By Norm Dixon
LONDON — Britain's Ugandan community has appealed to international aid donors not to be taken in by "the fallacious propaganda of the government of Uganda". John Obwona-lanana, chairperson of the Ugandan Community in the UK, spoke to Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly during a protest outside a seminar organised by the Ugandan government.
"This is a bid to hoodwink the world and bluff international opinion, particularly the donor countries, into believing that the violation of human rights has improved and that [the Ugandan government] is prepared to restore democracy. The real motive is to try to solicit foreign exchange."
Uganda's recent history is one of unrelenting misery: the genocidal reign of Idi Amin from 1971 to 1979; the bloody ousting of Amin by the Uganda National Liberation Front with the assistance of the Tanzanian army; the terror of the Milton Obote regime, which rivalled Amin in brutality and killed as many as 300,000 in its struggle against the rebel National Resistance Army between 1981 and 1986.
With the victory of the NRA, led by Yoweri Museveni, Ugandans hoped that the string of brutal, corrupt dictatorships which ruled by fanning ethnic and tribal divisions might have finally come to an end. Sadly, this has not been the case, Obwona-lanana and other Ugandans at the June 23 demonstration told Â鶹´«Ã½.
Museveni immediately signalled that the rights of ethnic and tribal minorities in the north and east would not be respected. He accused people from these areas of being the core of the armies of previous repressive regimes.
Members of the Acholi community, a people from Uganda's north, informed Â鶹´«Ã½ that, upon coming to power, the new president stated that the people who inhabit these areas — who he referred to as "primitive" and "biological substances" — must be "crushed" and "wiped out".
Museveni also stated that, in his view, Uganda did not extend beyond the Karuma Falls on the Nile River; he subsequently demanded that people travelling between southern Uganda and the north be required to carry special permits. Roads, schools, hospitals and dispensaries were intentionally neglected.
This discrimination sparked resistance in these regions, which was met with military force. Despite claims that the military has succeeded in crushing this resistance, the military persecution continues, Obwona-lanana said. "The situation is chaotic. The northern part of Uganda is a fully ravaged war area. NRA soldiers go on the rampage in the villages, raping men, women and children ... Soldiers that are known e are sent to rape these people."
The military occupation of the north has led to the imprisonment and death of many young people and the destruction of homes, crops and livestock. As a result, the people of the north and east are thoroughly impoverished.
But while those in the north and east bear the brunt of repression, all Ugandans are suffering, Obwona-lanana stressed: "He is not putting forward the true interests or aspirations of the populace. There is completely no democracy in Uganda. Museveni has banned all political activity. There is no political movement at the moment that is active in Uganda. He has said openly that he doesn't believe in what he calls 'western-type multiparty democracy'.
"The ordinary people are suffering. There are no social services. Hospitals are run down, schools are run down. The infrastructure has completely collapsed and there are no steps to try to restore them.
People are in abject poverty. Education is almost non-existent, particularly in the war-ravaged areas. There is no economic growth in Uganda at all at the moment. Yet we know that 53% of the national income of Uganda is spent on military armaments."
The foreign aid Museveni is seeking in London will be "used for the purposes of arming himself to oppress other Ugandans", Obwona-lanana charged.
"I appeal to the people of the world to put pressure on the government of Uganda to allow an independent team of journalists to go and find out for themselves, who can talk to the ordinary Ugandans to find out what their aspirations are and how much they are suffering so that the truth can come out. I appeal to the people of the world to try to find out the truth for themselves and not listen to the lies of Museveni."