Dear President Barack Obama,
Stop telling Uganda what to do. Your
human rights lectures are part of the problem. In your recent statement
on Uganda before the passing of the controversial anti-homosexuality
law, you condemned our country for persecuting the gay (LGTB) community.
I am convinced that our dear president
has at last considered the fundamental values and aspirations of many
Ugandans and Africa at large vis-à-vis the selfish interests of
observers in the West. This is what appeals to people’s basic
commonsense.
Mr President, we are told that the
American Bill of Rights has been stable for almost 200 years simply
because it enshrines rights which many Americans endorse as their basic
moral and social principles. I believe you share the same view that
Uganda has a right to keep her constitution stable and pro-people.
I still recall the speech you gave
during your visit to Ghana with its opening remark: “We must start from
the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans.” It was your
speech! How come you have forgotten this statement as early as this?
You have expressed fear that the signing
of the act will frustrate relations between Kampala and Washington;
don’t you think it is hypocrisy and double standards to always
complicate diplomatic relations whenever your interests are at stake?
Can’t we enjoy healthier relations built on mutual trust and
understanding? Won’t you then stop this patronising blackmail?
Mr President, I want you to help me
understand how American foreign policy works. It appears that if you are
a small state and enjoying patronage of a great power while serving its
interests, you are exempt from the pious ideals of international law.
If you are a small state but a thorn in the flesh of a great power, you
pay a huge price.
For example, the United States has very
good relations with Saudi Arabia and, as you know, there are no
political freedoms there. Indeed, there is no freedom of religion and
the rights of women are severely curtailed. Why the double standards?
The basic knowledge I have acquired as a
human rights and ethics student convinces me that governance is not
about making simplistic choices on who is right and who is wrong. It
requires making complicated trade-offs, hard-nosed bargains and
compromises, some of which might be costly in the short term.
You were at Nelson Mandela’s memorial
service, Mr President, and you celebrated his legacy. You saw the
reaction of the South African people to Cuba’s Raúl Castro and
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. Do you want our own Yoweri Museveni to betray
his country and dance to your tunes?
When you bulldoze countries to accept
LGBT rights, you seem to be telling us that human rights are enjoyed in
pick-and-choose fashion. This is very bad as it tends to impose foreign
values that are alien to those on the receiving end.
Mr President, you always assume that the
fundamental challenge facing Africa is the lack of democracy and human
rights. But why do you preach what you don’t practise? You have serious
issues to attend to such as closing Guantanamo Bay, US drone strikes,
military intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, US spying that
harms internet freedoms, rather than criticising your fellow president.
As a young man and a human rights
defender in the making, I am continually disturbed by self-styled
champions of human rights who abuse them with impunity and the next day
they are lecturing about them.
Mr President, Africa is likely to get
better with less meddling in its affairs by the West, not more - whether
that meddling is through aid, peacekeeping, or open criticism.
Africa needs space to make mistakes and
learn from them. As Kofi Annan puts it, the solutions for Africa have to
be shaped and articulated by Africans, not outsiders. You may advise
but don’t blackmail us because of your monies sir. Leave us the freedom
to take your advice or not.
The writer is a student of Ethics and Human Rights at Makerere University.
The writer is a student of Ethics and Human Rights at Makerere University.
Also see
When will President Obama weep for Congolese Children ??? Mr. President sorry about the death of innocent kids in the Connecticut shooting…but what that gun man did is exactly what US proxies are doing to innocent children in Congo….how I wish you will one day weep for Congolese black children who are your close relatives.
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| Tears of a poor Congolose child whose whole life has been rendered hell on earth |
Good
Morning, Mr. Obama.
Can I talk to you for a minute? We're just a couple of kids who would like to be kids. The problem is that we live in the Congo, one of the most minerally rich countries in the world. You see, you Americans, Europeans, and Chinese are hungry for our natural resources and we don't have a government that is capable of protecting us from your corporation's efforts to get thos e resources. As they arm and back various groups, we die. We die by the millions. Almost 10 million of our parents, brothers, sisters, and friends have died from violence associated with outsiders quest for access to resources since 1995. We only want peace. We only want to know what it would be like to laugh and play. We only want to know what it would be like to be held and loved by our parents. We ask that you, please, use what ever powers that you have to ask your government and associated business interests to stop supplying weapons. Stop fomenting war. Stop pursuing unfair trade advantages on Africa's resources. Thanx. Dr. Jamil Bey
Can I talk to you for a minute? We're just a couple of kids who would like to be kids. The problem is that we live in the Congo, one of the most minerally rich countries in the world. You see, you Americans, Europeans, and Chinese are hungry for our natural resources and we don't have a government that is capable of protecting us from your corporation's efforts to get thos e resources. As they arm and back various groups, we die. We die by the millions. Almost 10 million of our parents, brothers, sisters, and friends have died from violence associated with outsiders quest for access to resources since 1995. We only want peace. We only want to know what it would be like to laugh and play. We only want to know what it would be like to be held and loved by our parents. We ask that you, please, use what ever powers that you have to ask your government and associated business interests to stop supplying weapons. Stop fomenting war. Stop pursuing unfair trade advantages on Africa's resources. Thanx. Dr. Jamil Bey
