If Nature abhors a vacuum (which was believed even by Aristotle, but conclusively disproved in the 17th century by Otto von Gueriche; although we still employ the phrase airily) then can we instead formulate a new law, that “Good politics abhors a vacuum where no meaningful Opposition exists”?
That would also encompass Isaac Newton’s Law III where “…to every action there is always opposed an equal reaction”.
The Universal Law of Mutual Forces holds “absolutely true for all objects that every force is always immediately opposed by an equal force of one type or another…each dependant upon the presence of the opposing force”.
If he were to view Uganda from where he is today, the great Newton would shake his head in wonder, to see that a place on the globe of which he had never been aware had so successfully decimated his great law. To put it briefly, Uganda has a Movement Government but hardly an opposition worth its name; in other words its “‘force’ is not immediately, or at any other time, opposed by an equal force…each [of them] dependant [on] the opposing force”.
The question is unavoidable: If the Movement government is way beyond its sell-by date, as the opposition never tires of saying, why is the same opposition so incapable of uprooting it? The Opposition cannot fear that this government tortures or kills its political opponents like, for example, today’s Zimbabwe. Therefore nobody worth their salt can plead fear at being politically critical. Of course it is another matter should they attempt illegal measures to bring down a democratically elected government. Might then the opposition’s abject failure be simply due to the fact that Ugandan citizens still want to continue with the present Movement government, despite mistakes made?
Every government makes mistakes. The “Leader” (I have a problem keeping a straight face at that ranking!) of the luckless (Uganda) Democratic Party, none other than my old friend of nearly 60 years’ standing, John Ssebaana Kizito, this week stated that the Movement people had gone to the Bush for the sole purpose of making money, may God forgive him.
Forget the fact that, but for the Movement, dear old Ssebaana would not be around to spew such nonsense. The real clincher is that had money been the real object, Ssebaana would have scrambled to be amongst the very first Movementists, wildly interested as he is to chase a shilling to its last hiding place!
Periodically, mug shots of JSK and the leaders of other so-called Oppositions are printed, above a story of how they are on the brink of uniting to form a formidable force against the Movement, to bring it crashing down. Yawn, yawn, yawn: we’ve been here many times before! The individuals posted, some of them damaged goods, don’t amount to an inspiring whole. By Wednesday their joint number had shrunk to just three who were signing something. I stared fixedly at the picture, willing myself to be terrified; instead of which, after a couple of minutes, I collapsed into laughter.
A day later, the leader of the newest Party, the PPP (which, as pointed out before, sounds like the hooting of an ancient Bedford in village lanes) upbraided his colleagues for jumping the gun with the next elections a distant three years away!
Is that distant? Methinks the wily Bidandi Ssali was playing for time until his party was more visible above the ground, and he could vie for Top Dog.
The next day, yesterday, 08 08 08, two of the other parties, the FDC and DP, were said to be in separate crises, each nursing its own self-inflicted wounds. In the words long ago of the late Obote, leader over many decades of the UPC: “what a scenario”.
What indeed! But a very interesting point, going back to Isaac Newton’s theory of Opposing Forces, is that it might be a good idea, even for the Movement government itself, if these disparate groupings (hardly Parties in reality) did unite, and by doing so making the Movement even stronger still, by keeping it on its toes. (Of course the groupings might retort with the question: is the current Movement itself a real Party?).
Conversely, if they don’t unite, does this not ironically make the Movement weaker? On that note, arise, Sir Isaac Newton!
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In the earlier part of the week, a rather desperate looking duo was nabbed for the intention of selling dog meat (in place of goat) to the public. A rather plump dog, minus its head and with signs of early surgery or butchery down its front, was in the picture with the offenders, clasped in the hands of one of them. It was meat alright but nearly made me throw up, for reasons of custom. You simply don’t devour a dog! And yet dog meat is cherished in many countries of the world! In any case some lines of doggerel (!) written in my early twenties rose to the surface: If God is Love Is Dog Evol? Taboos are interesting. If you ate a dog without your knowledge, would it taste better than if you knew? What about even more forbidden meats?
Enough of dogs and Top Dogs! I must end with another plea, stronger this time, for Burudani, our bewitching modern ballet troupe, awaiting to fulfil its invitation to a very important festival in Germany.
Apart from funds from usual givers like Sudhir R and Fang M (joined by the Column), more is needed. Time is running out for this wonderful cause. Please ring me urgently: 0782 795902.
