Doomed to failure

Nov 29, 2000

THE DEMOCRATIC Party is in chaos. It has split asunder with two factions fighting to occupy the DP headquarters.

THE DEMOCRATIC Party is in chaos. It has split asunder with two factions fighting to occupy the DP headquarters. One faction supports veteran DP President Paul Ssemogerere while the breakaway group is headed by vice-president Zachary Olum and Secretary General Mariano Drametu. The breakaway faction have named Francis Bwengye as the new party president but were violently kicked out of the party headquarters by the Uganda Young Democrats who still support Ssemogerere. Wild allegations of tribalism are now flying around that the old guard oppose northerners and want only a Muganda to lead the DP. This is a tragic turn of events just a few months before parliamentary and presidential elections. A historic political force in Uganda is self-destructing. We are witnessing the death throes of the DP, a party that rightfully won the 1980 elections. The DP will of course blame the Movement system and the restrictions it imposed on party political activity. It is true that parties have not been allowed to mobilise at grassroots level or to sponsor official candidates in elections. Nevertheless the DP has mainly itself to blame for the catastrophic decline in its fortunes. It has conspicuously failed to concentrate on the central social and economic issues facing Uganda today. It has just kept harping on that if multi-party politics return to Uganda , everything will become perfect. The DP has only been pursuing power for power's sake. And now its leaders are reduced to squabbling over occupancy of a building. To capture the hearts and minds of the electorate, the DP or any other opposition group must provide convincing alternative policies for the economy and society. If a party or politician merely preaches that they in themselves are the solution, they are doomed to failure. Ends.

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