Omwony Ojwok, a Moshi spirit veteran has gone
Nov 19, 2007
IT is such a pity that Omwony Ojwok has gone before giving the world his side of the story as the Secretary to the Uganda Unity Moshi Conference and the Secretary of the National Consultative Council (UNCC) in Kampala. In all serious meetings the secretary is like the cook in the kitchen.
By Tarsis Kabwegyere
IT is such a pity that Omwony Ojwok has gone before giving the world his side of the story as the Secretary to the Uganda Unity Moshi Conference and the Secretary of the National Consultative Council (UNCC) in Kampala. In all serious meetings the secretary is like the cook in the kitchen.
Ideas expressed in the meeting are like the raw materials in the kitchen. The meal blend you get at the table must surely come from the raw materials plus the skill of the handler, the cook in this case. Omwony Ojwok was such a genuine, careful, objective, historist secretary that we almost relied on his blend of what happened during the eventful period of Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF).
The history of Uganda at the centre of which was the brutal Amin, produced conditions that led to the unity conference.
A full story remains to be told, now minus the copious mind of Omwony Ojwok. As chairperson of the convening committee which included Okot Nyormoi and Dr. Senabulya from the Nairobi Group expanded to include Omwony Ojwok, Dan Nabudere and Rugumayo to make up the credentials committee where we had Omwony as our Secretary.
It was necessary to have a credentials committee because after invitations were extended to worldwide Ugandan groups and organisations, Moshi was swamped with all types of groups including, in some cases, one-person groups, different party splinter groups and so on, so that it became necessary to work out who would qualify to enter the conference room, small as it was, for serious deliberations. Eighty eight (88) “groupsâ€, most of which were UPC organised to fill the conference were reduced to only 22. After two days of serious committee work, the conference finally started, chaired by me, with Omwony Ojwok as secretary.
It was opened by Benjamin Mkapa, then foreign minister of Tanzania.
That meeting in Moshi was momentous; It brought Ugandans form all corners of the globe, of all political ideological shades and social backgrounds. It took a lot of doing to agree on rules of procedure after deciding on who could attend.
The opening speech I made as the Convener and Chairman before Mr. Smei Nyanzi was selected to chair the conference, pointed out how embarrassing it was to spend nearly two days grumbling and how ungrateful we were to Tanzania, our host and great supporter in the removal of Amin. I advised that on coming back we had Nakivubo Stadium where we could all gather and talk our differences!
The outcome of the conference was the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) with the slogan, “The Moshi Spirit.†The careful, committed meticulous Secretary and keeper of records from the credentials to the final communiqué, was Omwony Ojwok.
There was no payment. There was no boss to command him. There was no promise of a job. The man was a selfless volunteer, a self-driven patriot who wanted and worked to his ability to see a Uganda out of Amin’s fascist grip. The five goals of UNLF — Peace National Unity, Democracy and National Independence and Pan-Africanism — were couched in a language that Omwony Ojwok could record with ease of mind and commitment of purpose.
Omwony’s consistence and insistence in that meeting, calling on the Chair to confirm each decision that was made so that he could record it, qualify him as a full veteran of the Moshi spirit and a foundation builder of Uganda after Amin.
As the Secretary to the NCC, in Kampala, his political acumen budding statesmanship were demonstrated. It was not day with laptops. He took minutes in his long hand at every meeting until he was complimented with a team of young cadres at the NCC Secretariat later. He worked from and within his heart. He loved what he did and did it with wholeness.
Some people may say UNLF failed because it didn’t keep power for very long. But how could people who had met only for three days, many of whom had met for the first time cohere in ideas, ideology and work methods to confront the damage and post-Amin complexities in Uganda’s politics?
UNLF was clearly a temporary formula. The Moshi Spirit need a body to cloth it into a new political being. That was a revolution which ensued with the protracted guerilla struggle, fruits of which Uganda is enjoying today.
If Omwony Ojwok disagreed with you, he gave you his own reasons, very elaborately and articulately.
If you failed to understand him, he tried again and again tirelessly. He did not argue to dominate you or intimidate you but to build a common understanding on a principle of problem solving. Omwony fitted the definition of a leader-a-problem solver; he believed so much in problem solving that he tried all the time to understand causes. That is why he could be called a historist — someone who dug into the past to explain current social phenomena.
He died when he was about to produce a blueprint of Uganda’s planning policy. He believed, like many, that there should be a fully fledged Ministry of Planning to guide the complex processes of development.
He passed on before he finished but who dies after he has finished all there is to do? We had talked about doing the history of UNLF together. What a joy he was as he thought through an argument. He used the intellect of his mind and the poetics of his heart, his charming simplicity, comradeship and compatriotism to make a lovable being.
Politicians who think politics is taking unfair advantage of others must know that to live, learn, love and leave a legacy you can emulate Omwony Ojwok and you will be dearly missed when you die.
Go thee well the Veteran of the Moshi spirit and a hero.
The writer is the minister for refugees and disaster preparedness
IT is such a pity that Omwony Ojwok has gone before giving the world his side of the story as the Secretary to the Uganda Unity Moshi Conference and the Secretary of the National Consultative Council (UNCC) in Kampala. In all serious meetings the secretary is like the cook in the kitchen.
Ideas expressed in the meeting are like the raw materials in the kitchen. The meal blend you get at the table must surely come from the raw materials plus the skill of the handler, the cook in this case. Omwony Ojwok was such a genuine, careful, objective, historist secretary that we almost relied on his blend of what happened during the eventful period of Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF).
The history of Uganda at the centre of which was the brutal Amin, produced conditions that led to the unity conference.
A full story remains to be told, now minus the copious mind of Omwony Ojwok. As chairperson of the convening committee which included Okot Nyormoi and Dr. Senabulya from the Nairobi Group expanded to include Omwony Ojwok, Dan Nabudere and Rugumayo to make up the credentials committee where we had Omwony as our Secretary.
It was necessary to have a credentials committee because after invitations were extended to worldwide Ugandan groups and organisations, Moshi was swamped with all types of groups including, in some cases, one-person groups, different party splinter groups and so on, so that it became necessary to work out who would qualify to enter the conference room, small as it was, for serious deliberations. Eighty eight (88) “groupsâ€, most of which were UPC organised to fill the conference were reduced to only 22. After two days of serious committee work, the conference finally started, chaired by me, with Omwony Ojwok as secretary.
It was opened by Benjamin Mkapa, then foreign minister of Tanzania.
That meeting in Moshi was momentous; It brought Ugandans form all corners of the globe, of all political ideological shades and social backgrounds. It took a lot of doing to agree on rules of procedure after deciding on who could attend.
The opening speech I made as the Convener and Chairman before Mr. Smei Nyanzi was selected to chair the conference, pointed out how embarrassing it was to spend nearly two days grumbling and how ungrateful we were to Tanzania, our host and great supporter in the removal of Amin. I advised that on coming back we had Nakivubo Stadium where we could all gather and talk our differences!
The outcome of the conference was the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) with the slogan, “The Moshi Spirit.†The careful, committed meticulous Secretary and keeper of records from the credentials to the final communiqué, was Omwony Ojwok.
There was no payment. There was no boss to command him. There was no promise of a job. The man was a selfless volunteer, a self-driven patriot who wanted and worked to his ability to see a Uganda out of Amin’s fascist grip. The five goals of UNLF — Peace National Unity, Democracy and National Independence and Pan-Africanism — were couched in a language that Omwony Ojwok could record with ease of mind and commitment of purpose.
Omwony’s consistence and insistence in that meeting, calling on the Chair to confirm each decision that was made so that he could record it, qualify him as a full veteran of the Moshi spirit and a foundation builder of Uganda after Amin.
As the Secretary to the NCC, in Kampala, his political acumen budding statesmanship were demonstrated. It was not day with laptops. He took minutes in his long hand at every meeting until he was complimented with a team of young cadres at the NCC Secretariat later. He worked from and within his heart. He loved what he did and did it with wholeness.
Some people may say UNLF failed because it didn’t keep power for very long. But how could people who had met only for three days, many of whom had met for the first time cohere in ideas, ideology and work methods to confront the damage and post-Amin complexities in Uganda’s politics?
UNLF was clearly a temporary formula. The Moshi Spirit need a body to cloth it into a new political being. That was a revolution which ensued with the protracted guerilla struggle, fruits of which Uganda is enjoying today.
If Omwony Ojwok disagreed with you, he gave you his own reasons, very elaborately and articulately.
If you failed to understand him, he tried again and again tirelessly. He did not argue to dominate you or intimidate you but to build a common understanding on a principle of problem solving. Omwony fitted the definition of a leader-a-problem solver; he believed so much in problem solving that he tried all the time to understand causes. That is why he could be called a historist — someone who dug into the past to explain current social phenomena.
He died when he was about to produce a blueprint of Uganda’s planning policy. He believed, like many, that there should be a fully fledged Ministry of Planning to guide the complex processes of development.
He passed on before he finished but who dies after he has finished all there is to do? We had talked about doing the history of UNLF together. What a joy he was as he thought through an argument. He used the intellect of his mind and the poetics of his heart, his charming simplicity, comradeship and compatriotism to make a lovable being.
Politicians who think politics is taking unfair advantage of others must know that to live, learn, love and leave a legacy you can emulate Omwony Ojwok and you will be dearly missed when you die.
Go thee well the Veteran of the Moshi spirit and a hero.
The writer is the minister for refugees and disaster preparedness