Is it true Germany rules over our Democratic Party?

May 16, 2004

SIR— Many of those who listened to Betty Nambooze Bakireke on a CBS programme last Sunday must have finally confirmed that Uganda’s Democratic Party (DP) is in fact just a local extension of Germany.

SIR— Many of those who listened to Betty Nambooze Bakireke on a CBS programme last Sunday must have finally confirmed that Uganda’s Democratic Party (DP) is in fact just a local extension of Germany.

Indeed, it made me recall a statement made by DP spokesman Jude Mbabaali on Kaboozi ku Bbiri’s ‘Saba Saba’ show, to the effect that multipartyism had to return to Uganda, because he had travelled with other DP leaders to Germany, where some Catholic prelates assured them that this had to happen!

Narrating the events that followed the rigged 1980 general election, Nambooze said DP’s official position was handed down by Germany, “which had heavily sponsored the party’s campaign”. She said the money was channelled through Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Many Ugandans have wondered why DP chose to endorse a massively rigged election by accepting the role of loyal opposition to UPC and why, with all that support, it did not go to the bush the way Museveni did.

But if Nambooze’s narrative is the truth, they now know. The ‘culprit’ was the country once known as West Germany.

According to Nambooze, Germany’s financial muscle was brought to bear on DP in the following manner. Germany allegedly ruled as out of order, the justifiably enraged party members who wanted to go to the bush.

The reasons were that war would “expose the party’s Baganda supporters to near-annihilation by the UPC forces,” and that five years of waiting for the next election were not too long.

She also said it was Germany which prevented the DP from suing the Electoral Commission and the UPC regime for vote theft.

Germany allegedly told DP that owing to the political leaning of ranking judicial officers, DP would be wasting time, energy and money hoping to win the case.

She added that DP’s financiers had also opposed boycotting Parliament “because it would serve no useful purpose”.

Unfortunately for Germany, or its envoy here, the programme was conducted in the Luganda language, but I believe CBS can offer them a recording for an appropriate translation.

It is of interest to distinguish between close support and interference. How free are we from those nations and foreign organisations which give us money?

Ugandans are entitled to know the extent to which Germany has controlled or continues to control the oldest party in this country. They would love to know what stakes Germany has in DP as opposed to UPC, CP and all the other parties.

They want to know what Germany did to help cleanse the judicial system of partisan (UPC) officers, in their capacity as leading donors to the UPC regime.

Finally, they should tell us whether they would have accepted such advice as Germans, if it were offered by a Ugandan political party or Uganda itself.

Britain might also clarify on the widely held belief that it backed UPC despite all odds and in opposition to the wishes of the majority of Ugandans.

As Nambooze stated, the Queen was solidly behind Milton Obote!

Tony Geoffrey Owana
Kampala

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