Mr. Museveni swearing on May 12, 2021
“I, Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni swear in the name of the Almighty God that I shall (not I will) faithfully exercise the functions of The President of Uganda and I shall (not I will) uphold, preserve, protect and defend The Constitution and observe the laws of Uganda and that I shall (not I will) promote the welfare of the people of Uganda. So help me God”
“No one tears a piece of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will not match the old one. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants new ones, for they say”The old is better”
GULU-UGANDA: The Gospel of Saint Luke 5:36-39 tells us that “we should not patch old clothes with new ones” or that “we should not put old wine in new skin” because the chemical reaction will be disastrous and it will never be beneficial to the owner of the new clothes or new wine.
What came to my mind as I follow the event of Wednesday, May 12, 2021, when Uganda’s autocrat of 35-year uninterrupted leadership, Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, was swearing in as a ‘freshly re-elected Head of State’ of this great “Pearl of Africa”, are six five facts namely; his added new name: ‘Tibuhaburwa’, why The Archbishop of The Province of The Church of Uganda, The Most Rev. Dr. Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu never gave a “New Bible” to the re-elected President or why The Chief Justice, His Lordship Alfonse Chigamoi Owiny-Dollo, never gave the newly re-elected President a new copy of Uganda’s Supreme law- the “Constitution”. The number of young Turks elected to the highest organ of the ruling NRM party, the Central Executive Committee, the number of youths elected in the eleventh parliament. And, last is the list of the eleven Head of States who chose to attend personally instead of delegating other dignitaries.
I recorded his swearing words and I quote him to have said that:
“I, Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni swear in the name of the Almighty God that I shall (not I will) faithfully exercise the functions of The President of Uganda and I shall (not I will) uphold, preserve, protect and defend The Constitution and observe the laws of Uganda and that I shall (not I will) promote the welfare of the people of Uganda. So help me God”. He swears.
According to one, Mrs. Grace Ojwiya, who speaks Runyangkole like her native language, the word “Tibuhaburwa” means “something which is lost”. Remember that his arch enemy, ‘The Father of the Nation’ who actually received instruments of power from the colonist, the late Dr. Apollo Milton Obote, never recognized General Museveni as a Ugandan citizen but a Rwandese immigrant in Uganda. Another foe, a former personal doctor to him in the bush, Colonel Dr. Kizza Besigye called him a ‘foreigner’ and he said in 2011 that the NRM is a ‘Museveni Enterprise’. Biblically, someone who is ‘lost’ can be a sinner or someone who is not following the “Word of God”. Socially, does it mean he is in the wrong place?
According a Banyankole friend of mine, the name Museveni is derived from a certain tribe called ‘Baseveni’ who were ‘foreigners’ in Ankole in Western Uganda; and that Mr. Museveni was born at that time. He could not however say whether Mr. Museveni is one of the Baseveni or a Bahima. Only Westerners know the truth of their history, not a northerner like me or Mrs. Ojwiya.
The second issue is missing on a new copy of the Bible, which the Archbishop should have given him after his opening prayer. The archbishop should have given a new copy of the Bible to the President to enable the President re-trace his journey of faith as someone who could be lost and is looking for a way out of it.
Remember that Mr. Museveni held a copy of a Bible in his left hand, not his right hand, as he swears the oaths. People who swear in courts of law always hold the copy of the Bible on the right hand. According to my primary school days in 1966, the English language textbook, Brighter English Grammar, he should have used the phrase “I will” but not “I shall” as he will not be obliged nor bound by the phrase “I shall” since it is not a promise that he will follow what he said in the oaths. History of abuses of our 1995 constitution is still fresh in our minds.
Thirdly, I expected that the Chief Justice, His Lordship Alfonse Chigamoi Owiny-Dollo, would give a copy of the 1995 Constitution to Mr. Museveni. That never happened and I believe that he will not have any reason to observe the rule of law as usual. That means business as usual until eternity. Why should a ‘shield’ and a ‘sword’ be more important ‘instruments of power than a Constitution?
Fourthly, there are more youths who are now in the new NRM’s Central Executive Committee (CEC); which observers say is the kitchen where the national cake is shared, than those of the revolution era of January 1986. There are only two bush-war members of CEC; Mr. Museveni (chairman and founder) and Al Haji Moses Kigongo (one of the pioneer funders of the anti- northern NRA war). When Mr. Museveni took his oaths of the Presidency of Uganda after a bloody five-year military campaign in 1986, Western region has been benefiting more and have been taking the lion’s share of this cake than other regions like the north.
Fifthly, there are also more youths who were mere babies in 1986 who are now elected to the eleventh parliament, than the pioneers of the ruling NRM party revolution or those over fifty who joined from other parties after Kampala fell.
Sixthly, although Uganda’s Minister of Presidency, Ms. Esther Mbayo, told Ugandans that at least 42 Heads of States from across the globe were invited to grace the swearing-in ceremony of autocrat Yoweri Kaguta Museveni as re-elected President, who this time round added a fresh name of ‘Tibuhaburwa, only eleven Heads of States from the Africa continent actually attended.
The Heads of States who came were from The Great Lakes region, East Africa Community, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Guinea Conakry, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Ghana. All of them are new leaders who are the ‘new generation of African leaders who are elected in the 21st Century’. Only Museveni, their host, belonged to the generation of “post independent Africa leaders” who took over leadership from the founding fathers of the continent.
Missing on the list of attendees are the Heads of States of the Super Powers from the West including United States, European Union and Britain. Russia and China sent delegations each including Unites Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Sir Lanka.
Mr. Museveni, who never give speeches but lectures, said; “In this generation of African leaders, we have to have a United States of Africa just like the United States of America is today. If we compare with neighboring Latin America 246 years after independence, what is the result of their independence? There is prosperity in the USA but misery in Latin America. This is real brotherhood you are showing. The situation in Africa does not give credit to Africa. It must be addressed and can be addressed. I hear people talk of accountability but who will account for these hemorrhages in some African countries like Libya?”
“No one tears a piece of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will not match the old one. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants new ones, for they say”The old is better”. Jesus Christ said in this Gospel of St. Luke 5:36-39 (NIV).
Already, some youths in the next parliament who are being sworn in beginning Monday 17, 2021 to Thursday May 20, 2021 are expecting that theirs will be a ‘transitional parliament’. Will Museveni survive ‘the transitional and the voices of Change from “No Change” storms beyond 2026? Get it from the teaching of Jesus Christ Saint Luke wrote and quoted above.
