CROSSROADS : Of Uganda’s Museveni, the wonderful leader!

The self confessed ‘wonderful’ dictator of Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni was recently in South Africa, where he was emphatic that for “Africa to develop, the political will of the leaders must be accompanied by the right strategy”.

We used to hear of ‘benevolent’ dictators, where theoretically an authoritarian leader had absolute political power over the state but not for self gain, it’s for the benefit of the masses.

Archaeology tells us that man originates from Africa (Olduvai Gorge, in Tanzania). The first civilization was also from Africa (Ancient Egypt). Now, we have also originated another first, maybe the first (confessed himself) wonderful dictatorship in the world (Museveni). We know that wonderful is - excellent; great and marvellous. Perhaps Dr Kizza Besigye, the opposition leader in Uganda can best tell us, if the president is right or wrong.

What are the qualifications to become a wonderful dictator? Be elected 5 times as president, stay for over 30 years in power, grow the economy, but make sure you don’t give anyone a chance to rise to presidency, even if it means you have to go by Robert Mugabe’s playbook. Be progressive and bring peace to your country, but cling to power at all costs.

It also seems that you must also be a philosopher. He has always been, and a very good writer. The book Sowing the Mustard Seed: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in Uganda by Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a masterpiece in African studies.

According to philosopher Museveni in his other book titled What is Africa’s Problem, published in 1986 he is categorical that “The problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular is not the people but leaders who want to overstay in power.”

This means, as per Museveni of 1986 and before, the Museveni of 2017 is a problem for Africa.

But according to the Wonderful Dictator Museveni, the problem with Africa today is lack of the right strategies. When he addressed the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban, South Africa recently, he was emphatic that for Africa “to develop, the political will of the leaders must be accompanied by the right strategy.”

The wonderful dictator was the chief panellist on the subject “Agenda 2063: Infrastructure Update,” where he warned that for any country in Africa “singling out one element of development and hyping it at the cost of others, is detrimental.”

The top man in Uganda for over three decades wondered why apart from South Africa, which produces 44,000 Megawatts of electricity, other African nations were lagging behind. I thought as a wonderful leader he could have lead Uganda on all development fronts, to what he was preaching.

Perhaps we have reached a situation where some people in Africa prefer security and stability over freedom. Can’t there be peace in Uganda if Yoweri Museveni is not the president? Can’t there be peace in Burundi if Pierre Nkurunziza is not the president? The same question applies to Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries which are playing the same game.

In as far as democracy and dictatorship is concerned, Africa is in a state of confusion.

Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere once said, no nation has the right to make decisions for another nation; no people for another people. So nations that chose to have dictators (through election) as their leaders, it’s their choice and nothing can be done about it.

Anyway so good for benevolent dictators and now wonderful ones! History is such a cruel teacher; there is so much we can learn from past dictators. About 49 million Russian deaths occurred under Joseph Stalin “dictatorship.”

About 3 million Cambodian died under the watch of Pol Pot. Remember Hitler, he believed his word was above all law. One hallmark of all dictators is the personality cult. True leaders must obey the laws of the land.

Saumu Jumanne is an Assistant Lecturer, Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE)