| Ekisanja will sail through |
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OPINION: The 2001 elections were rigged; going by the unanimous view of judges, disallowing by three to two, Kizza Besigye’s petition against [President] Museveni’s declared victory. During the first popular elections in 1996, the eerie manoeuvre of displaying Luwero skulls to undermine Dr. Paul Ssemogerere for allying with Apollo Milton Obote, who was said to be “responsible for all those deaths,” were loudly chorused. The world and Ugandans, happily honeymooning with the liberators, and viewing these ghastly bones, forgot that it took two to fight, and that Obote’s side could not alone have been responsible for the gruesome spectacle. Yet the NRA discharged the first bullet at Kabamba. Thus, Obote (read Paul Muwanga) had to order UNLA soldiers to the conventional self-defence mission of Uganda’s de facto government against the rebels. It is reasonable to assume that during the six years of combat, there were deaths in both camps, plus crossfire civilian casualties. Indeed, it was hyped that through superior training and discipline, the NRA generally out-shot the UNLA, (finally winning): implying more UNLA dead than NRA, and thus more UNLA skulls. There was also the suggestion that the NRA shot civilians at night and blamed this on UNLA. This allegation against the popular liberators who restored sleep (in more ways than one), before the advent of safe houses and illegal ‘security units’ like Maj. Kakooza Mutale’s Kalangala Action Plan, was, at that time, preposterous. Even now, it is widely accepted that the NRA was averse to murder. However, with the fatuously ruthless pursuit of the ekisanja, including the arrest, torture and deaths of opposition operatives, charged with the increasingly dubious crime of treason, it certainly no longer sounds farfetched. What was outrageously farfetched though, was collecting UNLA and NRM remains, adding them to the civilian crossfire victims’, and piling all the bones at Obote’s doorstep. It certainly is debatable who chalked up more skulls on the scoreboard. The most charitable assessment of NRM’s liability is to say that both sides were at war. Watch! The timing of the currently frantic bustle of disentombing and re-interring the patriotic dead, including President Museveni’s presence at UPC’s Shaban Nkutu’s reburial, in the wake of his ‘compassionate’ tour of Busoga, reeks of ekisanja promotion politics, and may hurt the wounds of some relatives. The stratagem of numbers As Museveni approached Kampala, we gave him and his liberators a sincerely rousing welcome, naturally, excepting the vanquished northerners. We learnt that the liberated parts elected their own chiefs! The network was from the village council (RC1), through RC2 or parish council, RC3 or sub-county council followed by RC4, the now non-functional county council; and finally the very powerful RC5 district council. Few realised then that this was Museveni’s initial application of the tool of numbers to win future elections. I soon equated them to soviets and resigned my RC1 chair. The NRC, having extended its (and hence Museveni’s) tenure by five years when the NRM was still very popular, especially with the broad-based government; the next delaying ruse was the making of a people’s constitution, inaugurated in 1995. Traditionally, constituencies were based on just over 100 counties. Apart from hard-core partyists, practically all would stand on an NRM ticket. Today, Parliament comprises representatives of 169 counties, some ‘large’ ones having been split up in pursuit of numbers. Constituencies, including municipalities and Kampala divisions, number 214. Thus, affirmative action of affording women, who greatly outnumber men, favourable voting status, is a ruse to lure them to vote NRM. I see no justification for special representation for the youths and disabled, as they may adequately be represented by their MPs. Representation of UPDF is an outrage! Some of us, including constitutional experts, opposed aspirants to the next Parliament sitting in the Constituent Assembly. This was ignored because NRM needed overwhelming numbers, which they achieved, and which have extended to subsequent parliaments. These majorities will ensure that ekisanja succeeds; that Museveni wins even at grassroots where, for 19 years, no politics was abided apart from Chairman Museveni’s thoughts. Ekisanja victorious! Counting from LC3s, town councils and municipal divisions numbering more than 950; LC2s comprising parishes and wards (about 230) and 44,400 villages, there are over 45,000 ekisanja vote fishponds all together, not counting bribed MPs! There is no way the ekisanjans [or Sanjaweed] can lose. ULS owes it to the voiceless Ugandans to vigorously oppose it! Contact: 077 401173 |
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