Response to Kahuma and Museveni’s perception of Baganda as cowardly, opportunistic and agenda less.



If the Baganda are as cowardly as Museveni perceives them, then why did he not start his war to overthrow Obote from his own area of Ankole? It was the Baganda who paid the highest price for the removal of Obote than Banyankole or any other tribe.



I was in Kampala in January 1986 during the fall of the city, and the first faces I saw of Museveni’s liberators were Baganda children called Kadogos. Museveni and the so called courageous Banyankole were hiding behind these Baganda orphans. These Baganda orphans called Kadogos captured the Lubiri barracks. I used to live in Mengo during the fall of Kampala.



If Museveni despises the Baganda as cowards, then why did he and some Banyankole devise a plot to kill Kaggwa who was their best machine gunner? The answer is because they were afraid of him and because he was a Muganda.The most able bodied soldiers and potential Baganda leaders in the NRM have all been systematically eliminated over the years. The names include Mugabi, who was shot at point blank range by Jack Musinguzi on the orders of Museveni. Ahmed Seguya, Sebyala, Captain Musisi, and many others who were all killed on the orders of the so called brave Museveni. Is the reason for the murder of all these people because they were cowardly Baganda? Not at all. The reason is because these people showed incredible courage in the battle field and Museveni became worried about them as potential rivals.



There is no way Museveni could have come to power without the Baganda’s support. Why did the NRM have to expel nine Baganda military officers all at the level of Captains at one swoop on fabricated charges that they were planning to assassinate the President? The reason was because he was worried about the Baganda. He knows their courage. Those few Baganda who betray their tribe are not real Baganda. Many people call themselves Baganda, but when they are not. Many Banyarwanda and foreigners who came to Buganda in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s are now Baganda. Such people cannot have the love for their adopted tribe at heart because they are genetically not Baganda. These are the ones betraying us now.



The easiest way for one to become a Muganda is to call yourself a Mulangira, i.e. Prince or Princess. This is because Balangira do not have a clan, and therefore their lineage is hard to trace. So people like Professor Nsibambi, Tamale Mirundi, Princess Ndagire,Prince Mulondo,the late Mugwanya,Mulwana, may fall in this category.Jealousy and the love for money can be the motivating factor of even close relatives of Kabaka Mutebi like Kakungulu,Mpisi and even Princess Ndagire to betray their King.Offcourse in every tribe there are bound to be Judases. But it is wrong to characterize all Baganda as such.



It is the Baganda who hid Museveni in Luwero.This shows that the Baganda can keep a secret. A Muganda man in Luwero was tortured and even killed , but he never disclosed to the soldiers of Obote where Museveni was hiding.



If Museveni is so courageous and clever as he claims, then he should remove the gun from Uganda politics. He should let the people say what they want without being intimidated and harassed. He should let police and the courts do their work without being tampered with by his intelligence organizations like the CMI.



Museveni being a great coward, he always hides behind the gun. The so called cowardly Baganda are defenceless. But let both sides be equally armed and then see who is a coward and who is not. Had Museveni started his war of liberation in Ankole, and not in Buganda, he would not have succeeded. I know so many Banyankole who were Obote staunch supporters, who used to celebrate with Obote during the heroes day at Bushenyi, who immediately changed sides as soon as Museveni captured power and are now Museveni supporters.



To say that a Muganda will never rule Uganda for a single day is not for Museveni to decide. Man proposes but God disposes. The greatest weakness of the Baganda is their civility. We intended to play the political game according to the rules democracy. The problem is that our enemies are not as civilized as we. When we hope for fair elections, Museveni only thinks about rigging them. I am a hundred percent sure that if elections are held today in Uganda and in a fair environment without intimidation, Museveni can never win any election, unless he resorts to Robert Mugabe’s tactics. If DP and FDC are not allowed to campaign in Kampala, and their supporters are harassed, how can you then turn around and call their supporters cowards?



A coward is the person who points a gun to a defenseless person, and then claims to be stronger than him. Adolf Hitler killed six million Jews, because they were defenseless and not because they were cowards. This does not mean that the Jewish victims of the holocaust were cowards. Let Germany now attack Israel and see if it can defeat it? In the same way Obote humiliated and killed many Baganda, because the Baganda were defenceless.But the army we used to call strong melted away when faced with an equally armed young Baganda orphans called Kadogos.Just our Baganda children called Kadogos sent Basilio Okello and his forces fleeing from Kampala to Gulu.



Museveni’s military victory was brought about by the fearless Baganda children who were orphaned in Luwero and elsewhere in Buganda. Without their courage and sacrifice, Museveni and his Banyankole and Bahima clique of tribesmen would never have come to power.The people Museveni is turning around to despise as cowards and opportunists are the ones to whom he owes his Presidency.The day you will lose their support you will go as Obote did. It may take longer but it will happen. The Bible says that “by strength shall no man prevail.”



Seezi Sewagaba