Land issue in Uganda in the context of objective analysis

Jul 03, 2017

Having conquered the kings, colonialists designed a method of how these conquered kings would be useful in serving their intended economic colonial motives.

By Kajabago-ka-Rusoke

There was never such a social phenomenon in the world referred to as Uganda until 1890 when an ex-captain in the British army referred to as Frederick Lugard Organized an armed force locally to invade a variety of tribes in this part of East Africa.

His military force was a means towards personal economic aims to gain wealth from this part of Africa under his economic organization referred to as Imperial British East Africa Company. This company was authorized by the then British government which had offered it a charter to operate officially under its protection at its economic stages of imperialism and colonialism.

Some parts of the area the captain was trying to conquer had kings while others were merely under clan heads. Areas which had kings were Bunyoro, Buganda, Nkore, Busoga and Kooki which however, was a sub- kingdom within Buganda.

These kingdoms had commercial contacts with Arabs from the East African coast. They traded with them in guns and dresses in exchange for able - bodied people from their kingdoms. This was not slave - trade as referred to by European writers as kings never sold their own slaves and slave - maids of their palaces.

They sold those they were capturing through their military squads from homes in their kingdoms. These kings therefore tried to militarily resist captain Lugard as they also had guns. The most resistant Kingdom was Bunyoro under king (Omukama) Kabaleega.

Finally some kingdoms succumbed with limited resistance. Because of their commercial connections with the coastal Arabs, names of these kingdoms had a "u" prefix in Kiswahili naming which also was adopted by European immigrants referring for example to Bunyoro as "Unyoro", Buganda as "Uganda" Busoga as Usoga and so on.

Of all the kingdoms that succumbed more easily to British conquest was Buganda even applying for colonial religious teachers to come and teach their religion in Buganda? Omukama Kabaleega was then captured and exiled. Then seven counties of his kingdom were offered to Buganda which was loyal.

The British colonialists were happy and pleased about Buganda's obedience and cooperation with their conquest and the whole area they conquered which amounted to 93981square miles was named after "Buganda" but which they spelt in Kiswahili "Uganda" to please their loyalists.

The name "Uganda" is a symbol of Buganda's loyalty to British colonialism and all those under Uganda are under that umbrella of Buganda's loyalty to British colonialism. That was why at the time when there was demand for national independence the late John Babiiha suggested that the name of this British colony be changed from "Uganda" to "Kitara". But all this disappeared in thin air and the country remains under a colonial offer by name of those who supported colonialism and who up to now still think and feel that they should be offered a unique and special status above all other nationalities under the same name.

Having conquered the kings, colonialists designed a method of how these conquered kings would be useful in serving their intended economic colonial motives. This was to offer them, with their chiefs, pieces of land which would be so personal that these kings and chiefs would be paid rent from all those who were on those pieces of land and, referred to as tenants. This land came to be referred to as "Mile land". This was a bribe to politically blind the kings and chiefs, appease them against conquest so that they are turned into useful political prefects to persuade their own subjects to implement the economic intentions of the colonialists which were:

> Grow the intended agricultural items

> Accept prices of products as determined by the colonial authority

> Receive wages without bargaining

> Pay taxes to the colonial authority

> Accept and believe in their king or Queen as their also

> Believe in the God of their king or Queen

> Sing their National Anthem

> Accept and adopt their own names in addition to theirs

Go to schools and learn how to read, write and count as factors that would turn them into better suitable economic factors to serve better in their colonial economic and superstructure units whereby they could enjoy a suitable colonial socio - economic formation almost rhyming with that of the colonialists themselves back home but where the colonial population is subservient, obedient and economically beneficial to the colonialists. This is the proper meaning of an empire

WAY FORWARD:

> Uganda should be completely decolonized

> Mile land should be abolished straight-away. For it is a method of decolonization

> Big farmers can be left intact but (i) not with pieces of land which are parasitic to ordinary poor peasants. (ii) Laborers should be paid fairly, properly accommodated, properly dressed according to the nature of work on farms

> Large - scale plantations should provide (i) hygienic housing estates (ii) medical services, (iii) transport for emergency cases in case of need for immediate better medical treatment outside the estates.

> All land should belong to the state for each and all

> There should be political and ideological education on the issue throughout the whole country for spiritual clarity and cooperation.

> Once all land has been made a national property through the state, forging in offices will stop and mutual fighting in villages will cease

> The main objective basis for transformation is as it appears right now, when the peasant-tenants are ripe and ready for change

> When, for example, a 49 year lease is over where is the peasant-tenant supposed to go? The peasant family head, while still alive at the expiry of the 49 year old lease, may struggle to find a solution for his or her family but what will happen in case he or she had already passed away!

> The main and fundamental point is that no peasant should be subjected to spiritual or mental scare as to what will happen to his or her life. The answer lies in no peasant being under any type of landlord. Or landlady. There should be complete peasant liberation. Protected and guided by a national pro-people political party to which all peasants should belong, and as the entire country is governed by a pro-people party and state

> The wage and salary earning classes in former colonies are economic amphibians with one leg in the urban economic unit for cash and another in the village maintaining a homestead for the future when one will have retired. This is a very fertile ground for combining the wage and salary earners force to with the complete peasant village settler force to form a very formidable national united front against feudalism.
                     
Right now relationship:
   
> In order to stop violence right now, everybody should be told to remain where he or she has been up to now, without any further demarcations of land by one over above or against another, until a proper national method of determing real ownership is established. Through and, by, organs of the state-apparatus

> In order for Uganda to be put in order, there must be an educated and revolunary elite as opposed to just a trained one to be on top of the country. A trained elite is highly technical only in manipulating methods as to how they can obtain wealth from society for personal and self-agrandisement. They are incapable of aspiring for social welfare for all because training is not necessarily education. Education answers the question as to why one is trained while training may end up only leading an individual to self-inward looking ending up with either an individual or individuals, who qualify only as national economic bedbugs in the national chambers of society.
   
All those who support the economic systems of slavery, feudalism, capitalism, imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism are economic vampires, hyenas and jackles either nationally or internationally. Each and every aspiring revolutionary elite should concentrate on studying economic systems in history so that he or she can use each economic system as a gauge to see where his or her own level of development is in order to begin building what he or she considers a suitable one for his or her society without just copying or being influenced by either economic bedbugs or vampires. 

The writer is a lecturer at the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi                                         

                                                       

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