Thread by @mugishamuntu

A THREAD
This week, there has been talk about the bush war and what those involved in it fought for. Even the suggestion that the war wasn't fought for particular leaders to be presidents. Of course everyone has a right to their opinion, no matter how misguided. Here is mine.

Even in the early stages of the war, two ideologies had emerged. The first was that the war was a means to personal gain. As it became clearer that we would win, there were some that started talking about which houses in Kololo they would take and lives they would live...

The second was that power is a means to an end. That we were fighting for things much bigger than ourselves; freedom from oppression, the just application of the law and a Uganda that works for everyone. For those who subscribed to the first, the second was simply a PR front...

Once in power, these differences in ideology were not immediately obvious. The good will of Ugandans and their willingness to give the new government the benefit of doubt meant that corruption and personalisation of government didn't get called out as much as they should have...

Slowly but surely, those who thought of power and personal wealth as an end in itself started consolidating it, maligning those who disagreed and using the public support for change to secure their personal future at the expense of the very people they claimed to work for...

By the late 90s when the public was more tuned in to and critical of the rampant corruption and plunder of national resources, these elements within government were the most powerful and influential. Those of us that recognized this parted ways with them.
The centre was cracking.

Since then, things have only gone downwards. Civil liberties, institutional governance- the very things we fought for- took the back seat as regime survival and power became the primary goal of government.
Those fighting for themselves and their families no longer needed a cover.

This background is important because in many ways, history is repearing itself. The struggle to liberate this country, though no longer in the bushes of Luweero, is still ongoing. And the two trends, whether in or out of government still exist...

@TheAllianceUG believes that we need a complete reset in our politics. That unless we have leaders disciplined enough to stay the course of institutional democracy and put #CountryBeforeSelf, the more things change, the more they will remain the same...

We have chosen to put ideas ahead of personal charisma because we know too well that we are where we are as a nation because of the tendency to personalize our politics. That is not to say the person does not matter. Rather, that the person's character and values matter more...

By God's grace, I have a track record from which Ugandans can make a determination as to my competence. I have been in positions of power and used them for the good of the country, not personal gain. So have many other colleages in @TheAllianceUG.
We are #ChangeYouCanTrust

We urge Ugandans, regardless of who they support, to think not in terms of what any of what the presidential candidates feel they are entitled to but on our track record. If they do, they will find that there are far more competent contenders in the opposition than the incumbent.