Magufuli, a first class African, with Gen. Museveni, last despot of original East African community nations. Photo-Twitter
[Africa: Letter To A Dictator]
Shame on you Gen. Yoweri Museveni. Why would you pride yourself in being East Africa’s most dishonorable politician? Cant you learn a thing or two from our Tanzanian neighbors just a stone’s throw from our own homeland Uganda?
President Magufuli, who was elected in 2015 has categorically ruled out the idea, floated by some Tanzanians, of tampering with the country’s constitution in order to pave way for a seven-year presidential term. The current constitutional provision allows for two 5-year long terms, making a maximum of 10 years for any citizen wishing to be a Tanzanian president. Sources around Magufuli have indicated that the president might not even seek a second term in office.
You on the other hand have been a dictator for 32 years and in 2005 removed the two 5-year term limits from Uganda’s constitution. In December you removed the age-75 ceiling for presidents so you can run again in 2021 when you will be 77.
Asked about amending the constitution Magufuli is variously quoted in the regional and international media stating the following: “It’s impossible. I will respect the constitution,” “I do not plan to make any change at any time during my presidency. I have sworn to defend the constitution … I shall play my part and pass on the leadership reins to the next president when the time comes,” and “The ongoing debate about increasing the presidential term from five to seven years displeases me.”
President Magufuli’s patriotic move is in sharp contrast with what is happening in Uganda, where you are now set to become, life-president. You’re like former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who ruled with an iron feast, declared himself life-president, and was in the process of destabilizing the entire East African region, only to be stopped in his tracks by a combined Tanzanian-Ugandan liberation army.
Is this the only way to dislodge dictators in Uganda?
Today, President Magufuli is providing true leadership in transforming Tanzania into a modern and progressive country where political leaders do not hang around much longer than is permitted by the constitution. He is no fan of poor performance within the civil service, and is brutal in his passion of routing out corrupt practices in public life.
True, there have been some reports of the Tanzanian president showing some intolerance towards critical media, and that is regrettable. Overall, Magufuli is set to become a President whose service to the nation is grounded, not in narrow Museveni-type self-centered, family-based motivations, but the greater good and interests of the countrys population as a whole.
But what do we have in Uganda? Gen. Museveni, all around you there is a toxic stench of self-centeredness that borders on insanity. Why on earth would a man who claims to love his country make his immediate family members the ultimate owners of all power in the land; they are ministers, army commanders, top civil servants and the like.
Why the incredible lack of patriotism and love of the Ugandan nation? Patriotism and love for Motherland is not the same as the relentless and continuous torture and dehumanization of your fellow citizens in notorious detention centers, such as Nalufenya, Makindye and Luzira. Why are so many Ugandans dying or being murdered on a daily basis, with the state unable to provide the needed security or answers to as to why things have become so bad.
Uganda today is a dying land, brought to her deathbed by the cancer of undemocratic governance. For 32 years, you, Gen. Museveni, have entrenched undemocratic tendencies which most Ugandans loathe with indescribable disdain. This land, which was once variously referred to as the “Heart Beat of Africa,” and the “Pearl of Africa” is now a bastion of politically-embedded corruption, authoritarianism and despotism. your love of cronyism and nepotism is very suffocating.
Instead of listening to the cries of Ugandans for you to quit office and save the country from total destruction, you have stubbornly chosen to rape the constitution, in broad day light, even as other African leaders, like Tanzanias John Magufuli are seeking to defend the constitutions of their countries.
To make it worse, you are deluding yourself in the belief that the Ugandan nation is nothing but your personal property that you can abuse, exploit and destroy as you wish and as long as you want to.
To quote you, Gen. Museveni, you are on record as uttering the following words: “Those who say ‘let him go, let him go,’ they need to know this is not the right time This old man who has saved the country, how do you want him to go? How can I go out of a banana plantation I have planted that has started bearing fruits?
This is contemptible yet laughable in its absurdity. Gen. Museveni, who is asking you to get out of the banana plantation? All we are saying is that the Ugandan nation is not your personal property. It is not just for you, your family and cronies. Uganda is nation of over 43 million inhabitants, based on the latest United Nations estimates, all with an equal stake in the way it is governed and managed. It is more than obvious that there are many good Uganda citizens who can make excellent leaders.
No doubt, you have tried your best; but, in spite of a few positives here and there, you have dismally failed to take Uganda to where it should be in the 21st Century. Given your track record in the over 30-years of your rule, no sane Ugandan now believes that you can steer the Ugandan ship to the best places it needs to be in the future.
Frankly speaking, Gen. Museveni, your uncontrollable appetite for life-presidency makes you a political dwarf compared to the Tanzanian leaders John Magufuli and the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere who will forever be remembered as political giants who did the right thing when duty called.
President Magufuli is laboring to show African leaders that you do not have to become a life-president in order to patriotically and diligently serve your people. As regards the Father of the Tanzanian nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, in spite of his long stay in power, he eventually bowed to the democratic aspirations of the Tanzanian people, leaving power in 1985, when some were calling upon him to continue till lifes end. By doing so, he saved Tanzania from the violent and destabilizing type of political transitions that have become a norm in our Uganda.
So, shame on you Gen. Yoweri Museveni. It is for your own good to do the right thing. You might still have time to learn from Tanzania’s Magufuli and other inspirational African father-figures like Nyerere and Nelson Mandela.
If you don’t, who knows how things might end up for you, your family, and, sadly, for the Ugandan nation.
Dr. Vincent Magombe, Secretary
Free Uganda (FU) Leadership Committee,
Press Secretary FU
