UGANDA: Of Kenyans's solidarity with oppressed Ugandans & future of EAC

OF KYENYANS SOLIDARITY WITH OPPRESSED UGANDANS AND THE FUTURE OF EAC

In a rare turn of events, a cross section of Kenyans took to the streets to protest Museveni's military dictatorship. The groups included members of Law Society of Kenya, Amnesty International, student leaders, and Ugandans living in Kenya. The peaceful protesters assembled at Freedom Corner before leading a procession through Nairobi city to the Uganda Embassy. They had several messages, among them;
"President Museveni's time is up. He is the last of Africa's dictators and he must go."

It is very rare for citizens of an African state to openly express solidarity with their oppressed counterparts in a neighboring state. It has been a practice for only states to either stand with either dissident groups struggling against repressive regimes or with the regime itself. Save for ganging up against Apartheid South Africa in the past, African governments rarely side with oppressed citizens of their neighboring states. They have even uniformly adopted a foreign policy of "non interference in the internal affairs of foreign states". The African Union also strongly backs that policy.

That aspect of foreign policy traces its background from the fact that since most African governments are repressive, they have an obligation to protect each other. It is against the above background that they have been advocating for the withdrawal from the ICC. They also hypocritically condemn NATO's assistance to Libyans to get rid of Gaddafi.

This attitude has also been used in some instances to not only forcefully return those who flee and seek protection in neighboring states but to curtail the political activism of such exiles. The AU identifies such activism by exiles as 'hostile acts' to their home countries. That is why most africans fleeing persecution find more security in the western countries than their neighboring African countries. The ordinary citizens or civil society organisations of one country have never had a say in repressive tendencies of neighboring country. What Kenyans have done is a landmark precedent.

Museveni has been the lead advocate of the East African Community integration. Much as he had hoped to become its first president, his main interest is to ensure that his oppressed citizens don't find a base in any neighboring country. He is more preoccupied with securing a regional military/security alliance that will avert a situation similar to when Tanzania invaded Uganda to overthrow Iddi Amin in 1979. At the same time he has taken the lead in destabilizing neighboring countries so as to create client regimes for reasons of securing his oppressive regime.

In Kenya, peaceful demonstration is governed by the constitution and the Public Order Act. Article 37 of the constitution makes demonstration a fundamental right. It can only be restricted by a court of law (Art. 24 (1) & (3). Section 5 of the Public Order Act stipulates regulations of public meetings and processions. S. 5 (2) requires requires the organisers to notify the police three days in advance so that it provides security. Therefore, there is no doubt that the anti-Museveni demonstrations in Nairobi were conducted with full approval of the government.

Museveni's relations with Kenyatta have been opportunistically cordial. Museveni did not wish to see Railla Odinga take the presidency of Kenya. Being a strong believer in tribalism, he did not want the 'troublesome' Luos of Uganda to have a Luo president in Railla Odinga for Kenya. The treacherous rescinding of the oil pipeline project through Kenya to the coast and instead relocating it to Tanzania did not go well with Kenyatta.

According to Museveni, the Kenyatta government ought to have blocked the anti-Museveni demonstrations in Nairobi. He must be treating this development as an act of hostility. We are likely to see a diplomatic protest or to avoid international attention, behind the curtains bickering. Being a shrewd survivor, Museveni must be more worried of his political opponents establishing external bases in Kenya more than anything else. For the months of January, February, March, April, and May(2018), Uganda exported more to Kenya than the other way round. The enemies of Uganda are really worried about the growing strength of this economy

As to why citizens of other neighboring countries have not come out to openly express their solidarity with oppressed Ugandans, your guess is as good as mine.

Viva Kenyans, Viva President Uhuru.

INFORMATION IS POWER AND THE PROBLEM OF UGANDA IS MUSEVENISM

change of guards blog