In the end, Police Constable Santos Komakech Makmot killed one man and injured four more people. Yet to many the situation is not new, Ugandans have seen the privatization of security in the country lead to paramilitary groups that the police is pleased to use against opposition rallies.  The goons that KCCA hires to be in charge have no businesses in enforcing laws.

Going by the comments this video generated one can understand the state in which Ugandans are in being led into by those who came to power by the barrel of the gun.

The area LCI chair at Port Bell where this tragedy happened, pleaded with one fraud-turned into a city planning director George Ninsiima Agaba.  The oldman’s pleas fell on deaf ears and a life was lost.  Uganda police says they will put murder charges against Santos and Agaba who are still in custody but for a man installed by president Museveni we can hope this time impunity will not win.

In the years we have seen increased militarism, groups of hooligans take over especially in protests and humiliate Ugandans who are seeking for respect of their right to assembly. Police head Lt. Gen. Kayihura went to the demolition scene only to deny responsibility. How can a city demolition go on without his knowledge? If it did happen, it is telling about his police. How can he distance himself when the killer was a policeman?  I hope Kayihura soon realizes that one day he might not have the space to accept responsibility, that people will one day get really really tired and he will wish he had been more sensitive to an ordinary man.

How can you give just a month to a poor trader to get another place? And is it outrageous for them to ask for more time or more lenience? Of all the reactions, Richard Kavuma captured best the emotions of the people and what it means for us.

Are the wishes of Ugandans so outrageous?

Is it outrageous to want to live in peace?

Is it outrageous to crave confidence in the future?

Is it outrageous to cherish freedom from terror?

Is it so outrageous for a leader to speak up for the led?

Is it outrageous for that cobbler to mend shoes?

Is it so outrageous for him to succeed,

If to succeed means to survive?

Is it outrageous for Hadija to conclude,

that Uganda has not gone to the dogs,

But the dogs came to Uganda?

He faces four charges of crimes against humanity, including murder and rape. Throughout the conflict I had kept in close touch with friends in the country and their distress was beyond what I could imagine. Everyday Africa was treated to the drama of two people claiming to have won an election. Many thought Ivory Coast could head in the direction of Kenya and Zimbabwe, where compromise had to be reached because Africa’s old men didn’t wish to leave.

Coming from Uganda where we have never had a free and fair election in my adult life, the circus was very familiar. The influence that a sitting president has on those announcing the results is enormous. In 2008 I had watched, with my jaw dropping, as the president of Kenya made a mockery of the bible swearing as the legitimate leader. His sticking to power and the subsequent violence had taken lives of about 1200 Kenyans while many took refuge in my country Uganda.  In Kenya too, the ICC had come and it was a few months before that we had watched the prosecutor submit his case to Pre-Trial Chamber seeking to bring the 6 men of Kenya to trial. The ruling on whether they will be tried or not is due next week.

On December 05 2011, when I had gone to the ICC to attend the first appearance of Gbagbo as part of my trainging with the Asser Institute and RNTC. It was out of luck that my training in international justice took place at the same time as Gbagbo was appearing.  I watched the proceedings from the public gallery.

The photo of Gbagbo I had last seen was when he was captured by what he told would that day tell court were French troops. It was almost unbelievable to watch a man that months earlier had appeared on television with his authoritative speeches and lack of compromise even to the barking African Union. Seeing him standing with a guard next to him was what some Ivorians wanted and what many in countries in Africa with dictators would love to see. It may not be the ICC but the trail of a powerful man that never listens or respect his people.

There was a section of Ivorians in gallery, at first it was difficult to tell which side they were on but as the Judge announced a date for Gbagbo’s next appearance 18 June 2012, his supporters rose up and sang the Ivorian national anthem.

Gbagbo looked up and with a half smile and waved to them. The 66-year-old former president, his supporters yelled was not the person to be standing trail.  Later this year in June, the court will decide if will stand trial or not. This was a historic event, for 25 minutes I watched international justice take another step. Whether to right direction or not depends on which prism one is viewing it. Of course many call this victor’s justice and that Alassane Outtara should also be answerable yet in that court I saw a man who could have saved his nation from destruction and ethnic hatred. I saw one of the old men from my continent that stubbornly refuse to accept that they are not the nation.

Four days later, an hour and half flight, I was out of The Hague to Oslo to witness another milestone this time on positive note. On Saturday 10, December, the world turned to Oslo as three great women received a Nobel Peace Prize. I had interviewed President Elen Johnson Sirleaf twice, had met inspirational Leymah Gbowee in 2010 at the ManUp summit on violence against women that took place alongside the World Cup in South Africa. Though I have some great Yemeni friends – activists- I had somehow missed the great courage of Tawakkol Karman.

Leymah Gbowee and I before she accepted her Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.

Although Sirleaf’s prize had come with controversy, it is not the first one. She may have her faults in her struggle bring a country from almost nothing but I have always found her such an intelligent grandma president.  In a country torn by civil wars, it is always difficult to find anyone clean even if we were to go by the claims of those who opposed the prize. She used her experience and last positions to elevate Liberia. She represents what the rest of Africa will take time to get- a female president well respected for what she can bring to the table.

Leymah’s story is well documented in Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which makes me cry every time I try to re-watch it. So I only watched it once. On that day, I posted that “Today, it feels good to be African.”  Four days ago, I had watched Gbagbo and his supporters claim his arrest is totally unfair, trivializing the death of hundreds. In Oslo,  I was in a bus with Julius Mucungunzi, a Ugandan journalist I respect a lot , a bus full of proud Liberian women. Many Africans residing in Scandinavian countries came over to catch this historic moment.

At Grand Hotel where the Laureates stayed was jammed but nothing like fussy security.  I took a moment to congratulate Leymah and took a photo.  At the ceremony when I was asked whose speech I thought had been best, I couldn’t choose.  How could I choose from President Sirleaf’s calmness and tribute on the people of African descent that have Nobel prizes before and talk of where she wants to take her nation, Leymah’s unwavering passion for the role of African women in security and Tawakkol’s energy fresh from the Arab Spring and deposing a dictator. That was history there, recognizing women in an area where many are quick to portray women’s victimhood and not celebrate their resilience. That was epic moment of the year 2011 for me.

Photo by Esther Eshiet

The protest against President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to remove fuel subsidies has united many who say this will suddenly more than double the cost of living for most Nigerians. This year the Ugandan government has promised to start work on an oil refinery and the sector is already hit with corruption and bribery allegations. At the heart of the subsidies debate in Nigeria is why hasn’t government invested in refineries instead of selling crude oil and import fuel at a much higher price. I asked two Nigerian friends, both are taking part in today’s protests, about the issue because Uganda government has to learn from African countries like Nigeria that have been producing oil for five decades. Here is the two responses.

EE:

Hmmm its a bit difficult to explain the current issues on fuel subsidies in Nigeria. So I tell you a little story.
In the 1970s Nigeria discovered crude oil so we built refineries to refine this crue oil and sell to local consumers. Of course Nigeria sold some of the crude oil for foreign exchange. It was so good that the then Military ruller said Nigeria had so much money and did not know what to do with it.

Fast forward into the 1990s. Due to curruption and incessant millitary intervention in Government, all refinaries in Nigeria have stoped working and so the Government now has to use marketers to import refined petroleum for local consumption and of course the cost of the imported fuel is higher than that which was on sale when the refinaries were working. So government had to subsidise the cost importation by local dealers who are now porpularly known as the cabal.

So now in the 2012s the government says it can no longer subsidise the petrol. There is an increase in consumption of petrol thus demanding an increase in the amount the government spends on subsidy, the funds for the subsidy do not have the desired effect because some of the cabal just buy the fuel at subsidised rate and go accross the border and sell the petrol at the full price. The government also tells us that the process of disbursement of the funds for the subsidy is enbroiled in fraud and curruption involving the marketers which the government says it cannot check. So we have to pay for government’s inability to check corruption.

So the subsidy is removed. And now the argument comes down to figures.  The government argues that the removal of subsidy will provide additional funds amounting to about 6 Billion USD annually for development. The people argue that these funds will simply go into the pockets of corrupt government officials.

The government argue that they will use thi money to rebuild the refinaries and eventually the cost of petrol will go down. The people say do that first before you remove the subsidy. The consequencies of the removlal of subsidies is that the cost of leaving increases by more than 100%. road is the major form of transporting goods and services. Aviation transportation goes high and everything spirals out of control.Unfortunately the government is not listening they make the common man pay for their corruption. That is why we are going on a strike come monday.

They are both on the street to challenge what they say is a government not willing to listen to or consult its people before taking decisions that affect their lives. Also it is about time Nigerians stoop up to the deep rooted government corruption.

Esther said:

The main reason why Nigerians are protesting against Government’s removal of fuel subsidy is because of the rat race approach at which this is being carried out. And for me the argument is simple!

Formerly the pump price of fuel was N65 per litre, now it been moved to N141 that’s a 120% increase- overnight!.   The 2011 budget has subsidy allocated in the budget already, and that budget was extended to cover implementation till 31st, March 2012.Therefore it is illegal for the government to take off the subsidy when the budgetary provision covering it is still valid till march 2012.

The Fuel subsidy debate has been on for the past 3 months, there has been town halls organized by the media, but not one single consultation with Nigerians in their heterogeneous groups either at national, state of local government levels  to get the community to buy-in the subsidy removal policy.

It was a shame that one week after the policy has been implemented our Minister for Labour , Mr Emeka Nwogu said on National TV…”Nigerians are busy protesting not knowing that the next stage of the Subsidy removal, government wants to implement is the consultation on the implementation stage of the policy…” For me this is CRAP!!! How can you do consultations after you’ve already began implementation! Not fulfilling the globally accepted stages of policy formulation!- it is simply the case of placing the cart before the horse!

The most serious of argument is the IMMENSE CORRUPTION that goes on in the NNPC- Nigeria’s National Petroleum Company, we have 4 refineries, but none is working so we import fuel after exporting crude. The NNPC doesn’t have storage facilities to store the fuel so it take it to companies with such facilities, they are given for e.g 500 barrels of oil, the NNPC pays them a daily fee for  the facility use and when the NNPC comes back for the oil, its just 300 barrel that is found etc. So the corruption is deep rooted! And the President is turning a blind eye to it! He is now saying Nigerians should pay twice the price of oil as if this is what is going to fix the structural and institutional crises crippling the petroleum sector!

#OccupyNigeria might have been triggered off by the fuel subsidies by this represents a long road to tackling corruption in government in Africa where we have a lot of times too large a public service budget when citizens who hustle daily and pay taxes get nothing out of it.

Atwan in Amsterdam on Dec 16. Rosebell's photo

Atwan is editor-in chief of the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi. He discussed the Arab spring and the future of the Middle East and North Africa beyond the ‘revolution’.

Some of my favorite quotes from the meeting:

“We Arab people were suffered double humiliation. That brought about by imperialism and another by own very own corrupt government.”

I found this quote very meaningful for not only the Arab world but also of Africa. All year long many people have been watching closely to see if there will be a sort of African spring. And every time some friends asked me when is the African Spring, I replied, we won’t have a spring, ours will be the African Harmattan! None the less there has been inspiration from the north of the continent spreading south. In many ways our realities are close to those of the MENA countries and we can only wait and see what changes and how long will they take on the African continent. Just like Atwan said “whoever knew or predicted that the Arab people would depose four dictators in just one year?”

I have very passionate Yemeni friends and Atwan said he respected the struggle of Yemen, knowing how many guns are in the hands of so many people that the country has not moved to a civil war. He applauded the choice of non-violence of the people of Yemen even when they had access to arms. And he told us a famous saying about the difficulty of ruling Yemen with its tribes system that i loved.

“Riding a lion is smoother than ruling Yemen”

Then came Atwan’s passionate talk on the events in Libya and how he disagreed with the NATO military intervention. Even though he was glad that the killing of Muammar Gaddafi has been called a crime against humanity, he decried the west for allowing impunity of rebels turned government of NTC.

I was interested in the fact the the ICC had backed off the Libya case and of recent the prosecutor had indicated that Libya’s new rulers were capable of prosecuting Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. Personally i found this ridiculous, how could the killers of his father offer him a fair trial in a country has no justice system. Having spent the earlier week hearing people decry the ICC being an African court, here i was with a situation which clearly an outside court could have done better.

When I asked Atwan about this he went beyond the case of Saif to talk about his recent trip to Tripoli and how many African countries and the were silent about crimes being committed about African people, both Libyans and immigrants.

There are at least 7000 black people in Libya being tortured and living in the most inhumane conditions all these atrocities being presided over by the new regime.Yet we see no human rights papers about them. Nothing from western governments who supposed intervened on human rights grounds. I will not be surprised if we soon hear that Saif has been executed. The West is keeping a blind eye to crimes committed by rebels because of they always put their interests above anything else.

And that was from a Palestinian man who lived in as a refugee in Jordan, managed to study in Egypt and later run one of the most respected Arab media outlets from London since 1989.

Atwan said for the future of the entire region, one must not put their eyes off Egypt. He said is Egypt becomes more islamist, chances are that most of the other countries will follow suit.

Photo by Edward Echwalu.

I am in Brussels where two days ago Congolese community had clashes with Police when they went out to demonstrate agains the president Joseph Kabila’s ‘re-election’ which has so far been rejected by international election observers and leading opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi.

The Carter Center said “we find the irregularities are significant enough to undermine the credibility of the election results.”

Again the contention is on the tallying process. Earlier the opposition had warned that the Electoral body had chosen to announce first results from Kabila’s strongholds in Katanga, a move seen by many as way to psychologically prepare the population if Kabila is finally announced as a winner. But Once again we have a Cote d’Iviore situation, both men have announced themselves as winners of the election. There are reports of government moving troops into Kinshasa and rounding up youth linked to the opposition. The situation is unpredictable and no one seems to know how this stalemate will be solved. And as tensions flare I am reminded of women of DRC, eastern DRC in particular who have endured all sorts of inhumane acts by soldiers and militias. On this day they see the little hope of having a government that can bring peace wane.

And I bring a story of Ester Munyerenkana a health worker at Panzi. I have held onto this story for quite a while. Her and other health workers daily have to deal with the end result of the broken political system and violence in Congo .

They all hope they can see a function government that can protect it’s citizens from this violence but as the two figures clash, like we say when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. I hope Congo is not left to descend into further chaos.

Ester’s Story 

Ester Munyerenkana could be rightly called one of the world’s most hard working health workers. A mother of four, together with many other women hustles daily to bring back life to sexually violated women at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The hospital, which offers medical and pyscho-social care to women from as far as Katanga region, receives at least 10 women a day after brutal sexual violations has been meted on them in the various conflicts that have plunged Eastern DRC since the ousting President Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997.

In 2009, more than 5,000 women were raped in South Kivu alone according to the UN figures.  The majority of the rapes are committed by soldiers or armed rebels but recent studies have showed an increased in raped committed by civilians.

Oxfam and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) in April 2010 carried out as study from interviews of 4,311 female survivors of rape treated at the Survivors of Sexual Violence department at Panzi Hospital and fund an increase in number of civilian rapes among the patients treated. The number of reported civilian rapes among patients admitted to the SSV-project in 2008 was 11 per cent and in 2009 it increased to 15 per cent. From July 2009 to June 2010 the figure had further increased to 18 per cent.

This is the department where Ester works. She explains her bravery amidst the daily distress to being raised by a single mother. Ester’s father passed away just when she had started nursery school and her eldest sibling was just 12 years old. She says her mother pushed to look out for community service.  “It was the upbringing in a Christian family where love was central. My mother emphasized passion to others as she struggled to take us through school,.”

Ester got her Midwifery in 1976 in Bukavu DRC and after which worked at different centres. Now at Panzi Hospital, she is better known as Cherie Mama for her welcoming smile.

“Since the war began in the late 1990s I have been working with women who are in the most painful situations, physically and psychologically,” explains Ester, “but in 2004 I decided to take up a social work course.

She says it was because of her desire to be more than a midwife. After her course, Ester asked the hospital management to be transferred to the Survivors of Sexual Violence (SSV) department.

“I wanted to work with the worst cases, I was not satisfied just doing only deliveries. I thought it is best to go to those with no happiness and I will bring happiness to them,” she said.

At the time Panzi Hospital would get more than 400 rape victims per months some of the survivors of gang rapes come from as far as 100-600 miles from the hospital.

“Most victims of rape when they arrived at Panzi hospital they soiled, dirty, torn clothes and in despair, the first thing I and other workers do is to bring back their dignity by providing the basics such as basin, soap, lotion and help them take a bath if they are unable,” she narrated.

While a woman takes a birth, Ester is busy give her “encouraging words” before a meal is offered. Ester emphasizes that it is important to love this work because the patients will take long to feel secure and loved.

She narrated the nature of violent attack on the survivors. Speaking passionately in Swahili Ester tells gruesome levels of violent that are beyond one’s comprehension.

“These militias use many methods to rape women, it includes pushing bayonets or logs into the woman’s vagina, some drop burning hot plastic liquids into the vagina and even more heartbreaking is looking at girls as young as 7 years raped this way.”

After meals survivors are taken for medical tests and she estimates that out of 100 screened survivors for various infections about 10 are found to be have HIV/AIDS.

Ester’s routine

Ester arrives at Panzi hospital at 7:00 am and leaves at 4:00 pm.  First task for her is to prepare the women survivors for the prayers. These prayers are an important part of counseling but also for detection of recovery of the women. After prayers the sexual violence survivors then return to their wards and go through different therapy using confidence building activities, health exercise, talks about hygiene and nutrition.

I attended the exercise session where Ester and other social workers bring up songs and rhymes about different societal issues in a satirical way. It is in moments like these that they take note which patient is fully recovered those that are not.

“As we go through the various exercises for about 30 minutes, I track those who are not active and follows them up in individual sessions to get the underlying cause for their inaction.”

Most women with most stigma are those who have had children from the rapes or those who raped by close relatives. They are afraid of returning to the society not only because of the rapes but also the fear that they and their children will not be accepted. Others cannot easily accept their own children.

Everyday hundreds of Panzi hospital staff like Ester work with the survivors of violence and giving hope back to such women is one of the toughest jobs. Ester tells of one of the stories that have touched her most, a story of a raped child mother who was suicidal.

“It was during the counseling session, 12 year old girl told me she had been raped got and a child as a result.  When the child was about 6 months, life was very difficult for,” Ester narrates. “ It was a baby boy and she walked to the lake to throw him in. And she told me that suddenly the baby looked at her face and smiled, then she stopped and wondered what he was telling her. She tried three times to drown the baby but wouldn’t and then she decide to come to Panzi.

The 12 year-old girl told Ester that she didn’t like “the child” because it was from the Interahamwe and in future he would want answers about his father. After days of counseling with Ester, the girl began to see the child as her own not just from the Interahamwe.

Interahamwe is a Rwandan paramilitary group that has been operating in DRC since the end of the Rwanda genocide in 1994. More than 5 million people are estimated to have been killed in DRC from 1997 and 2008 both directly in fighting and others due to diseases.

It is after listening to such stories that the psychologist takes over from Ester. Ester and other social workers are the first line of hope for many women who come to Panzi and they stay with them for months.

Ester’s joy.

You see a glitter in Ester’s eyes as she tells the story of restoring hope and having these women accepted back in the community. She tells of her followup trips of four women from a village whom she had looked after for many months. After a year of leaving Panzi, they were still supporting each other and involved in agriculture and sustaining their families.

She tells of another woman whose husband had rejected her because he insisted she had HIV. In this case Ester brought the man back with her to Panzi where the two could get tests and after they came out negative the man accepted the woman.

Often the husbands refuse the women and many of the survivors lose property rights on top of suffering to raise their children they came back with.

All over Eastern DRC, the challenge for survivors of sexual violence remains access to primary as well as secondary health care, which is due to displacement, political insecurity and lack of capacity within the health centres. And it is difficult for many to feel safe in the very communities where they experienced the violence. Living in their homes without an assurance that this will never happen again is the most difficult time, Ester says. And this is because the conflicts are still going on with no end in sight.

I spoke to Ester during a trip supported by Isis-Women’s International Cross Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE) and the Stephen Lewis Foundation program – African Institute for Integrated Responses to Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS. The program is aimed at creating a network of African-based, women centered technical support on issues of violence against women, HIV/AIDS and counseling.

Dr. Dennis Mukwege, the Director of Panzi hospital said the hope women who are sexually violated lies in finding a lasting political solution that would eliminate the current environment that makes it easy to target women.

And the Congo presidential election is refuted , now more than ever survivors of sexual violence in Easter DRC need to see action from African Union and international community to ensure there’s no escalation in violence.

Here is Sarah’s story.

They think what they are actually here to do is secure for their country Uganda’s newly found oil.

a photo i took on Wednesday morning at Entebbe International Airport.

The mistrust and suspicion of American military interventions is well understood considering its record world over. However, I found many who are opposed to this deployment lacking much knowledge on what havoc the LRA have inflicted on the peoples of the three countries whom governments have largely ignored. And also many don’t look at what alternatives are there to stop these brutal massacres .

Aid agencies, which are very few in North Eastern DRC because of insecurity,  a few months ago indicated that in 2010 LRA carried out about 306 attacks in the three countries  resulting in 355 deaths. 214 of these were in the DRC and 68 in the CAR.

LRA carried out 680 abductions in 2010, most of them happening in CAR.

In 2010, 381,000 remained displaced in LRA areas, 77% in DRC, 12%
in South Sudan and 11% in CAR.  There were 20,000 Congolese refugees in South Sudan, 3,500 in CAR and 1,500 CAR refugees in DRC.

The first quarter of 2011 saw a significant increase in the number of LRA incidents compared to the 2010. It represented a 37 percent increase in DRC.

The UPDF has been for years deployed in CAR and DRC in agreement with both governments to help track the LRA rebels without much success except for a few defections. In fact, late last year the two governments of DRC and CAR were frustrated that the UPDF was receiving loads of money from foreign governments  but little was being registered in ending  LRA rebellion.

The CAR government in December 2010 had asked the UPDF to leave but they are still present in one area. A friend who works in CAR once told me that when they were asking CAR civilians which militia groups are involved in the conflict, some wrote UPDF. This is because the ordinary people on the ground just see people in UPDF uniforms and have no clue who they are and what they are there to do.

The DRC government asked UPDF to leave, at first by May this year but later asked for a calendar showing their withdrawal. I have not heard of the details of this withdraw plan. In some incidents the Congolese Army, which has its own structural problems had clashes with UPDF in DRC which were largely unreported in the media.

The media has for the last two years not covered much this conflict and few NGOs operate in that part of DRC that one aid worker told me that over 10,000 IDPs had been without any humanitarian aid for months because no one wants to dare the Orientale Province because LRA attacks are very incessant and unpredictable.

So the failure to end the LRA conflict in DRC cannot only be allocated to UPDF alone. The conditions in which the LRA is operating are not that simple. One UPDF soldier who has been based in CAR told me early this year that fighting LRA was very difficult because “you have to do surveillance on a jungle bigger than the size of Uganda.”

The case of DRC, the Orientale Province is one of the many lawless parts of eastern DRC where the central government doesn’t have much control. The crimes the UPDF committed in DRC between 1997 and 2003 have not helped as there is always suspicion and mistrust as to whether Uganda can seriously put an end to activities of a rebel group they export to its neighbours.

There was an AU regional meeting for defence ministers held between CAR, DRC, Sudan, Uganda, the Government of South Sudan at the time in Bangui in October 2010 but we didn’t get much out of it. The presence of MONUSCO (UN peacekeeping mission) has not helped and most of the time they have been reluctant to venture into LRA affected areas because of an incident in 2006 where Guatemalan Special Forces were deployed to the bush to go after the LRA and 6 were killed.

A researcher in one of the few agencies that still work in Dungu told me that because of the wide area of operation of LRA we must recognize that “military intelligence is more important that military power. Aerial surveillance and ‘human’ intelligence is crucial” if LRA is to be dealt with. And as far we have seen over the years all the four government involved in the fight for LRA have not shown us they are capable of doing the needed surveillance work.

So the question is will this US deployment deliver?

Of course this deployment cannot be seen as a mere charity work on part of the Americans. In early 2009 the US government was involved in a botched attack on Joseph Kony’s base in Garamba in an attempt to kill the rebel leader

Kony, as it has been for the last 25 years, we were told had left the base few hours before the strikes. Ugandans were later shown images of the First son Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba and other special forces posing at the Kony’s former base. Nothing much came out of this attack and it was a military failure. The Operation Lightning Thunder as it was called only managed to scatter LRA to other civilian areas with operating with more brutal tactics.

Uganda is more worried about LRA making a comeback through western Uganda but the group is currently scattered that it cannot easily unite and also it would have to make alliances with various Congolese militias. Most of those who defected over the last year reportedly said they haven’t been in contact with Kony in over a year.

What can 100 combat troops do? Will they deliver several other botched attacks or will they help end the conflict? Well at the end of the day, regional governments must be more willing and give LRA more attention than they have done in the last three years. DRC, South Sudan and CAR must work faster to pacify the lawless regions that have made it easy for LRA to operate for this long. Also the past has shown that focusing only on military intervention will not easily bring back rebels who were forced to carry out all these crimes in the first place.

Those who worry about foreign intervention must equally worry about the deaths and human rights violations that millions of people in the three countries face daily.

The worry is not that the Americans are here -because they have been here for some time. The question is, are they capable of delivering in a short time without staying in the region too long. If the American forces stay in the region too long this will have implications as the suspicions about their interest in oil in Uganda, South Sudan and DRC is already ripe.

Here is what I shared with Al Jazeera Newshour the day the winners were announced on Friday 7 October.

This week at the press briefing in Kigali, I asked President Paul Kagame what this prize meant for Africa.

I am only happy for the women of Africa. We need to go beyond this being a symbol for women. Women need attention not just in Africa but in the rest of the world. When I travel and read i see marginalisation of women. We appreciate the quest to empower women and have them as an integral part of our society on equal terms. But as we get help here in Africa, i feel we may need to take this help to some of these countries. For instance you go to discuss business in these countries and all their boards have about 20 men and one or two women. They too need help. This Prize is a reminder that we should work beyond the prize that was given for us to meet expectations of women of Africa. We need more women presidents!

In the interview I mentioned the status of women in South Sudan and I intend to write a separate post soon from my recent trip to Juba and interactions with women leaders in that country.

On the list of people to meet was Rwanda’s First Lady Jeannette Kagame whom the group met yesterday October 10. Shortly before I left Kampala on Sunday President Museveni had given a medal to his wife Janet Museveni who is a minister and member of parliament, for her part in the fight to ‘liberate’ us. This  was given out as Uganda celebrated 49 years of independence. It was yet another controversial medal taken care of by the controversial medals budget from State House.

Going into the meeting with Rwanda’s  First Lady I wondered how I would put my question about family rule. Then I asked on twitter what people would ask Mrs Kagame. @Afric01 replied and I put his question first.

Below are the highlights of our meeting :

Rosebell Kagumire: When I heard we were to meet you I asked Ugandan youth on twitter what question they would put to you if they had a chance and one impressed me most; How have you managed to keep yourself out of politics. And this is asked in light of what Ugandans are seeing happening in their country.

Jannette Kagame: (Smiles) I was able to find my niche very fast and it was done through consulting with all potential partners. The expectations from you as a First Lady can be very high but you don’t have to go over what you are supposed to do in order to prevent conflict of interest.

I asked some people what they thought how I could be of use to the country and I found my own way and we fortunately have a young and dynamic leadership that is good at its work so I don’t need to interfere.

Gordon Echenberg: What’s the single most hindering factor to get the human rights on track in Africa?

Mrs. Kagame: Too much interference from outside! This same outside is really the one defining us. It is so aggressive and it doesn’t allow people to understand where we came from.

When we came here the social tissue was so bad and we have tried to forge unity. Like the president said the outside world is somehow connected to us, there are those who are with us in the journey and those who want to understand what we faced.

We are forging an identity yet the outside world still defines us like we don’t qualify to be a tribe or even an ethnicity. It is not easy to forge social cohesion and you have human rights groups not giving us space to define our destiny.

Rosebell Kagumire: What is human rights to a post genocide community and do you face special challenges in the advancement of human rights?

Mrs. Kagame: At times you wonder what the objectives of human rights are, we see human rights as to be able to provide basics to our people, right to education, health and others in a country with limited resources. At times it is insulting and arrogant on the part of people who don’t understand our context. Also they don’t know we are doing all this for us and our people not for them.

For our leaders to go for a liberation war it was for our people.  There are those human rights groups with genuine standards and agendas but many others want to use this to re-colonise the continent. When you fail to understand the context in which people are working and expect to evaluate one the abstract you get everything wrong. Their very countries even faced the same human rights issues a few centuries ago and they never learn from what their countries have done.

In Rwanda people are happy in the institutions especially going by the report on reconciliation.

Rosebell Kagumire:  Your organisation Imbuto is involved in many activities like girl child education and  promoting youth education through scholarships, many times in my country such scholarships have been shrouded with corruption and sometimes we don’t know who really benefits. How do you shield your organisation and your office work from corruption?

Mrs. Kagame Fighting corruption is a choice that countries make to be able to stop this. Most governments on the continent are used to go after small fish and the top leadership is spared so corruption continues. Here in Rwanda fighting corruption came with many problems because some of the leaders fled the country. This is because they headed organisations and yet wanted to use them to serve their ends not for the country.

Some people have not tested the dividends of fighting corruption; they haven’t had the benefits of a country that doesn’t tolerate corruption so they don’t have the agenda to see it end. You must start with the top leadership. In the scholarship scheme we have a decentralised system where local leaders identify the youth who are in need so the education scholarships go to the right people who need them most. We have no impunity on corruption. Also once you transform the police into a force which works for the community then people get confident and it becomes easy to fight corruption.

Illaria: what do you base your leadership on and what do you do when you disagree with key political decisions taken by the president?

Mrs. Kagame: I try to be responsible within values I believe in. you must have an auto criticism of yourself as a leader. On the political decisions, I trust the leadership enough that it is able to go beyond even what we are seeing. Sometimes I may not understand but when the leadership has been tested for so long and has in those times has taken right decisions which haven’t been so visible to everyone, you learn to trust.

Jannette Kagame on youth in Africa.

The youth in Africa able but many times unfortunately they are failed by the leadership. We have to give them their right place to advance to advance development of the continent.

We are optimistic about what’s happening in Rwanda. We are here 17 years after the genocide trying to forge an identity as Rwandans. Leadership matters. To find what unites us it wasn’t easy but we are here now. It is exciting but it is still fragile and we have to work harder to keep us together.

On the continent people are getting to demand for their rights and expectations are high. The number of citizens getting conscious about their responsibilities too is moving up. Youth are finding their role but I say sometimes fighting is not the only way. Youth have to look for ways to communicate with their leaders. The world is a global village but for us to be part of it we must have an identity.

The world and many in Uganda may be used to seeing the name of late President Iddi Amin next to words like monster, killer or beast but for many Ugandans he was a great man. His reasonable actions in other fields might be overshadowed by his rogue side but Ugandans know it was a year before he was ousted that Uganda last competed in the continental tornament where it only lost to Ghana on the final.  And his leadership and backing of sports had something to do with that historic appearance.

The past year has been tough for us, the economic crisis and our government that loves to spend have not helped. We bought ourselves fighter jets at millions of dollars, our currency can’t stop weakening against others and our inflation stands at 28.3 % this month. We have had strikes by different professions, teachers, taxi drivers e.t.c.  Many are struggling to put a meal on the table and keep their children in school or even enjoy a beer (our president advised us to drink milk instead.)

The Uganda Cranes, our national team seems to be the only thing holding us together, the little light that we are seeking in our darkness. Uganda has has 10 points and Kenya is at 7. Uganda must get win to avoid any calculations based on the other group game between Angola (9 point) and Guinea Bissau.

My Cranes jersey!

Uganda last lost to Kenya at home in 1991 so the Kenyans have their own 10 year jinx they will be looking to break. But the 33 year jinx means much more. Football has remained the only place for Ugandans to show their patriotism and love for their country.  According to tweets i have read many would wish not even see the face of their politicians at this game. The ordinary people feel the staduim is the only place they can unite and defeat someone. It’s the hopelessness that has engulfed us in the midst of failing systems whether education or health care, unwanted public expenditure and unending promotions of the corrupt and the wicked of the regime.

In one of the qualifying games, the now Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, whose name is painted all over different corruption scandals was the chief guest. He dared to flash his party sign and his aides had to shield him from flying water bottles from the Cranes fans. A few days ago he visited the Cranes camp and so did the first son Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Both donates some thousands of dollars. First the money is largely seen as our own tax payers money and then if this government genuinely invested in sports (am dreaming ) they wouldn’t need to come out at last minute to pledge. Truth is national sport survives because of few good hearts and the very supportive fans.

Football and the Cranes games in particular are almost the only remaining things that Ugandans can put their hearts to and spend their money on. It’s the day you see Uganda flags in numbers you wont find at any event not even the 49th Independence anniversary.  Ugandan leaders have largely been so meaningless to ordinary people that seeing corrupt leaders – much as they have a right to be there- come to claim they are behind the country’s pride makes many mad.

The Nelson Mandela National Stadium is simply the only place we come to forget -for just day- about you looters of our country! Ugandans come to forget what is happening to Uganda. And it’s the only place you see genuine nationalism therefore breaking the 33 year jinx is about history, pride and Namboole is the place to be ourselves!