By Dr Kato Damiano Abooki (PhD)
Lt Col (Rtd) – Senior Lecturer
Fellow Ugandans at home, in diaspora, and foreign friends – Let us tell truth without fueling incitement.
Idiom: “If you don’t know where you slept, you don’t know where you woke.” To know where we go 2026-31, we must know where we slept since 1962.
PART I: LEADERSHIP SINCE 1962 – WHY UGANDA HAS PROBLEMS – WHY WE ARE POOR
We have tried all ways and means – Monarchical, political parties, military rule, broad-based, multiparty. Each left problem.
1962-66 – Independence with Two Heads:
Philosophy: UPC/KY – Kingdom and Party marriage. Problem started: We inherited colonial trick – “Divide to rule.” 1900 Agreement gave land to one, took from another. At independence we did not remove that chair guest left in house – We sat on it.
Why poor? Idiom: “When you build new hut on old termite hill, termites will eat hut.” We built independence on termite hill of land injustice. Land quarrel today comes from that hill.
Machiavelli would say we were fox without lion – Too much negotiation, no strong unity.
1966-71 – Centralization – Paper Torn:
1966 old gun took constitution. Problem: When you remove paper with noise, people learn noise is power, not paper.
Why poor? Investor fears where paper can be torn. No investor plants coffee if land paper can be torn tomorrow. Economy started fearing.
Idiom: “You don’t cure headache by cutting head – You cure by medicine.” We cut head, headache remained.
1971-86 – The Lost 15 Years – When Elephants Fought:
Military rule and bush war. Philosophy: “Chair is taken by spear.” Problem: 15 years no school built, no road repaired, Asians expelled with factories, banks closed.
Why we are poor? Because 15 years of GDP lost. Ghana, Kenya moved, we fought. Idiom: “When two elephants fight, grass suffers, but also elephants become thin.” We all became thin.
Gandhi would say – Where is sacrifice? Sacrifice was for chair, not for people.
Nkrumah would say – Pan-African dream died – We faced East and West for guns, not forward for people.
1986-2006 – Rebuilding – Broad-Based to Multiparty:
Philosophy: Ten Point Programme, Resistance Councils, then Movement, then multiparty 2005.
Good: UPE 1997 – Millions went school free. Health centres built. Roads – Kampala-Masaka, etc. Peace returned in most areas.
Problem remained: Corruption grew like weeds in garden after rain. Why? Idiom: “When granary is open and many hands pass, rats enter.” Aid money, reconstruction money passed many hands, no digital tracking.
Why still poor? Population doubled 16M to 34M while rebuilding. We produced more children than jobs. Also, Nyerere’s Ujamaa lesson – We taught people to wait for government, not to be family that works together. We said “Government will give” – People stopped giving to government.
2006-2026 – Multiparty + Social Media Wave:
Philosophy: Many parties, oil discovery, youth bulge, phone politics.
Good: PDM, Emyooga, Youth Fund, Parish Model – Money sent direct to phone, not many hands. Health Centre III in every sub-county – Before 20km walk, now 5km.
Problem: Machiavelli lion and fox – We have foxes who incite on phone – Tell youth “Block, burn, abuse” – They get foreign funding, they get likes. Youth think lamentation is leadership.
Why still poor? Three reasons:
1. Lamentation economy: Youth spend 6 hours on phone lamenting, not 6 hours in garden or workshop. Idiom: “Phone in pocket has become village square where everyone shouts, no one digs.”
2. Blocking and dragging: Capable trader tries, others pull down. Crab in basket. So innovation dies.
3. Cleanliness and corruption mindset: We throw garbage out of taxi, then blame KCCA. We eat PDM money, then blame anti-corruption. Idiom: “You point finger at thief while other four fingers hold stolen chicken.”
Toure philosophy: We still wait for foreign friends to clap – If foreign says “Uganda is bad” we clap, if foreign says “Uganda good” we doubt. Dignity lost – We prefer poverty with foreign clap than riches with our own sweat.
PART II: TODAY’S CURRENT POLITICAL TRENDS 2026 – WHAT DO WE READ?
Idiom: “Wind blows, wise man knows when direction changes.” 2026 trends:
Trend 1: Youth 78% – They don’t want old stories:
They did not see 1966, 1971, 1986. They see 2026 – No job, too much phone noise. They want initiative, not history lecture.
Trend 2: Five-year wave base five blows again:
2021-2026 wave ending. 2026-2031 wave must come. Every wave comes with new formation. Now PLU – Patriotic League of Uganda – Youth formation with quality people behind it – Initiative, cleaning, mobilizing, patriotism talk.
Don’t call it rebel or failure as it starts. Nkrumah’s CPP was called small boys 1949 – Led Ghana 1957. Don’t insult baby without teeth. Unstoppable does not mean forcing, means time has come.
Trend 3: Diaspora split:
Some diaspora bring boat – Investment, skills, borehole in village. Some bring petrol from far – They incite, “Block, rise” – While their children safe in London schools. Idiom: “He who tells you throw stone in market will not be there when stone hits your mother.”
Trend 4: Foreign friends split:
Some bring Gandhi – Truth, sacrifice, market for coffee. Some bring Machiavelli lion only – Fund blocking, dragging, incitement. Toure said: Prefer freedom in poverty to riches in slavery.
Trend 5: Social-Political fatigue:
People tired of trying same elders 3-4 times elective 1996-2021 fishing same spot catching nothing. Idiom: “Wise fisherman changes spot, foolish curses water.” People want capable new hands.
PART III: WHO CAN STEER UGANDA TO RE-ARISE – SOCIAL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION 2026-31?
Not status quo. Not locking in old corners – Monarchical corner, old party corner, military corner, old Movement corner.
Who can steer?
1. Leader with Machiavelli + Gandhi + Nyerere + Toure + Nkrumah combined:
– Machiavelli fox and lion: Strong to protect, wise to build. Not lion only that frightens, not fox only that tricks – Both.
– Gandhi sacrifice: Wakes 5am, shows garden, cleans drainage, not tweets abuse from hotel.
– Nyerere Ujamaa: Says we are family – PDM, Emyooga – People must work together – One finger cannot remove lice.
– Toure dignity: Says we face forward, not East or West waiting for foreign clap. Capable Ugandans lead.
– Nkrumah youth: Believes youth with quality behind them are unstoppable wave.
Idiom: “You don’t become tall by cutting heads of others – You become tall by standing on own feet.”
2. Capable people at parish level – Not only at top:
Transformation will not come from State House only – Will come from parish:
– If 1M youth track PDM 1M properly – Corruption fears – Economic transformation.
– If 1M youth clean 1 drainage monthly – No Kiteezi, no flooding – Social transformation.
– If 1M youth refuse blocking, refuse petrol incitement – Political transformation.
Idiom: “Small ants together carry big grasshopper.”
3. Those who appreciate today’s efforts then promise better:
2026-31 manifesto – Fight corruption via lifestyle audit direct to phone, cleanliness via waste trucks and youth groups, social services via Health Centre III and free secondary.
Don’t lament – Appreciate then improve: “Don’t throw old pot because it burned food once – Teach cook to control fire.”
4. Diaspora and foreign friends who bring water not petrol:
Who can steer? Also you in diaspora who sends tractor not incitement video. Foreign friend who buys coffee at good price, not funds blocking road.
FINAL STRATEGIC MOVE:
Idiom: “When river changes course, fish that stays in old dry channel dies – Fish that moves with water lives.”
Uganda river changed course:
– 1962-86 – River of gun and kingdoms
– 1986-2026 – River of rebuilding and parties and phones
– 2026-2031 – River of initiative, goodwill, capable parish youth, patriotism without dragging backwards
Don’t blame anybody for past – Past is manure for new leaves. Old leaves fall, make manure.
Don’t lock yourself in old corners. Read signs of time. Be open to new waves – Like PLU and other youth formations with quality people – Taste mango before saying not sweet.
Move strategically: Monitor, not lament. Propose, not abuse. Build, not block.
Because leadership emerges by initiative and goodwill – People see and follow.
Capable people can lead this country to re-arise – Socially clean, politically calm, economically rich – If we stop blocking them.
Disclaimer: Personal views of author, not official position of any institution. No mention of security forces.
For God and My Country.
