What Is Africa's Problem?

Recent seismic shifts in Congo and Rwanda have exposed the continued volatility of the state of affairs in central Africa. As African states have shaken off their postcolonial despots, new leaders with sweeping ideas about a pan-African alliance have emerged -- and yet the internecine struggles go on. What is Africa's problem? As one of the leaders expressing a broad and forceful vision for Africa's future, Uganda's Yoweri K. Museveni is perhaps better placed than anyone in the world to address the very question his book poses. In 1986, after more than a decade of armed struggle, a rebellion led by Museveni toppled the dictatorship of Idi Amin, and Museveni, at 42, became president of Uganda, a country at that time in near total disarray. Since then, Uganda has made remarkable strides in political, civic, and economic arenas, and Museveni has assumed the role of "the eminence grise of the new leadership in central Africa" (Philip Gourevitch, The New Yorker). As such, he has proven a powerful force for change, not just in Uganda but across the turbulent span of African states. This collection of Museveni's writings and speeches lays out the possibilities for social change in Africa. Working with a broad historical understanding and an intimate knowledge of the problems at hand, Museveni describes how movements can be formed to foster democracy, how class consciousness can transcend tribal differences in the development of democratic institutions, and how the politics of identity operate in postcolonial Africa. Museveni's own contributions to the overthrow of Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko and to the political transformation of Uganda suggest the kind of change that may sweep Africa indecades to come. What Is Africa's Problem? gives a firsthand look at what those changes might be, how they might come about, and what they might mean. A Collection Of Writings And Speeches By The Current President Of Uganda. Machine Generated Contents Note: I. Ugandan Politics -- 1 Ours Is A Fundamental Change -- 2 The Price Of Bad Leadership -- 3 Religion And Politics -- 4 Colonial Versus Modern Law -- 5 Security Is The Key -- 6 The State Of The Nation In 1989 -- 7 Why The Interim Period Was Extended -- 8 The Interim Balance Sheet -- 9 Where Is The Public Spirit In The Public Service? -- 10 Corruption Is A Cancer -- 11was It A Fundamental Change? -- 12 Building Uganda For The Future -- Ii. Military Strategy In Uganda -- 13 Why We Fought A Protracted People's War -- 14 Who Is Winning The War? -- 15 The Nra And The People -- 16 How To Fight A Counterrevolutionary Insurgency -- Iii. African Politics -- 17 What's Wrong With Africa? -- 18 Most Of Africa Kept Quiet -- 19 Self-reliance Is The Way Ahead -- 20 Political Substance And Political Form -- 21 The Crisis Of The State In Africa -- Iv. Africa In World Politics -- 22 Genuine Nonalignment -- 23 When Is Africa's Industrial Revolution? -- 24 Defending Our Common Heritage -- 25 The Economic Consequences Of Coffee -- 26 Africa Needs Ideological And Economic Independence -- 27 Where Does The East-west Thaw Leave Africa? -- 28 The Need For North-south Cooperation -- 29 Aids Is A Socioeconomic Disease -- Appendix: The National Resistance Movement -- Ten-point Program. Yoweri K. Museveni ; Edited By Elizabeth Kanyogonya ; Foreword By Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere. Contents 6 Foreword 10 Map of Uganda 18 Abbreviations 20 Glossary 22 Key Political Events in Uganda 24 Profile of President Ybweri Kaguta Museveni 26 I. Ugandan Polities 32 1 Ouirs Is a Fundamental Change 34 2 The Price of Bad Leadership 41 3 Religion and Politics 47 4 Colonial versus Modern Law 50 5 Security Is the Key 53 6 The State of the Nation in 1989 62 7 Why the Interim Period Was Extended 75 8 The Interim Balance Sheet 80 9 Where Is the Public Spirit in the Public Service? 90 10 Corruption Is a Cancer 102 11 Was It a Fundamental Change? 108 12 Building Uganda for the Future 119 II. Military Strategy in Uganda 140 13 Why We Fought a Protracted People's War 142 14 Who Is Winning the War? 155 15 The NRA and the People 161 16 How to Fight a Counterrevolutionary Insurgency 163 III. African Politics 172 17 What's Wrong with Africa? 174 18 Most of Africa Kept Quiet ... 181 19 Self-Reliance Is the Way Ahead 185 20 Political Substance and Political Form 192 21 The Crisis of the State in Africa 197 IV. Africa in World Politics 208 22 Genuine Nonalignment 210 23 When Is Africa's Industrial Revolution? 219 24 Defending Our Common Heritage 228 25 The Economic Consequences of Coffee 239 26 Africa Needs Ideological and Economic Independence 245 27 Where Does the East-West Thaw Leave Africa? 254 28 The Need for North-South Cooperation 262 29 AIDS Is a Socioeconomic Disease 278 Appendix: The National Resistance Movement Ten-Point Program 288