ANDREW MWENDA  LISTEN YOUR “LISTENER” IS SPEAKING

Part 1

 

R

obin Morgan says "Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting and manipulation of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility.”.This is why I was very disturbed by Andrew Mwenda’s article titled “Obama should mind his own business”, an article published by Aljezera that followed right after Obama’s speech to the African Union in Addis Ababa. What disturbed me the most was the ill informed applause he received from what I would call right thinking members of society and a considerable section of  the elite class. It revealed to me  two things that the so called elite Ugandan class is poor at both research and analysis. 

It’s important to note that Barack Obama is the first American President to host over 49 African Presidents and prime ministers from Africa for the First African leaders summit, the first American President to address the AU not forgetting that he is the first Black American President.

In his 48 minute speech to the AU,  Obama made 5 rather important points. One,  his acknowledgement that he is a proud son of Africa. Second that the approach towards Africa must change, in that, Africa no longer needs patrons but rather partners, that Africa no longer needs aid but rather trade.  Thirdly, that the most important task for our African leaders is to provide opportunities for the emerging youth population. Fourth, that Africa no longer needs strong leaders per se but rather strong institutions and finally his admission that America is no perfect democracy.

I must state that I have my reservations on Obama as a president and a heavy critic of his foreign policies but in respect to his address to the AU I must confess that the US President got the most part of his speech right, the countless applause's  in the house could not suggest otherwise, Regardless of these insightful pointers amidst many others Mwenda attempted to critic this submission. On an ordinary day at office I would gladly enjoy a well thought out criticism of Obama’s  speech, but rather Mwenda chose to shy away from the contents of the speech itself especially the key points as I highlighted above and took a road traveled by most  intellectual psuedos,.

I must confess that I was a huge fan of  his line of arguments and at times almost persuaded that he always almost wrote my mind but today I cannot say the same and am not alone. Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba, founder of  Ugandans at Heart (UAH), the biggest critical social media platform in Uganda says “I was once a strong Andrew Mwenda  fan and I think, deep inside I still have a soft spot for him, but he just keeps breaking my heart man.”

Sarah Nalukenge a social and political commentator refers to Andrew Mwenda as an “agent provocateur who disguises as an ardent critic so as to attract, trap and compromise dissenters”.  A one Yahya Sseremba even wrote an article titled: “ THE FALL OF ANDREW MWENDA: How bribery turned a reverend journalist into a vulgar propagandist, published by the campus Journal April 18 2012 a must read for anyone having second thoughts already.

The website www.ipetitions.com  has petitioned NTV to remove Andrew Mwenda from the controversial  NTV News Night political talk show,  and I quote their statement  “There is no doubt, Andrew Mwenda is an intelligent, cunning, and highly educated fellow who does lots of research. However, using his wide knowledge to twist facts and intimidate/bully many of those who pay attention to him is not proper conduct.” The site has got 1276 signatures within one week a true manifestation of a frustrated viewer audience.

Thanks to the few like minded individuals who were equally disturbed by Andrew Mwenda’s  psuedo  intellectualism I got the motivation to voice my opinion about the same. So am not the only one who thinks Andrew Mwenda has lost his credibility as a writer.

On reading Andrew Mwenda’s article in response to Obama’s speech to the AU, it would appear so typical of Mwenda that one would not even consider the option of listening in on Obama’s speech or let alone analyze the truth behind Mwenda’s  article as many   have been drawn to believe Mwenda’s word is alpha and omega. But on the contrary his article was marred with both ignorance, misinformed submissions and outdated research which I will prove.  

1.      Mwenda accused Obama of not having the moral authority to lecture Africans on Human rights  a position I also share and have actually written an article about the same however the base of his claim is what hit me hard. Mwenda based his assertion on evidence that the USA police kills a black American every 28 hour which he quoted from a  report made in “2012” called operation Ghetto Storm. But this does not in any way make America less credible because of targeting blacks as Mwenda portrayed or at least wanted us to believe . The figure comes from this unofficial partisan report by a black nationalist organization, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. The group claims 313 black people were killed in 2012 by “someone employed or protected by the US government”, thus it was not the US police force alone covered by the report but also included members of private security agencies ,government employees, shop workers, and members of the public. The most current research published by Joshua D Copelandon 22 August 2014 on his website www.thereelnetwork.net  reveals that its one black per every 36 hours not 28 hours as Mwenda had posed,  if updated information is anything to go by.

      The website www.libertynews.com in 2012, revealed that according to the CDC, 140 blacks were killed by police. That same year 386 whites were killed by police. Over the 13-year period from 1999 to 2011, the CDC reports that 2,151 whites were killed by cops and 1,130 blacks were killed by cops. More recent reports from the   Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, CDC and the FBI Census Bureau reveal that   in 2012, police killed 123 blacks , and 326 whites . In the following year 2013, blacks committed 5,375 murders while whites committed 4,396 murders

      So from the statistics it’s clear that not only have more whites been killed than blacks but also that more blacks have committed murder crimes contrary to what Mwenda’s article wanted to have us to believe that the American police deliberately victimizes blacks.  But since black people make up about 13 per cent of the US population, and nearly 63 percent of Americans are white, one would be seen to conclude that there were more than three black deaths at police hands per million people compared to about one in a million for  whites if you divide the deaths by the average population. But even if this was so, it does not correspond with murder arrests made, if it was a question of averages per population then more whites would also be arrested for murder. Further statistics from the Bureau of Statistics on homicides from 1980-2008 reveals that about 93% of blacks in America are killed by other fellow blacks. Thus the Black-on-black violence claims more lives than police killings..  Furthermore  the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, CDC and the FBI Census Bureau reveals that Police killings of blacks has been cracked  down by 70 percent in last 50 years.

     

      So where does Andrew Mwenda, a resounding journalist get the audacity to use black American killings by US police to justify his assertions? Its only reasonable to conclude that this was marred with both ignorance, misinformed submissions and outdated research which was spun to support a weak argument aimed at appealing to the Hearts of most Africans and support whoever’s interests.

Note; I will release my article in parts as there is a lot to be put right with Mwenda's Articles. Keep viewing my blog for the latest updates on the same

The writer

Mwesigwa Onesmus

Third Year law Student

Uganda Christian University

A blogger, social and Political analyst and ardent debater