By: Steven Biriija
Ladies and gentlemen, I have been clear here why I never support most of the things done by this government, and even welcome anything they do for Bunyoro with a lot of caution.
This was the case and scare I got with the nature of Uthman's candidature and eventual election.
Personally, I am a friend to RDC Amlan, even before I left Uganda, a talk a lot, sometimes with Zac Nwetegya, I am very close to RDC Angalia, Badru Mugabi, and Jonathan, and allow free with RDC Allan Bamhuhs. Akiiki Nyina Barongo, I simply love her, and I have a long history with her father.
You know, all those people I have mentioned plus my own mentor and friend, almost Parent Hon Kasaija among others descended on Hoima to secure the LC 5 seat. Inside me and even sometimes openly I continued to say no. And I have not changed, unless the new chairman does otherwise.
Why?
It is not Uthman that I oppose, the young man is totally innocent, but a victim of circumstances, just as all those friends I have listed, because that is how far Bunyoro has declined or been reduced.
I know many of us fear to say the truth, for obvious reasons. I said it these same thing, you can see where I ended up. But since, I am here, it will be foolish of me not to speak for my country, and home Bunyoro, until we all waked up. This is not about NRM or opposition. There even many NRM people, far better than those in opposition whose mouth are, sealed and hands are tied.
But here are our multi-pronged problems:
1. We have yielded too much to fear, and this won't end up well for us. We can not accept to live a lie for the rest of our lives.
Dictators, just like our president Museveni is, invest in instilling fear, a sense of hopelessness, fatalism and resignation.
This is every where, and open here in Bunyoro. Those who went to school and those who never went to school are the same. Nobody can dare say anything. Who ever tries is isolated and will be exposed to poverty, punishment or even death.
2. Divide and rule, for example, on top of being cowed down, Bunyoro has been systematically divided as we watch to totally weaken us:
- first by destroying and making our heart and very axis of power and unity, the BKK dysfunctional, weak, internal divided, but a face value deceotion: byoya byanswa.
Uganda's only hope is to deconcentrate power and devolve/ disperse it it to different centre. That how corruption can be diluted, and checks and balances on national robbery.
3. The Banyoro, first, where deliberately diluted, through uncontrolled border policy: to allow DRC, Rwanda, Sudan citizens to walk in freely.
Then, internal resettlement of the landless, and refugees, which cosmetically, and on surface looks a humanitarian, yet the underlying scheme was to weaken and systematically dismantal the ethnic Bunyoro, for the eventual exoitation of its wealth.
4. Then, administratively, the Kingdom/region was systematically dismantled through the introduction of districts of : Buliisa, Kibale, Kagadi, Kikuube, Hoima, Masindi, and Kiryandongo. These have been supritended and presided over by handpicked RDCs, DISOs, DPCs, Butiabwa and Madindi barracks.
Then, our own opportunistic and overzealous /semi illiterate handpicked people to be used to consolidate the capture and sale of Bunyoro.
5. As if, this is not enough, you have already had the open agitation for Kingship in Buliisa, and the undertones in Kibaale and Kiryandongo, to totally finish of the little remaining semblance of Bunyoro.
And, do not forget that, the same system, was fighting Bunyoro history in the school curricum. Typical of our naivety and uncritical nature, we also accepted that the lie that it was accidental : sure? The oldest kingdom in East and Central Africa? Hmmm.
6. Undermine the intellectual growth of Bunyoro, and
promoting opportunistic clowns, actors and actresses.
- all formerly the best government aided schools have been killed,
- all formerly the best secondary schools Kabalega, St Edward, Duhaga, Sir Tito, Kitara SSS, have been reduced dens of intellectual destruction.
With USE and UPE as the only hope for the masses, talented kids from poor families have no future, while elsewhere the story is different.
Bunyoro, University, has not been delayed by lack of land, nor finances or human resource personnel, it as part of a scheme the comes with, what we call in political economics, "rentier economy", and "principle - agent problem".
A rentier economy rents out resources like land, oil, minerals, etc, and only waits for rent payments say like from now Total, CNOOC to sustain those in power at the expense of host communities.
For this system to survive, you have to keep the host communities either suppressed or ignorant.
Secondly, in Principal - Agent theory: the principal are the owners of resources, like citizens or host communities of Bunyoro. The agents are those government agents and companies we give mandate or authority to extract and sale the resources for us.
The problem arises because the government agents and company managers collude and conspire to cheat the principal / resource owners :
- by keeping contracts and production and sharing costs high
- making sure everything is kept secret
- inflating costs of production
-putting in place fakes jobs (like welding, driving, catering etc) and corporate social responsibility like small scholarships etc, when in actual reality nothing fundamental is being done.
Principal-Agent problem leads to all possible ways to suppress information flow, transparency, and they can never allow a UNIVERSITY, that promotes critical intellectual growth next to the extractive industry.
If they do, they will be very selective on the courses.
For example, it is not by accident that, the president instructed us to start the EARTH UNIVERSITY of science.
To study the earth, in his wisdom was the best.
Not education, where all our schools are down, not lawyers, yet it is lawyers who promoted good governance, a he knows it is lawyers and engineers who spearheaded the miracle in East Asia.
The president knows Bunyoro needs leaders in policy and politics to organise the region, more than engineers, but chooses the earth university.
He knows on agricultural officer can supervise a whole district, but not one manager, but chooses earth science.
While we need cognitively intelligent people and hands kills, our biggest missing link has been and still is political intelligence (PQ). He knows it.
President, ends up giving us leaders of questionable integrity, ability /competences, attitudes and qualities, to the extent of imposing them on us.
To conclude, that why, I was never excited by the candidature of Uthman Kadir Mugisha, because in him I still see the agency of the exploitation of Bunyoro.
I know typical of we Banyoro, who are very risk averse, and cowardly will call me names, continue to avoid and isolate me. It doesn't matter, my dad died at 44 years, I have past that age, lived my part, but want a fulfilling life of integrity and standing with my people, and I know friends or enemies, this message has an impact. It won't be in vain.
I rest my case.
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