GEN. SEJUSA IS A BESIGYE COPYCAT WHO SHOULD BE IGNORED

I have been quietly following Gen. Sejusa aka Tinyefuza conundrum keenly – through newspapers and statements through his lawyers. I needed to listen to him speak. He has now spoken- far away from home – in the comfort of London- at the BBC.  His interview at the BBC lacked creativity and he could be classified as a Dr. Besigye copycat both in the issues he raised and the tone he used. And when I recalled the 2004 Andrew Mwenda live KFM discussions that pitted Gen. Tinyefuza and Col. Besigye I wondered whether Tinyefuza would be willing to listen to himself! In that interview, Col. Besigye was talking about evoking Article 3 of the constitution which requires all citizens to do all in their power to defend the constitution of the republic of Uganda.  In response, Gen. Tinyefuza argued that all democratic avenues are available in Uganda to contest for power and articulate alternative views. He in effect, invited Col. Besigye to come back from self-imposed exile and participate in Uganda’s political process. Well, Besigye returned and it is Gen. Sejusa himself who commandeered his arrest- the rest is history! Now, Sejusa is seeking to play Besigye. What a conundrum? Isn’t Tinyefuza a revisionist?  How I wish a sharp and clever journalist can dig up the records of KFM Andrew Mwenda live interview and juxtapose it with the BBC interview. Ugandans would then have an opportunity to judge the character of Gen. Sejusa and measure his authenticity as an aspiring leader of Uganda. I was also disappointed that General Sejusa did not give Ugandans details of strong claims he made is his popular letter. He for instance claimed that there is a plan to extra judiciary assassinate some top officials in government. As a top member of Uganda’s secret society – I expected him to divulge more details. He instead veered off from the content of his letter. Why? Was the letter a prank and only part of the strategy to launch his political campaign for change?

Gen. Sejusa, says to be “A four star General without ambition, you must be in a wrong place”. What did Sejusa mean? Is he suggesting that to be President of Uganda, one must have four star General credentials as a mandatory criterion? Now, the foregoing defines clearly the ideological position of General Sejusa. An ideology that seeks to perpetuate a psychological belief that to be a President in Uganda, one must be, or rather must have been a soldier! What a wrong ideology that seeks to trap Uganda in the past- yet this country has changed.  Gen. Sejusa must stretch and realize that Uganda is under civilian authority and the military submits to civilian authority. Ugandans are looking for contests that are based on ideas –period. General Sejusa disagreement with President Museveni stems from his misunderstanding of this particular milestone, and his misplaced sense of entitlement as one of those who sacrificed to liberate Uganda. The liberation was a sacrifice – and a sacrifice not for individual gratification and power but for setting Uganda to a democratic and transformational path.   That is why President Museveni subjected himself to democratic elections and by doing so handed power to civilian authority. I therefore, tend to think that Sejusa did not appreciate that and feels power should be shared in turns by those that participated in the liberation war. Even then, the military is an institution where any citizen can chose to pursue a professional career like any other institution of state. It is not intended to be a sure pathway to presidency. Anybody with ambition, whether a four star general, two star general or any citizen with required academic qualifications and age can aspire and subject himself or herself to the people of Uganda for any position including that of President. Therefore, Gen. Sejusa should state clearly his agenda. For example what does he want to change? What is his program of action? What new things and value does he want to add? What and which policies does he want to address?

Gen Sujusa also said, “ … once you are in the military and you think you have the capacity to be anything else, you are never released from the military. So we have a situation where you have everybody going in and nobody goes out”. Really? Again this is a falsehood. Many retired soldiers are active in business and politics. For example, there are many senior leaders both in opposition and government who are retired soldiers. We also know for sure that many constituencies in this country are represented in Parliament by for military officials. So why is Gen. Sejusa insinuating that his former colleagues who are retired and active in politics have no capacity to be anything else? Is for example being a President of the biggest opposition party –the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) a demonstration of no capacity to be anything else? For starters, the President of FDC is Gen. Mugisha Muntu, a liberation war hero and former Army Commander of the UPDF. So why is Gen. Sejusa using the BBC platform to mislead the world? Why can’t he show respect for his former colleagues in the struggle? Perhaps Gen. Sejusa may need to clarify what he meant by no capacity to do something else. It’s also a falsehood that people who go in the army have no route to get out. What is true, is that there are clear procedures of entry and exit. The UPDF is not Kabetemere nko rutokye rwomushazi, a Banyankole proverb literally translated to mean a madman’s banana plantation where people go and harvest matooke and get out at will while the madman is looking on. Indeed former Supreme Court Justice George Kanyeihamba recently explained why he ruled against Gen. Sejusa by making a similar argument. Kanyeihamba argued that the principle of not allowing soldiers’ to retire as and when they feel like is a good thing. The retired judge further asks an intriguing and poignant question; Do you want soldiers’ to run away from UPDF under the guise of retiring? Your guess is as good as mine.

Morrison Rwakakamba

Coffee farmer – Rukungiri District

mrwakakamba@gmail.com