Northern Uganda has embraced the Movement
Nov 15, 2009
LAST Friday, I was in Lira, Otuke County, represented in parliament by Daniel Omara Atubo who is also the minister for lands. In Otuke I met the NRM leaders from the four subcounties that make up Otuke County.
By Moses Byaruhanga
LAST Friday, I was in Lira, Otuke County, represented in parliament by Daniel Omara Atubo who is also the minister for lands. In Otuke I met the NRM leaders from the four subcounties that make up Otuke County.
What I observed in Lira and Lango in general is that the population that in the past voted against President Museveni and NRM is now turning to the Movement.
This is welcome but it has its challenges and I wish to guide the Movement supporters in this article. I told the people of Otuke and the listeners of the two radios; Unity FM and Radio Wa that the Movement was like belief in faith. When one says that he is saved or when one is baptised, you don’t look into his past but his future in the faith he has embraced.
Secondly, all the people who believe in Jesus Christ as a saviour are equal before God irrespective of when one embraced the Christian faith or was baptised. No Christian is more Christian than the other. In the case of the Movement, when one embraces the Movement as his political faith and subscribes to NRM, we do not look into his past.
From that time when one joins the NRM, the new person is a movementist like the one who joined it 20 years ago. No one is more Movement or more of a supporter of NRM than the other. Like in Christianity, we believe that as long as one has led a good Christian life following the ways of Jesus Christ, when they die they go to the Kingdom of Heaven even if one turns to Christ on his deathbed.
It is not the time when one embraced Jesus that matters, but the fact that you embraced Him. This is the message I want to give to the NRM supporters in the north where so many people who were hitherto opposed to NRM are now turning to NRM in droves.
We should accept them in the party irrespective of how they decampaigned it or opposed it in the past. Do not tell the new people joining the party that last time you did this and that or put them in an incubation period to see how they behave.
We do not have an incubation period in NRM and neither do we categorise members. From the time one joins NRM, that person is equal in NRM with all those he found in the party. Also that new person is free to contest for any position in the party structure or in the party primaries for any post in the local government or national office like being a member of parliament. It is against this background that people who did not take part in the bush struggle have become vice presidents, prime ministers, ministers, in the NRM government.
Others have senior elective offices in the party like regional vice chairpersons, national treasurer, leaders of NRM leagues, district NRM leaders. So when the new people who are joining the NRM now want to stand for political offices do not discriminate against them. Let them feel free to stand and let the supporters make their decision. The reasons why many people in the north opposed NRM was the insecurity caused by the LRA and the Karimojong cattle rustlers.
On LRA, many of the political leaders in the north thought that the insurgency could be ended by talking to Kony. The Government view was that Kony could not recognise talks. This was based on the fact that Kony was being sponsored by Sudan to destabilise Uganda and to fight SPLM/A. Kony was not fighting to solve a Ugandan problem as he did not have a political agenda to present.
The NRM government was rightly convinced that Kony had to be defeated militarily. Nonetheless, the Government listened to those who wanted talks with Kony and several attempts at talking to Kony, including the Bigombe talks, the Eriya Kategaya led talks, the committee of St.Edigio, President Carter, but all came to nothing. Kony used the time of talking to reorganise his force to re-attack innocent civilians.
The politicians from the area maintained that talks were a solution and convinced many people to believe them. It was easy to appeal to the population that way and as a result NRM was seen as war mongers who did not want to end the war through talks. As a result the population voted against the Movement.
However, everybody has now seen that the NRM line of defeating Kony militarily was a correct position. Since Kony was defeated in northern Uganda and southern Sudan in 2005, Kony ran to Congo from where he is being pursued.
Also, the dynamics in Sudan changed with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between SPLM and the Khartoum regime in January 2005. The area of southern Sudan which Kony used as his sanctuary is now in the hands of the SPLM which cannot allow Kony to use to wreak havoc in Uganda. After Kony went to Congo he asked for talks through the government of South Sudan, which talks were accepted by Uganda.
A final peace agreement was reached by both sides and President Museveni flew to Juba to sign the agreement, but Kony never came. This proves that all along Kony was not serious about talks. That notwithstanding, all those who advocated talks and the Government all wanted peace and security for the people of northern and eastern Uganda. Peace and security has finally been achieved since 2005 and it is irreversible.
Since the objective for those who wanted talks and the Government which advocated a military solution was to bring peace in the region, this is the time for all to work together to develop the area. It is against this background that the population in the north is turning to NRM because the peace which they thought NRM had failed to bring about has finally been achieved. The political leaders from the north should join the masses and embrace NRM. The time is now.
The writer is special presidential assistant on political affairs
LAST Friday, I was in Lira, Otuke County, represented in parliament by Daniel Omara Atubo who is also the minister for lands. In Otuke I met the NRM leaders from the four subcounties that make up Otuke County.
What I observed in Lira and Lango in general is that the population that in the past voted against President Museveni and NRM is now turning to the Movement.
This is welcome but it has its challenges and I wish to guide the Movement supporters in this article. I told the people of Otuke and the listeners of the two radios; Unity FM and Radio Wa that the Movement was like belief in faith. When one says that he is saved or when one is baptised, you don’t look into his past but his future in the faith he has embraced.
Secondly, all the people who believe in Jesus Christ as a saviour are equal before God irrespective of when one embraced the Christian faith or was baptised. No Christian is more Christian than the other. In the case of the Movement, when one embraces the Movement as his political faith and subscribes to NRM, we do not look into his past.
From that time when one joins the NRM, the new person is a movementist like the one who joined it 20 years ago. No one is more Movement or more of a supporter of NRM than the other. Like in Christianity, we believe that as long as one has led a good Christian life following the ways of Jesus Christ, when they die they go to the Kingdom of Heaven even if one turns to Christ on his deathbed.
It is not the time when one embraced Jesus that matters, but the fact that you embraced Him. This is the message I want to give to the NRM supporters in the north where so many people who were hitherto opposed to NRM are now turning to NRM in droves.
We should accept them in the party irrespective of how they decampaigned it or opposed it in the past. Do not tell the new people joining the party that last time you did this and that or put them in an incubation period to see how they behave.
We do not have an incubation period in NRM and neither do we categorise members. From the time one joins NRM, that person is equal in NRM with all those he found in the party. Also that new person is free to contest for any position in the party structure or in the party primaries for any post in the local government or national office like being a member of parliament. It is against this background that people who did not take part in the bush struggle have become vice presidents, prime ministers, ministers, in the NRM government.
Others have senior elective offices in the party like regional vice chairpersons, national treasurer, leaders of NRM leagues, district NRM leaders. So when the new people who are joining the NRM now want to stand for political offices do not discriminate against them. Let them feel free to stand and let the supporters make their decision. The reasons why many people in the north opposed NRM was the insecurity caused by the LRA and the Karimojong cattle rustlers.
On LRA, many of the political leaders in the north thought that the insurgency could be ended by talking to Kony. The Government view was that Kony could not recognise talks. This was based on the fact that Kony was being sponsored by Sudan to destabilise Uganda and to fight SPLM/A. Kony was not fighting to solve a Ugandan problem as he did not have a political agenda to present.
The NRM government was rightly convinced that Kony had to be defeated militarily. Nonetheless, the Government listened to those who wanted talks with Kony and several attempts at talking to Kony, including the Bigombe talks, the Eriya Kategaya led talks, the committee of St.Edigio, President Carter, but all came to nothing. Kony used the time of talking to reorganise his force to re-attack innocent civilians.
The politicians from the area maintained that talks were a solution and convinced many people to believe them. It was easy to appeal to the population that way and as a result NRM was seen as war mongers who did not want to end the war through talks. As a result the population voted against the Movement.
However, everybody has now seen that the NRM line of defeating Kony militarily was a correct position. Since Kony was defeated in northern Uganda and southern Sudan in 2005, Kony ran to Congo from where he is being pursued.
Also, the dynamics in Sudan changed with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between SPLM and the Khartoum regime in January 2005. The area of southern Sudan which Kony used as his sanctuary is now in the hands of the SPLM which cannot allow Kony to use to wreak havoc in Uganda. After Kony went to Congo he asked for talks through the government of South Sudan, which talks were accepted by Uganda.
A final peace agreement was reached by both sides and President Museveni flew to Juba to sign the agreement, but Kony never came. This proves that all along Kony was not serious about talks. That notwithstanding, all those who advocated talks and the Government all wanted peace and security for the people of northern and eastern Uganda. Peace and security has finally been achieved since 2005 and it is irreversible.
Since the objective for those who wanted talks and the Government which advocated a military solution was to bring peace in the region, this is the time for all to work together to develop the area. It is against this background that the population in the north is turning to NRM because the peace which they thought NRM had failed to bring about has finally been achieved. The political leaders from the north should join the masses and embrace NRM. The time is now.
The writer is special presidential assistant on political affairs