1 6 THE CAROLINA TIMES
SAT., FEBURARY7, 1981
Can Obote Handle
The
Ugandan Mess?
-
By Lawrence Muhammad
Ugandan President Milton Obote, who returned to
the country after nearly ten years of exile to win an easy
election victory December 10, 1980, stilt goes by the
euphemism trongman". But the country is in a mess,
steeped in debt, corruption and violence, and the big
question remains is Obote "strong" enough to handle
it.'
Field Marshall Idi Amin, who was chased out of
Uganda in April of 1979 by Tanzanian troops and
Obote loyalists, left the country in a shambles, and
Obote returned to win the election handily.
He was supported by Tanzanian President Julius
Nyerere and 10,000 of his soldiers, and Obote's Ugan
dan Peoples Congress had the backing of the ruling
military council as well as the government daily,; the
Uganda Times. At least seventeen opposition candidates"
were disqualified before balloting through Obote
inspired finagling, and when his principal opponent, the
Ugandan Democratic Party, claimed an early lead, an
nouncement of election results wits outlawed for the
duration of the contest, subject to a $7,000 fine.
But it will not be so easy to bring the troubled Ugan
dan infrastructure around. Amin, who now lives in
Saudi Arabia, reportedly left only 1200,000 in foreign
exchange In the country's central bank, and had
generated some $250 million in foreign debt. Violence is
rampant, and both Tanzanian occupation forces and
the small Ugandan army rob civilians for food and
" other items. The death rate from military clashes and
random violence is about fifty per day in a country of
thirteen million people. Red Cross trucks, which try to
deliver aid items to impoverished areas, are attacked
and hijacked, and many products including medical
suppjies arc sold to the black market; Consequently the
country's best medical institution, Mulango Hospital,
now has some 2,000 patients sharing about 1500 beds.
And there are rats and roaches, fleas, bedbugs and lice
in the wards, which have not anesthetics, gowns, syr
inges, sterilizers, blood, or much of anything, and the
doctors have mostly given up in desperation and left.
All this, of course, cannot be blamed on Amin. When
he pulled his coup in January', 1971 while Obote was
traveling in Singapore, the country was just beginning
to feel the pinch because it existed heavily on the largess
of former colonialists. Obote himself had estranged
much of the population with this bulldozing ad
ministrative method of government.
In the 1950's, Obote's name was synonymous with
the fervor of a continent rising to freedom after cen
turies of colonial slumber. Obote was. a name spoken in
the same breath with Kenyatta and Nkrumah, and he
became prime minister in 1962 when Uganda gained in
dependence from Britain. But he was heavy-handed,
and during an internal power struggle in 1966, he strip-
ped cabinet members of power, jailed them and assum
ed full executive authority. He tried to dismantle four of ,
the country's twelve major tribes and exiled Baganda j
tribal king Edward Mutesa II, which estranged much of .
the population. Thus he primed the country toraccep-..
tantfe of Amin's rule, who was formerly the chief of the
armed forces.
But amin quickened the country's economic slide and ;
virtually ran it into the ground. In 1971, for example,
Uganda was the fifth largest exporter of coffee, but by
1980, the product was being smuggled out of the coun:
try at such a rate that foreign exchange on this con--modity
had dropped to about $10 million a month.
Amin seemed to be a maniac. He abruptly deported
Jews, Asians and British subjects, who manned the
commercial structure. And he jousted with the best of
world leaders. He caused an international controversy,
and got an appeal from the Pope when he threatened to
boil an obscure British subject in oil. Amin would, have
whites bear him aloof, in the fashion of kings, and sent
President Richard Nixon a bicentennial message wishing
him a "speedy recovery from Watergate." And they say
Amin left mass graves hvUganda with almost a million
dead.
But Amin apparently knew of plans in Obote's exile
home of Tanzania to mount a counter-coup or military
offensive, and he kept a running verbal conflict with
Nyerere. There were minor clashes through the years
and finally in 1979, Tanzanian troops took over, chas
ing Amin out of Kampala, the Ugandan capitol.
The. Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF),
Obote soldiers who helped Tanzanians, took 'control
and decided that rather than immediately enthrone
Obote, there should be interim leadership. But the rull
ing coalition, made up of some 26 organizations, suf
fered deep ideological divisions, ana eventually me
country was run by a six-man junta.
But they were unable to get the nation under civilized
control, which has dampened prospects for much inter
national aid. About $100 million has been promised,
and the reason the figure is so miserly is that due to.
violence and corruption, much of it does not get to
those most needy. There is no trust, and international
aid groups feel that money will simply be sucked into
the;.whirling hole of black market. In fact, fraud is so
rampant in Uganda that a British bank examiner
speculated, that every European bank in the country had
lost about $2 million to fraud.
Maybe Obote can establish some order, and live up to
his reputation for strong leadership. He said the country
will remain nonaligned, and that he was not impressed
enough with Tanzanian socialism to import it back to
Uganda.
Happiness Through Health'
(Continued from Page 15)
healthy people." he says. "Ten time the RDA is too
hietva dose." . .
Stfwhat are the specifio hazards from vitamins? This
is what the medical establishment thinks:
VITAMINS A and D. These are particularly
dangerous because they build upnn the body rather than
washing out every day. Extremely large amounts may
cause headaches, blurted vision, and damage to the ner-
.nil ti auc noticeable
vous SVStem; Amounts iw mui
X I
. ... -
enri ? ' iVrnation by ss
not Uvii a necessary
J
w 1
I
i- X 3.-,
1 l'f-K
1 - I
V7.
WW '
HWt . V.
NCCU Receives
$1000
Robert S. Poole, 111, right, North Carolina
Central University's new Director of Develop
ment, smiled as tie participated in his first
"check passing" photograph in his new post.
The new NCCU fund-raiser received the gift of
K J
i i is i
I
';
$1,000 from Mechanic's and Farmers Bank,
whose president, J. J. Sansom, center, made
the presentation. Chancellor Albert N. Whiting
looks on.
Rebuilding The Democratic Party
By Bayard Rustin
A. Philip Randolph Institute
The aftermath of the Presidential Inauguration, with
its overt demonstration of upper class grandeur and
hollow pageantry, suggests that the Reagan Administra
tion will be one which places much emphasis on style at
the expense of substance. And although the specifics of
the Reagan program have not yet been spelled out, even
the most casual observer is capable of sensing the orien
tation of Reagan's economic program. Moreover, the
new administration's cabinet appointees on the
domestic front are clearly uninspiring. They range from
rabid conservative ideologues of the David Stockman
stripe (with their preachments of economic disaster) to
untested corporate figures such as Ray Donovan, who
has been designated by Reagan to serve as Secretary of '
Labor.
In the face of a gloomy assortment of symbols, pro
grams, and personalities, it seems entirely appropriate
for those who are committed to the principles of social
and economic justice to begin thinking about construe- -ting
a viable alternative to the conservatism of the
Republican Party.
Perhaps more than anything else, the 1980 election
revealed that the Democratic Party lost a large portion
of its traditional constituency largely because it failed to
articulate a cohesive and inspiring vision of American
' Society. This lack of vision led to the inevitable fac
tionalism which typified the Democratic Convention.
The party's lack of vision was in large measure a conse
quence of President Carter's piecemeal approach to
economic matters and to some extent it was also a pro
duct of his insistence that the country's problems were
too substantial to be solved by the office of the
Presidency. A lack of vision was implicit in Carter's
assumption that there were great limitations on what
government could do.
By contrast, the Republicans succeeded in conveying
to the electorate that theirs was the "party of ideas,"
albeit wrong ones. The Republicans were also suc
cessful! because they capitalized on serious Democratic
blunders in foreign affairs and because they exploited
widespread discontent with the state of the economy.
How then is the Democratic Party to rebuild? How is
it to regain the initiative once again? Although many
party activists are convinced that the answer rests in
revising party rule -K
v .... -Tr. .k rai answer, what is even fr.OIC
revision is iar uuw nr We nri i- S
necessarv is the party's careful reassessment of its pru
doles Erection, and goals. Liberal Democrats, in par-
& Sdmonstf ate that they have a vision larger H
SnewhichSerely seeks to VfftffJS&E
With the Executive branch and the Senate in the nanas
of the RepubUcans, and with an effective conservaUve s
ma &rity SSt in the House of Representatives, the - .
KmocVats have the luxury of reassessing programs and
iiaTes remain on the agenda. A tffSiE
program is without question both needed an POMjU-e
ly popular with the electorate, as is support for prudent
ncreLs in health and education exrndttures. H
Semocrats also need to develop an ef fecUve pro grr
Heal with inflation and at the very least shou)d begin a.
Biscussion of the advisability of wage, price .wdprtfU
bontrols. Moreover, the party needs to.shedm
Tackluster image in the area of social praams
Democrats have been portrayed by their opponents as 5
combating poyerty through jobs creation e Wgg
sector and through a wide-ranging jobs-trtming, , and .
education package which would reach to all poor peo- 2
pie, whether they are black, Hispanic or white. zz
In the area of foreign affairs, the Democratic Pftty,
must continually stress its commitment to the cause.ot
freedom worldwide and to a strong Amenca,n dptensc; s
But Democrats must also stress their differences
Reagan's foreign policy, particularly in theiapprpac. -to
the third world and in their consistent support,
democracy and human rights. , a .&i S
All these issues must be placed oi thf Mm 1"TH
Democratic Party is to succeed iCWldinfkMual
importance is that the developmehMI?gW3
must be undertaken in concert withhra1cfiti &mffi
stituences of the Democratic Party: with representatjV;
of organized labor the black community, Jews, anos:.
other ethnics. The foregoing of a consensus must occurs:
uith hmarf.hacM) innut. But the interests of each gr0uo r:
must eventuilty be creatively molded into a cohesiy fvf ' Ji ,
sion of a more just America. 1 ne Kepuoucans cwi My
become the party of the majority,, but only if the d
Democrats are not up to their task. 'l.vi
i
I
They call it
MThc Overnight Vpideri
for constipation.
Are you uncomfortabl with your laxative? Then meet
the little white pUtthey caU "The Overnight Wonder! Just
one pill at bedUroe afely, surely itimulatet your ytem i
own natural rhythm. Overnight So in the morning, you re
back on the origin we. -mionaoiyi a
a good feeling. .
What U "Tb Overnight Wonder"?
Ex-Lax- PilU. Thaf tight-pHlt trom
Ex-Lax. Look for the white box.
Uie only directed.
i Seagrams
I Extrt :
VUU9 BViVl fMvaaw V f C
harm, but still well uf excess of the RDA, may interfere
witbjsuch normal body processes nerve .uwi
body protein formation, hormone action, or blood cfr-
culation. aim a urtr.fioluble vitamin, the
arguments that startea over y v w VC cT w
.:ii r,.:. ail over the world. The focus of the most ft jrrt v
research, vitamin C provokes the most controversy. W.y
-SS; evdisaitfee over such basic facts as how J&fz'-tV
. . . t a rf c mav cause-1 u'- i
HHAh tn rwi v run iuc. rnau Kb uvov ?r ?,
kidney stone formation, destruction or
vitamin, hemorrhaging of ulcers, severe
gout. Yet the medical esuwisnmem nuw
that C can ease me wvcruy
tnougn noi tuic wi F,n7j; ,
V ' 'I I' rf if--'
. V I :
. ") n it i
Seagvom's
Extra On)
Gin
OI.TII.I.IO AMO SOTTLCO '
""INCMUHO. IND . lOUtMtiC ,C1
. M'llUO OUVSM
Csssss
Mru(b rioiuMWcN Main
0
-I API
ilk. I v.4 ,
11 ' '&?fMV
an essenuai o i jrttf?tS ,
diarrhea,. and 5 - ',V ; 4 t .
& i