Mao speaks out on new rebel group
Jul 31, 2009
NOBERT Mao, Gulu district chairman and a member of the opposition Democratic Party, recently referred to the existence of a new rebel group in Northern Uganda. He also revealed that his memory stick, which contained the group’s plan to fight, was stolen
NOBERT Mao, Gulu district chairman and a member of the opposition Democratic Party, recently referred to the existence of a new rebel group in Northern Uganda. He also revealed that his memory stick, which contained the group’s plan to fight, was stolen by security agents at Sheraton Hotel Kampala. The revelations raised a lot of questions, even among his fellow leaders in Northern Uganda. Moses Mulondo asked him for clarification.
Army spokesman Col. Felix Kulayigye said you knew about the new rebel group (Uganda Patriotic Front) and failed to report it to the authorities
I did not know of any rebel group because a group means people. Those are spoilers who did not support the Juba peace process and were sending mixed signals to the LRA in the bush.
But should you not have reported them, considering that they had a detailed plan to overthrow the Government?
In my role as a peacemaker between the Government and the LRA, I receive lots of documents. I still have others and I am sure many more will come. Our role is to diffuse such tendencies so that they don’t undermine dialogue. It is okay for people to disagree with the Government; what we oppose is bloodshed.
There were rumours that you were going to be arrested
They thought I had links with some of the people they had arrested on suspicion of rebel activities. They also thought I had edited their document. The truth is that I got that document because of my role in peacemaking. I am not aspiring to be a warlord.
So you don’t foresee another rebellion in the north?
Our people have suffered enough. We also know that the majority of our people in the diaspora are too tied down by their commitment of supporting their relatives in Uganda to fund a fully fledged war against the State. If the Government invests in peace, reconstruction and development of northern Uganda and gives job opportunities, education and health to the young generation, there will be no incentive for anyone to take up arms. The State must also not block avenues for peaceful political dissent and this includes levelling the political arena, so that those who are not in NRM can present their alternative vision for Uganda. Leaders should watch their language. Ugandans are not only ignorant about most other tribes, but they are also deeply prejudiced against them.
And prejudice is worse than ignorance when it comes to nation-building. As leaders, we need to highlight the fact that no tribe has a monopoly of good or bad people. We must stop heaping responsibility for individual crimes on an entire community or tribe. Kony is Acholi but Acholi is not Kony.
Amin is Kakwa but Kakwa is not Amin. To reverse the impact of NRM-led prejudice against northern Uganda, we need to start by affirming the good deeds of decent people from northern Uganda. We also need to spread services, support inter-tribal mixes and reverse decades of disadvantage.
Are you vying for presidency?
Yes. I can unify DP. I have a nationwide appeal and can help DP rebuild all its grassroots structures. With
the input of all party leaders, I will spearhead the creation of a DP alternative vision that NRM will not
be able to deal with. DP
members should be assured that I will be a leader who will not cling to leadership. I will also mentor many other young leaders to plan for a more glorious DP in the future.
But will you win when the opposition is so weak?
It is the NRM which deliberately weakened the opposition by buying off its top leaders, intimidating and jailing them and banning political activities. But still, 40% of our problems are self-inflicted. Party leaders are not building or mentoring young leaders. They are not accountable when they raise money. There is a lot of in-fighting over non-issues.
Those internal squabbles exhaust our energies.
Besides, the opposition is not pro-active. We seldom initiate policy alternatives. We wait for the NRM to initiate a policy and then react to it. In fact, most political parties behave as if their most important activity is the weekly press conference, during which they provide footnotes to Museveni’s policy pronouncements. We should transform from being wagons to being engines capable of propelling the aspirations of our people.
If we remain mere commentators, even NGOs will continue to have a bigger impact on national policies. We have to close the credibility gap between political parties and our people’s aspirations for a better future. Ugandans know what we want to get rid of but they are not sure of what we will bring. And Museveni uses that to spread the fear of change. Margaret Thatcher of Britain used to call it TINA - There Is No Alternative. We have to draft an alternative vision to NRM’s. Secondly, we need a common ground in a coalition for change.
But it was your party, DP, which refused to join the inter-party coalition
There is no consensus on that matter among the top leaders of DP. It is top on our agenda in the forthcoming delegates’ conference. We want a coalition of party members, not a coalition of party leaders. It must be a coalition for change. If you are in captivity, you join forces to get out of that prison. You forget all your differences when you are still behind bars. Our failure to unite is Museveni’s biggest asset.
Don’t you think President Museveni is in power because the majority of Ugandans want him there?
The time when the majority wanted President Museveni to be in power is long past. If you take into account the impact of violence, disenfranchisement of people, intimidation, vote rigging, and vote buying, I don’t think President Museveni has got a majority in any of the previous elections.
In a free and fair election, he would not win. Even the percentage of his stolen votes has been dwindling. That is why he resists electoral reforms because they will lead to free and fair elections and power will slip out of his hands.
Will you win in 2011?
It is possible, though very difficult. There are many obstacles, both internal and external, which we have to get out of our way. It is very clear Ugandans want change. What is lacking is leadership and direction for change. And this change has to begin with the opposition parties.
We must work together instead of against one another. We must mobilise resources and build solid grassroots structures to guard our votes against thieves and widen our support. We must present a better alternative. You cannot win by making noise in Kampala just like you cannot win a war by only bombing from the air. Eventually, you must go on the ground. That is where decisive contact is made.
Is the multiparty political system progressing in Uganda?
Multiparty democracy does not grow wildly. It needs to be constructed intentionally. Ours is disappointing because there are internal factors within political parties and external factors in the environment that have paralysed progress.
External factors are imposed due to the repressive tendencies by the NRM. Internally, the arena for free debate is also shrinking. What should normally be a healthy debate degenerates into crude name calling and often leads to a purge of dissenters. You cannot have democracy without democrats. This is comparable to what happened after independence. Freedom fighters became dictators. The anti-colonial vehicles became instruments of repression. There is need for deep soul-searching within political parties.
Otherwise, ordinary people will lose confidence in the political process. Look at Rubaga in the last LC elections, only 19% of voters’ turned up. We have to motivate our people to renew their interest in the political process. There is a crisis of confidence in all the political parties.
What can be done to restore people’s confidence?
Political parties are too centralised, they need to decentralise. We need strong grassroots structures to hold those on top accountable. There is no ownership of political parties by the ordinary citizens. We are all guilty of the patronage system we accuse Museveni of. We exploit the poverty and ignorance of our members to ascend into power and then we betray them.
Ordinary party members need to regain control of their parties and make the leaders of their parties more accountable. We also need to give parties local financing. It is scandalous for political parties to be foreign funded. How can you fight for national aspirations when you are funded by foreign interests?
Army spokesman Col. Felix Kulayigye said you knew about the new rebel group (Uganda Patriotic Front) and failed to report it to the authorities
I did not know of any rebel group because a group means people. Those are spoilers who did not support the Juba peace process and were sending mixed signals to the LRA in the bush.
But should you not have reported them, considering that they had a detailed plan to overthrow the Government?
In my role as a peacemaker between the Government and the LRA, I receive lots of documents. I still have others and I am sure many more will come. Our role is to diffuse such tendencies so that they don’t undermine dialogue. It is okay for people to disagree with the Government; what we oppose is bloodshed.
There were rumours that you were going to be arrested
They thought I had links with some of the people they had arrested on suspicion of rebel activities. They also thought I had edited their document. The truth is that I got that document because of my role in peacemaking. I am not aspiring to be a warlord.
So you don’t foresee another rebellion in the north?
Our people have suffered enough. We also know that the majority of our people in the diaspora are too tied down by their commitment of supporting their relatives in Uganda to fund a fully fledged war against the State. If the Government invests in peace, reconstruction and development of northern Uganda and gives job opportunities, education and health to the young generation, there will be no incentive for anyone to take up arms. The State must also not block avenues for peaceful political dissent and this includes levelling the political arena, so that those who are not in NRM can present their alternative vision for Uganda. Leaders should watch their language. Ugandans are not only ignorant about most other tribes, but they are also deeply prejudiced against them.
And prejudice is worse than ignorance when it comes to nation-building. As leaders, we need to highlight the fact that no tribe has a monopoly of good or bad people. We must stop heaping responsibility for individual crimes on an entire community or tribe. Kony is Acholi but Acholi is not Kony.
Amin is Kakwa but Kakwa is not Amin. To reverse the impact of NRM-led prejudice against northern Uganda, we need to start by affirming the good deeds of decent people from northern Uganda. We also need to spread services, support inter-tribal mixes and reverse decades of disadvantage.
Are you vying for presidency?
Yes. I can unify DP. I have a nationwide appeal and can help DP rebuild all its grassroots structures. With
the input of all party leaders, I will spearhead the creation of a DP alternative vision that NRM will not
be able to deal with. DP
members should be assured that I will be a leader who will not cling to leadership. I will also mentor many other young leaders to plan for a more glorious DP in the future.
But will you win when the opposition is so weak?
It is the NRM which deliberately weakened the opposition by buying off its top leaders, intimidating and jailing them and banning political activities. But still, 40% of our problems are self-inflicted. Party leaders are not building or mentoring young leaders. They are not accountable when they raise money. There is a lot of in-fighting over non-issues.
Those internal squabbles exhaust our energies.
Besides, the opposition is not pro-active. We seldom initiate policy alternatives. We wait for the NRM to initiate a policy and then react to it. In fact, most political parties behave as if their most important activity is the weekly press conference, during which they provide footnotes to Museveni’s policy pronouncements. We should transform from being wagons to being engines capable of propelling the aspirations of our people.
If we remain mere commentators, even NGOs will continue to have a bigger impact on national policies. We have to close the credibility gap between political parties and our people’s aspirations for a better future. Ugandans know what we want to get rid of but they are not sure of what we will bring. And Museveni uses that to spread the fear of change. Margaret Thatcher of Britain used to call it TINA - There Is No Alternative. We have to draft an alternative vision to NRM’s. Secondly, we need a common ground in a coalition for change.
But it was your party, DP, which refused to join the inter-party coalition
There is no consensus on that matter among the top leaders of DP. It is top on our agenda in the forthcoming delegates’ conference. We want a coalition of party members, not a coalition of party leaders. It must be a coalition for change. If you are in captivity, you join forces to get out of that prison. You forget all your differences when you are still behind bars. Our failure to unite is Museveni’s biggest asset.
Don’t you think President Museveni is in power because the majority of Ugandans want him there?
The time when the majority wanted President Museveni to be in power is long past. If you take into account the impact of violence, disenfranchisement of people, intimidation, vote rigging, and vote buying, I don’t think President Museveni has got a majority in any of the previous elections.
In a free and fair election, he would not win. Even the percentage of his stolen votes has been dwindling. That is why he resists electoral reforms because they will lead to free and fair elections and power will slip out of his hands.
Will you win in 2011?
It is possible, though very difficult. There are many obstacles, both internal and external, which we have to get out of our way. It is very clear Ugandans want change. What is lacking is leadership and direction for change. And this change has to begin with the opposition parties.
We must work together instead of against one another. We must mobilise resources and build solid grassroots structures to guard our votes against thieves and widen our support. We must present a better alternative. You cannot win by making noise in Kampala just like you cannot win a war by only bombing from the air. Eventually, you must go on the ground. That is where decisive contact is made.
Is the multiparty political system progressing in Uganda?
Multiparty democracy does not grow wildly. It needs to be constructed intentionally. Ours is disappointing because there are internal factors within political parties and external factors in the environment that have paralysed progress.
External factors are imposed due to the repressive tendencies by the NRM. Internally, the arena for free debate is also shrinking. What should normally be a healthy debate degenerates into crude name calling and often leads to a purge of dissenters. You cannot have democracy without democrats. This is comparable to what happened after independence. Freedom fighters became dictators. The anti-colonial vehicles became instruments of repression. There is need for deep soul-searching within political parties.
Otherwise, ordinary people will lose confidence in the political process. Look at Rubaga in the last LC elections, only 19% of voters’ turned up. We have to motivate our people to renew their interest in the political process. There is a crisis of confidence in all the political parties.
What can be done to restore people’s confidence?
Political parties are too centralised, they need to decentralise. We need strong grassroots structures to hold those on top accountable. There is no ownership of political parties by the ordinary citizens. We are all guilty of the patronage system we accuse Museveni of. We exploit the poverty and ignorance of our members to ascend into power and then we betray them.
Ordinary party members need to regain control of their parties and make the leaders of their parties more accountable. We also need to give parties local financing. It is scandalous for political parties to be foreign funded. How can you fight for national aspirations when you are funded by foreign interests?