New appointments may not unite NRM
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has explained that his main considerations when appointing his new Cabinet were regional and religious balance; professionalism; contribution of individuals or their families to the liberation struggle and nation-building.
John Kakande
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has explained that his main considerations when appointing his new Cabinet were regional and religious balance; professionalism; contribution of individuals or their families to the liberation struggle and nation-building.
While it is true that the President took into account regional and religious balance, professionalism and nation-building, it is also evident that there were other political considerations that must have influenced the appointments.
It is evident the President has sought to use the Cabinet appointments to heal the wound the National Resistance Movement (NRM) sustained during the recent parliamentary elections.
Nonetheless, the new Cabinet appointments have the potential to further rupture the NRM as a party.
No doubt the NRM primaries caused a serious rift among the party leaders in many parts of the country.
In Sembabule, the Electoral Commission had to incur additional costs to deploy two presiding officers at every polling station due to the serious dispute among the NRM leaders splitting into two rival factions. Each faction had to nominate people to act as presiding officers at the polling stations. There were many other areas where NRM leaders clashed and got polarised.
The appointment to ministerial position of Henry Kajura, Dr Kasirivu Atwooki, Maurice Kagimu Kiwanuka and James Kinobe must have been calculated to heal the wounds that the NRM sustained during the primaries.
The defeat of Kajura, Kinobe, Kasirivu and Kagimu in the primaries had grave implications for the party. Kajura and Kasirivu’s defeat created even more political complications as it threatened to split the party supporters on basis of ethnicity. It was important for the party leader to take steps to get these individuals back in the fold to unify the party support in their respective areas.
For Kagimu, leaving him in the cold would have sent the wrong signals. Kagimu’s defection to the NRM was a big political score for the party. Kagimu is the son of the former Democratic Party president Ben Kiwanuka.
Although it was a shrewd move for President Museveni to appoint these individuals as well as others such as Eriya Kategaya and Omara Atubo, it could nonetheless have a political backlash.
Museveni has scored high points to convince Kategaya back into the NRM fold. Kategaya’s return to the NRM is the biggest setback suffered by the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). True, Kategaya didn’t actively campaign for FDC candidates. But his association with the party had given it some political clout.
Kategaya was the de facto leader of the group that broke away from the NRM over the amendment to the Constitution that abolished the presidential two-term limit, the so-called third term amendment. In appointing Atubo, the President has made a move that could be calculated to woo the UPC dissidents in Lango.
But not everyone in the NRM will be amused by the appointment of an ‘opponent’ (Atubo) or the re-appointment of Kategaya as First Deputy Prime Minister in charge of East African Affairs.
Within the NRM, there has been a lot of resentment against party supporters who contested as Independents in recent elections and also those who fought against the third term amendment.
This resentment is understandable and the President has an uphill task to create harmony within his party. So I highly doubt that the new ministerial appointments will foster this internal party harmony.
The appointment of Kajura and others who lost in the NRM primaries could also cause a backlash instead of facilitating a healing process. Many politicians invest colossal sums of money on election campaigns because they hope to be named Cabinet ministers. For those who get elected, they hate to see losers ‘jumping the queue’ and becoming ministers. In this case, we are likely to see intensification of infighting within NRM.
jkakande@newvision.co.ug
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has explained that his main considerations when appointing his new Cabinet were regional and religious balance; professionalism; contribution of individuals or their families to the liberation struggle and nation-building.
While it is true that the President took into account regional and religious balance, professionalism and nation-building, it is also evident that there were other political considerations that must have influenced the appointments.
It is evident the President has sought to use the Cabinet appointments to heal the wound the National Resistance Movement (NRM) sustained during the recent parliamentary elections.
Nonetheless, the new Cabinet appointments have the potential to further rupture the NRM as a party.
No doubt the NRM primaries caused a serious rift among the party leaders in many parts of the country.
In Sembabule, the Electoral Commission had to incur additional costs to deploy two presiding officers at every polling station due to the serious dispute among the NRM leaders splitting into two rival factions. Each faction had to nominate people to act as presiding officers at the polling stations. There were many other areas where NRM leaders clashed and got polarised.
The appointment to ministerial position of Henry Kajura, Dr Kasirivu Atwooki, Maurice Kagimu Kiwanuka and James Kinobe must have been calculated to heal the wounds that the NRM sustained during the primaries.
The defeat of Kajura, Kinobe, Kasirivu and Kagimu in the primaries had grave implications for the party. Kajura and Kasirivu’s defeat created even more political complications as it threatened to split the party supporters on basis of ethnicity. It was important for the party leader to take steps to get these individuals back in the fold to unify the party support in their respective areas.
For Kagimu, leaving him in the cold would have sent the wrong signals. Kagimu’s defection to the NRM was a big political score for the party. Kagimu is the son of the former Democratic Party president Ben Kiwanuka.
Although it was a shrewd move for President Museveni to appoint these individuals as well as others such as Eriya Kategaya and Omara Atubo, it could nonetheless have a political backlash.
Museveni has scored high points to convince Kategaya back into the NRM fold. Kategaya’s return to the NRM is the biggest setback suffered by the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). True, Kategaya didn’t actively campaign for FDC candidates. But his association with the party had given it some political clout.
Kategaya was the de facto leader of the group that broke away from the NRM over the amendment to the Constitution that abolished the presidential two-term limit, the so-called third term amendment. In appointing Atubo, the President has made a move that could be calculated to woo the UPC dissidents in Lango.
But not everyone in the NRM will be amused by the appointment of an ‘opponent’ (Atubo) or the re-appointment of Kategaya as First Deputy Prime Minister in charge of East African Affairs.
Within the NRM, there has been a lot of resentment against party supporters who contested as Independents in recent elections and also those who fought against the third term amendment.
This resentment is understandable and the President has an uphill task to create harmony within his party. So I highly doubt that the new ministerial appointments will foster this internal party harmony.
The appointment of Kajura and others who lost in the NRM primaries could also cause a backlash instead of facilitating a healing process. Many politicians invest colossal sums of money on election campaigns because they hope to be named Cabinet ministers. For those who get elected, they hate to see losers ‘jumping the queue’ and becoming ministers. In this case, we are likely to see intensification of infighting within NRM.
jkakande@newvision.co.ug