Oct 27, 2004
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The Chairman, Your Excellency, It is definitely clear to every Ugandan now that the politics of our country, (the basis and manner of governance of Uganda in future), is undergoing a fundamental transformation from individual merit, call it individual vision, to a collective shared vision enshrined in a set of principles and policies of a political organisation. The individual merit/vision stance has operated for over fifteen years under which great success and achievements can only be denied by an irrational mind.
The apparent upheavals taking place today within our political organisations in the country are inevitable birth pains some of them real raptures which are natural consequences of a process of transformation. Hence internal strifes taking place in practically every political party including the Movement Organisation should not be seen as alamity that has befallen our politics in Uganda. Rather, it must be accepted as an inevitable healthy phase as we transit towards governance under multipartism. The majority of the political leaders at all levels in the country today have matured under the individual merit/vision system under which they have acquired their leadership parameters. It will therefore call for great reserves of understanding and patience (therefore time), to shake off most of those acquired attributes many of which are certainly incompatible with the politics of collective merit, call it vision. Certainly for a long time many will have to be continuously reminded to forget the �I� and adopt the �We� stance. Within our own house, the NRM, the birth pains have been more intense because of the deep ruptures that have occurred. It is therefore absolutely incumbent upon all leaders at every level that whatever steps we take and, whatever language we use to garner the NRM supporters to launch the Party, does not cause further ruptures and bleeding, lest the period of recuperation takes longer than that of other political parties. It is equally important for all potential members of NRM to realise and appreciate the fact that what binds us together are the declared principles we conferred upon ourselves as enshrined in the preamble of our Party Constitution. How to achieve those principles and the road map for their realisation is a mandate our constitution bestows on the various policy organs of the party, which organs are not yet in place. Until these organs like the Branch, the National executive Council, the National Conference etc are put in place by the Interim Executive Committee as mandated by the promoters of NRM, no individual potential member should be ostracized or intimidated for expressing his/her views or vision on issues concerning the future of our country as long as he/she is satisfied that those views are not at variance with the declared principles of NRM embodied in our preamble. �I submit that the Kisanja Saga that has played havoc in the Movement and �the basis on which many potential members are being castigated and many times labeled unmovement does not figure anywhere near the said principles in our constitution. And because both the pro and anti Kisanja take the stance of �for the good of our country� it is the National Conference, the supreme policy making organ of the NRM, that will establish a final position that shall bind all of us. This is also true of the currently Government decisions. Obviously the cabinet is not an organ within our NRM constitution. Its decisions therefore cannot in any way bind a potential member .of NRM until such decisions have their origin in decisions previously taken by the National Conference of the Party. In my position as Vice Chairman of the Interim Executive Committee of NRM and even if I was a member of Parliament and not a member of Cabinet, I will continue to disagree with such decisions where I feel my individual vision for the future good of this country is being staked. Unfortunately, there are currently many potential members of NRM who are experiencing a crisis within their conscience on a number of issues concerning the future of our country and not necessarily the pecuniary interest of their personal future. Many of them, left to themselves, would. take objective decisions based on what they consider to be the best for the country. However, the brandishing of orchestrated �Movement positions� on some of those issues many of them key ones, fetters their free expressions and therefore denies the country the benefit of many othem angles to the problems facing us in this formative period of transition. In fact this has been worsened by a spectre hovering especially over the heads of MPs dangling all sorts of carrots - promises of positions, money, solving plight problems and in some cases shear intimidation. We have even started hearing the language of �polishir.g the guns� (emundu tujja kuziwawula)� with impunity. All this does not augur well for an eagerly anticipated birth of a political institution like the NRM which must reflect practices of internal democracy and tolerance, the fundamental characteristic on which NRM must stand out clear against the old parties. Mr. Chairman, a word about generating common positions. Whenever some members of an organization feel that the origin of a given position required to be adopted by all is from the caucusing of a �trusted� few, such positions will always be resented by many however good it may be. In the last meeting of the 1.E.C for example I found myself in an embarrassing situation where your two Vice Chairman M. Kigongo and myself received your proposals for the first time in the plenary of the I.E.C. Were we supposed to just endorse? Otherwise how could a Vice Chairman oppose the recommendations of his Chairman in the plenary? In conclusion, I am appealing to your Excellency and all leaders within the NRM at all levels to allow and foster during this transition period, free flow of ideas on important issues concerning the future of our country especially where such ideas do not infringe on the principles enshrined in our Party Constitution. Bidandi-SsaIi |
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