Northern Uganda Messenger Post

In " Gambling on Otunnu ", in The Uganda Independent , Ms. Melina Platas takes the political pulse of the country on the homecoming of Olara Otunnu. She sounded out a number of prominent Ugandans on what role if any, Olara Otunnu can play. In their responses, Hon. Professor Ogenga Latigo, Hon. Abdu Katuntu, and Dr. Jean Barya, highlighted a number of issues concerning who Olara Otunnu is, what contribution he can make to the democratic struggle in Uganda, and how the struggle can be organised and led. Not only were some of their comments contentious, but also specious and contradictory. First, that Olara Otunnu is out of touch with the country, the people, and issues. But Olara Otunnu has written and spoken extensively about the NRM dictatorship, corruption, poverty, national fragmentation on ethnic lines, land-grabbing, rights abuses and possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Uganda generally and northern Uganda specifically. It is doubtful that there are esot...

Key Words: Yowri Museveni, National Resistance Movement / Army (NRM/A), Uganda People's Congress (UPC), Democratic Party (DP); The Lost Counties of Bunyoro; Kabaka Mutesa II; Buganda; Forum for Democratic Change (FDC); Kizza Besigye . Fool's gold is a sulphide mineral with a golden lustre, especially pyrite. Careless geologists can sometimes mistake it for gold. It is our view that people who supported Museveni's misadventure in 1981 and embraced the NRM in 1986, only to fall out with them later, were like careless geologists who mistook fool's gold for the real thing. Our friends in the FDC and DP, who now assert that Museveni took them for a ride to fight for a fool's paradise , fall into this category. Even the Buganda monarchy, through its young prince, then living in London, was not spared by this swindle. Given their about-face on policy matters Ugandans took seriously, the NRM typifies a fool's gold. First, they preached revolutionary, fundamental chang...