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The American neo-liberal system has created media elites who disguise its evil support of dictators . These smart media elites have mastered the art of deception that if you are not very vigilant and critical, it is difficult for you to understand their skirmishes. In the article below Uganda media mogul Andrew Mwenda has written an article that seems to be objective , neutral and balanced. In fact an un critical person can easily be confused to think that Mwenda is critical of Museveni’s dictatorship . In this article Mwenda is blaming Museveni’s dictatorship on the weaknesses of the opposition. In the article he is totally silent about the role of the USA in sustaining Museveni’s dictatorship. The purpose of this is to create the deception that Uganda’s dictatorship is purely a problem of the Ugandans hence hiding the role Museveni’s God’s father the USA.Pretty smart isn’t it??
When Ugandans wake Up to the reality that it is the USA that is supporting Museveni's dictatorship in order to further its imperial interests. Check this article below
Can Uganda afford to police the region?
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29663:can-uganda-afford-to-police-the-region&catid=37:guest-writers&Itemid=66
See, how the American neo-liberal elite Andrew Mwenda stealthily blames Museveni’s dictatorship on the opposition . Also see, how Ugandans expose Mwenda’s hypocrisy in the comments to the article
What keeps Museveni in power
http://www.independent.co.ug/the-last-word/the-last-word/7653-what-keeps-museveni-in-power
Friday, 12 April 2013 07:08 By Andrew M. Mwenda
How the President’s success in retaining power rotates around his obsessive focus on all threats to it.
A friend recently sent me a text message saying: “Man, what’s up with the Mbuya and Bombo attacks and an attempt on Kale. Ankunda’s answers in the Observer and Tinye’s incoherence don’t inspire confidence. I hope I am very, very wrong.”
I told my friend that I too hoped he was wrong adding that initially I had thought it was an inside job by security organisations to create grounds for arresting opposition leader Kizza Besigye and charging him with treason and terrorism. I told him that I just cannot understand how any rebel would dare attack a UPDF military barracks like Mbuya unless they are suicidal.
My friend retorted that he had met and had a conversation with Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, and she did not seem to think “there is any more headway.” I know Winnie as an incredibly astute analyst of Uganda’s politics. When she is not involved in a partisan fight but is slightly detached and analytical, she gives the best insights of anyone I have listened to. If she says there seems to be less headway for the opposition in Uganda today, she has her onions almost about right.
The most important thing is to understand Museveni’s mind. I get the sense that for whatever reasons, Museveni is terrified of Besigye. That makes the president overestimate Besigye and hence overreact to his every move – or even suspected move. And I think this has been Museveni’s greatest strength which the opposition is perennially blind to.
I think one major source of the longevity in power is his obsessive sensitivity to threats to his power. He leaves nothing to chance, takes no risks at all and spares no effort to identify any real, potential or even imaginary threats to his power and nip them in the bud.
Thus our president will tolerate a lot of things in Uganda – public officials that loot the treasury with impunity, incompetent ministers and civil servants who delay dams and roads or build substandard or ghost hospitals and schools etc. Thus, public investments suffer from unnecessary gridlock, senseless public debates and eventually fail or succeed after a decade.
However, if anything posed an existential threat to his power, Museveni will be quick, uncompromising and decisive. The lesson from this is built in the military doctrine of “identification and maintenance of the aim.” A successful commander must clearly define the aim and whatever he does must seek to achieve that aim.
The legendary Chinese military strategist, Sun Zhu, wrote in about 600 BC that wars are lost or won before they are fought. By this he meant that it is the planning, strategising, preparation, reconnaissance, training, logistical build-up etc. that determines the outcome. If your prior planning on all these elements is poor, it is very unlikely you can prevail in war.
The modern equivalent of this Sun Zhu concept was stated by a business strategist I cannot remember. He argued that champions do not win the title in the ring; they are only recognised there. In other words, it is the effort put into training, studying the opponent and mastering his strength and identifying his weaknesses that win the boxing match.
This is exactly the experience I read about the boxer Joe Louis’ first match against German’s Max Schemeling in 1936. Louis had won all his previous 28 matches before he met Schmeling, now aged 30 and considered by critics to be on the downhill of his career. Louis thus underestimated Schemeling, spending more time playing golf than training (a mistake Mohammed Ali made against Joe Frazier in 1971 leading to his loss of the bout).
On the other hand, Schemeling’s managers studied Louis’ boxing and noticed that whenever Louis sent a left hook, his right hand went down, thus exposing his jaw. Schemiling capitalised on this weakness and constantly jabbed Louis on the right. In the thrilling match in the Yankee Stadium in New York, Louis was stunned by this trick and was knocked out in the 14th round.
I recently watched a documentary on Real Madrid’s Ronaldo – one of the most naturally talented soccer players of all time. However, the documentary makers showed that he spends more time in training than other players. His managers have spent lots of time studying the shape of his legs and feet, the pace and flow of his hands and legs when he is running.
They have also studied how he curves each of his feet when he is kicking the ball and the effect of all these on how the ball moves towards the goal. So they design his boots to reflect all these unique features thus giving him greater possibility and probability to score. The lesson I picked from the document is simple but powerful: Natural talent needs a lot of unnatural reinforcement to better its performance.
I suspect the opposition in Uganda has failed to make significant progress in their struggle to wrestle power from Museveni because of lack of proper assessment of their opponent. In every single election battle, he has overestimated their capacity to defeat him while they have underestimated his capacity to win.
They have therefore mobilised less ammunition than is necessary to shake his hold on power. On his part, Museveni leaves nothing to chance, using everything at his command – money, coercion, subterfuge, mass media, and technology.
I do not see this level of doggedness among those who organise resistance to Museveni. All too often, they seem comfortable to lie to themselves that he is weak and wobbly. They assume, quite wrongly, that the public is tired of the general corruption, incompetence, inertia, indifference, apathy and incoherence in his government.
From this assumption, they proceed to project that the public is ready for change. Yet I sometimes feel that many of these dysfunctions are often functional for NRM’s politics. Nothing has been more crippling to the opposition than this constant underestimation of their opponent.
Comments on article
written by pqr, April 13, 2013
But Mwenda,you amuse! If M7 prints 2trillions of money to buy an election, how can that be seen as the opposition underestimating him? Where would you want them to get 2t from to counter him even if they take him seriously, which I think they do? If m7 empties the barracks on election day and deploys the army at polling centres, something you dont see in any other country, what would the opposition do even if they take M7 seriously, where would they get an equivalent militia even when their polling agents get arrested?
- See more at: http://www.independent.co.ug/the-last-word/the-last-word/7653-what-keeps-museveni-in-power#sthash.Oe1d6dKl.dpuf
written by pqr, April 13, 2013
Lets take the last election for example, the opposition started calling for election reforms including changing the composition of the election commission more than 4 years before the election, which m7 ignored. What more serious can one be? What would you have wanted them to do? Kill Kingundu so you see they are serious? If M7 fills the tallying centre with CMI operatives with the consent of the same EC what would you like the opposition to do even if they were taking M7 seriously? I can go on and on...
- See more at: http://www.independent.co.ug/the-last-word/the-last-word/7653-what-keeps-museveni-in-power#sthash.Oe1d6dKl.dpuf
written by pqr, April 13, 2013
But the point Iam making is that as long as M7 uses all the power at his disposal as you rightly stated, it does not matter how seriously you take him, it wont give you victory. Actually for M7 the more you show that you take him seriously the more brutal he becomes and the more illigality he commits against you because of fear. Thats why the 2001 when Besigye showed the serousness that shook M7, that year's elction was the most brutal election in the history of the country. Even when Winnie says there is no light at the end of the tunnel, she is just being realistic about a chance of removing a dictor from power using civil means.
- See more at: http://www.independent.co.ug/the-last-word/the-last-word/7653-what-keeps-museveni-in-power#sthash.Oe1d6dKl.dpuf
written by Musinguzi, April 14, 2013
Andrew: In your apology for M7's overstay in power, you metion, as we know, that he will do anything to retain power but equally will close his eyes when public resources are being looted- that results in no service to the electorate.He looks on impotently. The question I should ask people like you is why does he need power, just for its sake? Why should you fight ferocious battles for a beautiful woman you cannot impregnate or satisfy due to your impotency? If she one day asked you what you want her for, what would be your response? The answer to this will help me understand M7's reasoning
- See more at: http://www.independent.co.ug/the-last-word/the-last-word/7653-what-keeps-museveni-in-power#sthash.Oe1d6dKl.dpuf
written by kanimba, April 14, 2013
Dictators don't fall like ripe mangoes but they do eventually fall by their own deeds. M7's swipe at the ICC was an exposure of his inner most fears, because he is destined to end there and perhaps share a room adjacent to his adversary Kony. The is no way for M7 escaping ICC, his trail of atrocities, plunder of Congo, elimination of opponents and extra judicial murders have an open trail traceable by even the blind. Ugandans wont stand by M7 when this time comes, because his hand shake has extended beyond the wrist and elbows, it is now a wrestling match. Now that M7 is swimming against the ICC tide regardless of his destination, lets hope he has his cyanide handy, because the higher you climb the heavier the fall.
- See more at: http://www.independent.co.ug/the-last-word/the-last-word/7653-what-keeps-museveni-in-power#sthash.Oe1d6dKl.dpuf