By Doreen Nyanjura
On the 25th of January 1971 and on the 25th of January 1986, governments in Uganda were overthrown.
The 25th January 1971 brought the Idi Amin military junta to power, while the 25th January 1986 brought Yoweri Museveni junta to power.
The two juntas have the following similarities;
- Use of the military to suppress and oppress political opposition.
- Disregard of the rule of law, violation of court orders.
- State enforced disappearances, illegal detention, torture and murder of political opponents.
- Distribution of tax payers money to regime cronies, relatives and friends.
They however have some differences among which are the following;
- The Museveni junta lied to Ugandans that they captured power on 26th January, yet this happened on the same date of 25th as did Idi Amin.
- The Museveni junta and it’s cronies engages in wanton grabbing of public property and tax payers money with impunity. While we are yet to see any property grabbed by the Amin junta or it’s cronies.
- The Museveni junta has destroyed public health facilities and Museveni himself, his family and cronies fly out of the country for medical and maternity care. Idi Amin maintained the basic structure of the health care system and he himself, his family and cronies attended the public medical facilities if unwell.
- The Museveni junta has destroyed the education sector, bringing to the lowest the country’s education standards and therefore destroying the human resource which is critical for the country’s development.
The bottom line, fellow countrymen is that the two juntas came and took power away from the people before going on to destroy the fabric of our society.
Therefore, just like Idi Amin was removed by a combined force of Ugandans living both in Uganda and outside Uganda, I urge all of us as citizens of Uganda irrespective of our political divide or place of abode, to unite and work together for the final total liberation of our country!
The writer is the Deputy Lord Mayor for Kampala who doubles as the Local Council 5 (LCV) Woman Councillor, representing Makerere University at KCCA.