Hello, Thanks for having me...

[SMU]

Anne,

Yes, our work is far from being done!

"Our prime role then becomes to empower voters with knowledge and unshakeable belief that they really can change a government through voting and defending their votes with the zeal and dedication of a fanatic."

East Africans, let’s get to work!

Not the words but the will!

Karibu sana.

 

[Morani75]

Anne, karibu sana jamvini (forum)...

 

[Anne Mugisha]

Anne Mugisha,

Nimesoma makala yako ya Jumatano, 22 April 2009, kwenye THE OBSERVER, kuhusu wizi wa kura na ufisadi mwingine wa demokrasia wa watawala wa Uganda. Kazi njema sana.

Ningependa kujua, unawajibu vipi wapinzani wako, kama wapo, wanaokwambia kwamba wewe ni mwanaharaki asiye tofauti na jemedari wa kwenye kiti kirefu, aliyekimbia uwanja wa mapambano kwenda kuishi raha mustarehe maili 5000 kutoka nyumbani?

Sijui hali halisi ya Uganda kiusalama kwa "wakorofi" kama wewe, lakini kosoa kama hizo ulizotoa dhidi ya serikali, kama wizi wa kura, vitu kama hivyo huwezi kuvifanya ukiwa Uganda? Ahsante.

I read your article on THE OBSERVER voicing grim realities of vote rigging and other election iregularities underwritten by the incumbent power, also urging your collegues in the oposition to focus on voter empowerment. I think you're raising extremely important issues.

My question, however, is how you respond to detractors, as I'm sure you must have many, who would dismiss your activism as that of an arm chair general who fled her country only to lead a struggle from a comfort place 5000 miles away from home. I do not know the security realities for hell raisers like youself in Uganda, but couldn't you orchestrate such kind of critical activism while in Uganda? Couldn't you safely lambast the ruler's voter fraud while in Uganda?

Dilunga, iyo mambo ya kukimbia nchi yangu is number one criticism (laana?) la kazi yangu. Lakini hiyo si kweli kabisa. The sad truth is that I am able to work effectively precisely because am not home. Now don't get me wrong there are some really brave opposition activists that are out there in Uganda speaking out and taking bold actions about things that are going wrong. But also among the boldest, I'd say 50% have been in and out of jail. Those who get fed up of trekking to and from prison do one of the follwoing things: 1. They voluntarily tone down their activism and become quiet and complaint 2. They join the government and use their skills to torment the very opposition they were working with supported by a well oiled government propaganda machinery and lots of cash 3. They leave the country and continue barking from afar (like your sincerely). There is a fourth category that many do not acknowledge exists but that I know exists: Those whose voices are silenced by coercion threats, torture and death in 'safe houses'; and those who are silenced by bribes or deliberate impoverishment by strangling their business, losing jobs, etc... The government carries out targeted persecution of opposition activists. It is very quiet and many times hidden. If you do not know the victims you probably would never believe it exists. I know the victims.

Sasa mimi, I picked what you'd call the easy alternative: Barking from a safe distance. Is it honorable? Not necessarily. Is it the best I can do? Probably not. Is it effective? Certainly. It is better than going into voluntary or involuntary silence. So am not asking anyone to empathize with me or even to understand and accept my choice. I only ask that they tell me if I am creating awareness of the democracy and human rights deficit in Uganda. If I am succeeding in getting the message out, how I do it and the geographical location from where I do it are secondary.

I apologize for the lengthy response but I guess it was the only way I could respond to a group that is not familiar with the underlying issues ...Thanks for your patience...

AM

 

[Dilunga]

Dilunga, iyo mambo ya kukimbia nchi yangu is number one criticism (laana?) la kazi yangu. Lakini hiyo si kweli kabisa...

Kwanza kabisa, awali ya yote, usiseme kwamba hujakimbia maana ni kweli umekimbia na wewe mwenyewe umekubali kwamba umekimbia, you're contradicting yourself by denying that you did run away at the beginning of your comment even as you admit the same later on, so let's be perfectly clear on that, you did run away.

Hata hivyo, nashukuru sana, sana, kwamba umekubali kwamba kukimbia kumekundolea kiwango fulani cha heshima na kwamba kimekufanya uonekane mwoga, tukiacha pembeni hayo ya mafanikio ya kazi yako ukiwa nje. Ninakusifu sana sana kwa kukubali hilo maana wewe ni mtu wa kwanza hapa jamvini kusikia anasema hivyo. Hakuna hata mmoja, not a single soul in this forum of over a few thousand members. You are demonstrating incredible candor by conceding that to be known as a runaway activist is a concerning criticism, "a curse" as you put it. And I think it's true, any way you cut it. And by my estimation, not less than half the members here are diasporic, but you would be hard pressed to find a soul to concede that to be labeled as an absentee activist is not very honorific or ballsy. Oh yeah, they keep records here, and if I'm lying to you someone will dredge up something from the record, and I would like to see a single one, among a gazillion posts ever made here, where one admits " Oh yeah, I'm a Tanzanian living in the UK and I think it's not the most courageous thing to be sitting here lambasting leaders and governments back home while I ran away from the same." So, I gotta tip my hat to you there, at least for admitting that, for specifically recognizing the valiant efforts of those who remained in Uganda bracing the brutal juntas, the Yoweri Museveni's of the world.

Lakini, najua umesema kwamba una ufanisi zaidi kwa kuwa nje ya Uganda kuliko ndani. Well, sijui. Nitakuwa mjinga nikibisha, lakini la muhimu nadhani ni kwamba kazi inafanyika. Hongera sana, sana, kaza uzi. (You mentioned that you are more effective working from outside Uganda, and you must be the better judge of that than I can be, but suffice is to say, work is ongoing nonetheless. And that's extremely positive. So now I know that you have not just been sitting there basking in South Florida exquisite weather, not wanting anything to do with Uganda and East Africa.

Sasa huyu Yoweri Kaguta Museveni ni nini hasa kimembadilisha mpaka akawa power addict kihivyo? Na ni kwa nini baadhi ya Waganda wanampenda? Unakumbuka siku alipoja madarakani? Ulifurahi? He came on the throne as a break from the past rule of criminals against humanity in Obote and Amin. What changed him? And why is he supported by many? I know he is a fraud, and hangs on to power by undemocratic chicanery but he's gotta have some significant support, I mean how can one steal all 60% of the vote? Some how 40% to 50% gotta love him.

Samahani kwa maelezo marefu, lakini nimerudia rudia mara mbili mbili ili uelewe. Unakumbukua tulikubaliana "kipaumbele cha kwanza"?

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

If I am succeeding in getting the message out, how I do it and the geographical location from where I do it are secondary.

I'm sure Mwanakijiji would agree with you there...

On another note, have you had a chance to at least glance through the other forums/ topics of discussion other than here? I'm just curious....

 

[Husninyo]

anne mugisha..............

 

[Ulimakafu]

Poa,karibu togwa.