Speech by H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni President of the Republic of Uganda !

th "anuary# $% & 'uanda# (ngola

His Excellency Eduardo Dos Santos, President of the Republic of Angola, Your Excellencies, the Heads of State and Govern ent, !adies and Gentle en" I greet Your Excellencies. As I said in South Africa, the concept of the Great Lakes is not a new one but an ancient one in our area. Uganda, wanda, !urundi, Eastern "ongo, South Sudan ha#e, since ti$e i$$e$orial, been linked to the East African "oast of %an&ibar through $ainland 'an&ania. (e would get textiles (emyenda), glass beads (enkwaanzi) and guns fro$ or through the "oast and we would send elephant tusks (emiino) to the "oast. (e would also send the$ bark cloth (ebitooma-embugu) and iron)ore (obutare) products *hoes, pangas, spears, arrows, etc+. ,ut of the "ongo forest, we would get copper products (emiriinga), ani$al skin products (amooshe), ti$ber products as well as i#or- products (engoro). 'he word lake is translated as Nyaanja or Nyaanza in $an- of the !antu dialects of the area. 'hat is wh- -ou hear of the Kinyaanja of .alawi, %a$bia and .o&a$bi/ue and of 0-aan&a pro#ince in 1en-a. Actuall-, in $- other
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role as a linguist of African dialects, I ha#e proposed that the interlacustrine !antu dialects of the Great Lakes found in Uganda, wanda, !urundi, Eastern "ongo, 0orth)(estern and (estern 'an&ania, (estern 1en-a and e#en, 0orthern %a$bia and possibl0orthern Angola, should be gi#en the collecti#e na$e of Kinyaanja 0orth to distinguish the$ fro$ the Kinyaanja of %a$bia, .alawi and .o&a$bi/ue. In that connection, I ha#e not -et understood wh- .alawi and .o&a$bi/ue are not part of the Great Lakes2 fraternit- because, historicall- and culturall-, the- are #er- $uch part of this region. 'herefore, the "ushitic, 0ilotic, !antu and Se$itic peoples of this area are either si$ilar or linked culturall-. !esides, as $entioned abo#e, theha#e been trading a$ong the$sel#es for $illennia. It was colonialis$ that interfered, for so$e decades, with these linkages b- establishing !elgian, !ritish, 3rench and 4ortuguese colonies in the different parts of this #ast region. It is good that we ha#e re)asse$bled this region under the I"GL , ",.ESA and EA". 'he conflicts that ha#e afflicted this area are actuall- linked. 'he-, essentiall-, ca$e fro$ three sources as indicated below5
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*i+

the colonial $anipulation of the indigenous castes *occupational speciali&ations+ of wanda and !urundi in the colonial period, cli$axing into the first genocide organi&ed b- the !elgians in wanda in 6787 and 679:; the wrong foreign and do$estic policies of .obutu of, on the other hand, harbouring ene$ies of neighbours *Angola, Uganda, wanda, !urundi, !ra&a#ille+ and, on the other hand, den-ing the rights of so$e of their own people as not being "ongolese; and

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*iii+ the failure b- the people of Sudan *the for$er United Sudan+ to resol#e the issues of their di#ersit- resulting in the prolonged ci#il war in that countr-, in#ol#ing e#entuall-, Uganda. 'he !elgian sponsored genocide of 6787)9: in wanda created a 'utsi diaspora that dispersed in the region *Uganda, "ongo, !urundi and 'an&ania+. After being told b- 1a-ibanda and <ab-ari$aana for =: -ears that thecan ne#er go back to their countr- because the people who had re$ained in wanda and taken their propert- had $ultiplied and, therefore, there was no space for the$ in the countr- of their heritage, the- organi&ed *under the 43+ and launched the attack of 677: on wanda. 'he sectarian and bankrupt <utu regi$e, spurred on b- the greed- foreigners who are alwa-s ho#ering around with a lot of confusion and shallowness, thought that genocide was the solution to the >'utsi? proble$ @ Aust like <itler with the Bews of Europe. <ence, to the bankrupt <utu regi$e of wanda, there was a >'utsi? proble$, Aust like to <itler was a >Bewish? proble$ in Europe. 'he second genocide of wanda of 677C did not sa#e the <utu regi$e. 'he <utu regi$e fled with a $illion people to Go$a, "ongo, with ar$s. (ith .obutu2s
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support, the- were threatening to re)in#ade wanda and finish their genocide progra$$e. 'hat is what started the first "ongo war of 6779 that resulted in the down fall of .obutu. Apart fro$ .obutu threatening to re)launch the <utu reactionaries into wanda, he had also started a ca$paign against the !an-arwanda of Eastern "ongo, especiall- the 'utsi @ targeting a group known as !an-a$ulenge. Up to now the presence of the wanda genocidaires in Eastern "ongo has not been sol#ed @ leading to endless proble$s such as the D nd "ongo war, the 0kunda uprising, the .)D=, etc. All these ha#e been linked to the original proble$ of the wandese genocidaires in Eastern "ongo. Yet, this should ne#er ha#e been a proble$ if there was clarit-. In order to a#oid the <utu diaspora of 677C substituting for the 'utsi diaspora of 6787, the solution should ha#e in#ol#ed the right of return b- those new exiles but with accountabilit- for the cri$es the- co$$itted using a graduated scale of separating the $isleaders fro$ the $isled and being harsh on the for$er and lenient on the latter. If there are those that did not want to go back to wanda, the- should ha#e been re$o#ed fro$ the border to deep inside "ongo and should ha#e been disar$ed. 'his has ne#er been done conclusi#el-. 'his $ust be done. All the other eruptions ha#e been the conse/uences of this $istake and the one of den-ing the !an-arwanda of Eastern "ongo, especiall- the 'utsi, either o#ertl- or co#ertl-, the inalienable right to the land of their ancestr-. 'o deal with the conse/uences without dealing with the cause is not a durable solution. .eanwhile, the failure to handle the issue of di#ersit- in the Sudan had generated a "i#il (ar right fro$ 6789, at the dawn of Independence of that countr-. 'he Southern Sudanese who spearheaded the rebellion against the Arab Go#ern$ent of the whole of Sudan after independence
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were #er- closel- linked to our own 0ilotic and !antu peoples of Uganda, 1en-a, "ongo, 'an&ania and Ethiopia. 'herefore, so$e of the ele$ents in 1hartou$ were alwa-s #er- suspicious of the neighbours. (hen our .o#e$ent won the protracted ci#il war in Uganda in 67E9, against the fascist dictators of Uganda *Idi A$in and groups+, so$e ele$ents in 1hartou$ declared it as un acceptable and resol#ed to re$o#e us, b- force of ar$s fro$ Go#ern$ent. (orking with re$nants of the old regi$es *,bote, A$in, etc+, the- sponsored two groups5 1on-2s so called L A *Lord2s esistance Ar$-+ clai$ing to be "hristians and AF3 *Allied Fe$ocratic 3ront+ clai$ing to establish Isla$ic funda$entalist rule in Uganda which is E9G "hristian and where the tribes $ainl- practiced s-$biosis of barter trade e#en before colonialis$, apart fro$ so$e few inter)tribal wars that were being pro$oted b- $-opic chiefs. (e defeated the two groups. (here did the- flee toH 'he- fled to the poorl- controlled areas of Eastern "ongo and "A . At one ti$e, the "ongo Go#ern$ent allowed us to flush 1on- out of Gara$ba 0ational 4ark. ,therwise, there has been the exercise of terroris$ conser#ation in Eastern "ongo super#ised b- the U0 all these -ears @ since D::= when our ar$- withdrew fro$ "ongo under the Lusaka Agree$ent. 3ortunatel-, we are working well with the "ongo Go#ern$ent to end the presence of the AF3 in Eastern "ongo and also our proble$s with 1hartou$ ha#e i$pro#ed. Last -ear, the de$ocraticall- elected Go#ern$ent of "A was re$o#ed b- a bankrupt, reactionar- group known as Seleka while regional forces looked on. 'his bankrupt group entered the hea#il- populated !angui, $urdered people, raped wo$en and looted the $eagre properties of those alread- i$po#erished people. 'his is a real betra-al of our people. (h- should we allow or tolerate ar$ed groups o#erthrowing elected Go#ern$ents in African unless the- show that the- are fighting
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genocidairesH After all, we should not forget that <itler was elected in 67==. E#en elected Go#ern$ents can lose legiti$ac- if the- do not respect, especiall-, the right to life and propert-. You cannot sa- that an elected Go#ern$ent has a right to kill people extra)Audiciall- or loot their propert-. 0ow that that bankrupt regi$e has collapsed in !angui, I hope new proble$s will not be created for the people of "A b- those who are wheeling and dealing targeting the natural resources of "A . Let the people elect their leaders freel-, without interference or $anipulation and let the elected leaders respect the legiti$ate interests of all the citi&ens of the countr- without discri$ination. ecentl-, we had an outbreak of serious fighting in our -oung brother countr- of South Sudan . 'here are two #ersions of how that fighting started. 'he Go#ern$ent sa-s that there was an atte$pted coup which was defeated in Buba but spreading to the 4ro#inces5 !entiu, Bonglei and .alkal. 'he opposition sa-s that it is the Go#ern$ent that pro#oked the fighting b- tr-ing to disar$ so$e of the soldiers on a sectarian basis. 'he truth will co$e out with ti$e. (hat is clear is that the proble$ started within the S4L., the ruling part-, as a power struggle. You detect ideological, organi&ational and discipline issues in this situation. (h- should there be sectarian undertones or o#ertones in a political debateH (h- should intrapart- $atters go public before the- are resol#ed within the part-H (h- should we ha#e so $an- reported killings, lootings of people2s propert-, etc. but ne#er hear of soldiers who are executed for co$$itting those cri$es b- the different actors in these situationsH (e were able to stabili&e Uganda in securit- ter$s but also in politics b- disciplining the Ar$-. You kill a person or -ou rape
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a wo$an, -ou are a dead person in the #er- place where -ou co$$itted the cri$e. "o$ing back to the issue of whether there was an atte$pted coup in South Sudan or not, the /uestion is5 If Riak Ma her did not !"an a ou! in #uba$ then why did his su!!orters a!ture Ma"aka"$ %or$ &kobo$ et ' 'he S4LA has flushed the$ out of !entiu and .alakal. ,nl- the other da-, 6=th of Banuar-, the S4LA and ele$ents of our ar$- had a big battle with these rebel troops at a point about 7: k$s fro$ Buba where we inflicted a big defeat on the$. Unfortunatel-, $an- li#es were lost on the side of the rebels. (e also took casualties and also had so$e dead. !- -esterda- e#ening, the Go#ern$ent of South Sudan, with the support fro$ our troops, had regained control of Be$e&a and the S4LA troops, on their own , had gone ahead to Sudan Safaari. In $- opinion, if iak .achar had not planned a coup and it had all been $istakes on the Go#ern$ent side, he could ha#e done two things5 withdraw to a re$ote area of the countr- to a#oid attack and to start talks unconditionall- so as to resol#e the proble$ /uickl- and not to protract it. 'he S4L. part- should resol#e their disagree$ents within those structures. If so$e people are not satisfied with the S4L., the- should go out and for$ another 4art- and the Go#ern$ent should neither stop the$ nor i$pede the$. <owe#er, to turn a political proble$ into a $ilitar- one, ha#ing $is$anaged the political proble$ itself in the first place is not acceptable. In $- #iew, the proble$s, of the Great Lakes, as alread- stated ha#e been ideological, organi&ational and the discipline of the actors. 'he $anipulation of tribes and religions is a pseudo ideolog- @ is a false ideolog- @ not reflecting the interests of the people but those of the opportunists and parasites @ spurred on b- foreign interests.
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I alwa-s like to use the exa$ple of $- tribe the !an-ankore, who are cattle keepers and grow bananas, coffee and tea. <ow does $- tribe benefit $e as an indi#idual producer of the four co$$oditiesH I produce $ilk and beef and so do $- neighbours. 'he- cannot bu- fro$ $e because the- are producing si$ilar products and nor can I bu- fro$ the$. 'he people who $ake $e rich and prosperous are the people of 1a$pala, the people of 1igali in wanda, the people of 0airobi in 1en-a, the people of !ukoba and .wan&a in 'an&ania, the people of Buba in South Sudan, the people of Eastern "ongo and !urundi, who bu- $- $ilk and beef. 'he onl- support the people of $- tribe render $e, is that b- producing si$ilar products in big #olu$es, the- $ake processing and $arketing eas-. E#en if I onl- cared about $- tribe, I would ha#e to care about the whole of Uganda, the whole of East African, the whole of the Great Lakes because it is those that gi#e us prosperit- b- bu-ing what is produced in $- localit-. It is, therefore, the parasites that pro$ote this pseudo @ ideolog-. (ith the conflicts in Eastern "ongo and South Sudan, the food prices in Uganda ha#e collapsed to the detri$ent of the far$ers that were getting used to the higher prices because of the bigger de$and in the region. It is onl- the parasites who do not engage in production that do not see these issues. 'he last proble$ of the Great Lakes is lack of infrastructure @ roads, the railwa-s, electricit-, piped water and I"' backbone. It shows -ou the great potential of the region that business is boo$ing, pro#ided there is peace, e#en when the infrastructure is absent. (hat would happen if there was peace, infrastructure and free @ tradeH 'he sk- would be the li$it.

Fown with the pseudo Iideolog-, down with opportunis$, down with parasitis$, down with the indiscipline and i$punit- of soldiers and long li#e infrastructure de#elop$ent, peace and socio transfor$ation of the Great Lakes. I a$ alwa-s #er- happ- to co$e to Luanda, Angola, because I started working with the .4LA in 679J in Far)es)Salaa$ with Fr. Augustinho 0oto, Fr. !oa#ida and other co$rades. I a$ alwa-s #er- happ- to associate with the old freedo$ fighters in Angola, 'an&ania, .o&a$bi/ue, South Africa, %i$babwe, 0a$ibia, etc. It is alwa-s a pleasure to be here. I thank Your Excellencies.

()th #anuary$ *+(,

-uanda$ &ngo"a

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