How time flies: in just a couple of weeks, we will see out 2016! And it has been an unusual year.
For us that work in schools, our year did not start until the end of February. Schools were not allowed to reopen until after the general elections. That late start affected the school calendar and consequently some national exams came too early in Term Three.
The Uganda elections delivered some surprises. First, even though the opposition have continued to scream about election rigging and injustice, recall that a pollster, a strong FDC supporter, predicted an NRM win. So, the surprise really was that NRM won with a bigger-than-expected margin.
The bigger surprise, however, was about Amama Mbabazi’s votes score. Even though it was not expected that he would win, no one would have predicted the less-than-two per cent he garnered! And then he went to court. His decision effectively legitimised NRM’s win; talk about the law of unintended consequences!
Then there were the miracles. In England, Leicester City Football Club did the unimaginable. They did not steal the Premier League championship but took it convincingly by winning about 70 per cent of their matches including trouncing the then defending champions Chelsea, plus their nearest competitors, Tottenham Hotspurs, beating them in home and away games.
In politics, the polls had predicted that the British Labour Party would win the general elections in, possibly, a landslide. However, David Cameron, the prime minister, won convincingly and became the first Conservative Party leader to win a re-election with a bigger majority in years.
Unfortunately, that win was ironically short-lived. The very confident Cameron, who had led his party to convincing elections victory, surprisingly lost the Brexit referendum battle. He failed to convince the nation to stay in Europe. Now his party is engaged in a ‘civil war’ and the country is very divided. Scottish leaders are even thinking about how to resurrect cessation talk.
Over in the USA, president-elect Donald Trump is the mega surprise. Enough has been said about his style and the things he got away with. Now the ‘man of the people,’ Trump, is assembling perhaps the richest cabinet ever. Most of his secretaries of state (ministers) are billionaires – in dollars, as my mother would say.
Well, in one month’s time, we shall begin to assess their delivery on making America beautiful and great again. Do note, though, that last week, Trump’s disparaging remarks on Boeing cost that airline construction company dearly when their shares went down.
The trouble with Trump is that he, too, is a businessman; he even previously had shares in Boeing. Will he be seen as fair in his presidency or as a business competitor?
Back home in Uganda, 2016 is ending on a bad note, especially for people in the Rwenzori sub-region. Shall we ever know the full story of what happened in Kasese over two days at the end of November? Last week, the Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu prime minister said that 300 people died.
Previously, Atkins Katusabe, a local opposition MP, claimed on the Capital Gang radio talk show that the number was about 200. The government has not yet pronounced itself on the numbers. Yet, a significant number of Ugandans believe or await government statements.
So, there is some kind of information vacuum or vagueness. I read a report by an online media outlet, ChimpReports, tracing the current troubles from November 2. Army spokesman, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, also published an opinion in Daily Monitor last week refuting Katusabe’s claims.
That is nearly about it!
To make matters worse, it seems that there is a move to gag reports or opinion via Uganda Communications Commission, yet it would have been best to publish a statement, however late.
Strangely, UCC asserts that talk of the happenings in the Rwenzori sub-region is tantamount to … sub-judice, but there are no court cases on the Kasese issues yet! Even if there were any, reports on court proceedings are permissible.
More troubling is that the king of Rwenzururu, Wesley Mumbere, who was arrested when government forces stormed his palace, was charged with murder allegedly committed some nine months ago!
Bring on 2017; it has to be better than 2016!
osm@kigothinkers.org
The author is one of the founding Kigo Thinkers.