{UAH} AMAMA'S DAYS TO DO THE KB BEHIND BARS ARE NUMBERED: MPs move to stop Amama
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NRM MPs have ganged up against PM Amama Mbabazi
The resolution declares the NRM chairman, President Museveni, as the party’s sole candidate in the 2016 elections, shielding him from the possible challenge of Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, who is also secretary general.
The latest caucus meeting, the third in less than two weeks, adopted a manual that seeks to confront criticism levelled at President Museveni’s leadership and family.
The manual attempts to arm MPs with ammunition to shoot down issues around which Mbabazi’s supporters have rallied, according to intelligence information peddled by Museveni. Sources have told us that the president, who arrived about two hours late for the 2pm meeting, gave the MPs a brief, reiterating the importance of maintaining cohesion in the party.
He then left the floor for Information and National Guidance Minister Rosemary Namayanja Nsereko to present a draft campaign programme. Namayanja heads the national coordinating sub-committee in charge of the counter-mobilisation effort.
The other committee members include minister of state for Urban Development Rosemary Najjemba and youth MPs Peter Ogwang (Eastern), Patrick
Nakabaale (Central) and Evelyn Anite (Northern). The latter moved the Kyankwanzi resolution that has since set off a chain of events. Caucus members are to coordinate similar committees in their constituencies.
They have also been asked to co-opt district and sub-county chairpersons. Area MPs will be the main conveners of the meetings held at the sub-county level, supported by woman MPs.
“The idea is that, to avoid confusion, the woman MP, LC-V chairman and the constituency MP should address the same rally,” our source told us.
The LC-III chairpersons will then be expected to pass on the same message to the villages. Namayanja, sources said, proposed that MPs should start the campaign by March 20.
Tight-lipped
As Namayanja read out guidelines contained in a manual her committee had prepared, Museveni reportedly urged members not to disclose what had transpired in the meeting to journalists.
“He told us to tell you [journalists] that the meeting was closed and therefore we have no comment,” our source said.
Indeed several caucus leaders were tight-lipped when approached for a comment.
“It was a closed meeting, no comment, thank you,” said caucus vice chairman David Bahati.
During the first caucus meeting at State House Entebbe on March 6, the president, quoting an intelligence report, accused Mbabazi, his wife Jacqueline and sister-in-law Hope Mwesigye of politically mobilising against him.
“There are people moving around the country telling people that the chairman [of NRM, Museveni] has failed to deliver, that he is now promising Ugandans hot air, that Museveni has run out of ideas and that he is no longer in charge; that the country is being run by his family,” Museveni reportedly said.
To counter the charge that his family is in charge of the country, Namayanja’s manual directs the MPs to explain to the electorate that the First Lady, Janet Kataha Museveni, was appointed Karamoja minister after being elected as an MP for Ruhaama county. The manual also explains that Gen Salim Saleh, President Museveni’s younger brother, enjoys the perks that come with being a senior presidential advisor.
On Saleh’s reported wealth, the MPs have been coached to remind Ugandans that the president’s brother is a successful businessman. On Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba, head of the Special Forces Command, the manual says the highly- trained army officer has risen through the ranks because of his abilities.
“He is a person like any other who chose to pursue a military career on his own. He is well-trained and committed to the service,” an MP told us, quoting from the manual.
On the charge that Museveni has run out of ideas, the MPs have been coached to compile a long list of the president’s achievements, particularly on roads, energy and improvements in health and education sectors. The MPs are also to highlight Museveni’s strong leadership credentials.
The manual was not handed out to the MPs at the meeting partly because Museveni expressed discomfort with one point that appears to accuse him of abandoning party cadres who lost elections.
“He said that it should be amended because leaving it like that would imply that it is true he does not help his comrades that lose elections. He suggested that it should be amended to [say it is alleged]…,” our source said.
The entire plan was discussed in Mbabazi’s presence, the secretary general remaining silent throughout the meeting. At least one MP warned that the party was acting out of panic and confusion and was bound to make mistakes.
The MP, whose identity we have not yet established, claimed that Mbabazi’s supporters had infiltrated the masses up to village level and so mobilising at national level would not be effective.
Two hundred and sixty MPs (caucus membership) is a small number to counter their campaign because they have massively recruited, the unnamed MP reportedly said.
ID project
Besides the counter-mobilisation effort, the meeting also discussed the national ID project with Museveni inviting Internal Affairs minister Gen Aronda Nyakairima to make a presentation. Museveni told members that the ID would help in preventing irregularities in the NRM primaries similar to those encountered in 2010.
“This project will help us end cheating in the primaries. We did not know who votes in our [NRM]elections because even members of the opposition have been participating; it is going to help us to identify who belongs to us and who doesn’t,” Museveni said.
Some MPs, like Sarah Mateke (Kisoro), and Stephen Birahwa Mukitale (Buliisa), wondered how non-Ugandans living along border areas would be screened out, but Museveni said as long as they live in Uganda, they should be registered.
“They should be registered but should be honest and tell us that they are citizens by registration and not by birth,” the president was quoted as saying.
Some MPs viewed Nyakairima’s presentation as aiming to persuade them to back the government’s request for a Shs 237bn supplementary budget for that project.
sadabkk@observer.ug
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