Okuto del Coli <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hmm, as the saying goes, every one wants to go to Heaven but, no one wants to die!!!
Leaders come; Leaders go. They all come to rid corruption, nepotism and many more. They all come to restore order, bring freedom, bring DEMOCRACY and many many more.
But non wants the pest to come in his own era to violate "acquired" prerogatives.
So even this time around. The UPC is said to be a democratic party progressively on a re-structure (modernisation) state.
But........
On the surface, the one below appears like an innocent " MY PARTY". Deeper digging reveals very obscure and bogus situation that renders "MY PARTY" not so innocent any more and really puts DEMOCRACY on the test.
Read on
noc'l
Don�t steal my party, Obote warns Rwanyarare, Ogwal?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /
By Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda
& Edris Kiggundu
WEEKLY OBSERVERThe Uganda Peoples Congress is embroiled in a fresh but bitter rivalry, which exiled party president Milton Obote thinks might equip the state with ammunition to wind up the organisation.
The rivalry is between two of Obote�s most trusted cadres, Dr. James Rwanyarare, chairman of the Presidential Policy Commission, and Peter Walubiri, a lawyer who heads UPC�s National Organising Committee (NOC).
The two are said to nurse ambitions of leading the party, although Walubiri says �not yet.� Both need the blessing of Lusaka-based Obote and that has sharpened their rivalry as they try to outsmart one another.
Uncomfortable with Walubiri�s growing influence over Obote and within the party, Rwanyarare reportedly wants the committee (NOC), which has made Walubiri quite influential, dissolved. Obote appointed NOC about a year ago to revive UPC branches countrywide.
This Walubiri committee is thus in charge of a process that will result in a delegates conference during which UPC will choose new leaders. Although there is yet no agreement on the date, some members have proposed April.
The bickering between the two leaders peaked last week when Rwanyarare reportedly instructed people manning UPC offices at Uganda House not to allow in Walubiri. This angered Obote so much so that on March 21, he wrote to his cadres warning them against souring their relations.
�It is unbecoming that two leaders of the UPC should have bad blood because the doorkeeper opened the door to the other. Is it now the rule that a UPC leader is to be the doorkeeper who unless he agrees, the door cannot be opened to the other leaders,� reads the angry letter addressed to Rwanyarare.
The letter was copied to Walubiri in his capacity as NOC chairman, as well as Makerere University lecturer, Oweyegha Afunaduula, who is also chairman of UPC�s Representative Council.
Although Rwanyarare admitted that Obote had written to him, he denied that bad blood was flowing between him and Walubiri.
�These allegations are not true. I have nothing against Walubiri,� he said.In an interview at his residence in Nakasero over the weekend, Rwanyarare claimed that Obote�s letter was about the Lira district NOC branch, not internal bickering.
�What I think people may be making noise about is that as PPC, we disagreed about the District Organising Committee that NOC had instituted in Lira. Some NOC members did not want to make alterations about Lira,� Rwanyarare explained.
�They (NOC) went there and put up a committee and left out some people, saying they are too old. So the people made an appeal and I put it to Walubiri in a meeting and asked him why some people were left out.
He did not convince us. So we said you must go back to Lira and make changes. This is what Obote wrote about, urging us to settle the issue amicably and reach a position. But we have settled it,� he said.
Rwanyarare does not, however, hide his desire to have Walubiri�s NOC dissolved.
�NOC was put in place to revive branches and it is a temporary thing. It has finished all the districts. This was its mandate and after this they had to hand over to the mobilisation committee of the party, which has now taken off. We have now got to move and have permanent structures in place. This, we do not disagree at all. For us in UPC debate is a very healthy thing. We have never had a situation whereby someone dictates something,� Rwanyarare said.
Indeed during a meeting on March 21, Rwanyarare hinted on dissolving the NOC, prompting Obote to respond.
�You cannot dissolve NOC because it was put there by the PP (party president) and you are not higher than the PP and should you do it, there will be party outcry against you of fighting the PP for ulterior motives, which will attract [President] Museveni to move and outlaw the UPC,� Obote wrote.Both Rwanyarare and Walubiri deny being involved in a bitter wrangle. In a telephone interview, Walubiri said they even appeared together at a weekly UPC news conference last week.
�For us in UPC we cannot have leadership wrangles. Well, we may disagree on a programme but not leadership. First, Obote is our leader. There is no question about that. As far as I know we have no disagreement on any programme we have,� Rwanyarare said.
But Obote does not think so.
�I am appealing to you both to start work on the original idea of the meeting of 13th March and to abandon any idea of bad blood between the two of you � I ask the PPC chairman to put aside bad blood between him and NOC chairman and convene a meeting or raise the matter in a PPC meeting. We are the only party without internal factions. Please settle this matter amicably,� Obote pleaded in his letter.
Obote wanted UPC registered in his name
Obote is also unhappy that the party was not registered in his name. He instructed Walubiri to have the certificate of registration written in his name. Instead, Rwanyarare and Lira Municipality MP Cecilia Ogwal got the certificate written in their names.
��The UPC is now your personal property with Mrs. Cecilia Ogwal because the two of you signed for the Certificate of Registration and although you attached the Constitution of the UPC to your application, you now because you want to dissolve NOC over which you have no authority also want to ignore the Constitution exists and you know it,� Obote complained.
The UPC got registered last week and is now free to recruit members, address rallies and sponsor candidates for elections.
In a telephone interview, Ogwal said the registration certificate is written in the names of four UPC leaders; herself, Rwanyarare, Hajji Badru Wegulo (chairman UPC national council) and PPC vice chairman, Henry Mayega.
Ogwal only recently reunited with the Obote faction, after leading the break-away Interim Executive Committee (IEC) for several years. Her major disagreement with Obote was participation in the 1996 parliamentary elections, which the party leader had advised against.
She was summarily sacked as PPC leader and forced out of Uganda House, the party headquarters.
Ogwal told The Weekly Observer that she relates well with all PPC leaders and is not aware of any contradiction between the roles of Walubiri and Rwanyarare.Why Ogwal- Rwanyarare alliance
By allying with Ogwal, Rwanyarare appears to be preparing for the post-Obote era in UPC. When the UPC picks up the pieces after a 20-year ban on political party activities, the Ogwal faction will certainly have an upper hand.
Most functional UPC leaders and, parliamentarians are with Ogwal and their faction�s return to the fold gives them an opportunity to edge out Obote and his tendencies
including Rwanyarare. Therefore, Rwanyarare�s survival in a revived UPC lies in allying with the dominant group.
Indeed, if Rwanyarare wants to win any internal elections in UPC, he needs the Ogwal group more than Obote�s backing. The only risk he faces is financial starvation.
Obote is a life member of the Milton Obote Foundation, the holding company for all UPC properties.
The other two life members do not want UPC to repossess Uganda House, and are in position to starve the party.
All Obote has to do is ally with Sam Odaka who is running UPC businesses and make it difficult for Rwanyarare�s group to get any funding from the party�s assets.
Rwanyarare would then have to choose between money and votes. The money is with Obote while the votes are with Ogwal.
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