Road to 2021: The RedTop Brigade Uganda writes to president Museveni not to seek another presidential term. Whisper Eye Updates
The RedTop Bridge Uganda has wrote a letter to president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni requesting him not to contest for another presidential term in 2021 as a precondition for forgiveness.
While addressing journalists at Speak Hotel, Kampala Mr Mutasa Kafeero Charles who is also the presidential candidate of The RedTop Brigade Uganda in the race said that they are willing to forgive president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni only if he retires in peace.
Mr Kafeero said that they can not accept Mr Museveni to nominate again yet there are many national issues he has failed to work on as the president of Uganda for the last 34 years.
The letter reads;
August 17, 2020
HIS EXCELLENCY
YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA
Your Excellency,
RE: REQUESTING YOU NOT TO RUN FOR ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL TERM
I send warm greetings and present huge compliments to you; and have the honour to respectfully bring to your attention the matter hereinabove referenced.
Your Excellency, I was born on the 26th day of January 1986 which, as I suspect you know only too well, is the day that you took power and became President of Uganda.
That means that as your victorious forces took command of the capital, I was just only coming out of my mother’s womb in Kayirira Health Centre, in what is now Lwengo District.
I am therefore as old as your regime and I should like to hope that you take great interest in the fact that a child born as you were taking over power, now feels that he is perfectly able to replace you at the helm of the great ship that Uganda is.
Your Excellency, as you may be aware by now, I am offering myself to the people of Uganda, as a viable alternative to your presidency.
The urge to do so has been irresistible and inevitable on my part after watching Uganda disintegrate politically, socially and economically, courtesy of your programmes and policies.
The following issues quite easily come to mind:
- Unprecedented levels of corruption in the government.
i) The Executive and Parliament have distinguished themselves as the poster boys of corruption.
These two pillars of state have, more than any other individual or institution in Uganda, showcased grand corruption in the last three decades.
You yourself, Mr. President, have been the master orchestrator of this corruption.
At your hand, trillions of shillings have been taken by you, your family members and your political stooges using all manner of excuses.
ii) You have taught Ugandans that leadership is only about looting national wealth and serving private interest; not about building the nation and serving the national interest.
Corruption is now in our DNA because of your leadership. Our fathers tell us that when the head of the household had a hunchback, the family members walk with a stoop.
Ugandans have learnt corruption because you, Mr. President, are not only corrupt to the core, but have also infected the rest of the country.
iii) You have created institutions strategically to enhance your grip on the country’s power and resources.
iv) Your blue-eyed officers, relatives and stooges have excelled at land grabbing, taking playing fields, lands of schools, churches and whatever else for themselves in the wave of greed that has swept this country.
- Rigging of elections
Mr. President, you know only too well that the 1996 general elections aside, you have not won any other election in this country.
You have instead excelled at skewing the electoral policy and laws to your advantage, making it difficult for your challengers to beat you.
You have excelled at rigging the ballots; which is the only reason you are still in power.
You have also been able to use the carrot and the stick in equal measure to make the Judiciary find cause to keep you in power, every time your election is contested in the courts of law. A sober, impartial, un-influenced judiciary would have nullified your so-called election victories long ago, as far back in fact as 2001.
- Intentional poverty and un-employment.
Mr. President, one of the hallmarks of your regime has been the rather strange tendency to use poverty as a key tool of governance.
You have not wished to have a strong, prosperous citizenry because you are very aware that such people would present a headache to you. Dictators all over the world know that you cannot use an iron fist against wealthy, prosperous people. You have built schools that your own children and grandchildren cannot attend because they are rubbish.
You have built hospitals that none of your children and grandchildren can ever attend, because you know very well they do not offer anything useful.
You have insulated yourself very nicely against the mistakes made and the problems created by your regime.
As a citizenry we have taken notice of the proverbial cook who does not partake of his own cooking! Such a cook must be handled with care.
Under your leadership, employment in the juicy places is limited to those who sing your praises or are related to you.
The private sector is very weak and therefore unable to absorb the thousands that graduate from institutions of higher learning; meaning that the unemployment rate is high.
You have brought in pseudo-investors who get free land, tax holidays and state-backed loans and grants to start off, as you showcase your so-called Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attainments.
The reality is that these are charlatans who have nothing to offer and as a result, the unemployment rate remains as high as 70%.
Forget about the forged statistics that your government agencies bring up to create an illusion of prosperity – this nation is doing badly! We have underpaid teaches, soldiers, medical workers and that is the sober truth.
- Illegal arrests and detentions, and extra-judicial killings
Mr. President, when you took power in the year I was born, you promised that state-inspired violence would be no more.
You promised a return to a dispensation of rule of law.
The evidence on record makes it clear that you have been active in destroying the concept of rule of law.
You have personalized the police, army and intelligence agencies.
They are powerless and underfunded when citizens call for help when under attack from thieves and robbers; but they miraculously come up with all kinds of weaponry and tear gas and manpower to suppress anyone who appears to be expressing disagreement with your government. Many people have been arrested and detained and tortured and killed, as you shamelessly make speeches about how your government restored peace and rule of law.
For the first time in history, we have many people who are getting nostalgic about former President Idi Amin! They feel he did better for this country than you have done.
This is not a happy sign and only serves to confirm that you are doing badly as president.
This is only a tip of the iceberg; but it shows just how far this nation has fallen into the abyss under your watch and it shows even more than anything else, how important it is that you step down and peacefully hand over power to the person who wins the 2021 presidential race.
It is my considered view that the prevailing conditions in the country call for launch of new beginnings; which should feature, inter alia, forgiveness, reconciliation and a determination to put the past behind us and forge a new way forward.
In this spirit therefore I propose that you consider stepping down from the presidency and allow new blood to take the helm and inject new ideas into the governance spectrum.
I hope that you see the merit of not running again for the presidency of Uganda, so that we have a chance to begin afresh as a nation.
I am of course aware that you, quite understandably, harbor the fear of possible reprisals against you, from people that feel wronged by your regime; which makes you presuppose that the best option for you is to hold onto power until you die, rather than subject yourself to the vagaries of post-dictatorship revenge attacks.
It is my suggestion – and indeed the wish of many forward-looking Ugandans – that you be offered immunity from criminal prosecution so that, on leaving the presidency, you retire to a life of respectability and comfort.
Ugandans are too keen on a new beginning, to be interested in plucking the crust off what we consider old wounds.
Common decency and African tradition demands so, and we undertake to live by precisely that.
Mr. President, I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you the assurances of my highest consideration.
Yours truly,
MUTASA KAFEERO CHARLES
CC:
- African Union
- East African Community
- Diplomatic corps
- Catholic Church
- Church of Uganda
- Muslim Community
- Adventist Church
- Elders Forum
- Inter-Religious Council of Uganda
- Selected Distinguished & Eminent Persons
