SG Todwong's statement in response to Kenyan MP Junet's unfortunate outburst against NRM

The Honourable Junet Mohammad MP-Suna East Constituency (ODM)The Republic of Kenya.

Dear Honourable Member;

Re: Your unfortunate outburst against the National Resistance Movement Party (NRM) of Uganda.

I write to draw your attention and those of your ilk to the individual and collective comments you made against the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party, the sovereign Government of the Republic of Uganda and above all, the personal disrespect and insults you accorded His Excellency General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the President of Uganda and the entire Country.

Your unfortunate utterances were indeed out of a possible deep-rooted internal political misunderstandings within your country. We believe that your proclamation does not represent the official position of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) in Kenya against the

2well-established historical ties between the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party and the people of Kenya. Given the above, I request to enlighten you and your colleagues of similar thinking about the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party of Uganda; a Party which did not come to leadership out of favour, but through intense revolutionary sacrifices. Hon Junet, you have been the MP for Suna East Constituency under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket for close to 10 years.

This is quite significant for one to have understood the social, political and economic history of a neighbouring country to warrant him/her articulate issues with empirical evidence. On the contrary, you and others exposed your inadequate knowledge and understanding of the National Resistance Movement Party.

Dear Honourable Member, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party that you referred to in your hurriedly-released press conference started in the early 1960s as a student movement. This was when its founder-chairman H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, whom you insulted, realized that the post-colonial administrative structures/systems we inherited could not solve the major social, economic and political questions of Uganda. Indeed, just like Kenya and the many other African countries, Uganda was struggling to establish a unifying system that could heal the country of the politics of class difference, tribalism, religious differences and above all elitist approach to issues.

Unfortunately, unlike Kenya, the democratic equilibrium we now have in Uganda was through patriotic sacrifices of the gallant sons and daughters of Uganda. Their unwavering sacrifices helped secure the much-needed peace by January 1986 (nine years after you were born), possibly you were too young to appreciate this. You were lucky that your ancestral land-Somalia-is undergoing serious challenges that would have necessitated you as the first Kenyan Somali to attain a democratic seat in the National Assembly of a neighbouring country, to have some level of courtesy in understanding the National Resistance Movement Party(NRM), which through its principles of Pan-Africanism helped quite several African countries (Somalia inclusive).

It’s worth noting that the Uganda you despised in your statement has gone through 14 rebellions, including civil wars which started shortly after getting independence from the British in 1962. From 1964 to 1986, Uganda was burning under political instability and anarchy. The State had virtually collapsed and there was nothing to talk or write about Uganda in economic terms.

The NRM and President Museveni picked this country from zero and embarked on systematic rebuilding and restructuring it by restoring social order and discipline among the populations through promoting peace, stability, rule of law and democracy. President Museveni and the NRM Government has been at the forefront of championing regional integration.

It’s on record that in 1997,PresidentMuseveni reached out to his counterparts Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya and Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzaniato revive the defunct East African Community. Two years later in 1999, the East African Community was born, and more than 20 years down the road, we are closing in on the East African Federation. The NRM is preoccupied with the unity and integration of the East African people including the strategic integration of the African continent for the survival of the African race. President Museveni has always put it to his fellow leaders on the African continent that we either unite or perish as a Black race.

East Africa has a total population of about 160million. This population, if united, could bring huge socio-political and economic dividends to the region. Africa has got a population ofabout1.3billion, almost the same population as India or China which countries have leveraged their huge populations to emerge as power centres in Asia. Both China and India have got strategic defence and security centres of gravity; meaning they have developed well-coordinated mechanisms as single landmasses to protect their people from hegemonic aggressors. America is a united landmass with a population of about 350million.

Most of these populations are immigrants or foreigners who have been accepted into the US with their unique talents and skills. Therefore, instead of you as a Legislator to promote the unity of our people, you appear to promote disunity. In your press statement, you insinuated the following falsehood against the NRM in the quest to sound an “alarm” to Kenyans;

1.That the “tactics” of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) to capture power in Kenya should make all Kenyans very afraid.

2.That you do not need to borrow from other countries’ political habits whose results can lead to chaos and backwardness of your country (Kenya).

3.That the NRM records on human rights arenot worth borrowing.

4.That the NRM records on democracy arenot worth borrowing.

5.That the NRM records on good governance arenot worth borrowing.

6.That the NRM records on the freedom of the press arenot worth borrowing.

7.That the NRM record on expanding civil society is not worth borrowing.

8.That the NRM record on fighting corruption is not worth borrowing.

9.That the NRM record in creating a cohesive society is not worth borrowing.

10.That the NRM record in uplifting people from poverty is not worth borrowing;

11.And that the NRM is a party of lifetime presidency. I request to specifically respond to your falsehoods as follows;

1.The National Resistance Movement(NRM)party does not and will never interfere with the internal affairs of any country. One of our key attributes is the promotion of the pan-Africanism spirit of brotherhood. We don’t do this to undermine or to “capture power” in any country as you alleged. We neither stop any visitor from entering our country as long as such a visit is not of security risk to our people. 2.The assertion that Kenya doesn’t need to borrow from other countries’ political habits is very correct, and indeed you should never even think of it just like we equally don’t. This is because our social, economic and political trajectories are premised on different core values and principles.

3.That the NRM records on human rights are not worth borrowing. I suppose you meant that our record on human rights is very poor. Honourable Member, I hope you recall the post-election violence of 2007/08 in Kenya and how more than 2,000 innocent Kenyans were lost in only two weeks of the riots with about one million made homeless. I am sure you may well know the causes of all the above in Kenya and such has never happened in Uganda. The NRM party is strong and has led Uganda for the last 35 consecutive years because peace, security and human rights are our major pillars.

4.You asserted that the NRM records on democracy are not worth borrowing. This can only be rightfully said by one who doesn’t

7understand the generic history of Uganda and we forgive you for expressing such a level of ignorance about Uganda. Uganda has more than 70,000 villages, more than 10,595parishes and close to 2184sub-counties. Each of these administrative units is presided over by locally elected leaders. They campaign on various political platforms without interference. Our National Assembly has the representation of all special interest groups on affirmative tickets ie (women, youth, persons living with disability, elderly). Our President whom you insulted is massively elected by the population every time we go for general elections. Your statement is an insult to the sovereignty and integrity of Ugandans who always elect their leaders as mentioned above.

5.You claimed that the NRM records on good governance are not worth borrowing; indeed, please, don’t borrow our records because it is serving us as a country very well. For your information, our Governance system is structured at local and national levels. We have local administrative units that are being properly governed by our local governments which are democratically elected. Through these services, we are reaching the lowest person in our villages. The decentralization formula we adopted is working very well for our country, and indeed we request that you don’t borrow it. Secondly, our national infrastructure projects such as national roads, energy generation, etc, are progressing very well. We are a country that has been growing and expanding without hardship. Our GDP ratio has been growing from USD3billionin 1986to USD41.2billion in 2021.

6.You claim that the NRM record on the press is not worth borrowing. This is laughable. We have more than 300 FM radios, more than 50 Television stations, plus a high proliferation of Online and Digital media that are free in cyberspace.

7.You speak from sheer ignorance when you claim that our record on corruption isn’t worth borrowing. Uganda’s record on fighting graft is laudable, we have a well-functional institutional anti-corruption mechanism that has drastically reduced corruption at all levels of government. We promote an open government system.

8.The NRM party has united the different societies and peoples as one Nation. Our people are united under a common purpose and identity. The Ugandan Nation is not balkanized under petty politics of identity, tribes, religion or colour. We are more focused on National Development goals other than promoting tribal chiefdoms.

9.I won’t dwell so much on poverty. Recent studies show that Ugandans are the happiest lot in the region with the majority of the population able to afford the necessities of life. This is why most refugees from the region including Kenya do flock into Uganda.

Honourable Junet, please crosscheck your records so that next time you are better informed as a Legislator. In conclusion, we promote and are committed to the East African Treaty that encourages sovereignty of countries and non-interference in the affairs of other countries. We believe you could be having internal political issues which we cannot be invited to be part of. We respect the independence and sovereignty of Kenya as a country and we appreciate the continuous cooperation between our leaders and people. No amount of diversionary statements from individuals can make us think otherwise. We are one people of the East African Community.