On the rector scale of Buganda’s political upheavals, the 9/11/09 eruptions have been minor! The last such upheaval saw the dissolution of the Buganda kingdom and eventual unfortunate death in exile of King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi’s father.
This eruption is unlikely to end the same way. The times are different and there is some level of tolerance and room for reconciliations for such eruptions in Africa, as the examples of Kenya and Zimbabwe have recently shown.
The political amalgam in Buganda might lay dormant again and everyone will go about their business; but unless the underlying lingering problems like poverty, unemployment among the the large numbers of disaffected urban youths are addressed, such eruptions are more likely than not to reoccur.
In the preface to his book Social Intelligence ( SI ), the author Karl Albrecht describes SI as: ” … the ability to get along with others and to get them to cooperate with you.”
In today’s world, the ability to connect with people is a crucial success skill. According to Dr. Karl Albrecht,
“More people have lost jobs, friends, marriages and mates as a result of poor interpersonal skills than for all other reasons combined. The simple fact is that people who have a highly developed sense of social intelligence have more friends, better relationships, more successful careers and happier lives than those who lack those skills.”
If you carefully analyze the core root of these recent riots, the ability for the antagonists to connect with each other was missing!
Dr. Albercht goes on to describe: two extremes of SI as “very low and very high – in metaphoric terms as either “toxic” or “nourishing”
Toxic behaviors by his definition “are those that cause others to feel devalued, inadequate, intimidated, angry, frustrated, or guilty.”
Nourishing behaviors cause others to feel valued, capable, loved, respected, and appreciated.”
The extremes of SI combined to set the stage for the the unfortunate riots in Kampala!
One amazing section from this book needs to be quoted here: pages 224-225
“How the Worst Bastards on the Planet Get and Keep Power”
“Totalitarian leaders like Genghis Khan, Attila, Lenin, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao Tze-Tung, Pol pot, Idi Amin, and Saddam Hussein certainly could not kill thousands or millions of human beings single-handedly. They had to find ways to leverage the violence of others by acquiring power and projecting that power through various levels of their dynastic structures.
Typically, power accumulators – even those who have little or no evil intent – operate in approximately the same way. They generally follow a stage-wise process of building their power and influence over time. Studying some of the worst despots in history, we can readily observe four key phases:”
1. Networking
2. Coalition Building
3. Taking Over
4, Unrelenting Consolidaion
“Many people forget – or never knew – that Adolph Hitler came to power as a result of free and open elections. But once he got to the center of the ruling coalition, the National Socialist party, he moved quickly and ruthlessly to consolidate his power. The take-over phase usually involves a significant risk and requires that the would-be ruler act aggressively in order to acquire position power in the minds of the other members of the coalition. Many aspiring despots fail at this phase, either because their rivals manage to dilute their influence, because the followers see an evil side of them that they don’t like, or because the timing and circumstances don’t offer the right set of imperatives to get behind an aggressive leader. The aspiring despot who succeeds in the take-over phase reaches a tipping point of influence. after which he has a more or less official entitlement in the eyes of others to decide, direct, control, reward, and punish.”
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ) recognizes Cultural Diversity for its intrinsic value in development as well as social cohesion and peace.
In fact May 21st is the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development!
President Museveni must have realized this UNESCO recognized intrinsic value in restoring the traditional institutions in Uganda. The recent crisis with the Buganda Kingdom should therefore be an opportunity for dialogue rather than retribution and recrimination.
Major General Kahinda Otafiire was therefore, wrong for warning the president against the restoration of traditional institutions.
What the president characterizes as chauvinism is in essence cultural pride. But what tribe in Uganda is not proud of its culture? If thats the standard, then chauvinism is an equal opportunity tribal trait.
The two institutions: the central government and the traditional institutions need each other for the sake of peace, development, economic and cultural prosperity in Uganda!
“Aboluganda bita, olumu bikonagana,” is an old Luganda proverb meaning: “Relatives are like calabashes, sometimes they clash!”
Traditional institutions should be a source of pride not consternation!
We are all Ugandans, with a rich diversity of cultures which should be a source of strength rather than a threat.
Many thanks for your insightful comments. As for “traditional institutions should be a source of price not consternation!,” I could not agree more. This article kicked off the train of thought. I am beginning to feel, at least by living in Kenya, that only when different ethnic groups begin celebrating their diversity together will the government realize that ethnicity is not an easy means for defeating opponents. Of course, this type of celebration of diversity will not happen, at least not effectively, until the root problems are addressed – as you mention in your second comment – including poverty and high unemployment among youth.
On the rector scale of Buganda’s political upheavals, the 9/11/09 eruptions have been minor! The last such upheaval saw the dissolution of the Buganda kingdom and eventual unfortunate death in exile of King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi’s father.
This eruption is unlikely to end the same way. The times are different and there is some level of tolerance and room for reconciliations for such eruptions in Africa, as the examples of Kenya and Zimbabwe have recently shown.
The political amalgam in Buganda might lay dormant again and everyone will go about their business; but unless the underlying lingering problems like poverty, unemployment among the the large numbers of disaffected urban youths are addressed, such eruptions are more likely than not to reoccur.
In the preface to his book Social Intelligence ( SI ), the author Karl Albrecht describes SI as: ” … the ability to get along with others and to get them to cooperate with you.”
In today’s world, the ability to connect with people is a crucial success skill. According to Dr. Karl Albrecht,
“More people have lost jobs, friends, marriages and mates as a result of poor interpersonal skills than for all other reasons combined. The simple fact is that people who have a highly developed sense of social intelligence have more friends, better relationships, more successful careers and happier lives than those who lack those skills.”
If you carefully analyze the core root of these recent riots, the ability for the antagonists to connect with each other was missing!
Dr. Albercht goes on to describe: two extremes of SI as “very low and very high – in metaphoric terms as either “toxic” or “nourishing”
Toxic behaviors by his definition “are those that cause others to feel devalued, inadequate, intimidated, angry, frustrated, or guilty.”
Nourishing behaviors cause others to feel valued, capable, loved, respected, and appreciated.”
The extremes of SI combined to set the stage for the the unfortunate riots in Kampala!
One amazing section from this book needs to be quoted here: pages 224-225
“How the Worst Bastards on the Planet Get and Keep Power”
“Totalitarian leaders like Genghis Khan, Attila, Lenin, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao Tze-Tung, Pol pot, Idi Amin, and Saddam Hussein certainly could not kill thousands or millions of human beings single-handedly. They had to find ways to leverage the violence of others by acquiring power and projecting that power through various levels of their dynastic structures.
Typically, power accumulators – even those who have little or no evil intent – operate in approximately the same way. They generally follow a stage-wise process of building their power and influence over time. Studying some of the worst despots in history, we can readily observe four key phases:”
1. Networking
2. Coalition Building
3. Taking Over
4, Unrelenting Consolidaion
“Many people forget – or never knew – that Adolph Hitler came to power as a result of free and open elections. But once he got to the center of the ruling coalition, the National Socialist party, he moved quickly and ruthlessly to consolidate his power. The take-over phase usually involves a significant risk and requires that the would-be ruler act aggressively in order to acquire position power in the minds of the other members of the coalition. Many aspiring despots fail at this phase, either because their rivals manage to dilute their influence, because the followers see an evil side of them that they don’t like, or because the timing and circumstances don’t offer the right set of imperatives to get behind an aggressive leader. The aspiring despot who succeeds in the take-over phase reaches a tipping point of influence. after which he has a more or less official entitlement in the eyes of others to decide, direct, control, reward, and punish.”
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO ) recognizes Cultural Diversity for its intrinsic value in development as well as social cohesion and peace.
In fact May 21st is the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development!
President Museveni must have realized this UNESCO recognized intrinsic value in restoring the traditional institutions in Uganda. The recent crisis with the Buganda Kingdom should therefore be an opportunity for dialogue rather than retribution and recrimination.
Major General Kahinda Otafiire was therefore, wrong for warning the president against the restoration of traditional institutions.
What the president characterizes as chauvinism is in essence cultural pride. But what tribe in Uganda is not proud of its culture? If thats the standard, then chauvinism is an equal opportunity tribal trait.
The two institutions: the central government and the traditional institutions need each other for the sake of peace, development, economic and cultural prosperity in Uganda!
“Aboluganda bita, olumu bikonagana,” is an old Luganda proverb meaning: “Relatives are like calabashes, sometimes they clash!”
Traditional institutions should be a source of pride not consternation!
We are all Ugandans, with a rich diversity of cultures which should be a source of strength rather than a threat.
Many thanks for your insightful comments. As for “traditional institutions should be a source of price not consternation!,” I could not agree more. This article kicked off the train of thought. I am beginning to feel, at least by living in Kenya, that only when different ethnic groups begin celebrating their diversity together will the government realize that ethnicity is not an easy means for defeating opponents. Of course, this type of celebration of diversity will not happen, at least not effectively, until the root problems are addressed – as you mention in your second comment – including poverty and high unemployment among youth.