Museveni’s performance in the year 2002 was exemplary
Dec 30, 2002
The last hour of 2002 will probably find President Yoweri Museveni in Gulu. The natural temptation in the minds of some Ugandans is to weigh his successes during the year in terms of whether the last bullet in Joseph Kony’s terrorism will have been fire
By Onapito-Ekomoloit
The last hour of 2002 will probably find President Yoweri Museveni in Gulu. The natural temptation in the minds of some Ugandans is to weigh his successes during the year in terms of whether the last bullet in Joseph Kony’s terrorism will have been fired.
Needless to say, the charlatan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) killers will still be on the loose come mid-night December 31.
But equally, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) will be hot on their trail. The point? The President is spot on with the manifesto that got him re-elected in 2001. Just in case anybody has forgotten, candidate Museveni stood for Peace, Unity and Development.
As we see off the year, his score sheet should be marked for this trio of commitments.
Starting with peace, the President cannot be judged on whether he has stopped every conflict in 2002, because conflict is as old as mankind.
We shall always live in a troubled world, often not by our own making.
The President’s scores should be seen in the context of how much he did to put out the fires that threatened Ugandans within and without the country.
A few examples will suffice to show that the president was an A student during the year.
The year opened with the President heading for the geographically hostile Karamoja, where he spent much of the time until Easter.
His mission: To disarm the nomadic pastoralists who had for decades menaced their agricultural neighbours, sowing death, sorrow and deprivation.
The President’s Karamoja peace harvest was quite a bounty. Nearly 10,000 of the region’s estimated 40,000 illegal guns have been recovered.
True, the victims of the nomads’ aggression are yet to smile, but a loud and clear message was sent to the Karimojong: The time for you to wallow in crime and lawlessness is running out.
At the pace things were going, Karamoja would have been totally pacified by now, but there was an unfortunate break in full time concentration on disarmament. It was all courtesy of the then Sudan-backed LRA.
The twin-task of routing the LRA from their southern Sudan fattening bases — they were obliterated —and containing their disarray incursion back into Uganda meant switching some of the UPDF troops from disarmament to Operation Iron Fist.
Of course, the President’s score sheet on Operation Iron Fist remains the subject of open debate as he promises to put an end to Kony’s terror by the coming dry season in Acholi.
It is feasible that the LRA’s kicks of a dying horse will still be felt by then, but will remain just that — dying kicks.
Like all wars against evil, the fight against Kony’s terrorism will be a protracted one –– the only consolation being that it will never prevail over the forces of good.
That is why it was nice to see the forces of good on the roll as the rebel Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF) II of Ali Bamuze and the government worked out a peace agreement last week.
The peace deal with an otherwise militarily weakened rebel group — which could be ignored — put to paid the argument of those who lie that Museveni is not interested in the peaceful settlements of conflicts.
Since external forces sponsor the so-called rebellions, President Museveni was at his best in 2002, smoothening ties with other regional players. The Number one priority was warming up diplomatic relations with Kony’s hitherto chief backer –– The Sudan. The relations had been in the freezer since 1995.
In dealing with the Sudanese, the Ugandan leader proved that he was not only after preserving his own skin but also cared for the suffering of his neighbours.
He brokered the historic handshake between President Omar Bashir and his arch rival, John Garang of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA).
The year also witnessed the president averting a looming, senseless war with Rwanda, by reaching out to President Paul Kagame. The two met thrice during the year, once at the border town of Kabale and twice in London, on both the latter occasions, under the mediation of British Overseas Development Minister Clare Short.
At the same time, both Angola and the DR Congo officially ceased being on war footing with Uganda, following protocols of understanding between Museveni and their leaders, presidents Jose Dos Santos and Joseph Kabila respectively.
Elsewhere, Museveni was a welcome guest in western capitals, notably spending time with U.S. President George Bush and receiving an anti-AIDS award as head of state at the Commonwealth summit in Australia.
On the unity score at home, the president put the prophets of doom to shame, snuffing out what seemed inextinguishable ethnic fires. Today, it is possible to forget that the Kibaale LC V Chairmanship duel and the Banyankole herdsmen “invasion†of Teso were such hot issues in 2002. The president stood his ground and was proved right.
In development, the president used 2002 to energise the Movement’s strategic vision: Building an independent, integrated and self-sustaining economy.
He then put his money were his mouth was, with the centrepiece of the vision being: Adding value to Uganda’s exports.
Accordingly, the country’s export economy closed the year with a bang. Tri Star Apparels, a textile plant established in Kampala within the year, shipped thousands of pieces of finished apparel to the American market under the AGOA arrangement. And this is just the beginning!
The last hour of 2002 will probably find President Yoweri Museveni in Gulu. The natural temptation in the minds of some Ugandans is to weigh his successes during the year in terms of whether the last bullet in Joseph Kony’s terrorism will have been fired.
Needless to say, the charlatan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) killers will still be on the loose come mid-night December 31.
But equally, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) will be hot on their trail. The point? The President is spot on with the manifesto that got him re-elected in 2001. Just in case anybody has forgotten, candidate Museveni stood for Peace, Unity and Development.
As we see off the year, his score sheet should be marked for this trio of commitments.
Starting with peace, the President cannot be judged on whether he has stopped every conflict in 2002, because conflict is as old as mankind.
We shall always live in a troubled world, often not by our own making.
The President’s scores should be seen in the context of how much he did to put out the fires that threatened Ugandans within and without the country.
A few examples will suffice to show that the president was an A student during the year.
The year opened with the President heading for the geographically hostile Karamoja, where he spent much of the time until Easter.
His mission: To disarm the nomadic pastoralists who had for decades menaced their agricultural neighbours, sowing death, sorrow and deprivation.
The President’s Karamoja peace harvest was quite a bounty. Nearly 10,000 of the region’s estimated 40,000 illegal guns have been recovered.
True, the victims of the nomads’ aggression are yet to smile, but a loud and clear message was sent to the Karimojong: The time for you to wallow in crime and lawlessness is running out.
At the pace things were going, Karamoja would have been totally pacified by now, but there was an unfortunate break in full time concentration on disarmament. It was all courtesy of the then Sudan-backed LRA.
The twin-task of routing the LRA from their southern Sudan fattening bases — they were obliterated —and containing their disarray incursion back into Uganda meant switching some of the UPDF troops from disarmament to Operation Iron Fist.
Of course, the President’s score sheet on Operation Iron Fist remains the subject of open debate as he promises to put an end to Kony’s terror by the coming dry season in Acholi.
It is feasible that the LRA’s kicks of a dying horse will still be felt by then, but will remain just that — dying kicks.
Like all wars against evil, the fight against Kony’s terrorism will be a protracted one –– the only consolation being that it will never prevail over the forces of good.
That is why it was nice to see the forces of good on the roll as the rebel Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF) II of Ali Bamuze and the government worked out a peace agreement last week.
The peace deal with an otherwise militarily weakened rebel group — which could be ignored — put to paid the argument of those who lie that Museveni is not interested in the peaceful settlements of conflicts.
Since external forces sponsor the so-called rebellions, President Museveni was at his best in 2002, smoothening ties with other regional players. The Number one priority was warming up diplomatic relations with Kony’s hitherto chief backer –– The Sudan. The relations had been in the freezer since 1995.
In dealing with the Sudanese, the Ugandan leader proved that he was not only after preserving his own skin but also cared for the suffering of his neighbours.
He brokered the historic handshake between President Omar Bashir and his arch rival, John Garang of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA).
The year also witnessed the president averting a looming, senseless war with Rwanda, by reaching out to President Paul Kagame. The two met thrice during the year, once at the border town of Kabale and twice in London, on both the latter occasions, under the mediation of British Overseas Development Minister Clare Short.
At the same time, both Angola and the DR Congo officially ceased being on war footing with Uganda, following protocols of understanding between Museveni and their leaders, presidents Jose Dos Santos and Joseph Kabila respectively.
Elsewhere, Museveni was a welcome guest in western capitals, notably spending time with U.S. President George Bush and receiving an anti-AIDS award as head of state at the Commonwealth summit in Australia.
On the unity score at home, the president put the prophets of doom to shame, snuffing out what seemed inextinguishable ethnic fires. Today, it is possible to forget that the Kibaale LC V Chairmanship duel and the Banyankole herdsmen “invasion†of Teso were such hot issues in 2002. The president stood his ground and was proved right.
In development, the president used 2002 to energise the Movement’s strategic vision: Building an independent, integrated and self-sustaining economy.
He then put his money were his mouth was, with the centrepiece of the vision being: Adding value to Uganda’s exports.
Accordingly, the country’s export economy closed the year with a bang. Tri Star Apparels, a textile plant established in Kampala within the year, shipped thousands of pieces of finished apparel to the American market under the AGOA arrangement. And this is just the beginning!