Coalitions in Uganda show double standards and a history of failure!
May 08, 2003
SIR— The double standards of the main national political parties in Uganda has been quite clear throughout the years. It can be seen in the way DP formulates campaign failures and hopelessness
SIR— The double standards of the main national political parties in Uganda has been quite clear throughout the years. It can be seen in the way DP formulates campaign failures and hopelessness by making political coalitions between the UPC (!967-70 and 1980-85).
The DP coalitions with the NRM and then back again presently to the CP and UPC are very clear. What a way to go about trying to capture national power! Such cheap political maneuvering leads most Ugandan voters to feel that the politicians take them as idiots.
This 30 year-old DP refused to accept the late Prof Yusuf Lule as its candidate to contest the crucial 1980 national election on the ground that he was Anglican.
DP is playing the same game by getting married to UPC, to induce and welcome NRM, from which Lule was once a very strategic leader in the hearts and minds of the oppressed majority in this country.
Unfortunately for Buganda, in this political quagmire, the government of Mengo finds itself.
Paul Farmer
38 Channel House
Aston Street, London E14 7NJ
SIR— With all due respect, the much-touted coalition is an exercise in futility.
Coalitions must not be made for their own sake but only if the goals set will be achieved. It must be remembered that parties uniting (coalitions) are not new in contemporary Ugandan politics. The UPC-KY alliance in early 60s fell apart; the Inter-Party Coalition in 1996 failed; the Reform Agenda failed in 2001. Why?
Madness, they say, is doing the same thing over and over again, each time thinking you will get different results. Making a coalition without a critical review of the key failure factors of past coalitions will be tantamount to building a huge paper-tiger, an utter waste of time.
To compare and expect the success of the coalition in Kenya to the Uganda scenario is like fixing a square peg in a round hole. KANU, the ruling party then, was infiltrated by elements of Oginga Odinga’s NDP, who then broke away with several KANU-loyalitsts.
Which Movement stalwart is able and willing to break away with his/her constituency now? Matters are further complicated by the fact that the Movement is in fact a coalition, relying heavily on the sharp shooters drawn from the old parties.
KANU suffered massive defections of key stalwarts, leading to the collapse of the regime. Without that kind of defection, the Movement will remain unbwogable. The defectors also put their money where their mouth was. They did not harp on the need for nationalism and the need for sacrifice.
The Movement coalition has paid cadres and any coalition that hopes to have the slightest hope of defeating it must have a huge financial chest; otherwise, sit and wait till that chest is good and ready.
Hooks must be extended to fish out the moderates who are fatigued with the status quo. The Movement may have over-stretched its good will, but people must be convinced that the transition will be an actual measurable change and not a mere change of guards. The overall commander of the coalition cannot be someone who is hard to differentiate from the commander-in-chief of the ruling Movement coalition.
This important factor, if ignored, will play heavily into the hands of the Movement. The insiders have to make a sacrifice, otherwise selling them to the populace becomes as easy as selling ice to Eskimos.
The insiders, and this includes Kizza Besigye, must be prepared to tame personal ambition for the national good. Lastly, coalitions must not end on election day. They show those who join the coalition as power-hungry only. Any damn fool can fall in love but how do you keep the love alive?
Mike Kinyera
Kampala
The DP coalitions with the NRM and then back again presently to the CP and UPC are very clear. What a way to go about trying to capture national power! Such cheap political maneuvering leads most Ugandan voters to feel that the politicians take them as idiots.
This 30 year-old DP refused to accept the late Prof Yusuf Lule as its candidate to contest the crucial 1980 national election on the ground that he was Anglican.
DP is playing the same game by getting married to UPC, to induce and welcome NRM, from which Lule was once a very strategic leader in the hearts and minds of the oppressed majority in this country.
Unfortunately for Buganda, in this political quagmire, the government of Mengo finds itself.
Paul Farmer
38 Channel House
Aston Street, London E14 7NJ
SIR— With all due respect, the much-touted coalition is an exercise in futility.
Coalitions must not be made for their own sake but only if the goals set will be achieved. It must be remembered that parties uniting (coalitions) are not new in contemporary Ugandan politics. The UPC-KY alliance in early 60s fell apart; the Inter-Party Coalition in 1996 failed; the Reform Agenda failed in 2001. Why?
Madness, they say, is doing the same thing over and over again, each time thinking you will get different results. Making a coalition without a critical review of the key failure factors of past coalitions will be tantamount to building a huge paper-tiger, an utter waste of time.
To compare and expect the success of the coalition in Kenya to the Uganda scenario is like fixing a square peg in a round hole. KANU, the ruling party then, was infiltrated by elements of Oginga Odinga’s NDP, who then broke away with several KANU-loyalitsts.
Which Movement stalwart is able and willing to break away with his/her constituency now? Matters are further complicated by the fact that the Movement is in fact a coalition, relying heavily on the sharp shooters drawn from the old parties.
KANU suffered massive defections of key stalwarts, leading to the collapse of the regime. Without that kind of defection, the Movement will remain unbwogable. The defectors also put their money where their mouth was. They did not harp on the need for nationalism and the need for sacrifice.
The Movement coalition has paid cadres and any coalition that hopes to have the slightest hope of defeating it must have a huge financial chest; otherwise, sit and wait till that chest is good and ready.
Hooks must be extended to fish out the moderates who are fatigued with the status quo. The Movement may have over-stretched its good will, but people must be convinced that the transition will be an actual measurable change and not a mere change of guards. The overall commander of the coalition cannot be someone who is hard to differentiate from the commander-in-chief of the ruling Movement coalition.
This important factor, if ignored, will play heavily into the hands of the Movement. The insiders have to make a sacrifice, otherwise selling them to the populace becomes as easy as selling ice to Eskimos.
The insiders, and this includes Kizza Besigye, must be prepared to tame personal ambition for the national good. Lastly, coalitions must not end on election day. They show those who join the coalition as power-hungry only. Any damn fool can fall in love but how do you keep the love alive?
Mike Kinyera
Kampala