{UAH} Comrade Gen.Kyaligonza over to you!

There is a lot of hullabaloo over the decision by President Yoweri Museveni's son-in-law, Mr Odrek Rwabwogo, to contest for the position of the NRM-O vice chairperson for western Uganda.

Once elected, Rwabwogo will become a member a key NRM-O organ, the Central Executive Committee. The debate is not whether Rwabwogo is competent or not to run for political office, but his relationship to the president. By implication, he is on a mission to perpetuate the Museveni dynasty. That is the conspiracy theory doing the rounds.

Rwabwogo, who is running against a National Resistance Army (NRA) veteran and bush war hero, Maj Gen Matayo Kyaligonza, says his decision to contest is because of the dead NRM-O ideology. According to him, the tired old men and women in the NRM-O should leave the stage and let new actors take the reins of power. 

I am proud that Rwabwogo, who was a colleague at the New Vision, has got the guts to tell the NRM historicals holding Ugandans at ransom that their time is up. Rwabwogo says: "We respect and honour the sacrifices of these founders but we would like to bring new thinking onto the table. If anybody chooses to run against the president, I would be very happy to see how that debate fashions out," (Saturday Pepper, August 15, 2015). Who could say this better than the first son-in-law?

I pity Kyaligonza, a strong advocate for Museveni's sole presidential candidature. He is now in a tight corner, crying foul for unfair treatment. In no uncertain terms, Rwabwogo has told off Kyaligonza that he is too old, tired and has no additional value to make towards Museveni's NRM-O.

In Rwabwogo's veiled opinion, Kyaligonza is a liability towards securing the Museveni vision of a dynasty and he, therefore, has to leave the Museveni family matters to the inner circle.

This is not the first time Museveni's family is taking centre stage in the country's politics. We had the First Lady, Hon Janet Kataha Museveni, being elected a member of parliament and then appointed a cabinet minister by her husband. In the same cabinet, Museveni shamelessly appointed his brother, General Caleb Akandwanaho, alias Salim Saleh, and cousin Bright Rwamirama.

Those Ugandans who bury their heads in the sand, like the proverbial ostrich, saw nothing wrong with such nepotism, claiming that individuals in one household had a right to be appointed. I will not speak for them, but as far as good management is concerned, the president's decision to assign his relatives was very crude.

In the same vein, the decision of the first son-in-law to seek to join his father-in-law in CEC is raising eyebrows. Some colleagues saw Rwabwogo as another Museveni project intended to perpetuate the family dynasty.

It is said that having temporarily suspended the Muhoozi (Kainerugaba) project, of the first son automatically replacing the father as president, a new project that would seem more democratic has been hatched. This time round, the Museveni family members would occupy crucial positions in the CEC and ably represent the interests of the dynasty.

In Rwabwogo's numerous media interviews, he has confessed that the likes of Kyaligonza have failed the NRM-O ideology, which I believe is to firmly entrench the Museveni family rule. Kyaligonza, who all along might have thought otherwise, is a very bitter man and just like his predecessors that are now irrelevant to the Museveni family rule project, he feels betrayed.

As a right-thinking Ugandan, I completely concur with Rwabwogo that the NRM-O needs new blood to rejuvenate the party and regain the confidence of those that initially believed in its principles. Museveni and his bush war comrades need to leave Uganda's political scene and instead sit back like all respectable elders and offer advice to the new generation of leaders.

Rwabwogo has told off Kyaligonza and – I would respectfully add – President Museveni, that now is the time for them to retire and hand over power to fresh blood. Thirty years in power, they are not adding any value to the system; instead, they are eroding their achievements.

Rwabwogo's media statements are echoed by many Ugandans, including those close to the president, who privately express similar sentiments, but are too scared to tell him for fear of repercussions. 

I believe, as an elder, Museveni knows that he has overstayed his welcome and is now surrounded by traitors and vultures, clamoring for brown envelopes. I encourage the president to listen to his conscience and his "honest" son-in-law, Rwabwogo, and retire peacefully, leaving Uganda in the hands of the very many competent leaders around.

SHEILA KAWAMARA MISHAMBI
 
 The author is a deputy spokesperson of The Democratic Alliance (TDA).

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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

 

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