{UAH} Ongoing political realignments call for a national dialogue

By Augustine Ruzindana

...when Sejusa spoke, some promotions, even of some retired officers, were made to accompany some rapid promotions he had criticised and some mechanism has been put in place to look into the issues of those officers whose desire to retire from the army had been ignored.

 

 

Uganda is once again going through some political realignments signaled by a number of seemingly unrelated events but all pointing to internal regime contradictions that are increasing in scope and magnitude and denuding its confidence and cohesion.

Just four 'rebels' in Parliament move otherwise inert organs of NRM(O) into frantic action to obliterate them from the face of the political earth, but end up boosting their profile into significant national political figures. Then maneuvers against them in Parliament have failed and action against them through the judicial process has stalled because the helmsman disabled the judicial system by denying it the necessary appointments in the Constitutional and Supreme Courts.

The attacks against them in their domestic political turf is not succeeding either as there is no enabling law and regulations to facilitate the enforcement of the constitutional provision to recall an MP. Apparently, there is no legal framework to enforce the ruler's anger and the proverb that "omunyakiniga aita ebye" (a quick to anger person destroys his own property) is gradually becoming a reality. Meanwhile, internal NRM rebellion is spreading to the countryside. In Ntungamo District, some local leaders, at district council and LC 111 levels, also called 'rebels', have so far successfully repulsed moves against them. There was a recent attempt to oust the district council speaker (one of the rebels) that miserably failed.

In Kampala, the amount of time, money and personnel that are devoted to frustrating and now to evict the elected Lord Mayor from his position, are a phenomenal waste of resources. The most recent media captions of the Lord Mayor were the usual police manhandling of him and teargassing of people who happened to have been in the vicinity of where he had intended to address the people who elected him.

The dispute with taxi drivers and owners is an extension of the struggle with the Kampala Lor Mayor that has driven the regime into countermanding a court decision leading to confrontation, teargassing and arrests of numerous taxi drivers and owners who have hitherto been staunch regime supporters.

Also, the fact that the immediate former vice president has openly declared that he will contest for the post of his boss both in the NRM party and the government is not just the footnote many take it to be. He is taking definite steps to implement what he has said, meaning that he now challenging the one man vision claim that is the basis of the life presidency project. It is not a secret anymore that there are some other NRM political leaders harbouring similar "treasonous" intentions.

The fissures within regime support are not confined to only the political leadership. Gen David Sejusa, hitherto the most ruthless and effective repressor of the opposition, by his recent statements and exile domicile, is now a declared anti-dictatorship crusader. However, some in the opposition have not understood the significance of Sejusa's open rebellion, focusing on his record of ruthlessness.

The main significance of Sejusa's utterances and actions is that someone highly placed in the intelligence and military establishments and extremely knowledgeable about regime strengths has come to the conclusion that the regime is not strong anymore and he is telling the world about it.

The regime reaction and inconsistent statements have revealed extreme nervousness and uncertainty and of late it has become prudent to leave it to civilian Ofwono Opondo to respond to the General. The situation is still developing but the point to note is that when Sejusa spoke, some promotions, even of some retired officers, were made to accompany some rapid promotions he had criticised and some mechanism has been put in place to look into the issues of those officers whose desire to retire from the army had been ignored. Most noteworthy is that reshuffles in the military leadership and in Cabinet have also been effected.

To make matters worse, even the long reliable external support seems to be faltering. Therefore, clearly the regime is weak and attempts to prove the contrary will be more frantic and more out of the ordinary. In such circumstances the regime, rather than become more repressive, should be ready to engage in a national dialogue on the way forward for the country.

Mr Ruzindana is a former IGG and former MP. a_ruzindana@yahoo.com

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*A positive mind is a courageous mind, without doubts and fears, using the experience and wisdom to give the best of him/herself.

 

 We must dare invent the future!
The only way of limiting the usurpation of power by
 individuals, the military or otherwise, is to put the people in charge  - Capt. Thomas. Sankara {RIP} '1949-1987

 *"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent

revolution inevitable"**…  *J.F Kennedy