Over the last few days, cowardly offspring of evil have detonated a number of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in a number of places in Kampala – murdering innocent and unsuspecting Ugandans. As we write though, reports keep coming in of the security forces: dismantling more cells of the terrorists; putting more of the terrorists out of action; apprehending and detonating more IEDs.
In the meantime, a swell of outrage and indignation has swept the country – in strong and clear condemnation of the offspring of evil and their machinations. This has been reflected in statements from several national leaders including the Rt. Honourable the Leader of the Opposition, His Eminence the Mufti, His Grace the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, etc. We, shall not say more on the specifics of the operational situation – as we await national leadership guidance and perspectives from the President and Commander – in – Chief who is slated to address the country over the weekend.
A fringe of “leaders” (fortunately, absolutely miniscule) have insisted on being reckless and irresponsible! Some amazingly ask “if the ADF actually exist”! Somewhere on social media, a few others incredibly referred to the terrorists as “freedom fighters, who had to do what they had to do”! Others still – who seek to sow seeds of discord amongst wananchi – asked, “why the Government has to punish Moslems”! Ad infinitum, ad nauseum!
Wananchi in their millions and majority have been, and must remain, maximally vigilant – on the lookout for the purveyors of senseless and pointless death. Wananchi have stood, and must continue standing, firmly shoulder to shoulder with the men and women in uniform whose every moment is spent in defence of the homeland. The offspring of evil must face the swift and harsh justice of the homeland. Those who give the terrorists the wherewithal to prosecute the agenda of evil must be aggressively dissuaded from doing so – wherever they are, whoever they are. The terrorists are on their last legs, and shall be finally and decisively defeated.
The ADF has suffered severe decimation over the years at the hands of the gallant UPDF forces. Its rump has subsisted in the wild in the neighborhood, deeply factionalized – part of it now claiming to be the “Central African Province of the Islamic State”! The ADF has in the past claimed to have links with al Shabaab, al Qaeda, etc. But, clearly, the remnants have found succor in the neighbourhood – from whence they have occasionally emerged with their use of cowardly methods to unleash naked terror on unsuspecting wananchi. Without that succor, the motely assemblage of terrorists would have already been history.
And, we must condemn and expose all those who attempt to distort the powerful and authentic message of peace of Muhammed the Prophet and Messenger of God (Peace Be Upon Him). The deep harmony which existed in the original State built by the Prophet after the Hijrah from Makkah to Madinah in 622AD – where Moslems, Jews, and Arabs who had not embraced Islam, etc, lived peacefully side by side – is certainly not envisaged anywhere in the thinking of the offspring of evil. The thinking of the offspring of evil cannot be seen anywhere in the Holy Quran, or in the Hadiths (the recollections of the disciples and companions of the Prophet). Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world today – with 2.6 billion and 2 billion followers respectively. Both are Abrahamic, Monotheist and peaceful religions – originating from the Middle East. Nobody therefore, should attempt to sow discord amongst our people on account of religious beliefs. There is no basis whatsoever.
But, it is our responsibility to point out – apart from national and regional specificities – where the wider contemporary roots of the problem emanate. For these, we must flashback to Egypt in the 1920s, and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood or al-ikhwan al-Muslimun.
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded by Hassan al-Banna, a school teacher, in 1928 – supported by friends who worked with the Suez Canal Company. They were strongly opposed to what they saw as social injustice anchored in British imperial rule. Al-Banna and his friends saw the answer to the situation as lying in the introduction of Islamic Sharia into government, and the cultivation of an Islamic ethos of altruism and civic duty. Initially focused on educational and charitable work, the Brotherhood quickly grew to also become a formidable political force playing an important role in the Egyptian nationalist movement.
The Muslim Brotherhood spread through the Middle East, Northern Africa, Europe and elsewhere. Al-Banna was accommodative of a diversity of Islamic doctrines and theology – including the Shia variant. What was central in all the message of the Brotherhood, was the need to recreate the purity of the original State of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), to resist injustice, and work for social progress.
The turning point came with the radicalization of the Brotherhood, associated particularly with Sayyid Qutb – the Egyptian theorist for violent jihad, and the establishment of a global Islamic Caliphate. Qutb cut short his stay in the United States in 1951 after the assassination of Hassan al-Banna. He refined a violent political theology – considering the entire world today as being jahiliyya (the “barbarous” state that existed before the Prophet), and which needed to be overthrown. Al Qaeda, al Shabaab, ISIL, IS, etc – are all offshoots and variants of Qutb thought. Our local offspring of evil are a particularly convoluted variety!
One complicating factor in all this, has been western interests in global politics and economics. These interests swing from condemnation and attempts to destroy the jihadists on the one hand, to support on the other. These interests, for example, funded the Brotherhood for several years – in a protracted attempt to overthrow the iconic anti-imperialist leader of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser! Osama bin Laden, similarly, was initially very useful to these western interests in the proxy war in Afghanistan against the defunct Soviet Union.
Down with the offspring of evil! Down with all those who provide succor to the offspring of evil!
K. David Mafabi
Senior Presidential Advisor/Political Affairs (Special Duties)
State House
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