President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has shared his views on his recent Rwenzori Tour and on why the time for the East African Resistance Movement (EAREMO) is now!
During my recent tours of the Rwenzori Region, when I ordered the UPDF to deploy in the cold Mountain of the Rwenzori in order to end the criminal foolery of some misguided elements, I noticed the beginnings of what I can appropriately call the East African Resistance Movement (EAREMO) against the uninformed (to be polite), the parasites and the foreign agents. In Bundibugyo, I had seen 10,000 persons that had been gathered in the trading centres of Busuunga, Nyahuka and Busaaru as well as the town of Bundibugyo, having run away from the machete wielding idiotic criminal killers of women, infants, etc.
These displaced persons were rightly angry with the authorities as to why they had not deployed in the mountains to deal with the criminals that had taken life and destroyed property. At the border with Congo – Kinshasa, at Lamia, youth from Congo gathered around me complaining against non-Pan-Africanist Immigration officers who demand passports from them whenever they try to enter Uganda for social or economic reasons. Why? These Congolese youth are from the border communities (Watalinga – the Bamba – Babwisi of Congo, the Bahema, the Batooro of Congo, etc). These are our people put in Congo by the imperialists. Why should Uganda authorities stop them from entering and leaving Uganda whenever they want? I do not buy the nonsense about “Security” that is banded around by the corrupt Immigration officers who are enemies of the destiny of the African peoples ─ unity for their own salvation.
The communities at the border know who is who on the other side because they are the same people. If the self-important Immigration officers could imitate Jesus who came down from Heaven in order to save us and work with the Ugandan border communities, they could easily know who the wrong elements were. The only activities the authorities should discourage would be unregulated acquisition of agricultural land or licenses for permanent residential business activities that would interfere with the opportunities of the licensed Ugandan business persons. Activities like visiting relatives for specified periods or coming to do shopping by our Congolese relatives should not be interfered with at all.
I warned the solitary immigration officer at Lamia not to associate himself with the anti – African imperialist schemes of dividing Africa. I do not buy, even for a moment, the nonsense of the Congolese officials mistreating and robbing Ugandans whenever they enter Congo. That is their problem. Our duty to ourselves and to Africa is to encourage Africans to unite. The robbing Congolese officials will be handled by history. The cleaner, the fairer our own actions are, the easier it will be for history to deal with those thieves – by the Congolese people themselves. It does not help Africa to have these thieves on the two sides of the border.
As darkness fell, I drove back to Fort-Portal along the beautiful road the Government has built through the foothills of the mighty Rwenzori. How I enjoy driving on that winding road through the Northern edge of the Mountain ─ from Rwamabaale, to Kibuku, to the junction of Itojo, to Karugutu and, eventually, to Kichwamba Technical College!! It is so beautiful.
I did not get time to go to Semliki Lodge. Next time I visited the area, I went to Mweya in order to deal with the Kasese side. This time the East African Resistance Movement was more evident. Mweya Hotel had very few bookings because the tourists had been scared away by the negative publicity generated by the criminal killers of women and children before we had moved to put an end to the nonsense. Young people from Bukonjo, Teso, Ankole, Buganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania ─ working as receptionists, chefs, managers, UWA guards, etc., were all concerned about the low bookings. It threatened their livelihood.
I was informed that tour guides, mountaineering guides, etc., were all worried because their jobs and livelihoods were now threatened. This is where the Bible cautions in the Book of Matthew 7:6 by saying “……. do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. People who have no eyes to see value should not be given trusteeship over valuable assets. Fortunately, the UPDF had long ago planned to deal with such threats. On my orders, they deployed in the mountain. The Mountain needs knowledge of the terrain which we have in plenty, appropriate attire because of the rain and coldness and appropriate weapons.
We had long ago planned for these and preparing for mountain warfare if necessity demanded for such an effort. More than 171 of these suspects have been arrested and have been produced before court. The area is totally peaceful and it could not have been otherwise. The UPDF and other security agencies have spent the last 50 years developing that capacity. Moreover, it was most pleasing to see the existence of the East African Resistance (EAREMO) encapsulated at Mweya hotel. All the East Africans were there and were all enraged by the irresponsibility and criminality of the killers.
Could the mighty United Nations and those who collaborate with that wonderful body please pacify Eastern Congo? Horror stories still come from that part of Africa. Uganda is totally safe and it will remain safe. Uganda, under the NRM, is not Kabetemere, a banana plantation with no owner.
It would, however, be almost effortless to guard peace in the Great Lakes if Eastern Congo had been pacified. The bookings in the hotels and parks have now returned to normal. I visited Queen Elizabeth National Park for the first time in 1958, springing out of Kyamate Boys School, a school belonging to NAC which stood for “Native Anglican Church”. Nevertheless, every time I visit that Park, it is as if I had never visited it before. It is so nice and the terrain and geo-graphy is amazing. The Rwenzori goes up to 5091 metres above the sea-level. Rivers from there cascade and rush into Lake George which is at 915 metres above sea-level. Then the water of Lake George flows slowly through the Kazinga channel to Lake Edward which is only one metre below Lake George. Lake Edward is at 914 metres above sea-level. Then the Lake Edward water, flowing through the Semliki River, flows into Lake Albert which at 621 metres above sea level. The Lake Albert water, then, flows into the Nile along with the water from the Kagera River, Lake Victoria, Lake Kyoga, etc. It is incredibly beautiful.
During my boat ride along the Kazinga Channel, a Musoga boy (I had forgotten those members of the EAREMO), told me that one of the tourists had asked him as to why they use English names for our Lakes. Did we not have our own names? That is a good question. Of course, we have the indigenous names. Lake Victoria is Nalubaale, Lake Albert is Mwitanzigye, Lake George is Masyooro or Rweeru, Lake Edward is Butuumbi or Rutshuru, depending on whether you are in Mpororo or Rwanda. In order not to confuse our customers abroad, the easier thing to do is to maintain the English names got from our relatives, the British (relatives by association), but put the indigenous names in the brackets. Gradually both names would be known to our customers. The indigenous names, of course, have got more meaning. Nalubaale ─ the place of the ancestral spirits; Mwitanzigye ─ the killer of the locusts (because they could not fly across it without resting). Rweeru ─ the White Lake, etc.
There is also the naming of the birds and animals. The African languages are much richer than the incompetent European languages. The descriptive way of describing animals, plants, human body parts should be supplemented by the more efficient use of the more exact indigenous words. Therefore, again, let us put in brackets the indigenous words. This would work out like this: water-buck (ekishwaaga); fish-eagle (ekyanura); etc., etc. The common animals, all of them, have specific names. These are: enjojo (elephants), embogo (buffalo), engabi (bushbuck), enzaza (antelope), empala (impala), that is how you get a name like Kampala or Rwampara, enkorongo (roan antelope), enyemera (hartebeest), engiri (wart-hog), empunu (pig), enjubu (hippo), enkura (Rhino), enchweera (spitting cobra), puff-adder (empiri), butugu (the pygmy puff-adder), etc., etc. The Ministry of Tourism should enrich human knowledge by informing the global community about this hidden knowledge of ancient Africa.
Going back to the object of resistance, the reader should be reminded that these were three: the uninformed, the parasites and the foreign agents. It is those three that must be resisted and defeated. They are enemies of peace and prosperity. They kill people including women and children. They damage property. They rape women. They damage the image of Uganda as they had done recently with the result of scaring tourists.
People who do such things are uninformed to be polite. Some of them are parasites. They do not like to work and do not know what to work means. They do not know or do not care as to what damages the country’s prosperity. Their interests are parasitic because they are not based on producing wealth. They want resources (e.g. money) without working. The agents of foreign interests are worried that Uganda is now standing on its own. We are able to tarmac roads without begging or borrowing from outside (e.g. Masaka – Kampala, Kampala – Mityana, Bwaise – Gulu, Jinja – Kamuli, Tororo – Soroti, etc., etc.), to build the electricity lines, to fund education, etc., etc. With our oil, we shall be completely independent of foreign manipulation. These agents are worried and desperate.
Hence, the scheme to damage the reputation of Uganda to scare away investors, tourists, etc., etc. We shall defeat the three groups in one bunch: the uninformed, the parasites and the foreign agents. We shall support the East African Resistance Movement.
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA