Dear President Barack Obama, 

Stop telling Uganda what to do. Your human rights lectures are part of the problem. In your recent statement on Uganda before the passing of the controversial anti-homosexuality law, you condemned our country for persecuting the gay (LGTB) community.

I am convinced that our dear president has at last considered the fundamental values and aspirations of many Ugandans and Africa at large vis-à-vis the selfish interests of observers in the West. This is what appeals to people’s basic commonsense.

Mr President, we are told that the American Bill of Rights has been stable for almost 200 years simply because it enshrines rights which many Americans endorse as their basic moral and social principles. I believe you share the same view that Uganda has a right to keep her constitution stable and pro-people.

I still recall the speech you gave during your visit to Ghana with its opening remark: “We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans.” It was your speech! How come you have forgotten this statement as early as this?

 

You have expressed fear that the signing of the act will frustrate relations between Kampala and Washington; don’t you think it is hypocrisy and double standards to always complicate diplomatic relations whenever your interests are at stake? Can’t we enjoy healthier relations built on mutual trust and understanding? Won’t you then stop this patronising blackmail?

Mr President, I want you to help me understand how American foreign policy works. It appears that if you are a small state and enjoying patronage of a great power while serving its interests, you are exempt from the pious ideals of international law. If you are a small state but a thorn in the flesh of a great power, you pay a huge price.

For example, the United States has very good relations with Saudi Arabia and, as you know, there are no political freedoms there. Indeed, there is no freedom of religion and the rights of women are severely curtailed. Why the double standards?

The basic knowledge I have acquired as a human rights and ethics student convinces me that governance is not about making simplistic choices on who is right and who is wrong. It requires making complicated trade-offs, hard-nosed bargains and compromises, some of which might be costly in the short term.

You were at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service, Mr President, and you celebrated his legacy. You saw the reaction of the South African people to Cuba’s Raúl Castro and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. Do you want our own Yoweri Museveni to betray his country and dance to your tunes?

When you bulldoze countries to accept LGBT rights, you seem to be telling us that human rights are enjoyed in pick-and-choose fashion. This is very bad as it tends to impose foreign values that are alien to those on the receiving end.

 

Mr President, you always assume that the fundamental challenge facing Africa is the lack of democracy and human rights. But why do you preach what you don’t practise? You have serious issues to attend to such as closing Guantanamo Bay, US drone strikes, military intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, US spying that harms internet freedoms, rather than criticising your fellow president.

As a young man and a human rights defender in the making, I am continually disturbed by self-styled champions of human rights who abuse them with impunity and the next day they are lecturing about them.

Mr President, Africa is likely to get better with less meddling in its affairs by the West, not more - whether that meddling is through aid, peacekeeping, or open criticism.

Africa needs space to make mistakes and learn from them. As Kofi Annan puts it, the solutions for Africa have to be shaped and articulated by Africans, not outsiders. You may advise but don’t blackmail us because of your monies sir. Leave us the freedom to take your advice or not.

The writer is a student of Ethics and Human Rights at Makerere University.

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No Visas to Uganda Gay Haters –US Envoy . But many Visas will be given to Saudi-Arabians gay haters who advocate for the subjection of gays to Sharia Law

USA says, Enactment of Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill is a violation of human rights : Oh! Really , when has the USA been genuinely interested in Human Rights

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http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2013/10/end-of-m23-era-but-no-end-yet-to-usa.html