Twevolution has come to Uganda

Twevolution has come to Uganda

Absolutely nothing can stop Uganda’s slide into the pile of Zimbabwes except the President resigning. The country is mobilizing. The protests need help.

Stopgap measures by the government aren’t working; strikes, closures and demonstrations are increasing faster than I thought they would and my caution about tourists going there is heightened, now. Today school administrators throughout the country began to confiscate and destroy student cell phones, an important way for Ugandan protestors to organize. This will infuriate the population.

It was a very bad week for Uganda. Its currency continues to nosedive. A fight broke out between the technocratic central bank manager and the President. And worst of all, the popular Kizza Besigye who came in second in the presidential election last November was arrested, again, and now journalists have been barred from recording any of the legal proceedings – including his expected trial.

Besigye had just returned from the U.S. where he flew for specialized medical treatment following his brutal beating in Kampala several weeks ago. No sooner had he set foot in the country than he was arrested.

Wednesday, he appeared in court and was given stiff bail. Yesterday he returned to answer charges of illegal assembly and inciting violence, but dozens of journalists were barred from the court room and the judge indicated the entire trial will be held in camera.

Huge crowds then massed in downtown Kampala waiting for him to exit. When he did, the full force of the Ugandan police was brought to bear, including water canons and AK47s firing into the air. Besigye and many of his followers sought refuge in the Yowana Maria Mzee Catholic Church.

Meanwhile with tourism declining and food imports rising, the Ugandan economy is reaching a critical stage. Government bonds could not be sold this week for less than 13.5%, according to the Financial Times.

And following the FT’s widely circulated interview with the central bank governor, more economic pandemonium occurred. Foreign reserves dropped precipitously and the governor called Museveni’s fiscal policies reckless, specifically referring to a scandal where Museveni ordered three-quarters of a billion dollars to be used to buy fighter jets.

FT claims that now “donors including the World Bank, UK and Ireland have reduced or withheld direct support, which makes up 26 per cent of this year’s budget.”

America and other leaders in the democratic world must own up to their own mistakes in these countries, and the greatest one in Uganda was the free reign given the Family and its C Street American legislatures to represent us when in fact all they were doing was turning Uganda onto itself. Many of the legislative initiatives causing problems now in Uganda, including oppression of gays, criminalization of abortion and the reckless embracing of the “free market” were literally written by C Street legislative aids in the U.S.

Courtesy of Global Voices Online
And like here at home, the fiscal policies of conservatives do nothing but destroy. Note the inflation chart opposite.

My own blog last month about Uganda created enormous interest and many comments, but it appears clear to me that the tourism industry is now desperate, and my heart goes out to them. But it’s pointless to avoid the truth: Uganda is becoming increasingly hostile to its own citizens and ultimately, to its guests as well.

The 26th comment on that blog was from an executive in Uganda’s tourist industry who wrote almost as much as I did about the country’s many problems, and some I didn’t write about (like the decline in wildlife). But clearly, things are not going well. It takes this kind of courage from within the industry to help the country right itself.

There’s an important point for sounding and resounding the alarm. We’re in a new era, not the era that created the Zimbabwes and CARs. The peoples’ voice can be much more powerful than then, and clearly, the people of Uganda are demanding change that begins with the resignation of Yoweri Museveni.

The task, now, is for America to find constructive ways to assist the vanguard of protest. Twevolution has come to Uganda.

One thought on “Twevolution has come to Uganda

  1. I am a German living in Kampala with my wife and 2 young children and I know what I am talking about. Again Jim Heck has posted a very unbalanced report giving a very wrong picture of Uganda. There might be the ode little demonstration in the centre of Kampala which is good and part of a democracy, but those demonstrations do not really affect anybody and there have hardly been any demonstrations worth mentioning for a month, maybe a few hundred people at the most. The Ugandan Government could do better and Uganda is not a perfect country, I do agree with that. There is corruption like in every other African country and even some of the European countries, but I am not sure what this has to do with tourism. Lots of institutions could be run better, but is that not the case in many countries, even in the US. The economy is expected to grow by 6% this year and Uganda is expecting a bumper harvest, many countries would be happy about this. I agree there is a problem with inflation at the moment which is very much externally influenced, but has to be solved, but inflation is still below 16% per year compared to 1000% per day in Zimbabwe, which Jim compares Uganda to. It is great that the head of the Central Bank is in discussion with the President, what is so negative about that. The Ugandan shilling has depreciated by about 12% over the last year against the US$, how much has the US$ depreciated against the leading currencies of the world over the same time period and Jim is talking about the Uganda shilling plummeting! There needs to be more open discussion to improve things, but not just blowing things out of proportion. The reason why I am criticising this report and especially the previous report on Uganda is that it is not based on the reality and is written by somebody who has not the faintest knowledge about Uganda. I know Martin who Jim Heck is referring to and I am also sometimes frustrated at the progress in Uganda and lots of things could be managed much better, but does this mean turning against 30 million Ugandans who are very friendly and hard working is the solution? I am employing 80 Ugandans directly and through the local products we sell we support about 1,000 Ugandan families. If tourist do not come this would mean the situation would just get worse. As a tourist you will have a great time, see an incredible variety and many new lodges that have opened and you will help support the Ugandans. High food prices are an issue, I agree, but by just being negative this issue will not be resolved, it will make it worse. The rainy season is coming to an end and most of Uganda has had great rains so food prices will go down. We are all expecting the best year for Tourism in Uganda with about 20% increase in tourists, so do not be put off by somebody who clearly does not know what he is talking about.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.