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In'Continua
With the introduction of the bill to hold the referendum, the UPC-KY alliance
gave way, for, as was mentioned, the remaining KY contingent in parliament
there-upon crossed the floor to sit with DP on the opposition benches. Untill
then the alliance had formed another contest in which the struggle between
Buganda and the rest of the country was carried on, and in which, again, the
drift of developments was against Buganda. So far as UPC was concerned, KY was
merely a temporary organisational device for securing, indirectly, the support
of the Buganda electorate, a view which a number of Baganda national politicians
also held. The reason for its existence thus came to an end, in this view,with
the 1962 electro victory,and several voices were raised the time suggesting KY's
dissolution. The core of KY, however, viewed the party much as they did in the
constitutional provisions regarding Buganda's federal status, as one of the
major means available to them for protecting their traditional institution and
furthering Buganda's interests, and they therefore strongly rejected any
suggestions that the party be disbanded.
Shortly after independence, its dissolution never
the less began, for the two of the five Baganda ministers in Obote's cabinet,
Dr. E.B.S. Lumu, Minister of Health, and Joshua Luyimbazi-Zake, Minister of
Education, switched from KY to UPC, and did several other Baganda members of the
National Assembly, including three parliamentary secretaries. Mutesa's election
to the Presidency of the country in 1963 further undermined the grounds for KY's
continuing in existence. Strong statements calling for it to be banned were made
by, among others, Godfrey Binayisa, a Muganda and Attorney General of Uganda,
John Kakonge, a Munyoro (Westerner) and then Secretary general of UPC, and
Joseph Kiwanuka, also a Muganda and founder of the old ANC. Their argument- that
as a tribal party, KY had no place in Uganda's politics- found increasing
support, among Baganda as well as others,and further defections to UPC occurred.
These along with several converts from DP gave UPC an absolute majority in the
national assembly by the time the "Lost" county bill was to be introduced,
and UPC therefore could and did, dispense with the alliance. Thus in less than
two years, KY had lost not only a substantial portion of its representatives in
parliament but, more important, its usefulness to UPC,and when that went, it
lost its veto power over national legislation as well. To an increasing number
of Baganda it thus seemed to be an obviously failing organisation, and pressure
from within Buganda for it to disband was joined with the pressure from
without for it to be banned. As a result of these pressures, and of certain
changes within UPC described below, several more leading members of KY joined
UPC in 1965, mainly during the summer months, and so within three years of
independence KY found its self with exactly one third of its original strength
in the National assembly: of the twenty-four members with which it started in
1962 (Twenty-one in direct elected by the Lukiko plus three specially elected by
the national assembly), Kabaka Yekka Remained with only eight.
Earlier, foreseeing the inroads UPC or DP
might make among its members in Buganda, KY had moved to organize followings
outside Buganda, particularly in the adjacent Bantu-Speaking kingdoms to the
West (Ankole and Toro) and the District of Busoga to the East, where its main
theme, "THE NEED TO PROTECT TRADITIONAL AND SEMI-TRADITIONAL INSTITUTIONS
FROM RADICAL MODERNISTS" would presumably have an appeal. It mate with little
success in this endeavour, certainly less than UPC mate with in its efforts to
recruit within Buganda, but in any case the tactic became a failure when, in
1965, the local governments of Bugisu, Bukedi, Busoga, and Teso in the East and
of Ankole in the West, all banned the party (Kabaka Yekka) in their districts.
By this time KY was under attack from all directions, its original leadership
had been decimated, and its remaining leadership was quarrelling. It was not
even clear that it continued to enjoy the Kabaka's support. Hence, when in
February 1966, the national assembly, following up on Obote's promise in
December to have KY banned, passed an amendment to an existing law that
effectively barred the party from operating, at least under the name, the action
served mainly to confirm what was by then a virtual fait accompli.
Even with DP, a leadership struggle occurred in
which the principle contestants were a Muganda and a non-Muganda. Here Baganda
were, in a sense, more successful, for they did retain control of the
party. But they did so at a considerable cost. Following KY's decisive victory
in Buganda in 1962 and UPC's success elsewhere, lengthy discussions took place
within DP concerning the future of the party. Among those who lost their seats
in the national assembly was the first Prime Minister of Uganda and the
President of DP, Benedicto Kiwanuka, a Muganda Catholic. Basil Bataringaya, the
Secretary-General of DP and a Munyankole Catholic (Westerner) won his
re-election with a large plurality, however, and became DP's leader in the
national assembly. An extremely energetic man and perceptive politician.
Bataringaya enjoyed a good reputation among almost all segments of Uganda's
politics, which Ben Kiwanuka for various reasons, did not.
Bataringaya also saw clearly that if DP was to become stronger as a
national party it would have to cease being the creature of Baganda Catholics,
and at the party conference after the 1962 elections, he opposed Kiwanuka in the
contest of the party presidency. In order to win, he needed a sizable fraction
of the Buganda delegation's votes, however, and this he was unable to obtain.
Following his defeat, Uganda democratic Party steadily lost members to UPC
and when, finally, in December 1964, Bataringaya himself crossed, along with
five of his followers, the DP contingent in the National assembly was left with
only nine of its original twenty-four members. It was difficult to avoid the
inference that this steady attrition, as well as Bataringaya's eventual
crossing,resulted at least partly from his having been blocked by the rest of
the party leadership, mainly Baganda, from carrying out the reforms he and a
number of others had considered necessary.
What were losses to other parties were gains to
UPC. In 1962 it had less than half of the 91 seats in the national assembly, 37
directly elected members and 6 specially elected members. By the end of 1965,
UPC held 74 of the national assembly's 92 seats (The extra seat having been
added in 1964, when the Attorney General was made a member Ex
Officio).
The following cross over table summarizes the
changes in this period:
April
1962
December
1965
Total
UPC DP KY IND
UPC
42 == ==
1 43
DP 15 9
==
==
24
KY
16 == 8
==
24
Independent
== == ==
==
==
-----------------------------------------------------
Totals
73 9 8 1
91
Added in
1964
1 == ==
==
1
------------------------------------------------------
Total
74 9
8
1
92
With its ranks thus swollen, particularly by
an increasing number of Baganda, UPC changed. From being one of the means used
by non-Baganda in their struggle with Baganda, it became, in its self, the
principle arena in which various sides of the Buganda question carried on their
fight. But this transformation, and the out come of the UPC, will be easier
to follow after more of the back ground to the events in 1966 has been
presented.
To be continued
Before we proceed any further, we have
decided to backtrack, by provide you a more thorough historical background of
this relationship. It is the only way you will understand this mariage.
(We will be right back)
The Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
