UGANDA: Museveni exploits US military aid to boost his repressive machinery @HEBobiWine #FreeBobiWine

MUSEVENI EXPLOITS U.S.A MILITARY AID TO BOOST HIS REPRESSIVE MACHINERY

The U.S.-Ugandan military partnership dates back to the administration of Bill Clinton, which used Uganda as a conduit for military aid to rebels in southern Sudan battling the Islamist government in Khartoum. Museveni positioned himself as a bulwark against militant Islam, a move that paid additional dividends when the United States became concerned about the rise of al Qaeda in eastern Africa after the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. The 9/11 terrorist attacks and the African Union’s authorization in 2007 of a peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which has partially rolled back the al-Shabab threat with the help of generous U.S. assistance, further solidified the alliance.

This partnership grew post-9/11. Uganda was identified as one of the partners who had common interest in combatting this terrorism. But at the same time that it was drawing closer to the United States on the counterterrorism front, the Ugandan military became embroiled in conflicts in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan that put it at odds with its American partners.

In Congo, the Ugandans were accused of looting the country’s natural resources while in South Sudan they fought on behalf of President Salva Kiir in the country’s civil war even after the United States called on them to withdraw. Ugandan peacekeepers in Somalia have also been accused of serious human rights violations, including sexual violence and torture. Its expedition in CAR has also been associated with similar atrocities.

The United States gives an estimated $750 million in aid to Uganda annually — an estimated $170 million of which goes to military assistance and cooperation. For over a decade now, the United States has trained more troops from Uganda than from any other country in sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of Burundi. Some of the resources were, according to the report, spent on efforts to professionalise Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF). The US also provides training in human rights to the UPDF yet its record in that regard continues to deteriorate.

It is this peace keeping and the leverage on military aid that Museveni is using to strengthen his repression. Much of the military aid has been concentrated on his elite SFC whose sole task is to keep him in power. Therefore, because of the regional peacekeeping role the U.S.A has kept a blind eye on the excesses of the UPDF. The only time the U.S attempted to take action was when it reallocated aid and canceled a military exercise with Uganda in the wake of Uganda’s harsh anti-homosexuality bill in 2014. Since then USA has not publicly threatened to do the same in response to Uganda’s repression of nongovernmental organizations, crackdowns on journalists, attempted silencing of opposition leaders or tampering with elections. It’s plain for the world to see that democracy is backsliding in Uganda.

INFORMATION IS POWER AND THE PROBLEM OF UGANDA IS MUSEVENISM