By Prof: Oweyegha Charles Afunaduula
During the reign of Idi Amin Dada, soldiers were everything and made sure everything was theirs if they wanted it. The civilians became subordinate to them. They became Ministers. They became Ambassadors. They became Governors. They became Subcounty Chiefs. They grabbed land. They grabbed factories. They grabbed houses if they wanted them It was not sovereignty of Uganda and Ugandans but of soldiers.it was militarization of everything conceivable. Civilian space diminished meteorically.
Even today it seems what was with soldiers during Amin’s time is during Museveni’s time. They have grabbed everything and want to grab everything. .They have grabbed stock farms, They have grabbed forests. They have grabbed even parts of Lake Victoria. Fish in Lake Victoria have become theirs.
They are Ministers, They are Ambassadors, they are Resident District Resident Commissioners, they are even building schools and hospitals. They have been appointed to run agricultural institutions such as NAADS and Operation Wealth Operation. They are in Parliament. If things go on as they are, soldiers may be appointed judges. They are already trying and passing judgment on civilians in military tribunals even when they have committed political offences.
So, just was the case during the reign of Idi Amin , civilian authority has diminished with passage of time. The only thing civilians are left with is voting every 5 years in elections expected to be supervised by the so-called Independent Electoral Commission but are increasingly supervised by the military and other security organs, and results determined accordingly, in keeping with militarization of everything conceivable. Nevertheless the falsehood that Uganda is a democratic country persists and will definitely reign in 2022.
Question: Have we wasted time, energy and money rediscovering Amin and Aminism instead of committing these resources to developing Uganda?
The writer is a Ugandan scientist and environmentalist
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