SIR — There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with Uganda’s leadership! Milton Obote abrogated the 1962 constitution and replaced it with what has now come to be known as his ‘pigeon hole’ constitution. After that he boasted that he was the only African leader who did not fear a military takeover! He had five colleagues who were cabinet ministers arrested from Parliament in 1965 and detained without trial for five years until he was overthrown in 1971! When Idi Amin took over, Ugandans were over the moon because they had had enough of Obote’s excesses. But the euphoria was shortlived. He started ruling by decree and slaughtering people became his favourite pastime. He boasted that he feared nobody except God although there was nothing to show any godliness in his behaviour. In his tenure, inflation went through the roof. Before Ugandans knew it, he had declared himself life president! In 1979 he was toppled and Obote came back to start from where he had left off. Five years later he was ejected from power and replaced by the NRM government which gave everybody optimism and hope. Under President Museveni, the NRM has done extremely well, no matter what Museveni’s opponents might say. There was a whiff of fresh air and when he declared that his administration was not going to be a change of guard but a fundamental change we all cheered and everything that followed in the early years of his administration seemed to corroborate his declaration. He repeatedly called past leaders swine and in all fairness, they deserve the ‘compliment’. I But alas! It is now 18 years later and what do we hear? The self-same Museveni who fought so hard to establish constitutionalism and the rule of law, the man who wrote Sowing the Mustard Seed, has turned around to call the Parliament of Uganda a ‘group’.
Uganda’s legal institutions have suddenly become gymnasiums constructed by lawyers, and the legal processes are mere gymnastics! He is attempting to interpret the constitution in bits and pieces against the advice of those who understand the law better! by his self-assessment he is the only Ugandan with a vision, out of the 24 million! The management of peaceful transition seems to be impossible and there seems to be no end to the circus! At this juncture, words fail me! All I can ask is where will Uganda’s salvation come from?

Joyce Kanabahita
Sembabule