Uganda Coalition to U.S.: Quit Feeding the Beast

This is U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Jimmy Kolker signing away more American tax dollars to the regime of President Yoweri Museveni. This photo depicts a tiny little grant of over $300,000 - so Finance Minister Gerald Sendawula came over to pick up the check. And don't get me wrong - I think our government has its heart in the right place. The "big picture" view goes something like: "if we can get them reliant on these technology tools for managing their operations (rather than cash in the envelope), then we stand a chance of catching a clue regarding this whole "transparency and accountability thing" - at least that's what we're hoping."
There is a problem with this pipe dream. The coalition of tribes, regions, religions and viewpoints that has come together to form a coherent political opposition in Uganda says we are spitting into the wind. And that organization, called the Forum for Democratic Change(FDC), has called on the U.S. and donor nations to quit feeding the beast known as Uganda's Museveni regime. This report from the BBC outlines the case. The FDC website linked above goes into even more detail. The united Ugandan opposition deserve to receive a public response from the U.S. and - quite frankly - a hearing before the G-8 on this issue - which may well happen as this article from The Forward outlines.

What's happening right now in Ugandan involves lame, even farcical attempts by the Museveni regime to sew confusion and misgiving regarding the mere specter of democracy there. What this Reuters report fails to even mention, apart from the fact that a murder happened some three years ago, is covered here at the FDC blogsite regarding the spurious nature of the arrest (followed hard on the heels by the need for "delay" in the prosecution) of opposition members of Parliament - as well as two other Ugandans that were earlier arrested, then cleared after international pressure - and now (once again) re-arrested.

In response the opposition FDC has concluded that cutting off the money flow may be the only way to get the attention of the Museveni regime. The BBC reports:

In a letter to diplomats, the FDC says "a temporary suspension of foreign aid may prove to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni that democracy is the only option and that terror will not be tolerated".

And Ambassador Kolker, in all due respect and deference to the difficulty of your position: if we do not begin hearing from you and Secretary Rice about this issue, shall we voice our displeasure at this turn of events directly to her, or to President Bush? And would you prefer the hearings be held on the House or Senate side? You can look forward to spending some quality time with Henry Hyde's committee on the House side - and I'm sure Dick Lugar will be delighted to see you. But don't count on Joe Biden to be too pleasant - as you explain how Uganda went, on your watch, from a shining light in Africa, to a seething cauldron of civil war: financed by the American taxpayer.

Or, to put it another way, Ambassador Kolker: don't be caught looking like the Bag Man in a Rudy Giuliani sting of organized crime. The problem is simply this: too many American people, from church aid circles to billion dollar NGOs, have "connected" with the people of Uganda to let this thing slip by. Uganda is representative of far too much projected aspiration by unified people ("of one mind") from Kampala to Kansas City. And in many ways, our East Africa policy is symbollic of the overall effort to head-off the effects of anti-U.S. extremism via non-military means.

Representatives of the Uganda-focused NGO with which I am most closely associated (a delegation of ten) met with you yesterday. You heard from them, as you have heard from others. That fact of the USA's providing nigh onto half of Uganda's government budget is an enormous moral burden. Requiring moral courage. Now. Before civil unrest. Now.

Urbane Update: Recalling that I am firmly in the Republican mainstream, Christian missionary do-gooder-type NGO camp, check out this perspective from the Left, a boots-on-the-ground protestor type by the name of Peter Quaranto - that I found just after posting my piece earlier this evening. An uncannily similar perspective. Scary when that happens. And it bolsters OUR shared point (singular).