In May 1996, murderous Gen Yoseri Tibuhaburwa Kagutema “ aka Museveni” made a public statement in which he scornfully claimed that he would not take political or economic revenge on the people of northern Uganda, who for a long time had rejected his reign of terror by supporting the opposition.
“Voting for or against Museveni is a constitutional right of all Ugandans. If you do not vote for Museveni, it is not a crime. Those people in Acholi, Lango, and Arua who did not vote for us should not worry at all,” criminal M7 declared with his treacherous plastic smile.
He went on: “I hear that some of them are worried. They think we shall do something. May be that is what their political leaders would have done; they would have killed those who did not support them politically. But the National Resistance Movement does not do that.”
Yet, in reality, the ruthless dictator was promising the exact opposite. In the years that followed, Museveni mercilessly eliminated nearly every influential northern leader after luring them with juicy but deceptive offers into the grip of his brutal junta.
Prominent Acholi leaders extrajudicially killed in Museveni’s retribution include General Paul Lokech, Colonel Walter Ochola, the late Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah, among many others.
Beyond extrajudicial killings, criminal Museveni deliberately grabbed the land of northerners and deprived them of basic infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, and government incentives as a calculated strategy to persecute the region economically, to the extent that many northerners now live as refugees in their own country.
Northern Uganda has suffered long enough under the weight of Museveni’s indifference, nepotism and corruption. The northerners deserve more than empty promises and hollow displays, they deserve justice, dignity, and the chance to rebuild their lives.
As the general elections draw closer, northerners, and all Ugandans at large, must renew their resolve to end Museveni’s criminal anarchy and strive to build a better and inclusive country.