Who Is James Opoka?

Although he studied Statistics, as Guild President at Makerere, he displayed strong political insight

He was elected Guild President at Makerere University in 1995. But James Opoka is a man who seems to have had strong political ambitions right from early school days.
Although he studied statistics at university, much of the arguments that he put forward to the general public and to individuals tended to wind around politics. One would think he was a graduate of political science or law instead.
While at university, Opoka campaigned for the Youth seat for Northern Uganda in 1996 and lost. But losing a seat on his first go at national politics never deterred Opoka, who seems to have focused his mind and attention on politics all along.
A former girlfriend of his (names withheld) told me last year: “James (Opoka) is a politician at heart. I can’t imagine him doing anything else.”
That was the time when Opoka was reported to have fled the country together with Besigye after the March 2001 presidential elections.
James Opoka was born in Koro Division, Gulu District. He attended St. Joseph’s College Layibi, Gulu for his ‘O’ Levels.
The last time I had an in-depth chat with Opoka was in November 1998. He told me that he had never got a job as a statistician in Uganda. However, he had been offered a job, which required movement to southern Sudan. At that time, Opoka had a small office in Mao, Owor and Oulanyah Company Advocates, where he conducted his businesses.
James Opoka, Gulu Municipality MP, Norbert Mao as and Jacob Oulanyah, MP for Omoro County were seen as close friends. They shared many things.
It therefore came as a surprise to many in Gulu when Opoka and Oulanyah stood against each other in the 2001 parliamentary elections.
It is said that the elders considered both candidates as good for the constituency, but they decided to support Oulanyah because they felt that he was senior to Opoka. Oulanyah, who had contested in the 1998 LC5 elections in Gulu district and lost, got almost twice as many votes as James Opoka.
Opoka has strong views, but one cannot say he is a fiery politician. He was coherent in his speeches and exuded diplomacy and intellectualism in normal discussions and arguments.
However, I never attended any of his rallies and thus cannot gauge how he fared under stress in the battle for political survival. His favourite colour was blue. I can still picture him now in a light blue shirt and jeans.
A former student of Makerere University who prefered anonymity observes: “Before he became Guild President, what I recall was that he was sociable and a lady’s man. He was smart. His favourite colour was blue. He liked blue checked shirts. He always spotted a necktie. He had a way of posing, with hands in his pockets or folded across his chest when standing or seated – relaxed. When he became Guild President, he always put on jackets.”
During his term as Guild president, Opoka emerged clean and unscathed, unlike his predecessors and others who came after him who were immersed in financial scandals.
“Although he was a statistics student, he had a deep insight into Uganda’s politics. In all his arguments, he emerged as a multipartyist,” says the source.
“His campaign for the Guild was based on that ticket. There were multiparty sentiments on campus and he rode high on that. It is believed that his campaigns rode on the anti-state sentiments at that time. Those sentiments were heightened by the disappearance of a Daniel Opira, who later resurfaced only a few days to the elections. It was believed that the state caused the disappearance, but others believed that it was actually stage-managed from within the Opoka camp,” he said.
That was the most outrageous thing that happened during Opoka’s campaigns.
The source notes that Opoka competed favourably with a lady Movement candidate, Katushabe.
His campaign surprisingly managed to bring out a regional alliance of North, East and Central (NEC). Students from these areas rallied around him to fight Katusheba, a westerner.
The needy students started looking at government as pro-west because of cost-sharing at the university. They wanted allowances, which were not forthcoming. The debates of private sponsorship starting to set in.”
Reagan Okumu, MP, Aswa County, Gulu District says:
“I first knew him when he was campaigning for Guild.” President. Some government minister had asked me to take him money for campaigns around 1995. I met him at university hall and delivered the message. I started interacting with him in 1996 when I became MP. That year he was vying for the post of Youth MP, Northern.
“He wanted to use Mao and me to access the youth in the North.”
Okumu says he remained in close touch with James Opoka and travelled with him to Kacokke Madit in London in 1997. However, he fell out with him during the youth elections of 1999 because he did not support him.
“He wanted some financial help which I didn’t have. He was heading for elections and I was travelling to Germany. I returned to find the elections were over. He hadn’t succeeded”.
Reagan Okumu says he and Opoka grew close again during the last presidential elections where they found themselves supporting the same candidate, Dr. Kiiza Besigye.
Okumu was responsible for Northern Uganda in Besigye’s Campaign team, while Opoka was a personal assistant to Besigye. In March 2001, when the army barred Besigye from boarding a South Africa Airways flight to South Africa, Opoka was on hand to receive the rejected luggage of his political idol.
He was also active in the Besigye petition. Together with other members of the Elect Besigye task force, Opoka was instrumental in drumming up public sympathy for the opposition.When Besigye lost, Opoka went and contested for parliament in Omoro County. It is possible that the outcome of these elections marked a turning point in his political vision.
Says Okumu: “He had wanted me to mobilise support for him. Unfortunately, I was also involved in my campaigns. Also, the other candidate, Oulanyah was my friend. I thought I would cause a lot of controversy in Omoro because of Oulanyah and Opoka.”
Okumu says Opoka was very bitter with him when he lost elections because he claimed that if he had gone to Omoro to campaign for him, he would have won the elections.
“After the elections, I never saw him again,” he says. “I actually don’t know him well enough, but I wouldn’t imagine a person like that would go to the bush.”
Ends