Socio-Political Dimension of Uganda

If you've never been to a place, you make assumptions of that place. I do it too. For some people like those who have never left the US, they may assume that government systems everywhere must be somewhat just, or at least the answer to justice. So far those of you who haven't been to Uganda (or maybe you have and just haven't looked into the Ugandan "powers that be"), I'll attempt to summarize the social/political world. Please note that I think Uganda is in no worse condition than the US haha....Also, I don't know everything about this so it may be difficult to summarize.

His Excellency Yoweri Museveni, head of the Nation Resistance Movement (NRM) gained presidential office after violently campaigning that leaders were always in power for too long. That was in 1986.

Since then, almost everything Museveni has done in office has followed this pattern of hypocrisy. Many argue that there has never been a fair election since he has been in power, and many have little faith that there will be. In Africa as a whole, leaders are commonly replaced only through violent rebellion. The throne is gained and held by the sword.

Most of the money, including the massive amount of foreign aid, which comes into the government, feeds Museveni's stomach. He eats happily and pockets what he can, leaving little cash for his developing nation. This type of theft is referred to as "corruption" or sometimes "embezzlement."

The leftover money, after he and his officials have dined well, goes to various government programs, few of which actually help the nation. For example, NAADS (a program used to create model farms around the country) gets more financial assistance than the departments of education and transportation combined. In NAADS, money is given to well-to-do community members. I have seen lots of NAADS property, but I have never seen a model garden which was any better than surrounding neighbors. In fact, I have seen many gardens which are failing. NAADS has largely been a failure across the nation.

I also mentioned the department of education. Under Museveni, "Universal Primary Education" and "Universal Secondary Education" have been established. Teachers are paid $100/month. Only teachers of poor quality and training are given these positions (the good ones can get better salaries from private schools). At least, this type of schooling is available at no expense for poor families. But after completing UPE, a student can rarely write a sentence of English or do double-digit math. Teachers often skip school and go out drinking. Others show up after 10 AM instead of at 7:30. Most students are just passed, even if they fail.

Many families scrape by and manage to put their kids through private schools, which are indeed the better and favored schools. But these schools are often insufficient as well. When completing school, as Silver puts it, "A student could write a book about Napoleon," but that same student knows little to nothing about his nation's own history, let alone African history. Education is still Eurocentric. Subjects studied are often impractical.

Museveni, as I understand, has also gone great lengths to ensure that no one, even at the university level, is able to study Political Science. It would be a threat to his power.

Museveni's NRM has hid behind lies for ages. We saw him speak in Kapchorwa. He himself spoke on anti-corruption, good agriculture, economic development, etc etc etc.

People who speak out against Museveni are often quietly disposed, whether that means imprisonment or death. Nevertheless, I have rarely met an individual who spoke highly of the president. He is only semi-popular in his home area in the west. He used to be popular in the central/capital region, but he is now losing popularity among the Baganda, the biggest tribe in Uganda. He is highly unpopular in the east and in the north (where he once sent army/policemen to rape and kill and just claimed that it was the LRA who did it).

Speaking of policemen, not only are the often the moral problem of communities, but they are accomodated poorly. They too, earn $100/month and are given horrible facilities for living. Children to policemen have the worst moral character in the country. One may ask, what is the incentive? Corruption. As a policeman, you have the power to force people to bribe you. Pull someone over for "speeding" and threaten them with jail unless you are given a few thousand shillings. More money is made from corruption than the actual salary. Such things even happen in courts, where the judge can be paid as little as $20 to side with one party during a trial. Museveni also sends spies into areas in which he is not popular (many).

In such a downward spiral, one may say, "The country should just resist the government and make improvements. After all, the majority of people agree that Museveni should no longer be in power." While this may be true, Uganda lacks unity and solidarity. The political parties opposing Museveni rarely have a solid platform other than "we want Museveni out." In districts with universities, non-NRM political leaders are starting to get voted into office. But as a nation, even as regions, unity has trouble existing. There is still tribalism in the east. Even in the north where both Langi and Acholi have suffered in recent years, the two tribes have poor relations (some guy killed another guy and then some other guy took revenge and now more guys are bitterly involved). Some people support traditional structures of gov't with the tribal Kabaka/king ruling his people. Others support a certain presidential candidate.

Recently, the US passed a bill in which it will partner with Uganda to "chase Kony." Joseph Kony and the LRA have brought much suffering to northern Uganda. But the attacks in recent years have been in DRC, CAR, and Sudan, not Uganda. So essentially, the US is giving money to Uganda's central government to chase a guy who isn't there anymore (I don't mean to cheapen the suffering of Ugandans by saying this). Moreover, the face of Kony keeps changing, and some people are doubting whether he's even a real person or just a fictional illustration of the LRA. I don't doubt that Museveni will eat this funding for dinner anyway. (On this note, Meg said that she recently saw US troops in Kitgum. A mentally troubled person approached one of them talking and a family soldier was asking this person whether "the voices go away.")

Successful resistance movements, at least nonviolent ones, have always been mass movements. I don't have faith that much will change unless the common people of Uganda overcome tribalism and differences. The Church of Uganda can no longer blindly support all authority. There will have to be a unified struggle for progress to be made. Ugandans are comfortable talking in the private homes about how bad Museveni is, but they are often not comfortable in uniting to overthrow him (let alone overthrow him peacefully).

Uganda is just one of many countries operating under a false democracy. But we can no longer accept (I am paraphrasing NT Wright), that western-style democracy is the answer to overcoming evil anyway. After all, isn't it often the minority who suffer? And isn't, in fact, half of the world's injustice somehow attributed to western-style democracy?

Another question we have to ask is if government is ever the answer at all? Many Ugandans seem to say it is not. In the words of Suzan's dad, "Those people in Kampala are not a government. I am a government. Me and my neighbor, we are a government." People, not ambiguous and impermanent systems, must take authority.

Ok, I hope I've shed some light on at least something for everyone. And to my Ugandan friends, please correct me if I have made any mistakes.

update, at last

So it's been almost a month. That's not because I'm lazy. It's because I'm poor and far away from any internet cafe, let alone power lines. I'll try to give ya the run-down on the gist of what's happened over the past weeks, but I'll have to speed through the amusing commentary a bit so I don't spend several hours merely making a post. Credit to Megan Clapp and her internet USB stick for allowing this post to be possible.

So around the end of May, after visiting Silver's place, I stayed with Toto in Mukono for a few days. It was great to stay with my other family. The family has managed to nearly cover all of the children's school fees for this term. Papa works on the other side of the country for the majority of the year, living alone to support his wife and kids back home. Meanwhile Toto and her children labor in the garden and do coursework all day. The family always impresses me.

After Mukono, I returned to Muyenga to receive Megan from her flight into the country. She stayed with us a few days and we got to watch How I Met Your Mother and other goofy sitcoms and laugh and enjoy a few days together.

Then Suzan and I went to the passport office, which was frustrating. We walked all around the city, into multiple suburbs, through a professional golf course, and home. We got American food in between as a lunch date.

The following day we left for Kapchorwa. We didn't know exactly how to get to Patrick's house, so when we reached an area outside the town, we asked for Isaac Chelibei, a guy who our friend Jenn stayed with in October. They welcomed us inside and then escorted us and carried our things up to Patrick's home, where we stayed for a bit longer than a week. We ate six meals a day (when you wander to a neighbor, you will be served), drank sketchy cave/mineral water, watched World Cup from town (I'm hooked - USA vs. Ghana tonight - oh, did I mention I am supporting Ghana and Argentina), and were the guests of honor to a baby dedication party. Toward the end of the week I went to Patrick's brother John's school where he teaches P7. I answered the students' questions about myself and my native country. I told them about the Civil Rights Movement, Native Americans, Corporate Agriculture, Weather, Family Structures, and the like. One boy asked "Do you have circumcision in your place?" I said, "Do you want to see?" Everyone looked at me terrified until I started laughing. They then joined in. I asked what their view of America was. One girl said it was like heaven. I asked if they could tell me anything about their nation's history, tribes, or politics. Schools in this country often teach more about Europe and the western world and Canadian prairies which don't even exist anymore than they do about Uganda. I told them all to go back to P6 because nobody could give me a single fact about their own home country. I was glad the family there and Suzan were finally able to meet. Oh, and if anyone ever wants to stay in Kapchorwa, stay with my family or another family, but definitely not at Noah's Ark Hotel. The staff forces you to buy things, prints false prices on menus, charges you extra, and does not monitor the fuel in their power generator. Every moment in Kapchorwa besides my short time watching football from there was grand.

Next we moved to Suzan's home in Oyam District. To reach there is difficult. Not many powered vehicles pass that way, so the prices are expensive. When you reach a certain trading center, you can then have someone pedal their bike with you on the back as you ride for nearly 2 hours to reach her home. Sometimes motorcycles head that way, which still takes quite a long time on the rural paths.

In the village (Atura) in Aber sub-county, I do a lot of sitting. They rarely allow me to do significant work besides cooking, occasional cleaning, and harvesting simsim. Sometimes I ride the bike. One day I rode about 40 kilometers and even made it to the next district. Sometimes we go to the River Nile and other times I go to the closest trading center to watch football with a TV powered by a fuel generator. We charge phone cards with a solar panel and loose wires rigged to do the job. Visitors come and sit with me. I'm one of the first white people to ever be in Atura. Once Suzan's family hosted Lawrence for a week, a munu (Luo for mzungu) who came to do spiritual healing. Another munu came once with his own food, refusing to eat local types. He left when the supply ran short.

Other times we walk a few kilometers to the forest to get some firewood. Sarah (Suzan's current non-biological mom) once took us to where the family keeps some goats. A man stays there far into the bush by himself, watching after these goats. They pay him in food, clothes, and sometimes money. The money is used to buy alcohol, which makes him so very happy. The only other use he has for the money is for lighting fires which bring the goats around the smoke so they don't get diseased by mosquitos. There are other people who live a bit deeper and rarely come to the trading center because they have to cross hip-deep swamp water to get there. Really, I've never been more at peace. I rarely have a clue as to what time it is. The people I am around are great. I play guitar outside. My only complaint is that I often become too idle, but I'm still trying to be creative and visit people to occupy my time, as well as finish reading some of next semester's books (I've already completely read 5).

We left Atura yesterday to come to Gulu to visit Papa at his school. Then we continued to Kitgum to visit Megan, where we are now. Messiah has given her a grant to start a scholarship program at Food for the Hungry.

Sorry for the mostly boring and general post. We are here until Monday, probably. So maybe I'll try to post a more thoughtful one soon. You know, take advantage of internet while it's around. Miss you all.