Depending for a livelihood on the very repressive government that one criticises is a non-starter. Resisters in the opposition need to expand our wealth bases. One of last year’s dearest lessons for me as a die-hard opposition member who is sold out to Uganda’s liberation struggle is the need for economic and financial empowerment away from Museveni’s systems. One cannot effectively defy and resist this illegitimate regime while simultaneously relying on it for an income. One needs to fashion sources of income that cannot be compromised by the dirty hands of the military dictatorship.
When I loudly criticised, shamed, exposed, undressed and kulangiraed the president wife for her duplicitous nepotism and lack of qualifications to be the Minister of Education, I was immediately suspended from my employment at Makerere University and put on half pay. When my friends agitated loudly against government corruption, lawlessness and misrule, Bank of Uganda immediately froze their bank accounts held in different banks in the country. Civil society organisations associated with civil protest actions were raided and their bank accounts were frozen. Depending for a livelihood on the corrupt government one defiantly bashes is a no-brainer. When the source of livelihood is stopped or interfered with, effectiveness in resistance becomes greatly compromised.
Effective defiance needs ample resources to effectively and safely organise. Money is needed for safe get-aways, and emergency evacuation when the enemy strikes. Money is needed for police bond, bail, legal fees and sustained legal representation that can be relied upon to instantly show up as needed. Money is needed to sustain the domestic lives of activists while they are engaged in effective activism and advocacy. Money is needed for transport, food, security, safe communication, accommodation, publicity and outreach. Money is needed to pay the costs of eventually liberating Uganda. The struggle cannot effectively depend on only a few wealthy entrepreneurs, scarce philanthropists, and moody foreign installations. We must expand our independent sources of wealth for the liberation struggle.
