This & That: By Henry Ochieng
Feb 20, 2004
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It could not have been said any better than in the minority reports of Prof. Frederick Ssempebwa and Mr Sam Owor of the Constitutional Review Commission. The professor said: "... the people had seen an elected leader use the power of incumbency to enhance and prolong his tenure of office undemocratically". While Owor posited that: "... the two term presidential limit was fixed following the exercise of people's sovereignty through the people's Constituent Assembly.
It is therefore misleading to give the impression that the two term limit takes away people's sovereignty. The fact is that sovereignty without institutions, agreed systems and internal controls or checks and balances would be a sure recipe for anarchy. The sovereign Ugandans in 1995 opted for systems and controls including the term limits in the interest of good governance." These are good arguments against misrule, warped pretensions at patriotism and megalomania. One hoped that mature and foresighted people occupying our political spaces should have grasped these facts a long time ago and resisted the howling winds for life presidency. Instead, you have a considerable number of them caught in the wind. For some, it is the bread of state patronage compelling them to act without reason; for others misplaced endearment to an alleged lone visionary. If we were to assume that the sitting gentleman at Nakasero is still loved by the people, and therefore must stay in office until the love is gone, what are the options available to dispel this myopic notion? The anti-life presidency brigade has almost sufficiently educated the public about the dangers that lie ahead. It is now safe to say that one in 20 Ugandans has heard about Museveni's hopes for another term. The ground is now ripe to weigh available options. Uganda's traditional political parties are easy targets for regime hatchet men. The Uganda People's Congress (UPC) is still saddled by the baggage of a past riddled with allegations of misrule, mass murder and cronyism. The party, naturally, turns its nose up at such allegations. But this will not extinguish the truth that a significant section of the electorate is willing to believe this claim and will not vote for a candidate with the merest of links to the old man in Lusaka, Zambia. The Democratic Party of Dr Paul Ssemogerere is almost on its deathbed. Some members say the doctor is responsible for that comatose state of affairs. They speak about the need for fresh thoughts from a younger body of leaders. There are also whispers that too many times Ssemogerere has bent over; first in 1980 when he allegedly accepted to be robbed of the presidency, then in the Okello Junta of 1985, and with Museveni until 1995. The word 'compromised' jumps to mind. But DP's more hobbling pickle is that it cannot seem to jettison its provincial, conservative Catholic roots. With the exception of parts of northern Uganda (before the insurgency laid Acholi sub-region to waste), the DP is seen as a tribal party for ethnic Baganda with strong ties to the Church. Not winning material in modern Uganda. A quick look at the Conservative Party confirms my everlasting suspicions that it has never really existed outside the minds of its founding members and a few others. And now that its whiskered leader, Jehoash Mayanja Nkangi has been reduced to the embarrassing position of running a faction, after his secretary general, MP Ken Lukyamuzi and another ejected him in a bloodless coup, the 'party' is on life support. The strongest point for DP and UPC then is that they still have a network of sorts at the grassroots although mostly in hibernation. Given opportunity and space, the chances for rejuvenation exist. Museveni knows this and has made sure UPC and DP do not reach the people on the ground while at the same time deploying his cadres to brainwash the mostly rural soft heads. Those who cherish the free competition of political ideas will however, take cheer in recent utterances from the UPC leadership within the country. DP is thinking much the same way. Their leader has unequivocally promised to yield power to a vibrant soul. This news will silence internal criticism that his longevity remains a liability. The only trouble is that DP is not spoilt for choice in possible successors - especially if you agree that its best bet lies in finding a non-Catholic, non-Muganda to replace Ssemogerere. That leaves the country with Dr Kizza Besigye's Reform Agenda and the Parliamentary Advocacy Forum (Pafo). Reform had a good showing in 2001, scooping the protest vote against Museveni but not much else. The other tricky part is that while it is in opposition, this 'pressure group' stubbornly refuses to disassociate itself from the apparent one-party Movement philosophy. It talks of causing internal reform in the Movement after dumping Museveni, which to me is not very helpful in democratic pluralism terms. Pafo seems to be very strong at the centre, heavily populated with intelligent and visible politicians - the sort of people you can trust the country with. But the Musevenists assert that Pafo has recruited from the ranks of malcontents who were shunted from the Movement's high table and for that reason are not opposing the incumbent on principle but out of spite. That claim is debatable. More to the point though is the fear that Pafo is too elitist and does not have a substantial grassroots base. Against that backdrop, there is increasing talk of stringing together another coalition of political forces. But with that talk, you also have whispers (who is fanning them?) that the DP will not ally with UPC again for fear of disorienting its faithful who were brought up on a 'hate the congress' diet. Now then, what should the profile of a coalition candidate look like? A colleague mentioned Dr Suleiman Kiggundu, who with some dusting up and apologising for his role in running down Greenland Bank could be promoted as a compromise candidate. He has some things going for him. He is a liberal Muslim, not too elitist though well-educated, commands the respect of a significant ethno-political group in the south, west and near east of the country, and is 'sellable'. The other option is for a person like Prof. Ssempebwa whose star just got even brighter. 077 501 436 |
© 2004 The Monitor Publications
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