Monday, November 5, 2007

UGANDAN COMMUNITY IN VANCOUVER CANADA GROUP PHOTOS
























































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UGANDANS COMMUNITYCANADA. NORTH AMERICA. said...

The day Museveni knelt before Muammar Gaddafi
Last updated : 05 June 2008, Kampala
By Captain Vincent
(President's Office, Entebbe)
Dear Ugandans, as always, we ask for your continued patience when we fail to update you on time. Please appreciate the various pressures including our busy schedules as we globe trot with the "revolutionary" the one and only Yoweri T. Museveni. And when back home, we move from district to district as he has already started campaigning ahead of his opponents under the guise of selling this fake "Bonna Bagagawale" scheme.

Fellow Ugandans, this is a thinly disguised 'cash for votes' scheme. How on earth can a man as corrupt as Museveni come claiming he can make us rich! First, can he please explain where all our money has gone all these twenty years?

Anyway some of us have just returned from the TICAD conference in Japan. It seems there is another scramble for Africa's resources, but Africans themselves are just looking on.

Our man was there but looking rather out of place. He made several pitiful attempts at humor, telling his usual jokes but they are now stale and don't draw much attention. More and more people have realized they have been dealing with a con man all this time.

While addressing the press and some Japanese, Yoweri as always thought he was making a profound point when he stated that "Africans are the true donors" when they gave - did he say - "US$13 per Kilo of un processed coffee to the Western world". We almost expected him to pull out a tattered copy of the NRM 10-point Program and start lecturing his audience on how he has built "an integrated, self sustaining economy".

By the way: fellow Ugandans, sincerely speaking Yoweri does much damage to Uganda's image with nonsense like this. You see much as most dislike it, he is the president of Uganda. When he talks people listen respectfully. But he likes pretending to be a maverick and original thinker, posing as the person who comes up with unusual ideas he imagines no one has thought of before. Unfortunately Yoweri has mistaken his long run of success selling snake oil to gullible audiences with true innovation. These novel "economic theories" of his used to be somewhat amusing at first but are downright absurd now. The reason Uganda or Africa in general continues to "donate" goods like unprocessed coffee to the developed world is because of bad leaders, of which he is a prime example.

Yoweri, why not invite the dozens of idle professors and advisers around you to provide sensible talking points? It is true that there is little you can say that will cover up the crimes and massive failures you have inflicted on Ugandans but at least you won't ashame us everytime you open your mouth.

Museveni also said if Japanese investors came to Uganda, he would give them "free land" and tax exemptions for 10 years. Well, Ugandans know what that means. Besides, if it is any consolation, no honest businessman on discovering the personal nature of these arrangements will put down a penny of his money.

During the conference, Museveni was provided a conspicuous protective security ring. Some members of the Ghanaian delegation were heard making comments that this man has been singing the same old song since the days of Rawlings and generally talking a lot of nonsense.

This reminds me - when we were in Ghana last year for the African Union, on the question of the future of the AU, every one expected Museveni to support Gaddafi his traditional ally and friend, only for him to turn around and support Mbeki. One elderly Ghanaian diplomat was later overheard asking his friends what had happened to Uganda, that during his days, he had seen other Ugandan leaders like Obote and Amin who when they had visited Ghana, sounded and behaved in more principled and predictable ways. He expressed pity for Uganda under Museveni. To him, of all African presidents he had interacted with, Museveni was the most unreliable, often telling obvious lies to his colleagues when there was no need.

Most African leaders attended the conference in Japan and it was like an AU summit. But we noticed that most of the other leaders were clearly uncomfortable around our "revolutionary" president. Each time he approached someone during the breaks, after exchanging greetings and a few pleasantries, the leader would excuse themselves and head off to talk to other leaders. Our "great leader" was left to roam around the room hunting for someone to chat with. Museveni himself may have not been aware but in fact there were several instances where the protocol officer of another delegation made explicit efforts to avoid our team (and presdient!)

So that was Japan. But my message today is not about Japan, but Lieutenant General Moses Ali.


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On the way to the airport recently, I caught sight of our old Mzee Lt. Gen. Moses Ali by chance. He was in his old green Land Rover, which he has kept well since 1997/98. I had not seen him for sometime and this chance encountter brought back a lot of memories, some of which I will now tell you.

Believe it or not, this now 69 year old Mzee was meant to be our first Vice President after we captured power in 1986, at least that was the agreement.

But thanks to the ever treacherous Yoweri, he instead ended up in Luzira prison. Here is how it hapened.

In late 1981 or thereabouts - I do not remember the exact month, the one and only "revolutionary" travelled to Libya to see Col. Gaddafi. The meeting was arranged by Moses Ali who had a good working relationship with the Libyan leader from the days of Amin (RIP) when he was Minister of Provincial Administration among other posts. Amin and Gaddafi were so close that when Amin's government fell in 1979, he fled to Libya and stayed there for two years before decamping to Saudi Arabia.

We had already begun the Luwero guerilla insurgency and Yoweri was desperate to get support from anybody.

The various rebel groups had divided the country into various zones though as always M7 was not respecting his part of the deal.

Moses Ali was to fight coming from the north where he was strongest, Kayiira was to be in the central region while Museveni was to concentrate on the west.

As expected, Yoweri the treacherous snake moved into the central region and embarked on killing people in Luweero in order to cause public hatred for the Obote government.

Anyway, that is another story which is now slowly coming out but lets leave that for another day.

During the meeting between Gaddafi, Moses Ali, Kayiira and Museveni, Gaddafi agreed on arming Moses Ali and Kayiira's groups, but was not convinced that Museveni was popular having got no representation in parliament. Moreover in 1979 when Gaddafi sent arms and men to support his friend Amin, Museveni was fighting on the opposite side. And Museveni's general appearance and the way he was talking didn't make it any easier to place confidence in him.

Talking of opportunists, why is it that whenever we have problems in Uganda, Gaddafi always has a hand in it? You never hear of him visitng Kenya or Tanazania, but the man is always hanging around our country, why? I hope to give you a possible explanation today.

When Gaddafi insisted that he was not interested in supporting Museveni, to the shock of all those present, Museveni went right down on his knees begging and saying without help, he was finished. Alipiga magoti yote mawili chini kabisa!

According to those present, this stunt was so shocking that it took almost 10 minutes for every one to come back to their senses. Gaddafi's assistant, one major, (I forget his name) was the first to speak saying they had sponsored many "freedom fighters" but had never seen anything like this before.

Well, it is not everyday that one meets a man who likes power like Museveni. His antics paid off and they took pity, offering him a few guns and some money which apparently Museveni just pocketed as those who were fighting in the jungles never saw anything.

Moses Ali and Kayiira were both shocked and deeply embarrassed by Museveni's behavior and Kayiira later remarked to his friend Moses Ali that should Museveni ever be in a position of power, the first people he would want silenced were him and Moses Ali because the shame of what had transpired in that meeting was just not normal and any witness would have to die.

No wonder Kayiira did not live to tell the story. The extent to which this was a factor is stil a matter of conjecture, but I don't think it can be entirely discounted. In March 1987, Dr. Lutaakome Andrew Kayiira was "silenced" forever.

After Museveni had achieved the integration of Moses Ali's army, the Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF) and dispersed them to various units, he made his move on the second witness.

Sometime in early 1990, he invited Moses Ali for a morning meeting at Entebbe State House, it must have been a Sunday if memory serves me well. Moses Ali rushed to Entebbe with his guards but as you may be aware, all bodyguards are not allowed past the entrance of State House.

Moses Ali was admitted into State House alone. His guards remained outside the main gate of State House Entebbe. Upon entering State House, we arrested him on trumped up charges of "treason" and used the other exit from State House next to the Government "Grade A" hospital and rushed him to Luzira prison where the plan was to eventually kill him. His guards languished atthe main gate the whole day only to be informed that their boss was under arrest and already in Luzira.

What saved Moses Ali was that upon hearing that his main man in Uganda was arrested, Gaddafi sent a certain Major to come and deliver in person a strong warning to Yoweri. The threat was issued complete with a video recording of that "piga magoti" incident which Gaddafi threatened to release to the public, in addition to the details of other secret deals he had made with Museveni.

Museveni assured the Libyan Major that no harm would come to Moses Ali, and he would be restored in a ministerial position. And indeed after spending around two and a half years in prison, Ali was released and not many months after that, was appointed minister sometime in 1994 . (The observant reader will wonder how a person can go from prison cell to a cabinet position of the same government he was allegedly plotting to overthrow).

That is how Mzee Ali survived the killer one Yoweri Museveni.

This story ought to give Ugandans a clue on why Gaddafi does as he pleases in Uganda. In addition to this blackmail, the "visionary" leader made many other still secret promises to Gaddafi while we were still in the bush. All these are on record and Gaddafi is simply cashing in his favors.

The bitter fact is our so called "visionary" leader will hand over as much Uganda Government property as the Libyans are interested in because Gaddafi is holding the threat of those promises caught on tape as a bargaining chip. And Museveni will do anything to prevent Ugandans from knowing how unprincipled and treacherous he is.

So, please fellow Ugandans, when you see Libyans taken over Lake Victoria Hotel, National Housing Corporation, Coffee Marketing Board (as he claims we "donate" unprocessed coffee), the budding oil sector, the Queen Mother, etc, remember that your so called "visionary" leaderwent down on his two knees before Gaddafi and all this is on video tape.


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Some other news which may further illustrate the nature of the relationship with Libya:

During our training in Libya, we befriended some Libyan intelligence agents and we remain friends till today. (These fights you see and hear about in newspapers between the PGB and Gaddafi's bodyguards, are because of new members in the PGB who have no relationship with the Libyans).

Anyway during our training between 1983 - 84, I asked one senior intelligence agent who was a very good friend of mine why they chose to support us (NRA / Museveni).

He told me a very interesting and amazing story which I will now narrate to the Ugandans.

After that shocking meeting between Gaddafi, Museveni, Moses Ali and Kayiira, Gaddafi had made up his mind that Museveni was not his piece of cake. He couldn't come to terms with Museveni's strange behaviour and low sense of self-respect. He would instead try to help Moses Ali and Andrew Kayiira.

However, it was his own intelligence officers based at the two embassies in Nairobi and Kampala who convinced him that Museveni would serve the Libyans better in the long run and hence he was a better strategic partner.

According to this Libyan intelligence officer (he is a very senior man though now retired), he told us (me with some others still in UPDF) that they had carried out extensive intelligence on all the three rebel leaders at that time using their agents at the two embassies before their closure in 1983 and came to some strange conclusions which would benefit Libya. Here is how he put it based on the intelligence collected on the three.

Moses Ali:

Moses Ali was an honest, sincere person and a very good Muslim who has always been a good friend to Libya, their relationship going back to the early 70's when Amin visited Libya. He had also been instrumental in the little trade that existed between Libya and Uganda that was not of a military nature.

However, though his thinking was nationalistic. Furthermore, he originated from the North and had a well known close relationship with Amin, making chances of ever capturing power small.

The Libyans concluded that they could offer his group all the support they needed to survive and ensure that the people of West Nile (perceived as "Amin's people" in the public mind) could meet any potential reprisals from Obote and his UNLA.

Andrew Kayiira:

After gathering what they thought was sufficient information on Kayiira, Libyan intelligence officers made the following conclusions:

First and foremost, he was only going to use the Libyans to capture power but his mind was with the Americans and British.

He was also strongly nationalistic and very popular in the Central Region and hence would not be easily manipulated by the Libyans once in power.

He was too smart and would most likely think things over to the benefit of Uganda rather than Libya.

He would bring back the Buganda Kingdom and Gaddafi never liked traditional kings those days (though he has since changed and is now dishing out money to selected monarchies like there is no tomorrow).

Kayiira was not the kind of person who could easily become corrupt and make deals, and he was not a ruthless killer.

Yoweri Museveni:

Regarding the one and only Yoweri "Kaguta" Museveni, the Libyan intelligence officer told us the following conclusions they made. At that time we thought these Arabs were biased and just hated black Africans, but these days, each time I met my other colleagues, we remind our selves how accurate the Libyan intelligence assessment was as far as Museveni was concerned.

Here is what he said;

They had serious doubts that Museveni was a Ugandan and hence chances were high he would not be a nationalistic leader. Therefore to them, this was a good starting point for their strategic interests in Uganda and Africa in general.

He was a man of very low integrity and had no shame (after that incident of literally begging for support on his knees), and this was supported by other data they had gathered on his past.

This data had showed that Museveni has a rich history of being treacherous and given the right incentive, would be the type of person to betray Ugandans and fellow Africans.

Their psychological assesment suggested a strong element of greed and lack of morals, and should he ever capture power, could be easily compromised to sell the country for a song.

Museveni's main interest was just power, and that was all he cared about. Hence as long as he remained in power, all other issues took a backseat. So the Libyans judged that with a few coins here and there he could be manipulated to do whatever they wanted (as long as "revolutionaries did not retire")

Museveni at that time spoke the language of a Marxist though the Libyans concluded that was more to do with his educational and poor social background, and did not consider it a serious issue. Though they took note to keep an eye on his claimed ideological allegiances because he is the type to change colours mid-sentence like a chameleon.

Museveni had proved himself to be a person who killed without hesitation or remorse, and had the tactics and mind of a terrorist according to the stories they had gathered from some UNLA intelligence officers. Hence Gaddafi could use him to carry out terrorist activities in Africa and elsewhere whenever the need arose.

In conclusion, they convinced Gaddafi that Museveni though being a high risk candidate (once in power he could easily double-cross them), was their best bet for maximum returns in future. According to them the stakes were high but on the plus side, as long as he was kept in power, Libya's (more correctly Gaddafi's -Ed) interests were likely to be fulfilled far better than any of the others.



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UGANDANS COMMUNITYCANADA. NORTH AMERICA. said...

Uganda and rest of the world will remember & mourn the Late. President of the republic of Uganda. Al- Haji Iddi Amin dada. saturday august.16-2008. he died aug. 15-2003 and buried aug. 16-2003 in Jeddah. the saudi autharity did not anounce the day he died for security reason. the anouncement was made aug.16-2008.and thats the day my father was burried. the programe will start on friday aug.15-2008. at Jumuah Prayers in all Masjid/Mosque worldwide. then saturday. aug.16-08. we invite ugandans at his house in arua tanganyika village. funeral luncon. the events will be sponsored by UMAIBC. and myself. also here in vancouver canada. we will organize dinner all ugandans community in bc are invited at my house. time 4pm. in uganda the invited guest. this time will be the president museveni and his family. the governor of west nile, distrct commissioners in arua,koboko,yumbe,moyo,adjumani,gulu,lira,mama miria obote,the former vice president, mustefa Idirisi, Lt. General. Moses Ali, the sheik mufti uganda mubajje, the bishop orombi, Mrs. Anuna Umari the organiser on the women side. Baba Hussein Diliga and Brother Jaffar Remo will welcome the invited guest, as well to mobilese the volunteers. [RSVP] brother taban Idoru will provide security. more will follow. From Majid Amonye in Vancouver. Western Canada. August.10=2008. salam warahma.

UGANDANS COMMUNITYCANADA. NORTH AMERICA. said...

The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily

27/08/2008


Hello,

kadara kursum is suggesting the following article from http://www.arabnews.com:
Arab student brutally murdered in Britain
Agencies

LONDON: A gang of youths beat to death a 16-year-old Qatari student in a British seaside town in what police say is a racist attack.
Postmortem results were expected today after Mohammed Al-Majed died in London’s King’s College Hospital on Sunday night from severe head injuries two days after he and his friends were assaulted outside a takeaway in Hastings on the south coast of England. Police are treating his death as murder.
Al-Majed had spent five weeks in Hastings studying English at the EF International Language School. He had been due to return home next week.
Al-Majed and his friends were set upon as they left a social club shortly before midnight on Friday. They were beaten, kicked and pelted with glass bottles by a group of hooded youths, who stamped repeatedly on the 16-year-old’s head before leaving him for dead.
His roommate, Majd Al-Ghannamah, 19, who suffered a black eye, said the assailants chanted racist abuse during the attack. “They called me Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. We just wanted to get away, get home, but they attacked and we couldn’t get away,” he said.
Another student suffered a head injury that needed six stitches. “I blame myself for not saving Mohammed, but where I come from, we are not used to this kind of thing happening. At home, we never need to defend ourselves like that,” said the boy, who did not want to be named.
Police said they were continuing to question an 18-year-old local man. Three other men, aged 17, 18 and 20, have been arrested, interviewed and released on bail pending further inquiries.
“The young man had spent about five weeks in Hastings and was due to return home next weekend. His death is incredibly sad ... Enormous numbers of foreign students come to Hastings and Rother each summer, in the region of 30,000 to 50,000,” said Sussex Police Chief Inspector Natalie Carron.
Al-Majed had been socializing at a club at the USA Fried Chicken and Kebab house. The owner, Remzi Tanriverdi, 43, said trouble started after some local youths started drinking alcohol outside the shop. Tanriverdi, a Kurd who moved to Hastings five years ago, asked them to leave, but they refused and verbally abused him.
“After I asked them to leave, I noticed a police car pull up outside. I asked them to keep an eye on the boys, and they said they would — then left. Less than an hour later, Mohammed — who was like a brother to everyone here — had been beaten. The attack was completely unprovoked and without reason,” he said.
Yesterday another of Al-Majed’s roommates, 17-year-old Abdul Aziz, said: “We are all deeply shocked at what has happened. Mohammed was everyone’s friend. We cannot believe something like this could happen. We will never come back here.”