{UAH} IS THIS THE DEAL OF THE YEAR? LUKWAGO FOR PRESIDO AND BESIGYE FOR MAYOR?

Rtd Col Besigye Grooming fellow Firebrand Lukwago to take on Museveni in 2016 as Sevo's Blunders Help the Lord Mayor to Gain Cult Status in the Country

By Stephen K Muwambi

After breaking the story about Dr Kiiza Besigye and Erias Lukwago's deal for the former to leave the mayorship slot to the latter, we can now reveal that Kifeefe also agreed to front the Lord Mayor for the 2016 Presidential race.

Impeccable sources intimated to us that Besigye zeroed on Lukwago after scanning all the available contenders and found them lacking in charisma, outspokenness and bravery as well as staying power in face of political persecution.

Besigye made up his mind on Lukwago, after the embattled Lord Mayor refused to buckle under several arrests, prosecution and financial inducements to bend over to Sevo.

"Lukwago made the mark when he refused to apologize to the President even after Museveni undertook to end their beef and let him remain Mayor," our sources argued.

Proof

Though Besigye has great faith in his FDC successor Gen Mugisha Muntu, Kifeefe does not believe the latter has gained the clout and appeal yet to wrestle the coveted poll prize from Kaguta.

Besigye feels Muntu needs sometime to sell himself as well as gain acceptance countrywide let alone within his own party. It is worth noting here that Muntu's election has ended up polarizing FDC leading to the defection of Maj Ruranga Rubaramira to the NRM.

Disinterested

Besigye has already declared he will not run for presidency come 2013.He claims that the three times Sevo has allegedly stolen his victory, have made him lose appetite for standing against Kaguta.

With Sevo yet to drop a hint as to whether he will stand down come 2016, Besigye says it makes no sense for him to stand with "a vote thief."

No show

Muntu has not expressed interest in running for presidency, at least for now, either openly, in passing or by innuendo.

Moreover, inside sources quote Muntu as having declared that his immediate task is strengthening the party at the grassroots.

 He is also currently focused on meeting stakeholders across the divide, religious and opinion elders, before he could think about running for the biggest seat in the country.

There is also  rumor in the FDC corridors that Besigye agreed to let Muntu take over from him on the understanding that Kifeefe would be free to contest for the presidency if he so wished without Muntu coming in.

The above would perhaps lend credence to Muntu's disinterest in the presidential race for the time being. But what is more important is that the truce -if true- gives Besigye wider latitude including fronting a candidate outside FDC with Muntu expected to understand the situation.

Interested

Lukwago is a very ambitious young man so he must be interested in the top seat; the fact he has not expressed his disinterested in the seat, means he cannot shy away from Besigye's deal.

Mao

Lukwago and DP President Norbert Mao do not see eye to eye. Their beef emanates from the Jinja party's delegates conference that elected Mao. Lukwago has since dismissed the election as a sham, which even the High Court ruled so but shied from ordering for fresh elections. 

So when the party chooses to front Mao, Lukwago will of course take Besigye's offer and lock horns with his party candidate.

Faith

All the times Besigye has demonstrated, Lukwago has kept his faith in the man to the extent of enduring the teargas, arrests and home arrests.

Whenever Besigye has appeared in court, Lukwago has been there to commiserate with Kifeefe. He has been one of his behind- the- scenes legal handlers in many of the man's criminal trials. The man from Buddu has been giving the rather expensive legal advice to Kifeefe free of charge.

Turning favor

When Besigye stood for the Presidency, Lukwago ditched his own DP candidate for his friend Kifeefe. This came at a big cost as the party big wigs scolded him for the betrayal. Even in the face of threats of disciplinary action and expulsion, Lukwago did not give a hoot; he remained with Dr Besigye to the last hour.

DP (read Norbert Mao) would later exert their own revenge when they denied Lukwago the DP ticket, leaving him only the option of standing as an independent for the mayoral race.

Mayoral race

In appreciation, Besigye joined Lukwago's mayoral campaign team and it paid dividends at the end of the day. Besigye not only campaigned for Lukwago, but the Kasangati resident also provided money, logistics and was the campaign bulldozer that ensured Lukwago prevailed over NRM's candidate Pastor Peter Ssematimba.

Cozy

Lukwago and Besigye have become so close lately to the extent that Lukwago has been cruising Besigye in his official mayoral Range Rover Vogue.

Whenever Besigye calls a demo, Lukwago will be the first person in the trenches and vice versa. When Lukwago lost the mayorship, Besigye gave the key note denouncement of Justice Catherine Bamugemereire's ruling that he declared was the work of President Museveni.

It's still Besigye who told Lukwago never to accept the verdict and go on and hold demos. What's more? Besigye has abruptly left his self imposed political sabbatical to join Lukwago to the extent that he was arrested today.

Blessing in disguise

With Besigye grooming Lukwago to uproot Museveni, Kaguta has unwittingly helped to boost the young man's chances.

Sevo who helped Lukwago become MP for Kampala and did so again when mayorship window of opportunity opened, is busy repeating the same mistakes.

Museveni helped Lukwago gain a cult status in Kampala. This is when the Head of State openly engaged in a bruising campaign against Lukwago which ended up earning the young man many sympathy votes.

Arrests

After he triumphed, police embarked on arresting the elected mayor like a kitchen thief now and then. After holding the man, Police would release him without charge in some instances.  

In instances where Police bothered to charge him, trumped up charges were slapped on Lukwago, who unsurprisingly kept winning them as they came.

Because Lukwago won on all occasions, it gave the impression that government was simply witch-hunting the Lord Mayor as opposed to prosecuting him for his wrong deeds.

Kibooko, house arrest

As if the millions of sympathizers that such blunders kept earning Lukwago were not more enough, police resorted to whipping the man like a cow in the open.

At other instances, police would wake up and put the man under house under the suspicion he haboured plans to cause havoc within the city. Lukwago's arrest effectively denied the Lord Mayor the chance to meet his people and reach his office; generally denying him the right to free movement.

The above also helped to earn Lukwago sympathy votes, whether government knew it or not withstanding.

Parliament route

The President would make a bad case worse when he continued to undermine Lukwago's mayoral triumph and together with it the voters power by way of attempting to take over Kampala using the large rubber stamp- Parliament. This angered the voters and a good number of Ugandans who feared that government may one day use the precedent to take over another local government just like that.

Tribunal

With the parliament route blocked, government would use a largely compromised Lady Justice Catherine Bamugemereire Tribunal to offload the man from City Hall.

Though the High Court Judge Vincent Zehukirize had barred Bamugemereire from proceeding to recommend the removal of Lukwago, after he found that the council lacked quorum to do so, the good Lady Justice overlooked Zehukirize anyway.

Though Bamugereire herself held that the council had no quorum just like Justice Zehukirize, she again ruled that Lukwago failed to call meetings of the council that lacked quorum. It is worth pointing out here that the same Lukwago had begged Kampala Minister Frank Tumwebaze to constitute the council to no avail. Lukwago also tried to call meetings nonetheless a certain power that him by telling councilors to keep away.

At it again

Far from depressing Lukwago, Bamugemereire's ruling has only served to energize the man. It has also helped to remove the last doubts from the minds of Kampalans that government is out to disenfranchise them (denying them the power to elect their leaders.)

After making those mistakes, government's cops are now arresting and transferring Lukwago to upcountry cells which we dare say is going to earn the man more sympathizers ahead of his planned showdown with the President. We rest our case.

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H.OGWAPITI
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"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that  we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic  and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
---Theodore Roosevelt