Tarehe Sita: Celebrating courage and sacrifice

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OPINION

By Lydia Wanyoto

The struggle by NRM/A to liberate Uganda from the throes of misrule and years of gross human rights violations that had for long turned Uganda into a ‘net exporter’ of refugees was not an event but a process. From its embryonic days in FRONASA and the attendant experience attained through training with FRELIMO in Mozambique in the 1970s, the struggle that finally loosened the asphyxiating chock of tyranny around Uganda’s neck was as arduous as it was perilous.

However, if one particular day can be picked out as the real watershed moment when the courageous and patriotic fighters set in motion the dream to realize a free, stable, united, democratic and prosperous Uganda, it’s the Friday of February 6, 1981.

Dubbed Terehe Sita, February 6, is a red-letter day in the annals of Uganda’s history. It’s an occasion to mark the founding of the people’s army – the UPDF.

This year’s commemoration took place in greater Masaka under the theme, “celebrating Pan-Africanism solidarity and the people’s sacrifice in the struggle for freedom and socio-economic transformation.”

As part of this year’s commemoration, the UPDF Medical and Engineering teams conducted Civil Military activities in the districts of Masaka, Sembabule, Bukomansimbi, Kalungu, Kyotera, Rakai, Lwengo, Lyantonde, Kalangala and Masaka City.

This year’s Terehe Sita theme was as rich as it was apt – calling all of us to celebrate Pan-Africanism solidarity, look beyond the narrow cleavages that chauvinists invoke to divide us, but instead focus on our common heritage as Africans regardless of the borders drawn by colonialists.

Some of the eminent proponents of Pan-Africanism like W.E.B Dubois, Martin Delaney, Trinidadian born barrister, Henry Sylvester-Williams and Kwama Nkrumah, were larger than life figures whose pioneering works has inspired generations of people with a connection to the African continent.

As an enduring mark of his contribution to spreading and entrenching the Pan African spirit, Henry Sylvester-Williams is credited with organizing the first Pan African conference in London (July 23-25^th, 1900). The purpose of the 1900 conference was four-fold:  Unite people of African descent around the world; Improve relations between Africans and Caucasians; Secure rights for African people in civilized countries; and Promote business interests for African people.

It's heartwarming and verily humbling that the issues that informed the first Pan Africanism 125 years ago are still pertinent today.  The African people who are citizens of 54 countries are still divided along borders drawn by colonialists making it easier for someone carrying a Belize, Mexican, American or Portuguese passport to visit Togo, Chad or Namibia than a citizen of another African country.

As a people with a connection with the African continent, we can better pay tribute to the ‘high priests’ of Pan Africanism – the aforementioned critical thinkers who lit a candle that has illuminated the path to African unity, by fostering intra-African trade, travel, tourism and non-repugnant cultural heritage.

Underscoring the importance of the need to foster Pan Africanism, Nkrumah noted: “Strength of imperialists lies in our disunity. We in Africa can only meet them effectively by presenting a unified front and a continental purpose.”  This unity that Nkrumah stridently pushed for can come in handy during negotiations for better trade terms with foreign countries instead of the current individual efforts that are making it easier for foreign countries and multinational corporations to give African countries a raw deal.

It's imperative at this point to laud current efforts towards intra-African trade, especially the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area, African Trade Fund and efforts under the East African Community to remove barriers to trade and travel between member states.

However, the passage of time means that the African people face more insidious threats that call for a more united front to confront. Foremost among these are climate change, transnational crime and terrorism. Environmental degradation in all its facets is fanning the embers of climate change whose spinoff effects like severe weather patterns and prolonged drought is rendering many African countries food insecure.

To better harness and sustainably utilize shared resources like forests, wetlands, rivers and lakes that straddle colonial borders demands of African countries to work together. When a forest shared between Uganda and DRC or Ghana and Togo is severely degraded by one country, efforts by the other to protect it bring miniscule ecological benefits.

From a planning perspective, the NRM Government is acutely aware of the challenges facing Uganda and the African continent that verily make this year’s Terehe Sita theme apt. For example, under the Fourth National Development Plan (2025/26-2029/30), interventions will be rolled out to increase the percentage of land covered by forests from 9.3% to 10.2. The same percentage will also apply for land covered by wetlands.

Under NDPIV, security will continue being the bedrock upon which Uganda’s quest for economic transformation will be built under Objective Five: “Strengthen good governance, security, and the role of the state in development.”

As we continue to build a better Uganda, it's imperative to remember that we do so on the shoulders of the brave men who lit the candle of liberty 44 years ago. And to fittingly honor their sacrifice, it's apt to remember Will Durant’s prescient words: “Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty and dies with chaos.”

The writer is an NPA Board member, NRM CEC member and chair NRM Women’s League