Good afternoon Assistant Secretary, I have a question that originated from my time spent studying abroad and conducting research in Uganda this past fall.
I had the pleasure of seeing you speak at Makerere University regarding Youth Involvement and Democracy in Uganda's upcoming election in February. The question that was on lots of peoples minds, which you duly answered was regarding the US' involvement in Uganda: How could the US support both free and fair elections while also providing singular support for Yoweri Museveni's government, which utterly suppresses those values, under the auspices of fighting al-Shabaab. I understand the support the US provides is military in nature and your response was that the US can promote our founding principles (Democracy etc) while still helping fight a terrorist organization with Uganda's military.
My question is this: In a country such as Uganda where the government, the NRM, and the MILITARY are fused into one entity (until the late 90s Museveni wanted the Army to be the country's police), how can the United States ENSURE the skills, equipment, and monetary support we give the Ugandan government/police/UPDF/CMI doesn't trickle down in the very well known, wide spread stifiling of democracy? (e.g. CMI communications intercepts, CT police election violence against Mbabazi/Besigye, etc.) For my research I worked with CMI and CT police and it was clear that much of their success/training was based on US involvement. I also studied the huge human rights violations and political dominance asserted by the Museveni camp.
Apologies for the long winded question, I truly enjoyed listening to you speak. It was extremely evident the heart and dedication you've put into the promotion of democracy across the world and as a rising Senior in college looking into the Foreign Service as a career, you can only be described as a role model!
Thank you!
drewziegler9 karma
Good afternoon Assistant Secretary, I have a question that originated from my time spent studying abroad and conducting research in Uganda this past fall.
I had the pleasure of seeing you speak at Makerere University regarding Youth Involvement and Democracy in Uganda's upcoming election in February. The question that was on lots of peoples minds, which you duly answered was regarding the US' involvement in Uganda: How could the US support both free and fair elections while also providing singular support for Yoweri Museveni's government, which utterly suppresses those values, under the auspices of fighting al-Shabaab. I understand the support the US provides is military in nature and your response was that the US can promote our founding principles (Democracy etc) while still helping fight a terrorist organization with Uganda's military.
My question is this: In a country such as Uganda where the government, the NRM, and the MILITARY are fused into one entity (until the late 90s Museveni wanted the Army to be the country's police), how can the United States ENSURE the skills, equipment, and monetary support we give the Ugandan government/police/UPDF/CMI doesn't trickle down in the very well known, wide spread stifiling of democracy? (e.g. CMI communications intercepts, CT police election violence against Mbabazi/Besigye, etc.) For my research I worked with CMI and CT police and it was clear that much of their success/training was based on US involvement. I also studied the huge human rights violations and political dominance asserted by the Museveni camp.
Apologies for the long winded question, I truly enjoyed listening to you speak. It was extremely evident the heart and dedication you've put into the promotion of democracy across the world and as a rising Senior in college looking into the Foreign Service as a career, you can only be described as a role model! Thank you!
View HistoryShare Link