JOHN Sewankambo’s article in the local press was an interesting read. While any sensible person could easily fault it as the ranting of a desperate person, when Olara Otunnu avows confrontation as the only answer to ousting President Museveni, any sane person will stop to ponder over his remarks. “Only confrontation will knock down this rogue regime,” is a quote attributed to Otunnu. He was quoted as saying that when Museveni learnt that he had been elected UPC president, he started trembling. “Please tell him there is fire in Namboole and let us light a fire in Mbarara and in Yumbe so there is nowhere for him (Museveni) to hide,” said Otunnu. Whoever listened to this presidential aspirant must at least have felt sympathy for Ugandans, more especially the youth who are most susceptible to get in the line of fire in the event of any confrontation. It is a truism that it is not history that repeats itself, but fools repeating historical mistakes. Otunnu was Uganda’s permanent representative to the UN (1980-85) and later UN undersecretary general and special representative for Children in Armed Conflict 1997 to 2005. These are the eight years that the LRA wrecked most havoc on Uganda’s children and this compassionate Ugandan (Otunnu) never stepped inside Uganda, let alone, condemned Kony — what an irony! Back to fools repeating historical mistakes, the AK 47 assault rifle designer, Alexander Kalashnikov, had this to say about his invention: “A weapon designed to leave in its wake orphans and widows... if it does not kill, blame the designer.” To date, no one has come up with any blame for the invention that continues to leave orphans and widows behind because it has never failed to kill. Otunnu who is shouting at the top of his voice that UPC has attained the sort of maturity that can compel him to leave civil society and join its membership in the trenches may not have any orphans or widows to leave behind. “What a scenario,” to use Dr. Apollo Milton Obote’s words. Here is a man planning to lead the youth into the trenches. This makes him no different from prophetess Alice Lakwena who led uncouth youth to battle. She had no children of her own to leave behind in case she was killed in battle. This is an irony that is not lost on Ugandans who, at the end of the day, will have the last word on who becomes their president. This is not another call to arms for Ugandans, but to give them a timely warning to be adequately prepared instead of pegging our hopes on intervention of the US president Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. The Americans may be more responsive to the cries of children than people who want to start war in their home countries. The truth is that the Americans already have more than enough problems on their plates and do not have the time to play the baby-sitting role for crying Africans. When will Africans ever do the right thing without involving others, whose understanding of African matters is academic at best? It is time Ugandan politicians learnt that the matters of Uganda are best understood by Ugandans and their leaders. The writer is the chief of the UPDF Centre for Doctrine Synthesisation and Development From Uganda Media Centre