Why does Oloya Tebere inveigh against Museveni so?

SIR— I would like to respond to the invective article by Michael Oloya Tebere titled “Critique of the Museveni school of thought” which apppeared in one of the Sunday papers on January 13. The article intended to poison and misguide Ugandans because the author’s assessments were myopic, parochial and unfocussed.For instance, he wrote: “Museveni has fought off all attempts at agreeing on a common language of political discussion, competition and legitimisation and instead imposed his own language of political discussion, competition and legitimisation on the people of Uganda using tools democratic and authoritarian, legal and extra-legal”. However, Oloya Tebere ought to know that Museveni uses various fora like the Cabinet, Parliament and the National Executive Committee, the Army Council and other organs and decisions are concluded after reaching a consensus. Therefore Museveni has never overlooked the constitutional decision-making organs to impose his own views on the people of Uganda as Oloya Tebere laments.The zenophobia which Oloya Tebere is writing about is just imagined. The Movement has been, and still is, the most accommodating government Uganda has ever had, with refugees from Rwanda, Kenya, Sudan and Congo flocking into Uganda without being intimidated or persecuted on nationality or ethnic grounds.The intolerance which Oloya Tebere is talking about is restricted to those who go against the constitutional rule like those who wanted to breach Article 269 and were obstinately trying to stage an unlawful political rally at the Constitutional Square on Saturday, January 12.Oloya Tebere also says that “science and technology have demonstratably failed to eradicate once and for all the simpler problems of poverty and inequality”. However, poverty and inequality are not “simpler problems” as he terms them, but fundamental global problems which have now attracted worldwide efforts to combat them. In fact, inequality is a reality all over the world and even the most developed countries don’t expect to achieve the equality that Oloya Tebere is craving for, and that is why there exist classes like the elite, upper, middle and lower classes. And it is on this class basis that political parties are formed in the West. Hence, inequality is a big component of western democracy which is polarised along classes.Oloya Tebere also blames Museveni for emphasising the creation of a very strong state. Now does Oloya Tebere want Uganda to be stateless like Somalia? Finally, in his submission Oloya Tebere failed to provide any alternatives. And that is a sign that depicts Museveni’s school of thought as a realistic and tenable one.Fred Kamwada kamwadafred@yahoo.com