At a time like this, our nationalism must show clearly
Oct 08, 2002
SIR— Because this Kony conflict has gone on for a long time, it may be understandable why some sections of the society are making our soldiers appear as bad boys and girls
SIR— Because this Kony conflict has gone on for a long time, it may be understandable why some sections of the society are making our soldiers appear as bad boys and girls. As I always say, more often than not, for well-intentioned people, it may not be what we say or do, but how or where we say or do it.
We all know that war is not a picnic. There are some criticisms on the FM,s and newspapers that I really find uncalled for.
As I was reading through The New Vision of Friday, October 4, I was personally impressed to read through a joint press statement by Lango community and the Lango Parliamentary group. Speaking about defence, they blame the army for failure to provide maximum protection and as a consequence, only 9 LRA marauders were able to attack and burn the radio. For me, this is important, and acceptable.
One issue that really perturbs me is that one member of this group and the Chairman of Lango Parliamentary Group has been giving an impression that this radio was burnt by the UPDF according to some section of the press. I find this gentleman sensational, unprofessional and wonder what his motives are. I know that the army sometimes has problems; but I find that in the current situation in the north, all Ugandans should rally behind our army to help dislodge Kony. It is absolute nonsense to put the army and the LRA in the same basket. The impression I get is that certain individuals of the civil society do so. If you know that the army is badly facilitated, and then at the same time amass all sorts of speculations against them, are you giving them maximum morale to fight Kony or are you achieving the opposite? I think we need to wrap our political and tribal differences so as to bring this brutal war to an end. The motion is above politics, culture, religious, ethnic groupings. As I see it, it is unfair to continuously condemn and sometimes make unconstructive criticisms to our men and women in uniform. If we all believe that what they are doing is to deliver a common good, peace for all of us, why then give an impression that, Kony is a good boy, misunderstood by this bad government? I know well that some politicians hate Museveni. However, you don’t have to like Museveni to support the national cause, for the nation transcends personal animosities.
I am tired of always admiring and referring to the American politicians. National interest comes first in times of crisis. They may disagree on certain issues very seriously; but on an issue such as national security they would stand behind their president. It is this spirit of nationalism that gives America a special leverage in international politics.
So I think that to bring this war to an end, peace talks can still be of use, but must be guided by the law of common sense and prudence. The government has been willing to talk to Kony, a man without agenda; but so far, he is not for it. This being so, I would consider the military option still a necessary evil.
Charles Muwunga Mwebe
Jinja
We all know that war is not a picnic. There are some criticisms on the FM,s and newspapers that I really find uncalled for.
As I was reading through The New Vision of Friday, October 4, I was personally impressed to read through a joint press statement by Lango community and the Lango Parliamentary group. Speaking about defence, they blame the army for failure to provide maximum protection and as a consequence, only 9 LRA marauders were able to attack and burn the radio. For me, this is important, and acceptable.
One issue that really perturbs me is that one member of this group and the Chairman of Lango Parliamentary Group has been giving an impression that this radio was burnt by the UPDF according to some section of the press. I find this gentleman sensational, unprofessional and wonder what his motives are. I know that the army sometimes has problems; but I find that in the current situation in the north, all Ugandans should rally behind our army to help dislodge Kony. It is absolute nonsense to put the army and the LRA in the same basket. The impression I get is that certain individuals of the civil society do so. If you know that the army is badly facilitated, and then at the same time amass all sorts of speculations against them, are you giving them maximum morale to fight Kony or are you achieving the opposite? I think we need to wrap our political and tribal differences so as to bring this brutal war to an end. The motion is above politics, culture, religious, ethnic groupings. As I see it, it is unfair to continuously condemn and sometimes make unconstructive criticisms to our men and women in uniform. If we all believe that what they are doing is to deliver a common good, peace for all of us, why then give an impression that, Kony is a good boy, misunderstood by this bad government? I know well that some politicians hate Museveni. However, you don’t have to like Museveni to support the national cause, for the nation transcends personal animosities.
I am tired of always admiring and referring to the American politicians. National interest comes first in times of crisis. They may disagree on certain issues very seriously; but on an issue such as national security they would stand behind their president. It is this spirit of nationalism that gives America a special leverage in international politics.
So I think that to bring this war to an end, peace talks can still be of use, but must be guided by the law of common sense and prudence. The government has been willing to talk to Kony, a man without agenda; but so far, he is not for it. This being so, I would consider the military option still a necessary evil.
Charles Muwunga Mwebe
Jinja