[Ugnet] Obwangor reflects on the past

[musamize ssemakula]

Article Published on: 16th December 2004.

Obwangor reflects on the past

By Benon Herbert Oluka WEEKLY OBSERVER Behind Soroti Secondary School, just outside Soroti town, Cuthbert Obwangor�s double storied 1960s house dwarfs all buildings around. The corroded iron sheets that cover the roof mirror the rest of the house, with its rickety windows and cracked walls. It is not the most beautiful house in the area � there is a new double storied hotel to its left � but Obwangor�s house is one of a kind. Like his house, the former Obote I government minister stands out in Soroti district. That journey to the top, however, started with a dignified, if not mortifying resignation from his position as minister in 1967 when the then president, Milton Obote, tried to change the constitution in his favour. Obwangor refused to submit to the principle of collective cabinet responsibility in supporting Obote�s proposal to, among other things, grant himself more powers as president. Even today, Obwangor, 84, maintains that giving Obote more powers would have been the wrong thing to do. He argues that it would have meant that Ugandans were going to have political independence without political freedom. Obote arrested Obwangor and several other ministers, after he resigned. But even now, Obwangor has no ill feelings against his former boss. �He was a wonderful person but when he spoilt the constitution, he killed the country,� Obwangor says of the exiled former president. Obwangor�s differences with Obote, he says, were purely on policy issues � there was nothing personal. Following the experience he went through during that tumultuous period (1966-67), Obwangor thinks Uganda is treading a fatal path in attempting to tinker with the 1995 Constitution. �Anyone undermining the present constitution made by 80 percent of Ugandans is throwing himself out of politics�� he warns. Obwangor believes it is up to today�s parliamentarians to defend the country, but he has little faith in the MPs. �Their debating is not so firm on nationalistic thinking,� he said. When he draws comparisons between the parliament just after independence and today, the current crop is not up to the task. Obwangor contrasts the two august houses: �We had a library where I was in charge and we used to study, but now they have a canteen where they just go and drink.� To Obwangor, the problem is in the system used to elect MPs. �They are there on individual merit while we went there for nation building. They are debating on small issues,� he says. Obwangor believes the system of electing representatives on individual merit has killed the spirit of nationalism, allowing parliamentarians not to be accountable to anyone, including the party they belong to. �To put Uganda right, people must elect the best men and women so that we have proper national leaders,� he said. After a moment of reflection, he adds: �No thieves!� He repeats it three times, as if it were a slogan. Obwangor has always stood out as an eccentric politician, even when Idi Amin was president. �Amin called me to be the advisor of the local government. I refused. I told him that I am sick. I can�t work with a military man. They have no time to think like civil men. Their influence is bad,� he said. It is highly probable that Amin would not have tolerated Obwangor�s single mindedness. His friend Benedict Kiwanuka (DP leader and former chief justice), for example, worked with Amin and paid with his life. �Kiwanuka made the mistake of accepting to be led by people in the military,� Obwangor said. While it may not be easy to tell how well Kiwanuka would have steered the Democratic Party (DP) had he lived, Obwangor believes he would have made a better contribution than its current leadership. �[Current DP President Paul] Ssemogerere is lost. He has just made money out of DP,� he remarked. But Obwangor still believes Uganda deserves multiparty democracy. �They should allow political parties. The government is merely obstructing them by using delaying tactics,� he said. Should the government stubbornly delay the transition to political pluralism, Obwangor says the people have the capacity to use the power of the masses to influence events. If Obwangor were to rouse the masses, though, he would not opt for civil disobedience. It is far too expensive, he says. For a man who lived through the turbulent time of the 1966 crisis through to the murderous times of Amin and Obote II, Obwangor draws from a bitter experience. He would rather the people all over the country were organised into political groups. �We lack organisation. Most people who want power are concentrated in Kampala,� he said. Obwangor believes leaders should always think of country above self. �We must remember that Uganda is our country where we have fought for freedom and liberty. We must remove tribalism. Our tribes are good but we must all stand for our country.� [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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