The People React To The Kyankwanzi Declaration Of Third Term

Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, local government minister and member of National Executive Council (NEC) and National Council (NC) says: “The fact that we agreed to adopt multiparty politics was the best thing to happen during the conference. Talk of the term limits was secondary, the party issue was more important.”
On the issue of term limits, Ssali offers a more liberal view: “I think that if we turn the Movement into what we have agreed to, and we elect President Museveni as the chairman or President of this political organisation, no one should stop him from standing.”

However, Adonia Tiberondwa of the Uganda People’s Congress, is upset by the delegates decision to opt for the use of a referendum to return parties, rather then a simple Constitutional amendment.
“We would be happy if he had waived all regulations affecting the operations of parties. In other words, what he is saying is already in the Constitution, so it is not new,” Tiberondwa says.

Moses Byaruhanga, Presidential assistant on Political affairs says: “The decision to have a referendum was reached so that Ugandans are involved in the process of the change,” he says. On the issue of term limits, he says, “We should not personalise the debate over Presidential term limits to the person of the current President. We should discuss it putting in context presidents to come,” he says.
As a response to people calling the president a dictator-in-the making because of his proposals to have more leverage over parliament, Byaruhanga says, “Dictators don’t seek Constitutional amendments to get what they want, but simply use decrees. President Museveni is proposing his ideas to the people of Uganda for discussions. He can’t be a dictator.”

Professor Dan Nabudere says: “If the President is sincere, he should not have proposed to decide the fate of parties through a referendum.” Nabudere considers the president’s proposal to give the presidency more powers over parliament as a ploy to individualise power.
“In actual sense, the powers of the president even at this moment are so much. I think a clear separation should remain, or even be extended to ensure the development of democracy in Uganda,” Nabudere says.

Semei Wasswa, a carpenter of Bukoto says: “I don’t think that we should have a referendum on the issue of political parties. We have had it before and got nothing out it. It is simply a wastage of tax payers money. Let the return of political parties be solved by a simple constitutional amendment through the Constitutional review commission,”
On the issue of whether the President should have another term, Wasswa says, “We want change. Three terms is a very long time. Too much of anything is always bad.” He pointed out that the Movement should also legalise its party status, because that is what it has always been.

Shida Nalubwama, a food vendor says, “ For me I’m in favour of the referendum because it is what I understand. I don’t want a situation where a small group of people will decide for us. I want to decide my destin.”
On whether the President should be given a third term, Nalubwama answers in the affirmative. “Yes. I’m saying this on the basis of what he has done for us, especially me as a woman. Most of us have learnt to work during his regime. One more term for him will be fantastic.” She is against the Movement becoming a party.

Godfrey Muyingo, a housing contractor, does not want to hear people talk about a third term.
“After two terms, the President is very tired and has got nothing new to offer. Those who want to give the President a third term are afraid that if he goes away, they will also go. Such debate is putting the entire so called democratic achievements of the Movement into disrepute. We should not have such debate at this moment in time. The President should under any circumstances stop on two terms,”
On whether a referendum should be held to decide the fate of party politics, he says rudely, “No. It is much easier through the constitutional review commission, than through a referendum. Parties might be rigged if they accept to use a referendum.” He added that the Movement is already a party and should legalise its status.

Edward Lutwama, a special hire driver says that people power must be used to decide Uganda’s destiny. “Everything depends on the will of the people. If the President has got genuine reasons as to why he wants the term limit to be changed to three, he should be listened to. It is also clear that it is not only the President who wants this issue debated, but also other people. Let them debate it and find a conclusion.”
On whether the Movement should become a party, he says, “ No. The Movement cannot become a party, but those who don’t want to stay in the Movement can go and start their own parties.” he says he prefers a referendum because he will be able to take part in deciding the fate of Uganda.

Mukwaba Nsubuga says that the Constitutional review is better than a referendum. “We had a referendum in the year 2000 and it changed nothing. Referendums are simply time and money wasting,” he says.
Mukwaba does not like the proposal where the President wants to get more powers over parliament. “Asking for more powers above parliament is a very dangerous precedent. It seems he wants to control each and every sector of the country. No one should allow this. It takes us as way back as the 17th century.” He thinks that the Movement is already a party.

Sulaiman Ssetimba, a teacher, was angered by the Kyankwanzi conference. “At Kyankwanzi, the delegates discussed nothing of peasant concern. They only wasted time trying to find ways of entrenching themselves in power. That talk of a third term is a disaster. The President’s proposal that he be given powers to dissolve parliament is outrageous!”

Betty Nabakooza, a food vendor supports a Constitutional Review to decide the fate of parties, rather than the referendum. “I voted in the past referendum, but it changed nothing. How sure l’m that it will not be the same case? She asks. Let us use the Constitution. Nabakooza thinks that the President should not be given another term. “We should get another president every after two terms. This is why we don’t have the same food everyday,” she says. To her, the Movement is already a party.

Kezekia Damba, is against the use of the referendum, “ I remember when we used the referendum in 2000, parties boycotted it, so I think this time we can simply change the clauses in the Constitution that call for the holding of referendum every after four years,” he says. Damba says he respects the President very much, but adds, “ Any President should not rule for more than two terms,” he says. To him, the Movement is already a party.

Nkubi Kikubuseeko, “ A referendum is only applicable in circumstances were the issue is very controversial. Under the current situation, both Movement leaders and party leaders agree that Uganda should return to party politics. I think we need a simple constitutional amendment, not a referendum,” he says. Nkubi says that the President should not be given more than two terms.

Swabri Mukungu says the Movement system is the best system of governance that Uganda has ever had. He does not want to hear of the return of political parties. On the issue of third term he says: “Give persons of vision and of the likes of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni the opportunity to stand for the presidency as many times as the Ugandans and themselves can allow.”

Zamu Namuddu, a second-hand clothes seller in St. Balikudembe market, is not happy with the issue of the third term. “I like the President because of his hard work, but even the best dancers don’t die on the stage. Whether Museveni or not, no one should rule the country for more than two terms,” she says. As far as the referendum is concerned, Namuddu prefers the use of the Constitutional review commission to remove the referendum clause, rather than having the referendum itself. “ It is a wastage of tax payers money,” she says.

Julius Mukisa is afraid that discussing fundamental issues like the third term is an abuse of the democracy that the current government claims to have brought.
“It is a shame that they are discussing giving themselves more powers and entrenching their stay in power,” he says. He says that no one should talk about the use of the referendum to change the political system of this country, rather political parties should be declared back by parliamentary approval. He says that the Movement is a political party, that should simply legalise its party status.

Meanwhile, George Kamya, a Ugandan lawyer based in New York has this to say: “The president should not be given a third term. If the president is to have credibility on this issue, I would suggest that the President rules himself out of the running for a possible third term.”
On the issue of referendum to decide on opening up political space, he says: “I feel that we currently have an excess of elections and referenda, which makes little sense especially since we end up having to beg donors to fund such electoral excesses.”.
To Kamya, an analysis of almost all of Museveni's proposed amendments to the constitution tend towards reinforcing the power and longevity of the executive, this President, at the expense of the legislature. Unfortunately, the President seems to be going down the path, not of George Washington, but of George III, that power-centralising monarch against whom the American Revolution was fought and who loomed large in the minds of the American founding fathers when they wrote the American constitution.
“It is not too late for President Museveni. If he can re-think these constitutional proposals and how they apply to him, he can still be our George Washington,” Kamya concludes. Ends