the Legislature and all the other organs of Government derive their legitimacy:  it is from the Constitution and from the people of Uganda before whom they have to appear regularly to ask for permission to act on their behalf.  

But from where do Afrobarometer and their ilk derive their mandate, seeing as the people they critique do not even understand them?   

The majority of the people they claim to speak for do not even know who they are because they are faceless. How would the people reach them and call them to account if they wanted to?

By contrast, our people know what they can do when they are dissatisfied with a Member of Parliament; they know what to do when a political party is going out of hand. When it is time to make a change, they know what to do to make that change, because it is clearly laid out in the laws and practices of the nation.  

These are entities that have a human face and, therefore, the people can deal with them legitimately. But who on earth is Afrobarometer, and why should the people give credence to their findings? 

In principle, it would not be a bad idea to have an independent ‘Early Warning System’ type of monitoring, but we need to know how the warnings are arrived at and who is running such a system in order to give the findings legitimacy.  

The cloak of darkness that tends to surround such critics is what raises doubts and suspicion in us and it is, indeed, most undemocratic of those who presume to set up standards of democracy for Africans. 

Fellow Ugandans, the words of Edmund Burke keep ringing in my mind which say, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”. 

Therefore, I feel compelled to say something about the negative trend in our media today seeing that it has become fashionable, these days, to bash the NRM Government and the President, and I know about the pressures media houses face to report what will sell so as to stay above water; and I think I can understand the pressure from those who are paying some of these bodies.  

But those who play the role of leaders and even the citizens of the nations of Africa are duty-bound to be cautious about who we allow, and give platforms to, to criticise us; because there is criticism that is healthy and builds up but there is criticism that comes only to destroy us. Surely, we cannot forget so soon the methods and underhand practices of yesterday.  

Is there any way that the 90% of our population who are not computer literate can access such survey reports in order to study them and make sense of what they say, or must we receive them through the lens of whichever newspaper chooses to report whichever sections of the survey best serves their purpose?  

Since the majority of our people do not access the Monitor, how are they expected to interface with Afrobarometer so that they too can have their say in the matter?  

Wouldn’t we be justified to conclude that such reports are really meant to satisfy those who pay the pipers and are merely a means of accounting for the money that regularly changes hands to sustain underhand opposition activities?

Some of the issues Ugandans are grappling with currently are of make-or-break importance; therefore we need all the seriousness and clarity of mind to reach real and meaningful conclusions. 

In this mix of genuine, heartfelt opinions and standpoints, it is crucial that we refuse to allow reports from entities that have been set up to manipulate and confuse us; if we do not maintain sanity and exercise caution, we may find ourselves in a ditch we thought we had closed, let us remember that a lot hangs in balance here.

We need to understand that since viable oil was discovered in Uganda and this region generally; all kinds of creatures will creep out the crevices and set up camp in our midst with the intention of causing division and chaos so that those who need our oil and are not entitled to it can take it – by hook or crook. It is happening all around us. But only if we allow them will they succeed. 

 The old adage of “A fool and his money are soon parted” should be a caution to Ugandans. 

It is a shame that even some of our revered spiritual leaders have been enticed to partake of the carrot, betraying their country under the guise of defending democracy and human rights, selling their souls and forgetting their proper roles as shepherds of souls.   

The end thereof will not be good to see. I seem to remember that even in the days of Jesus Christ, most church leaders were a hindrance to the good news He had brought, save for a few wise ones like Nicodemus! 

We thank God for the far-sighted Nicodemuses among our spiritual leaders, “Men of Issachar” who have understanding of what their nation should do in their generation. 

For those brethren who have been diverted, I have one reminder, taken from the book of Exodus 23 verse 2: “You shall not follow a multitude to do evil”.

My final caution to fellow Ugandans is that, in fighting the  President, they should remember two things: one, that he was voted legitimately into office and, come 2016, it is the same Ugandans who can lawfully and peacefully vote according to their choice; and I know that it has also become acceptable to say that the 2011 elections were not free and fair but if I remember correctly even the Daily Monitor’s  pre-election polls showed that Museveni was by far holding the highest percentage of the electorate. But when these predictions became a reality even the Monitor sometimes reports that the results were not free and fair. I think it is wiser for all of us to accept the choice of Ugandans in the 2011 elections. 

Two, I believe that in the meantime, the President and indeed the Legislature, have a job to do and it will not be done well if they are constantly preoccupied with putting out fires ignited, for the most part, by faceless groups.  If we continue the present trend of bickering and suspicion and finger pointing, we will be playing into the hands of our enemies, and the development of the nation will be in jeopardy. 

The President that I know very well is not and has never been a populist; he will not pander to the public or to foreign powers.  If Ugandans have lost trust in Museveni as Afrobarometer or the Daily Monitor would have us believe, it would not be the first time; even when he said he would fight Idi Amin, many Ugandans called him a “vagabond”, but he hardened his resolve and forged ahead and did it anyway.  

That is the fate of a trailblazer and visionary; to be lonely, misjudged and sometimes even reviled.  He is still the same man and he will continue to do what he knows to be best for his country, because he was given the people’s mandate to do so.  

So, on a light note, let me end by endorsing the Lizard’s comment on the Monitor’s headline: “Trust in Museveni drops” - ‘It will rise when it matters most’!.