The history of the men in government or in proximity to the powers that be utilizing emergencies is not nouveau. Indeed Chairman Mao Norbert once got himself into a sport of a bother when he alleged, “The government is full of sharks!” Pressed to explain or withdraw he went and edited his remarks to the effect that the government and its Principal Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was surrounded by sharks. This seemed to pacify the ire of the different predators, and perhaps antelopes, in the government. We will just state that a class of political untouchables emerged and set themselves behind an iron dome where they stood on one side and the law and good governance stood at radical and diametric opposition.
In 1998 at the height of the insurgency against the Lord’s Resistance Army there were claims that on top of all the scandals the army was grappling with, to wit: junk helicopter, one sided gumboots, fictitious supplies (supplying air) to mention but a few, there existed a insidious style of theft; the story of ghost soldiers. Dealing withe the ghost soldier was a bit of a tricky scenario. The rebels were a useful bogey to the sharks. Their argument was that it was dangerous to do a head count as that would necessitate exposing strength of the army to our enemies who they argued were numerous. At the same time there was an argument that calling soldiers who were on the front-line to head count would leave chunks of territory vulnerable to capture by the rebels.
Listening to President Museveni making comments on what he did to tackle and uncover the rot of ghost soldier on radio was an enriching experience. The president took a firm stance and said he was prepared to secede some territory to the rebels because they had the capacity to retake the territory. Moreover, he argued, it was dangerous to go into battle when unsure of your numerical strength. A headcount was therefore mandatory and to be directly supervised by the highest office in the land.
” I went to Makerere and got some small boys to help me, when we did the head- count Oh oh oh oh….oh oh oh …..I had to get my own security to protect the boys!” What the president was exclaiming about can only be deduced by conjecture. We may discern that the headcount fell far short of what would have been and led to the prosecution of then army Commander General Kazini. According to late Afande Bantariza the ghost soldiers problem had persisted for over 10 years and had long been recognized as a black hole. (www.thenewhumanitarian.org/fr/node/215413)
This missive is not about ghost soldiers and their role in prolonging the Northern war. This is more about present day matters and specific questions as to whether the sharks disappeared or they have multiplied as sharks do and increased in intensity in the waters around the powers that be. In this we must rely on examining the carcasses that we find if they have shark-like incisions.
Ever since the COVID epidermic hit Uganda we have been faced with a litany of challenges including: rising levels of lake Victoria,(posing a risk to power security), Locusts (economic risk), and a volatile political climate that threatens to tear the country right through the so called cattle corridor. The circus of the locust with UPDF engagement and a whole spy net work is good for comical relief were it not for the vast sums of money spent. The World Bank gave loans in the excess of 180 BN shillings ostensibly to fight locusts. (www.worldbank.org 2020/05/21); this does not include other releases by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. Other neighbors simply captured the infidel locusts and converted them to animal and human food.
When COVID entered Uganda we were told that we had to adopt guerrilla tactics in order to defeat the disease. As such the first thing was we had to stop, listen and study the enemy. As we were stopping and listening some sharks imported testing equipment and took over the mandatory testing for COVID, they also took over mandatory holding centres with bed and breakfast costing not less than 100 USD for a sparse dormitory setting, they successfully rendered the public procurement and disposal at the Ministry of Health as a big joke; look for the Permanent Secretary’s admission of this in public documents if you like.
Now we have been condemned to another 42 days lock-down and yet we are not educated how the 42 number was arrived at with scientific justification and mathematical certainty. What calculations were made to justify this. Have listened very well last time and with collaborative evidence from World Health Organization the COVID virus incubation is 2 -14 days, “with symptoms typically appearing within 4-5 days and contagious within 48 hours!” This renders any argument for 42 days redundant, excessive and at ends with good sense. Sharks may yet be steering our boat.
Watmon's Blog 