What is used to measure the powers of a country??? Is it the size of its army, how well equipped its army is, the size of its economy or the level to which other neighboring countries depend on it for their survival?
Well, if this are the different categories used to measure the prowess of a country, then by every means, Kenya is a powerful nation. our army is known all over the world for our constant supply of peace keepers to the UN missions, just the other day we were busted exporting some serious arms to sudan (which i hope we ended up retaining after all the drama), and above all, the Ugandan, Tanzanian and a couple of other east African economies depend hugely on the success of our economy. the fact that countries like uganda due to the fact that they are land locked, relies on kenya for alot of its imports/exports, means we call the shorts on this side of the continent.
So what is this nonsense about uganda refusing to stand down, and kenya stomaching this arogance? If what our goverment has made us believe all this time is true, then we should not have a problem putting UG back to its place. instead, the dilidarling by our leaders leaves some of us wondering if all the great kenyan stories we grew up hearing are really true. if im not wrong, this is not the first time uganda is trying to intimidate us. museveni seems to have a "chokoza syndrom"
To our dear president, its absard to hear of kenyan citizens paying tax to another nation in their own country, whats even more crazy is how the ugandan flag continues to fly on the island and non stop harusment of our citizens.
DO SOMETHING OH THE ELECTED ONES!!!!!!
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2 comments:
The level of arrogance displayed byUG surely means they mus be havin somethin over us as i surely cant believe tht we ve decided to put our tails btw our legs and run to the corner and refused to come out and play yet we can obviously win this dog fight.
The qn i have is what is the strategic importance of 1 acre piece of real estate in lake victoria. Is tht where the fish bite the most?
Museveni has been in power too long to think he is invincible. Maybe we should just cut off the oil and other important supplies he recieves from our coastal line. Tht will surely have him scampering arnd and profusely asking for our forgiveness. We neednt even involve our army, they can continue to lay in the barracks and offer us subsidised beer...
The fact remains that our commander-in-chief has an array of options at his disposal that could easily compel Uganda to cease its reckless activities and de-escalate this unfolding crisis. These options however are quickly being surpassed by events.
The fact is wars are created by those who fail to prepare for them and placating a tyrant has long been established to be a failed tactic.
The President at the onset of the crisis initiated diplomatic talks which is clearly logical, but went into it without any pre-conditions and without any safeguards that would ensure the adoption of the outcomes of the talks. The fact is diplomatic talks cannot bear fruit unless they are backed by resolve: What has the President done to make it clear to Uganda that he intends the outcome of the diplomatic talks to be fully implemented? He is dealing with a counterpart who clearly cannot be taken at his word; Uganda has proceeded to institute a perimeter around the Island and impose a curfew despite the fact that he had committed to a withdrawal of his forces. Our response, nothing. The residents of the Island now have to pay a levy of Ksh. 500 to Uganda. Our response, nothing.
Surely the President must realize that Uganda is asserting its authority and occupation of the Island and that if nothing is done to restrict these activities, then our options will be severely limited to the regrettable avenue of military force.
In my opinion, our reaction at the onset of the crisis allowed for its exacerbation. As soon as word of Ugandan Police forces on the Island had hit, we should have had police personnel of our own deployed on the Island. The pre-condition of the diplomatic talks ought to have been the lowering of the Ugandan flag hoisted over the Island. The fact that the resolution of the talks had established timelines, there should have been established repercussions for non-compliance. The problem: none of this was done.
I'm not saying jump straight into warfare, but execute non-military options. We're their economic lifeline in terms of supply, economic sanctions should clearly have been laid on the table as an option Kenya was willing to take should Uganda remain rigid. To demonstrate the degree of seriousness with which the government takes this threat on its territorial integrity, a Cabinet Meeting and Security Committee meeting should have been held on the matter and a cohesive statement issued by the Office of he President.
The problem with our diplomatic effort is we have been all carrot and no stick. Let's analyze the situation; Museveni still has a flag on the island, his troops are in control of the island and the residents pay tax to Uganda, why on earth should he negotiate? We gave him a timeline, it passed and there were no consequences. Did our Government not think through it's options should the deadline fail to be honoured? We are running out of time for diplomacy as the occupation is quickly becoming a matter of fact. At that point, the only option would be military intervention; an option that clearly mortifies our Government. Peace can only be enjoyed by those with the resolve to protect it.
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