From the Editor's Desk: Museveni must face new world outlook

Obituaries
Two African presidents declared their opinions on the intervention of Western cou-ntries in the Libyan affray. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni came out with guns blazing accusing the West of double standards and saying that the countries that have imposed a no-flying zone over Libya were after its oil.

“I am totally allergic to foreign, political and military involvement in sovereign countries, especially African countries,” Museveni wrote in a statement published in the state-owned New Vision daily. The statement was reproduced verbatim in local daily The Herald last week.

 

“The Western countries always use double standards. In Libya, they are very eager to impose a no-fly zone. In Bahrain and other areas where there are pro-Western regimes, they turn a blind eye to the very same conditions or even worse conditions.”

He referred to the rebels and the civilians being protected by the Western forces as “Quislings” which means sell-outs.

On the other hand Rwandan President Paul Kagame came out in support of the Western intervention.

He wrote: “My country is still haunted by memories of the international community looking away.  No country knows better than my own the costs of the international community failing to intervene to prevent a state killing its own people. In the course of 100 days in 1994, a million Rwandans were killed by government-backed ‘genocidaires’ and the world did nothing to stop them.

“So it is encouraging that members of the international community appear to have learnt the lessons of that failure. Through UN Resolution 1973 we are seeing a committed intervention to halt the crisis that was unfolding in Libya.”

Museveni’s statement was a defence mechanism. He is in a Freudian state of reality anxiety.

 

According to Freud (Anna, not her more famous father Sigmund), reality anxiety is fear of real-world events. Museveni has in the past few months seen dictators of his ilk in North Africa and the Middle East fall to people power. The uprisings in these countries can be easily replicated in his country.

 

The reasons why this is possible are there for all to see. Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986 when his guerrillas shot their way into Kampala. Since then he has ruled with an iron hand suppressing dissent and killing thousands of his own people in various regions of the country. He has repeatedly proclaimed himself winner of periodic elections.

 

He has used all methods in the book to retain power, including intimidation and the elimination of opponents. Last month he was declared landslide winner of a national election. Ugandans are obviously tired of this and want change. The opposition has often protested against election results.

The United Nations Security Council-backed intervention in Libya has opened a new chapter in international relations. The international community is now saying it cannot “look away” as it did in Rwanda in 1994 resulting in the massacre of a million people. This has got Museveni worried.

 

Museveni is a warmonger. The world should remember his close relationship with former US President George W Bush. The grip-and-grin pictures of him with Bush in the White House on June 10 2003 and another on at Entebbe Airport in Uganda almost a year to the day later must still haunt those he would like to call “Quislings”.

According to New York-based Black Star News (BSN) report, during the Bush era Uganda was converted into a virtual large aircraft carrier from which all types of military and “humanitarian” missions were launched into central and eastern Africa. In addition to Entebbe air base, which is now one of the best equipped and supplied on the African continent, several other military installations exist in Uganda that house Special Forces units and other US Army personnel.

Museveni believes in violence as a legitimate means to bring about “revolutionary” political change and in using the army as an important pillar of political power, says BSN.

The report says both before and since becoming president the themes of violence and military action have played central roles in his speeches and writings. His people have been degraded to a peasant society and have lost the dignity that was the envy of the continent. He is the “lap dog” of America and nothing is going to change except Ugandans will become poorer and have their hopes blocked by the continuing self-serving praise of his presidency by a few powerful people in that country.

With Bush’s departure, the world has taken a new outlook. The new outlook was perhaps defined and ushered in by US President Barrack Obama in a speech on June 5 2009 at Cairo University in Egypt where he called for a new beginning in America’s relationship with the Muslim world. His speech had universal undertones. He pledged his commitment to governments that reflect the will of the people.

He said: “Each nation gives life to this principle (the will of the people)  in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election.

 

But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn’t steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. These are not just American ideas; they are human rights. And that is why we will support them everywhere.”

In his statement Museveni is overly aware that the honeymoon is over so he is rationalising his anxiety. The statement sounds rational and is presented in a logical manner but it avoids the true reasons for his behaviour. Look at how he attributes achievement to his own qualities and skills while he blames failure on other people and outside forces.

Museveni may succeed in preventing his anxiety and protecting his self-esteem and self-concept but the truth will confront him sooner rather than later.

Kagame’s last words are salutary: “The uprising in Libya has already sent a message to leaders in Africa and beyond. It is that if we lose touch with our people, if we do not serve them as they deserve and address their needs, there will be consequences. Their grievances will accumulate — and no matter how much time passes, they can turn against you.”