Muntu’s ‘flies to the grave’ analogy is spot-on
By M. Suleman
13th Feb 2012: The fact that President Yoweri Museveni is the longest serving Ugandan leader is now settled. Many political analysts have correctly advanced several factors that have enabled his long stay in power. But I strongly believe that the most important factor that has sustained Museveni in power is “his” army.
Few Ugandans expected Museveni to last long. To begin with, by 1986, Museveni was a nonentity. By that time most, seasoned politicians had already cut their teeth from Makerere University Guild politics, and Museveni never went to Makerere.
Others begun their political careers as youth wingers in the post independence political parties, and once again, Museveni did not have any known background in any of established political parties. Museveni therefore rose to power without any appreciable political or administrative track record.
He used the gun to capture power, and it’s the gun that has sustained him in power. In the past, the army and people affiliated to it used the army to overthrow governments. Today, it’s impossible for the current army to overthrow or connive with any disgruntled people to overthrow Museveni.
This is because of three reasons: The first is the genetic makeup of the current UPDF and its character and ideology. The genetic makeup of the current army is basically that of the NRA. Very little has changed, apart from the name.
When Museveni launched his guerrilla war, he started with 27 men. The majority of these men came from South Western Uganda, including our brothers of Rwandese descent. Obote’s government saw Museveni’s insurrection as irrelevant and an insult to Uganda because he believed that Museveni and many of the NRA men were not Ugandans.
Because of this, Obote’s security forces unleashed a vicious campaign against the Rwandese in the refugee camps and wherever they were, forcing many of them to join the NRA. As the war intensified in Luwero triangle, the NRA recruited many children, including orphans. This was the force that eventually entered Kampala.
The composition of the force was well known by the other fighting groups, that is why the late Kayira and Nkwanga had no appetite to join hands with the NRA before the fall of Obote. After 1986, the NRA co-opted some few unemployed and marginalized Ugandans to give the force a national outlook. But that did not change the original NRA.
The army later regained its “South-Western genetic makeup” when many patriotic Ugandans who had joined Museveni’s NRA innocently abandoned it. The orphans and youth have since grown into men but they know nobody other than Museveni. This remained the case even after a substantial chunk of the NRA broke off and went as RPF to Rwanda.
With this composition, the UPDF cannot overthrow Museveni. Neither can it allow him to leave power. It simply cannot exist under any other leader or party. When he was faced with the possibility of losing power to Semogerere in 1996, Museveni made it clear that he cannot hand over “his” army to anyone.
The army also reciprocated and declared that they cannot serve under any other person except Museveni. Nothing has changed since. The UPDF is a force that was born to defend Museveni’s individual interests. And for it to survive, Museveni has to survive. That is exactly why some UPDF Generals come out spitting fire at General Muntu’s recent “flies to the grave analogy”
But the truth is that General Mugisha Muntu was absolutely right when he said some UPDF sycophants are like the proverbial flies that will follow Museveni’s rotting political corpse to the grave. END. Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
Suleman,
While Gen. Muntu has every right to use proverbs the way he wants, I believe that some level of sensitivity should be employed when deploying some of these proverbs lest their application may lead to the message being missed or being misunderstood.
For instance UPDF officers are human being just like Muntu and thus to be equated to “flies” who are following a “corpse” (Museveni) may be taken as an insult by the officers. In usch a situation Muntu’s message may be missed and instead he will attract rejection and scorn from even the officers who may have listened to his main message.
When Muntu was the Commander of NRA/UPDF, these very officers he now calls “flies”, were following his orders. Can we say they were following his “corpse”?
Currently, in FDC, Muntu is following Besigye, can we therefore say that he is a “fly” who is following Besigye’s “corpse” since Besigye has become a serial election loser?
Uganda is a country in which multi party democracy is practiced and this means that the various political parties must have leaders and supporters. President Museveni, just like Besigye, is one of the political leaders in Uganda who has supporters. So therefore, for an upcoming political leader like Gen Muntu to call the leader of another political party a “corpse” and his supporters “flies” – even if the application is supposed to be literal – is every sad indeed. Won’t he one day need these “flies” to boost his own chances of going to State House?
Most seriously, for a politician like Muntu to call President Museveni a “corpse” and his supporters “flies” amounts, in my view, to trying to dehumanise and delegitimise political opponents, which is sad for the nascent Ugandan democracy. Obviously a “corpse” (Museveni)and “flies” (his supporters) have no business participating in Ugandan politics. In way then Gen. Muntu is saying that only a human being like Besigye and his supporters should be left on the political field in Uganda. So does not suppporting Besigye render other Ugandans flies?
So what is my point? Let political leaders like Gen. Muntu learn to MIND THEIR LANGUAGE. It is important for poltical leaders to learn to sanitise their language to avoid being misunderstood. The same message Gen. Muntu was trying to pass could have been delivered with a better choice of words.
Suleman, I do not therefore think that it was on spot of Gen. Muntu to use the “corpse” and “fly” analogy on his opponents nd his supporters.
Peter Okello Maber,
Brother Okello, well you have a noble point and yes you are right that the message might wrongly be interpreted by certain political unreasonable minds which we are not short of anyway.
However brother Okello, where have you been when the incumbents have been for so long calling people “Swines, Biological Sustances and Chimps openely in all forms of public media/discourse!!??
Not to saw that it should be tick for tak, no but we need to balance the selective scorn you are trying to put onto Muntu. Your argument is Right but sometimes people do understand some form of Language, This is their Language, we tend to assume that becuase the hold offices therefore they have a moral grounding, MUNTU is a collected man, who tends to choose his actions wisely he knew who the message is for. It takes some knowldge, skill and courage to aim and strike!!…if you know what I mean.
Wapoyo, mabel!!
Have you listened to some of the language reptiles use? How about m7’s cannibalizing opponents like samosa? All these words are merely symbolic, the message embedded deep inside. Stop being M7 apologists, the man is heading to..
Crested Eye,
Thanks for your response. I detest your calling me a “Museveni apologist” simple because I stated what you did not like. Actually, you called me a Museveni apologist because I spoke against you beloved Gen. Mugisha Muntu whom you think is beyond criticism.
Apparently to some of you critising the Muntus is an unforgivable sin. Hence those of us who dare, are immediately declared Museveni apologists!
Who are the Muntu not to be criticised? If they can not be criticised when they are not in power, what will happen once, God forbid!, they get to power?
As far as I am concerned, the Besigyes/Muntus, albeit being in the oppostion, remain human beings who make and have made mistakes in the past. They are therefore not beyond criticism. The earlier we begin criticising them for their mistakes the better, otherwise we shall be grooming another lot of despots.
Secondly, if Museveni has been using foul language against his opponents, does it mean that the Muntus should also do likewise? I thought, apparent wrongly all along, that the Muntus were advocating to change the country for the better, but now you seem to say that they will pick up from where Museveni will have left off. So why do we then need change if we shall be changing to the same thing?
My original point was that from the Muntus, I expect better in all ways including in the way they refer to their opponents. Unfortunately, for the Besigye/Muntu “apologists/sycophants” like yourself,the opposition leaders are angels who should never be criticised.
By the way, what is wrong/criminal/illegal with being a Museveni supporter? Won’t you guys ban the opposition (NRM) if the opposition ever comes to power since you are already showing intolerable signs of intolerance from outside government? I shudder for Uganda!!!!!!!!
Lastly, between me, you and Besigye/Muntu, who is the biggest apologist of Museveni? Do you know that Muntu and Besigye helped bring Museveni/NRM to power and actively helped to entrench the system and only fell out when their personal desires could not be met? Muntu was the NRA army commander for eight years while Besigye was the political commissar/chief ideologue of NRM!!
Kindly tell me the principle ideological differences between these gentlemen and their former boss? Will you be surprised if you are told that these two men were simply deployed into the opposition to do NRM work?
Peter, alot of vodo will help you at all. And if are well aware (like you stated above)that, these two men Besigye & Muntu helped M7 to come to power, then you should shut up your bad mouth bse you are not the right person to comment and/or defend any of them ie M7(nrm),Besigye & Muntu(fdc). You are just a naive, pure outsider looking for bread and butter.
Kyakuhaire,
Thanks for your rather uncharitable words to me!! That is that my “bad mouth”, “naive”, “pure outsider”, “looking for bread and butter” etc.
I will not honour you by replying with the use of the same kind of words/adjectives. Because people should be able to tell the difference between us.
Rather than reply to my arguments/view point you chose to discharge insults to me!What does this tell about your quality?
Being a Ugandan, I Know that I can comment on anything ragardless of whether I am an “outsider” or “insider” – whatever you mean by this. I guess you are an “insider”, so you can comment on Museveni, Besigye and Muntu freely.But you will not gag me with such a display.