UGANDA’S EMERGING ‘M7 MONARCHY- RULE’ IS VERY DANGEROUS Former Forum for Democratic Change President Kizza Besigye insists it is family rule – a monarchy. Some say it is the usual African big-man rule. Others call it a life presidency. The president’s lackeys, on their part, argue that it is democratic governance, underpinned by the ‘people’s’ mandate. Whatever we wish to call the situation in Uganda, to have one man rule for thirty years and still counting, with no apparent plans of stepping down, is fast turning into a national embarrassment. Recently, a former Ghanaian minister asked me a question that has become somewhat predictable whenever I interact with politically-minded non-Ugandans who know our country: “What happened to your president?” For once, I was caught flat-footed, and stammered over a question I have attempted to answer countless times outside Uganda’s borders. “Well, he found power too sweet to relinquish,” I answered. General Museveni’s continued stay in power has grave implications that many Ugandans appear not to fully appreciate. The longer he has stayed on, the more Museveni has personalised the state. Every year that passes, he and those around him dig in. They see public resources as personal possessions. They hark to the rituals of elections to justify their continued occupation of State House; but they know all too well that what happens at the polls counts for very little in their grip on power. Increasingly, it has to be the president to preside over the opening of a new commercial building in Kamwokya, flag-off a team of athletes at Parliament, officiate at a ground-breaking ceremony for a road construction in Mukono, preside over the consecration of a new Anglican bishop in Arua, witness the launch of a women’s savings and credit cooperative group in Lira, etc. He will start off the week meeting members of the ruling party’s parliamentary caucus up to late at night, then a delegation of youth-leaders mid-week, political leaders from Kanungu district on Friday, and Kampala city councillors on Saturday. This is a hands-on president. He has to attend to every problem. He must provide a solution to whatever challenge the country faces. He is an imperial president, a ‘people’s president’ and commander in chief of everything: the armed forces, poverty eradication, party discipline, the fight against ignorance and disease, and even what universities should and should not teach. The more he has commanded operations against all these problems, the more Ugandans look to him for the magic bullet. And the more he has purported to provide the definitive solutions and assured us of sorting out any outstanding challenges, the more he is persuaded that he cannot betray the people by leaving power! General Museveni now increasingly can’t contemplate life outside State House; he can’t imagine a quiet stay in retirement, without the trappings of unfettered power. With the choking traffic in Kampala, how would a retired President Museveni manage driving around, without the usual heavily armed lead-cars sweeping all ordinary Ugandans aside for the presidential motorcade to cruise away at breakneck speed? Inconceivable, yet it was probably imaginable ten years ago. Five years down the road, it may be totally unthinkable, leaving an unceremonious exit from power the only remaining option. To leave unceremoniously after more than 30 years at the helm, General Museveni will most likely go down with a great deal of the country. Although he has recently argued otherwise, examples around the world abound, and there’s not much about Uganda that should set us apart. At any rate, this country is quite socially fragile, with a, rather, weak state apparatus. The state could easily unravel and fratricidal violence of apocalyptic proportions may ensue. The recent violence in the Rwenzori sub-region could have some instructive pointers; and the 2009 ‘Buganda riots’ had some scary sectarian sentiments. Last week, some voices of reason, calling on General Museveni to consider stepping down, came from unlikely individuals: former minister and member of the ruling party’s politburo, Francis Babu and Tarsis Bazana Kabwegyere, a minister for General Duties at the Office of the Prime Minister. The disquiet expressed by these two was a trifle surprising. They have been among the most unwavering in riddling and scoffing at their master’s political opponents. Both Captain Babu and Prof Kabwegyere have previously been overly contemptuous of anyone calling on General Museveni to relinquish power. They have particularly been adept at denigrating and chiding Museveni’s foremost political challenger, Dr Kizza Besigye. It is, therefore, remarkable that Babu and Kabwegyere see wisdom in what Bidandi Ssali and the late Eria Kategaya were arguing in 2003 and what Besigye had articulated in 1999/2000. The problem, though, is not that there haven’t been one or two such voices of disquiet against Uganda’s flourishing personalised rule. The real problem has been lack of consistence and the coalescing of progressive forces to tilt the balance in favour of a peaceful and negotiated transition to genuine democratic governance. Quite often, opportunism has tended to trump staking principled positions. Personal material considerations have taken precedent over standing for an onerous, but vital, national ideal. It will not be unusual, therefore, if before long, we hear Babu and Kabwegyere sing from the ‘no-change’ hymn book that was recently republished at Kyankwanzi.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 03:57:57 +0000
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