Could Kayihura's fall threaten Museveni's legacy?

I was not around to witness how twenty-seven guns liberated this country but it must have been a work of genius.

The lives which were lost in the struggle and the remnant rubble of collateral damage cannot be sufficiently atoned for by posthumous medals.

Even more so, in Northern Uganda during the Lakwena uprising and Joseph Kony insurgencies not too long ago. Today, is not when we talk about Kasese or the well-kept secrets of the ongoing struggles in African countries, ours inclusive.

Many will agree that despite debates on service delivery, the speed of infrastructural development and poverty alleviation initiatives; President Museveni’s government should be credited for Uganda’s secure borders in the last thirty years.

Uganda has exported military support to causes in Somalia and Iraq and maybe could have done better in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In the meantime, we enjoy respectful détente with the neighbours.

If General Kayihura was a “weevil” which was removed, should we not be concerned that a sack of beans always has several weevils multiplying by the day?

We could be dismissive and leave squabbles of the generals to, the generals. In which breath, we will never ask about Fred Rigyema, James Kazini, Nobel Mayombo, Aronda Nyakairima, Felix Kawesi, Joan Kagezi and Hajji Abiriga.

Another version of history will tell what exactly happened to the retreating Idi Amin army, the Obote loyalists that have since vanished and the many bones which found themselves balled in the right sockets at a wrong time in our history.

Today though, I can only speak of the history I have learned. My first Social Studies Teacher (SST) taught that Museveni was the President who had brought peace to Uganda and I believed her.

I now wonder what to expect of the tree when the branches turn brittle and break.

First it was General Tinyefuza (Sejjusa), a former spy chief who bolted in the heat of conversations about a Muhoozi project pointing to bad blood amongst the twenty-seven-gun parade and their sons now well in their forties and ready for a seat at the table of men.

Now it is General Kayihura reminiscing the carrot where what is left is a gaping guillotine. General Kayihura was the face of military entrenchment in the police and a rather eventful tenure it was for him.

It is safe to say that his appearances at crime scenes, publicised work ethic; constant run-ins with opposition politicians and fellow security organs earned him the cultic reality television personality with the catchy name, KK.

Multiparty politics may be an overrated phony in Africa and it is yet to be established whether the ballot is strong enough to deliver the right leadership or hold leaders to the promises they make.

Teargas, pepper spray; questionable detentions and walk to work may remain badges of highhandedness and civil disobedience in this country but we are not ready to account for our claim to self-determination.

None of the major political parties has effectively outgrown its patrons or convincingly earned the trust of citizens beyond core interest groups.

Peace is the trump card on the table, but for how much longer? If Mr. Museveni is the only uniting factor for the myriad military outfits and armed forces then we need to rethink the blue print.

In a place where the head of police could turn rogue, it speaks to the possibility of more undetected lion cubs in a latent state of domestication.

If the boda-boda network could be used as handle for wanton devices, then the hoodies or lack of them do not suffice to arrest the problem.

The President could be holding on to leashes and reins with damaged nooses and broken bridles with the subjects in delinquent wanton.

Abstemious as I might be to ideological pints, I question the boldness of Kifeesi, the kidnaps, murders and machete hacks in Masaka in a country where security and peace are the most prized possession.

Are we failing to properly identify the hydra whose tentacles seem to be all over the place, such that when one head is cut off, two develop in its place?

Some cadres might be revising how much they are willing to sacrifice for their boss before they are flung loose and left to the mercy of seafaring masses on whose toes they treaded.

Conversely, career opposition politicians must be cursing the endless wait for their day to start eating like the supposed sellouts they once despised. Call it a classic double bind for political Mammalia.

Occasionally, elephants fight and the grass need not interfere but when it is a parade is disarray, the anthills will be smashed by gallops and thuds. If Mr.

Museveni is finding trouble hemming in his generals, we cannot blame him for losing a bye election in Rukungiri, we should hope he can keep them from tearing each other apart and leaving a wrecked populace in their wake.

Maybe as they say, a good tree is one which stands tall and when the weather changes, it lets the dry leaves fall off and rot into manure!

Meanwhile, in March, two bulls at the top of security in the country were summarily dismissed via twitter, why is there no talk of the other one?

The writer is a lawyer and author