Why Autocrats Drag Their Families in State Affairs

                  

                                           The eight Gaddafi children two of whom died fighting NTC rebels and a third bombed by NATO

           By James Thembo                November 22, 2011

There are times when one’s gathered thoughts lead to the conclusion that some leaders intentionally toil towards their ill-fate, and then that of their family. Let us explore this starting with the fresh occurrences in Libya.

November 18^th and 20^th 2011 came with two big prizes for the National Transitional Council, the new leaders in Libya: The capture of Seif Al-Islam and Abdulla Al-Senussi. The former was, until his father’s slaughter, the presidential heir-apparent while the latter was the powerful brother-in-law to Muamar Abu Minyar Al-Gaddafi. He was the intelligence chief of the Gaddafi regime and was associated with a myriad of atrocities. The two captives are wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Seif Islam is a Western educated sleek face who acted like an informal Prime minister of Libya. He recommended ministers and recruited the dreadful mercenaries whose acts sustained Gaddafi’s response to the Benghazi-based rebels. Needless to say, he was loaded with money and businesses and sporadically ran his dad’s charities, including one to the mighty London School of Economics. Other Gaddafi children, seven in number, were absorbed in state affairs with varying degrees of meddling. Three of them; Saif Al-Arab, Khamis and Mo’tassim were killed fighting NTC forces.

Many such cases are sprinkled across Africa. Eyadema senior in Togo was succeeded by his son Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema. It was the same story in Gabon where deceased Omar Bongo was substituted by his long geared-up son, Ben Ali Bongo. Ben Ali of Tunisia and Mubarak of Egypt were scheming the same transgression until their stratagem was thwarted by the Arab Spring. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, it was a rushed substitution, monarchy style, of eliminated Laurent by young Joseph…and a Mobutu son who is a presidential contender this year (2011) is failing to convince voters that his mission is not re-establishment of ‘Mobutuism.’

                        Left to Right: Mubarak, Eyadema, Bongo, Kabila and Gaddafi                                                             

Imagination is good. So visualize how nosy the children of Idi Amin and Jean Bokasa (in Uganda and Central African Republic) would be if they became adults at State House! These two rulers’ offsprings at a pre-teen age were already receiving first rate state medals of achievement when their fathers were toppled.

 Here is why I think these things happen. Dictators, especially in Africa, have molded the practice of taking care of their own into a form of fine art. If it is not nepotistic job offers, it is business rewards using taxpayers’ money… (making P.A.Y.E, one of the top taxes griping citizens’ throats in Uganda echo like: Pay As Yoweri Enjoys!)

Again in Uganda, journalist Andrew Mwenda on March 11, 2009 wrote a story in The Independent titled: Family Rule In Uganda. He quoted American journalist David Lamb in his book, The Africans (p. 9) thus:

“William Tolbert, the assassinated Liberian President had his brother Frank as pro tempore to the Senate, his brother Steven was minister of finance, his sister Lucia was Mayor of Bentol City, his son A.B was an ambassador at large, his daughter Wilhelimina was the Presidential physician, his daughter Christine was deputy minister of education, his niece Tula was the Presidential dietician, his three nephews were assistant minister of Presidential affairs, agricultural attaché’ to Rome and vice governor of the national Bank, his four sons-in-law held positions as minister of defense, deputy minister of public works, commissioner for migration and board member of Air Liberia. One brother-in-law was ambassador to Guinea, another was in the Liberian Senate, and a third was mayor of Monrovia.”

Uuhhh, you sigh to even-out your breath after reading the quote. But again, you gather your thoughts: How does the extract above compare with Uganda’s current nepotism? Has anything changed since Mwenda wrote his Family Rule in Uganda story and later adding another article, By-bye Republic of Uganda, Welcome Rwakitura Kingdom?

In the first article, critical Mwenda gave a vast number of Museveni’s relatives and in-laws in government while in the second piece, he wrote:

“And so, we have finally neared the summit of our journey from the Republic of Uganda to the Kingdom of Rwakitura under the Kaguta dynasty.” This media celebrity concluded his articles by stating: “Short of walking nude on the streets of Kampala, there is nothing that Museveni can do that can shock anyone anymore…he behaves like Nyungu Ya Maawe of 19^th century Nyamwezi.”

So, yes, a few key things have changed, beginning with Mwenda himself. He is now a part-time critic; infrequently condemning Museveni’s unchanging government and praising it under the same breath. Mrs. Museveni has since become a full cabinet minister while first son Muhozi is in-charge of his dad’s security. Muhozi allegedly recruited members of the presidential guard squad after he, himself irregularly joined the army as an LDU. This brings him closer in terms of nature of job to the Gaddafi soldier sons.

I suppose autocrats encircle themselves with relatives and tribes henchmen to stave-off betrayal, including that which relates to assassination. Then together, they elongate their stay until the chief is replaced by a son.

But by doing this, they construct conditions for what they fear most: Loss of power. Resentment accumulates against them and when the bubble bursts, you see a slain Gaddafi put on view like a prized trophy. You see a Mubarak caged like an animal during court trials. You see a Yemen president hit by a rocket in his palace, and still refusing to quit (there is nothing as mad as an infuriated dictator!)

In Uganda, the above tendencies have bred what characterizes our country today: Political god-fathering that rules the job market with big careers and big pay for the well connected, some, hardly out of their teens, leaders’ meddlesome and vindictive behavior, endemic corruption, organized crime syndicates in league with government officials, compromised integrity of media houses and a long list of lead-sycophants to vocally smoothen the status quo.

       James Thembo is a 2^nd year Masters student of Journalism and Communication,                                   Makerere University, Kampala.

                                      Thembojms@yahoo.com

It’s Called “Bullying Media Owners into Editorial Compliance…”

This is how it comes about…and allow me concentrate on media luminary, Andrew Mwenda and his media company, and not Seezi Cheye.

Mwenda was all negative because he worked in other people’s business i.e., the Daily Monitor. Even then, he was a liability to the business possessor, the Agha khan.

A story is told of how Museveni called the Agha Khan, who lives in Paris. He, Museveni, would easily close the former’s businesses in Uganda if he kept funny journalists at the Daily Monitor. The doable shut-down would be as effortless as you close a water tap. Our media possessor had just been awarded the financially thirst-quenching Bujagali dam project.

That is how Mwenda and Timothy Kalyegira reportedly left the Monitor.  Obbo Onyango Charles had earlier left the paper under a comparable situation. (Does this mean the current leadership at Daily Monitor has been bullied into editorial conformity?)

Then, Mwneda and Kalyegira started their own newspapers. Mwenda virtually failed to print and publish the first Issue of his paper, The Independent.  Government had blocked all possibilities. This is when he made the first  known dishonorable concession.  Kalyegira  never compromised, and his online paper is a deceased thing.

There are of-course other factors. Mwenda appears dare-devil because he has secret secure heavens: Museveni’s is a family friend to his parents. Muhozi, the first son, is his fine friend.  Mwenda has numerous siblings who’ve worked at State House.

…and Mzee Boniface Byanyima has before said in published interviews that Museveni should be asked who his earliest wife was and what happened to her.  The answer works to Mwenda’s favour.

Yet me thinks, (as Nobert Mao would say of Museveni), Mwanda qualifies to be a case study of sorts. The ‘boy’ is well read, widely traveled, brave and has key, high-level contacts. These attributes have turned him into a power-broker among the powerful.  

A friend who’s a loose-minded supporter of Mwenda told me thus: ” Mwenda has now grown. He’s securing his future and that of his children (thru’ compromises in his media business and journalism practice). “

…and the future of his children. I smiled. He doesn’t have children (yet). When he was speaking to MUK Mass Communication students on November 17, 2011 on the topic: How the Uganda Media has handled the Oil Debate, (I was there), Mwenda said: “I can bet my dick that the documents implicating ministers over oil bribes are fake.”  

Quite a crusade, I thought. So how would he have children if he lost the bet? Thru’ the non-natural line of attack perhaps? 

I wish myself a blissful research experience on the topic Media Possession and Control soon.

Kampala Traffic Jams: The Blocked Arteries of City Life

         

It is a situation many show they hate: The Kampala traffic jams. The drivers will honk pointlessly. If at a junction, the traffic police will have possibly pulled rank to rule against traffic lights. It is scorching hot and the taxi glass windows won’t slide open, the type that would justly be marked ‘leave it.’  

Or maybe, it’s raining and a mysterious heat is ‘brewing’ you. Here, the options of jumping out to walk faster on foot are nil. The police will appear to have forgotten your lane, allowing the other to flow forever. Practically, you are breathing-in each others carbon dioxide.

Pathetic! you snarl under your breath.

An on-the-spot check around Nakivubo, Mulago round-about, Spear Motors, Ntinda Trading Centre, Clock Tower, the whole stretch of Kampala Road, parts of Jinja Road plus entries and exits from both the New and Old Taxi parks reveals that traffic jam has become the norm especially at peak hours. During these times, vehicles, motorcycles and pedestrians jostle for space in a nightmarish state.

According to Dr. Kiggundu Tamale, an urban planer and President Uganda Transport Users Association(UPTUA), 23,813 man-hours are lost each day by commuters because of traffic jam and lack of an efficient transport system in Kampala.

Kiggundu, in his blog articles cautions about an impending threat of a traffic standstill in Kampala unless sweeping measures through a well-formulated traffic master plan are put and implemented.

While there was a raised pulse of traffic life in Kampala after the opening of the European-Union funded Northern by-pass, it is too little an achievement to celebrate for long. First, that road is too narrow for comfort. The bigger problem however is that many vehicles continue to drop onto the country’s roads each day, a pile that is not matched by any road width expansion.

Inspector of Police Maate Brian, in-charge records at the Central Police Station traffic section says creation of a Southern by-pass would do the city much good to supplement the ease brought about by the Northern bypass.

Maate who occasionally regulates traffic at Kampala’s Clock Tower thinks traffic along Entebbe Road is a chocking affair because there are no effective arterial roads that majorly link areas south of Kampala.

He defends the continued traffic police’s continued stay at road junctions with working traffic lights (the Inspector General of Police recently said they would leave) saying the lights constantly fail. He also says some drivers and riders behave like they know no rules, including respect for traffic lights.

To return sanity on Kampala roads, the following measures would be good starting points:

The much-talked about Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system should be implemented. This will relegate the traffic jam-prone taxis to suburbs at a reasonable radius outside the city centre. With the constant rumour that many influential politicians own hundreds of taxis plaughing the Suburb-City-Centre routes, implementers will have to gear-up against political nosiness. This measure should apply to motorcycles often referred to as Boda-bodas which all accident statics rate as the main cause.

Equally, shopping malls that appear to be an attractive investment nowadays should be constructed in city suburbs where most people reside and not the City centre. This calls for shrewd leadership that will formulate urban decongestion policies that they will stick to, to full implementation.

With a crack-down on illegal structures in Kampala that has seen several pulled down, the road reserves should be widened. This should go with creation of dual carriageways and overhead driveways at junctions and round-abouts.

Authorities should also consider levying a high public parking toll to halt the craze of everyone seeming to want to drive a car. mostly the cheaply imported used cars which in a double tragedy streak are environmentally un-friendly. 

With the management of Kampala now under the central government, city residents hope for an improvement in the transport system. Conflicts between Erias Lukwago, the Lord Mayor, and Jenifer Misisi, the Executive Director of Kampala Capital City Authority could however easily dash these hopes if not resolved.

It’s like a fight of two bulls…of different sexes!

When King of Kings Meets a Simple Death

So, what is a name…for an African ruler?

Most African rulers have turned presidential cultism into an of art, each president adopting a nickname to convey a desired image. Let us begin with the flashy title of King of Kings which Gaddafi had bestowed on himself:

King of Kings is a title that has been used by several monarchies and empires throughout history. The title originates in the Ancient Near East. It is the equivalent of the title Emperor.

The Emperors of Ethiopia also had the title of "king of kings"

The title is mentioned in the Hebrew  Bible, applying to Babylon king Nebuchadnezzar. In the book of Daniel 2:37, Daniel interprets the dream of Nebuchadnezzar to the effect that:

"Thou, O king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory."

Nebuchadnezzar was reputedly smart, shrewd, tactically brilliant, manipulative, and brutal. He could use people the way he wanted. He could take their lives when he wanted. He knew just when to strike his enemies at their weakest points. He was a great King and he had created his kingdom... His heart knew it.

And then God humbled this proud king:

Daniel Chap.4: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven…

And at that moment, the great and mighty King Nebuchadnezzar became like an animal. He ran from the comfort of his palace and lived in the fields and forests. 

King Nebuchadnezzar’s hair grew as long as eagle feathers and his fingernails like bird claws. He ate grass like a cow, and the rain fell on his head…

Note that the ancient city of Babylon is sixty miles south west of Baghdad in Iraq. On 13 December 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces at a farmhouse near Tikrit in a hole. This sounds a replica of Nebuchadnezzar’s situation!

In Christianity, "king of kings" is one of the titles of Jesus, based on 1 Timothy 6:15, and Revelation 17:14, 19:16.

Next?

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. Cleverly, maybe unintentionally, his showy titles are in vernacular…and so they remain in Uganda and not beyond. He has called himself Nyarwino (One with deadly pointed teeth), Sebalwanyi (master of fighters) and quite like Gaddafi, Sebagabe (king of kings).

Eyadima and Mobutu used to call themselves “The Guide.” Kenyatta was Mzee (Wise Old Man), Nyerere was “Teacher,” Kamuzu Banda was “Chief of Chiefs.” Nguema Biyogo was “The National Miracle,” while Houphouet-Boigny of Ivory Cost was “The No. 1 Peasant.”  Amin was “The Conquerer of the British Empire.”

Then Bokassa. Former ruler of the Central Africa Republic. The first African former ruler tried for murder and cannibalism.

Evidence for cannibalism during prosecution?

1.      The frozen body of a schoolteacher hanging on a freezer hook in Bokasa’s State House

2.      Mounds of human flesh prepared for roasting

3.      Court testimony of Bokassa's former cook having prepared meals with human flesh and watching his boss eat them with relish

Bokassa was convicted of murder and sentenced to death"  

Presidential cultism has been and still is live and well in Africa....

Let us award them with Trophies of Errors.

Ok. So you now see Africa has more than a fair share of dictators...no shortage of Gaddafi-type rulers. Do you think Museveni is one of them?

Corruption is their tool to buy loyalty.

 All who feel the despot's dirty grip should go beyond the "we wish, we wish" sentiments.

Translate sentiment into redemptive action! Participate in stopping the cruelty of the dark-hearted!

Do civic education (in your own small ways like with village family members, wives and children, friends...and any where, any time, including church).

Let the media fully take pro-people sides (There is nothing to balance when everything is wrong!.

Act knowing neo-colonialism has a hand in most dictators'  type of  leadership(What for example was an IMF senior representative in Uganda doing in the NRM political party Kyankwanzi meeting? Or, what has Obama so-far done to any African dictator as he threatened?)

Never say you hate politics and that you will keep away from it! Bad politics will send you to hell!

In Uganda, we Stealth where we Worketh…then we posture!

You might think there are renewed efforts to fight corruption in Uganda. You might think the big fish is being tackled. You might even be tempted to think the implicated big fish’s necks are on the political chopping block.
During these times, you are keen not to miss the next news bulletin so you don’t let pass the latest development on big shots in court. You mention their names (including their traditional ones last officially used in 1980 or there-about). You quote the figures of money they have hauled to ‘Numbered’ Swiss Bank Accounts. You praise the newly found courage of the hither-to weak-willed anti-corruption agencies.

But dear friend, you could be mistaken.

Does it mean anything to you that when top politicians are taken to court over corruption, the president calls a press conference and announces the accused are innocent? Does it matter that the president declares in public that evidence to be brought against these accused VIPs is fake?

To me, it matters.

Lawyers have complained that the Chogm money-swindling minister suspects were charged with the ‘wrong’ offence where the likelihood to find them guilty is less. And it could be intentional. The charge should have been about their illegal procurement of the Chogm cars, the lawyers opine. Of-course many other would-be suspects in Chogm are walking free.

Now I hear the Chogm suspects have appealed to a superior court. Their concern is: Why should one’s ‘dear’ bail be cancelled just because he/she has been committed to the (higher) Anti-Corruption Court for trial? Gilbert Bukenya raised the same argument. The Magistrate ‘ignored’ him. The same Magistrate has agreed now that it is a serious concern which the constitutional court should first determine!

You surely have heard of ‘delaying tactics.’ This could be it. From there, they will appeal to another court which has no Coram of judges. The appointing authority (of judges) will look on, knowing what it means.

On Uganda’s yet-to-be produced oil, corruption is already intense. Parliament (which might be posturing) passed resolutions. Now Uganda’s higher Parliament, the NRM caucus, has directed that those resolutions made by the lower House have been overturned.

Again, does this matter to you? Does it? That if you keep opposing the president he will leave State House and go to the bush? This is what he allegedly said at Kyankwanzi NRM retreat!

An African Does not Defy Authority? No Sir, He Does!

"An African does not often defy authority. He will follow anyone who asserts himself as leader, however inept. His crops can fail, his children can die, his government can treat him grievously and the African still carries on, uttering no protests, sharing no complaints..." David Lamb in his book, The Africans. (Book is in the MUK MAJC Book Bank.)


Is contemporary Africa proving Mr. Lamb wrong?

While Africa is sprinkled with examples of despots hauled out of palatial State Houses, the earlier examples of 'liberators' were military rebels and coup takers.

Today, it's people power. The common man in action (...in acts of: Kill the beast, cut his throat, spill his blood...William Golding in his book, Lord of the Flies).

But wait a moment:

The people-power thing in Africa is so-far limited to the Arab Maghreb.

Is there wish action should roll South of the Sahara? Hell yes!

But, what is the possibility of a spill-over?

Why is Museveni, Mugabe (he two days ago threatened to dismiss his whole cabinet for suggesting cabinet meetings should start with a prayer), Mutharika, Males, Mwai (who blatantly stole a vote) Mswati (who rivals King Solomon in number of wives and concubines)etc. seemingly un-bothered?

Why?

As we ponder the above, we should also remember that many revolutions in the world and Africa in particular have tended to be as bad or worse than their predecessor regimes.

George Orwell's Animal Farm is the clearest illustration.

Equally, reliance on revolutionary rioting is likely to cultivate a cycle of violence. While there are attempts to establish a new and truly acceptable legal framework in Egypt for example, rioters have often returned to Tahril Square, and in my view, with minor reasons.

Whatever the drawbacks from the North Africa revolutions might be, the public good is (so-far) being done.

And African strongmen and woman can only ignore these events at their own possible peril!

publicaffairsreporting@makerere: Mass Media or Public Media?

publicaffairsreporting@makerere: Mass Media or Public Media?: In his 1956 book The Power Elite the American sociologist C. Wright Mills sketched the difference between a 'public society' and a 'mass soc...

Taking a Bull by the Horns and a Goat by…the B***s

Uganda’s 9^th Parliament is surely cut in a different cloth from that of the 8^th. This clearly showed when 190 MPs, from both Opposition and NRM, in a bipartisan stance ‘forced’ Speaker Kadaga to recall them from recess.

                                                                 

Then the sparks went airborne.

The saying; taking a bull by the horns (and as my grand-father would add…and the goat by the balls) is what has so-far defined the 9^th Parliament’s discussion of corruption in the oil sector.

The IGG is also staggering on towards the positive…by hurling (alleged?) minister-swindlers of CHOGM cash to court, albeit selectively.

So, could this be the political end (and never financial end, I suppose) of these repeatedly accused (of corruption) super persons who are so close to Uganda’s other super person,  the Fountain of Honour?