Chairman Mao, a hero who deciphers right and wrong

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OPINION

By Dusman Okee

In a letter dated July 22, 2023, and titled 'Continuous wrong, Turns at historical junction', President Museveni thanked Norbert Mao, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, for making a good contribution to the future of Uganda and Africa.

This was during Mao's homecoming and Thanksgiving event held at Kaunda ground in July 2023.

The President went ahead to explain Uganda's disintegration, which was calculatively based on religion and tribes by colonial masters, that polarised the people from the North and South.

True to the President’s testimony, Norbert Mao has distinguished himself as a man who has stood up against pride and ego to serve Ugandans under the National Resistance Movement (NRM), a government of which some of its policies he vehemently opposed. In all his talks, Mao’s catchword remains peace and unity.

From the famous, or infamous Joseph Kony hug in Garamba Forest during the 2006 peace talks, where social media, say Mao once kissed 5MUSD (bounty placed on Kony’s arrest), to the stolen flash disk at Sheraton hotel by security operatives, where Mao was alleged to offer intellectual guidance to LRA, Mao has chosen to travel the road less travelled, for the development and unity of Uganda.

Those close to Norbert Mao will tell you, this has been his word from childhood: Challenging and talking about what he believes is right or wrong. At the age of 13 or 14 years, he was already challenging his father, (The late Dusman Okee Snr), a military man, who sought to extend his military commands and edicts to the family, as though it were a section or platoon in his army barracks formations.

Believing in Law and order, he always threatened to report this army officer to local authorities or, if need be, to the Military Police, an army unit that deals with indiscipline. Of course, this never went well with his father, leading to constant “battles” for freedom.

As the President General of the Democratic Party (DP), hell broke loose in 2022, after he signed a cooperation agreement with the NRM agreement where he was subsequently appointed the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. He was immensely celebrated by the ruling NRM party as one of the great brains they longed for, but in equal proportions, insulted and cursed by a section of opposition leaders, who viewed him as a sellout.

A good number of those castigating him are those who had never approved of his leadership as a DP President, seen as a preserve for a certain tribal grouping, a problem the President delved into in the Continuous Wrong turns at the historical junction letter to Mao four years ago.

Known for his keen listening, even under intermittent insults from his haters, Mao has kept on the idea of building bridges, and healing the country that bleeds from multifaceted, political, social and economic wounds. His adversaries, even before he became a minister, never wanted to hear anything good from the NRM, in his annual speeches, dubbed the “NRM balance sheet", yet a balance sheet has assets and liabilities. Thanking President Museveni, no matter the liabilities, he always equated him to riding a Trojan horse-Uganda, and therefore needed a standing ovation.

For Starters, to Mao, the greatest impetus and support should be given to the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Commander in Chief, H.E. Gen. (Rtd) Yoweri Museveni. Uganda is now an uncharted state that foresees peace operations right from Somalia, the DRC (The Republic of Congo), Southern Sudan, as well as offering security and peace advice to countries like Kenya. To him, without a well-trained, equipped and disciplined UPDF, the region would be up in flames, like it is in Sudan and elsewhere.

As the Local Council Five chairman of Gulu district, Chairman Mao, as he always referred to, spearheaded the dismantling of camps in the war-torn Acholi land, saying peace had returned to the region, and people should no longer stay in camps. In 2006, symbolically knocked down the first hut in the IDP. He spoke so much against NGO's that continued to give handouts to people in the land, who cannot adequately feed the entire E. Africa.

Notwithstanding the great money opportunities and lucrative jobs offered to him from European Universities and countries, he went back to Acholi to become the LC5 chairman of Gulu district, where some viewed, as a political fall, from grace to oblivion.

Mao who made it clear, that his mission was to serve one term, because he needed to put certain leadership fundamentals right in Acholi land, he is credited for weaving a strong technical team at the district council, which later manifested into the actioning of the Gulu city master plan, that has made Gulu City, a clean, echo friendly and fully tarmacked city, that has won Gulu districts the acrodes of the best place to be in Uganda. Gulu is the only city with six roads radiating like bicycle spokes, to connect to other regions and countries.

Mao is happy that many good things are happening in Uganda, but he never talks about it. He says today Uganda offers some of East Africa's easiest business registration, the one-stop centre, which integrates immigration, work permits, business registration and tax services, directly addressing frustrations previously faced by foreign investors. He says Uganda's recent removal from the “grey list” internationally was an improvement to Uganda's borrowing conditions, as well as investor confidence. He, in the long run, strongly advocates for increased direct foreign investment, as opposed to borrowing, because as a borrower, one ends up belonging to the lender.

Chairman Mao, a strong preacher of a peaceful power transition in Uganda, faults his fellow opposition members for focusing on the removal of Museveni from power, yet they are supposed to offer an alternative to him and the policies they deem bad.

Mao jokes that he believes that, when at times God is about to send a punishment to wipe out the evil Ugandans like it was in the Old Testament, after looking down and seeing the man with a hat, he gets a second thought. Mao, however, remains critical of how the issue of human rights is handled in Uganda, the uneven prosperity in Uganda, especially Acholi land, which was under the war for 20 years and can not be levelled with rest of the country.