Opposition too needs to get rid of strongmen

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Nambooze Betty Bakireke, DP National Publicity Secretary

On his first visit to Africa as President of America, Barak Obama made a diagnosis of Africa’s problem and prescribed the right medicine as well. “Africa does not need strong men but strong institutions, the strong men in Africa have had their turn but there is nothing to show for it…” he said while in Ghana last year.

Opposition politicians across Africa applauded Obama and the aging strongmen of Africa cursed him. To the opposition this was a message for the sitting Governments with leaders who have clung to power for several decades claiming they are the only strongmen capable of steering the “troublesome countries of Africa. ”

There may have been no better country where this message made a lot of sense than Uganda; for under President Yoweri Museveni’s strong leadership all the institutions in this country have crumbled and the only power we have in the country is Yoweri Museveni son of Kaguta taking charge of each and everything from the village wells to the signing of international treaties. The consequences of this type of Governance are there for everyone to see.

Charity at home

In Uganda, we in the opposition have a tendency of concentrating all our efforts on opposing the sitting Governments. We take a lot of trouble and rightly so to watch over the delinquencies of the political officials of the ruling parties and civil servants.

Rarely do we take off time to examine our houses and in the process we groom dictators in the opposition and politicians with all manner of vices. In selectively dealing with current political leaders we forget that today’s opposition is tomorrow’s Government and that a person can’t drop his bad habits just because he has shifted from the left to the right hand of the speaker in Parliament.

The behaviour of opposition politicians, the shadow ministers, the leaders of opposition and people in the private sector must equally concern us if we are to build democracy in Africa and Uganda in particular.

The other day I was impressed when the sports fraternity in Europe put a rope around the neck of Tiger Woods, a golf player for his marital excesses. In Uganda if you are not in Government you can afford to behave as you wish that is why most of our Musicians, sportsmen and businessmen get involved in scandals with no serious consequences.

Yet, Man being a political animal after sometime these people graduate into politicians and leaders. During their bush war times the NRA/ NRM officers robbed banks and took off with huge sums of money.

We did not condemn them then because we all thought that they were dealing with the “enemy Obote” but when this group took over power they carried on with their thieving ways and made Uganda one of the most corrupt nations on the continent.

The Baganda have a saying and when loosely translated means that a poor man’s child should be attentive while a rich man’s child is being counseled for definitely he needs the same counseling. Were the opposition politicians listening when Barack Obama was addressing Africa? Or we (the opposition) thought his message was meant for ruling parties alone.

If we were listening we would know that the major problem facing the opposition in Africa today is having weak institutions in form of our parties.

When you take an example of Uganda you will find that some individuals are stronger than their political parties, that is why UPC becomes no more after Milton Obote, FDC might be non existent without Col. Kizza Besigye and NRM will be totally nothing without Museveni.

JOB CONTENDERS

In DP, where I belong excitement is building over the pending party elections our problems notwithstanding. Some people have already expressed interest in running for various offices and my name has appeared among the contenders for the party’s top job.

As I told The Observer some weeks ago, my immediate concern is not about standing for any post. I have a feeling that any person who cherishes Democracy cannot allow him/herself to get lost in the DP campaigns and elections before thinking about the future of the party he /she wants to lead.

We should not wait to be in Government before issues of democracy start to interest us. The clearest thing now in DP is that the search for the strong man has started. When some members talk about strength and DP leadership, one may even be fooled into thinking that one of the tasks of a DP President is to lift bags of cement and load them onto a lorry!

But as DP gets engrossed in this debate no one is talking about the strength of the party. In fact as the vote searching intensifies some people will target the party for destruction to ensure that they win. Indeed a bad man can only win under disorganization and fraud.

No matter how well intentioned a leader might be, he/she cannot be considered democratic unless when the manner in which he assumed leadership was perceived to be free and fair to all. The mechanism of an election may vary, but the essentials are the same for all democratic societies.

Elections especially in developing countries and for opposition primaries may not be fault free but even then the people must understand that despite the difficulty, the results can still be accepted as binding.

But to be sincere, DP as a party is at its weakest at the moment with almost none existing party organs and expired leadership at all levels. Today, DP has two secretary Generals, Mathias Nsubuga and Dr. Lulume Bayiga each giving different orders and directives to members.

As we speak now the party has two sets of leaders in some districts and two sets of delegates elected in different councils. There are two different party cards going around, printed by warring factions in the party and most probably we shall hold two delegate conferences. The party has two sets of youth leaders.

The Party’s Treasurer Madam Sarah Kanyike has told members that she has nothing on the Bank account but some powerful individuals have promised to sponsor us through the delegates conference if we allow them open a new account on behalf of the party to be managed by them. For that reason any person can print and sell DP cards, determine the category, message and price!

But with all this mess, some colleagues are just getting ready to compete and most probably “Win” in the forthcoming party elections! They believe that they are strongmen and despite these glaring weaknesses in our party they will triumph. They see no harm in allying with the bad if at all this will deliver victory!

However I must say that strong men in DP have had their turn but there is nothing to show for it. In 2005 at Namboole, Ssebaana had an advantage over other candidates because as Mayor of Kampala at about 70 years of age and with all his known financial ability, the feeling was that he could finance DP through the campaigns.

And indeed he did but despite his strength he got 100,000 votes in the whole Country because the party was weak. After the elections, Ssebaana as chief executive of the party failed to embark on the most important journey of constitutionalism, he tolerated indiscipline, and criminal behavior. Like other African Presidents, he destroyed the institutions within the party to the extent that a simple case in DP now ends in courts of law.

DP MAFIA

Some of us have spent most of the last four years fighting colleagues internally over these issues. The battle has been so lonely, dangerous and costly. Many Ugandans see no sense in an opposition politician denouncing another over corruption.

Having realized that we are not about to give up, the mafias in DP have resorted to rigging the party delegates conference to get rid of the sane members of the party. Unfortunately they have taken advantage of the fact that 2011 is at the door steps to hoodwink members that they are doing this in interest of time.

But I want to appeal to the general membership that there is no point in rushing to the delegates’ conference. As a party we need to build consensus on major issues and the delegates’ conference should come as a seal and not as the starting point.

We should not compromise Democracy just because we want to impress the public that a delegates’ conference has been held. The current period may be filled with tensions but must we labour to make democracy work. I think this is the only reason why we are in the opposition and not in Government with Museveni feasting, we believe in Democracy.