President Yoweri Museveni has disclosed that African countries should have confronted the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and stopped them from attacking Gaddafi’s Libya.
In an interview with WION, an Indian Multinational English News Channel, on 16th July, Museveni said that even though the African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are weak organisations, they can assist in the decolonisation of Africa.
The president disclosed, “They are weak, but they can assist for instance in the decolonization of Africa.
“(For instance) when we were chasing the Portuguese and whites, in Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe and South Africa, OAU (Organisation for African Union – OAU, now African Union -AU), played a crucial role by supporting the liberation movements.
“After we defeated the whites in Southern Africa, there was some relaxation, diversion and lack of concentration, and that’s how we allowed NATO to attack Libya, we should not have allowed it.”
“We should not have allowed NATO to attack Gaddafi, we should have confronted it, but we didn’t, so the consequences are all this chaos you are seeing in Mali, Burkina Faso and so on, but these organisations can.”
Museveni added that these organisations have the potential and capacity to save Africa from the whites who he called criminals, strangers and imperialists like when they united and defeated the Portuguese and whites in South Africa, Namibia, and Guinea Bissau.
However, Museveni said that he never supported Gaddafi and Nkurumah’s way of uniting Africa.
“They believed in an all African Union government, I never supported that. What I supported was what is really taking place and that is the continental free trade area. Which can become an African common market. We can do political integration for parts that are similar and compatible like for instance East and Central Africa which are very similar or compatible,” Museveni said.
Museveni applauded associations like the Commonwealth adding that it is very useful because it is one of the few clubs where members communicate in one language without translations and the members have social links, historical links, links through religions which can benefit its members.
“In my opinion I think we can use it more,” Museveni said.
When he was asked about the hostility between Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its neighbours, President Museveni narrated the genesis of the conflicts, “The problem of security in Congo started at independence when Mr. Lumumba was killed and then we got agents of foreign interests taking over power in the form of Mobutu.
“Congo has never settled properly and the immediate problem, now is that after a long time, Congo has been either supporting or harbouring the enemies of other countries.”
Museveni disclosed that there are many groups like the ADF, Intarahamwe and others that are using DRC as a base to attack its neighbours.
When he was asked about Rwanda’s involvement in the DRC conflict, Museveni said, “There was an internal problem in Rwanda, which started in 1959, by the Belgians who massacred Tutsis and sided with some local traitors called the Hutu extremists.
“Now that generated a Tutsi diaspora from 1959, which stayed out of Rwanda until 1990 when they made a comeback and, in the fight, the foreigners decided to back the Hutu extremists to kill one million people in the (Rwanda) genocide. But the Hutu regime was defeated and they fled with their supporters to Boma in eastern Congo with their arms.”
The President added, “We begged Mobutu to disarm them but he refused. Until the Tutsis in Eastern Congo took up arms and attacked these Hutus, so that’s where the whole problem started.”
Museveni said that if these external enemies were not hiding in Congo, Rwanda would attack DRC.
Museveni divulged that the good thing is there is a regional forum, the East African Forum, chaired by H.E Kenyatta which is solving the problem.
“We think now this problem can be solved because we talked frankly in Nairobi. Yes, external players may make their own mistakes but the original problem started with Congo,” he explained.
By Hope Kalamira
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