You have
become conspicuously quieter since you met the president. Is there any
reason for this?
No, we are not
quiet. We have not stopped our weekly press briefings, for instance, and
we have not stopped defending innocent Ugandans who are unlawfully
detained.
This meeting boosted our confidence. Remember we did not
invite ourselves to State House. The president invited us and that shows
that our work is visible.
A recent
poll showed that your leader, Dr Besigye, is losing support. Did this
bother you?
The tempo normally
goes up before, during and immediately after an election. It is now two
years since the elections and Ugandans are now concerned with other things
as opposed to politics. The poverty is biting. People have to earn a
living. But we are also not reaching the people. Even after the court
ruling against the Political Parties and Organisations Act, they
[government] are still harassing us.
As for Mr Museveni,
he is losing support. During the last election there were senior Movement
leaders who asked us not to campaign for Dr Besigye in order to allow Mr
Museveni to serve his last term. Now he doesn�t want to go. People are
seeing through his plot.
What did you
benefit from the Nakasero meeting?
Well, the president
recognised our existence and our stake in the future of this country as
the opposition. He also agreed to meet with all opposition groups. That is
significant because previously he thought only he knew what this country
needs.
What role
does RA see itself playing in the transition?
Our role is the same
as that of any other political organisation interested in genuine
democracy in our country. But we are also working to see that all these
opposition parties work together: This is partly because we believe that
no single political party can force Mr Museveni � or the Movement, for
that matter � to change.
We want to ensure Ugandans have free and
fair elections next time round. We want the political playing field to be
levelled. And this is not easy essentially because Mr Museveni is not
comfortable with a fair competition.
Did he
invite you to woo you back into the Movement?
If that was his aim,
then he failed miserably.
Are you in
touch with the other parties?
We are trying to
work with all the seven political groups but this excludes the MPs opposed
to the third term. We are waiting for government to extend the invitation
extended to us to all the other parties; then we can meet and start
planning for the national dialogue. We need to determine the structure,
agenda, direction and composition of this dialogue.
Why are you
excluding the anti-third term MPs?
We welcome these MPs
who are standing up to Mr Museveni. We have long said many of the things
they are saying now: that the Movement is becoming intolerant. We are
talking with some of them in their individual capacities. The problem is
that they claim they are still in the Movement. We think you cannot reform
the Movement from within. Their objectives also appear to be limited to
opposing the third term. We are trying to reform the whole body politic.
But even if they are still within the Movement, we shall work with them in
the struggle to prevent a dictatorship being entrenched in
Uganda.
What are
your major challenges as an organisation?
We still face a
major hurdle in the obnoxious political party law that government uses to
prevent us from reaching the population.
We cannot hold rallies or
major meetings or travel outside Kampala. It is very shameful for
government, for instance, to fight even a party that has only two MPs. How
can you be scared of such a group unless you have a hidden
Agenda?
When Dr Besigye
contested the 2001 election he was branded an enemy even though he brought
credibility to the regime by his mere participation. These undemocratic
tools government uses are a major problem for us. We can hardly do
anything substantial without being harassed.
The other problem is
being misunderstood. It is true at one time we considered changing the
Movement from within. We quit the Movement long ago. But now some
opposition leaders are talking against us; that we are Movementists
masquerading as opposition.
We are not the
Ocheger [Nelson, one-time presidential candidate] type. We are a serious
group trying to organise the opposition that will be an alternative to the
Movement.
Some of these people
speaking against us are doing it deliberately to stop us from taking their
supporters. When you have internal divisions and you see a different group
organising, you can easily get scared.
Do you
expect your leader Dr Besigye back in time for the 2006
elections?
We want him to
return even before the onset of the election period. That is why we must
get guarantees that he will not be harassed or even arrested. Dr Besigye
has made a tremendous contribution to Uganda�s politics; there is no
reason why he should not participate in the transition.
The Political
Parties and Organisations Act bars an exile who has just returned from
running for president. That is one of our demands: The law must be amended
because certain sections are clearly aimed at individuals like Dr
Besigye.
Your third vice
president Winnie Byanyima is also abroad. Does this have anything to do
with rumours that President Museveni wanted her arrested?
Winnie does not fear
being arrested. She is a very brave woman. Even during the meeting at
State House, Col. Mayombo [Noble, Chief of Military Intelligence] was
accusing her of supporting rebel activity. The president himself has
accused her of the same.
But Winnie has
maintained she is not involved in anything illegal, and I believe her.
I understand that she went out with the permission of the Speaker to
do some work for the UN and for the country, and also to see her doctors.
I expect her back any time.
How shall
you de-link Reform Agenda from the accusations of treasonable offences
against its leaders?
We think government
knows the truth � that we are not involved in rebel activity. They are
just using it to harass us, which is expected in any struggle. This will
not silence us. All heroes in these political struggles have suffered at
one time or another.
The other reason we
are accused is that whenever people are unfairly arrested, we come to
their defence. We do not ask if they are our members; because we believe
that all Ugandans should have equal protection of the law. If at all any
individual has committed offences, there are laws to handle wrong doers.
When we met the
president I put to him this scenario regarding James Opoka: When I was
campaigning for Dr Besigye, Lt. Col. Anthony Kyakabale was Mr Museveni�s
agent in Rukungiri. Now that government says Lt. Col. Kyakabale has become
a rebel, does that make Mr Museveni a rebel too?
We are not going to
be threatened out of our struggle and I urge all Ugandans to stand firm.
We are likely to have a situation as is happening in Zimbabwe. A time is
coming when every one will have to stand up and be counted.
Are you
talking about the machinations for the third term?
That is a very sad
situation indeed. When we were in the CA that issue was debated
extensively and it was agreed that no one should have more than two terms.
By 2006 Mr Museveni will have been in power for 20 years. That is a very
long time.
The life of a nation
cannot be entrusted in the hands of one person for such a long time. The
office of the president is very powerful: You end up with children wanting
to take over from you.
This is why I am disappointed in Mr Bidandi
Ssali when he talks of different systems to keep Mr Museveni in power.
Article 105 (2) is aimed at the individual regardless of the political
system.
We knew even during
the CA that African leaders don�t want to leave power.
Mr Bidandi must also
remember that we got the good things from both the Parliamentary [British]
and Presidential [American] systems to come out with our own Uganda
Constitution.
Are you
confident that the third term can be defeated?
I think Ugandans are
mature now and they can no longer be fed on lies. I see them this time
rejecting [Mr Museveni�s] desires. I appeal to the MPs to use their
positions to ensure Mr Museveni does not come back for another term.
History will judge them harshly if they allow Mr Museveni to become a life
president.
FACT
FILE: Mr. Sam Kalega
Njuba
Born: 22 February
1941 at Gayaza, Wakiso district
Parents: Canon Malachi Njuba and Eseza
Njuba (RIP)
Education: Gayaza Kadongo and Wampeewo primary schools,
Makerere College School, Mbale S.S.S. Dar es Salaam University (LLB),
Queens University, Belfast (LLM)
Work: Taught law at Makerere
University.
Buganda Road magistrate for six months. Worked in New
Guinea.
Went into private legal practice
Politics: Minister of State
for Justice and Constitutional Affairs (1986-1994); CA delegate for
Kyadondo East (1994-95); National Chairman of the Elect Besigye Task Force
(2000); vice chairman Reform Agenda (2002).
