SV: {UAH} Allan/Pojim/WBK: Museveni dismisses candidates debate, but can he face villagers? - Comment

Ochen,

What is the author so afraid for?

Noc'la gaumoy

 

"WE FORM THE CULTURE THAT FORMS US"….noc'la gaumoy.

Den lördag, 23 januari 2016 19:51 skrev "ocennekyon@gmail.com" <ocennekyon@gmail.com>:

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Museveni-dismisses-candidates-debate/-/434750/3045684/-/poi8b5/-/index.html

Museveni dismisses candidates debate, but can he face villagers?

As Uganda literally gallops towards its next presidential election, hardly four weeks from now, the much-hyped presidential debate that turned into an underwhelming question-and-answer session, has come and gone.

It has been instructive listening to the after-the-event assessments by some who looked forward to it as if it, of all things, would determine the winner.

Some had eventually realised that the idea of holding a "debate" among seven candidates, many of whom are focused on dislodging the incumbent from office, not selling their own agendas, was a non-starter. Others sought to put a brave face on it, insisting: "The debate was good."

Few, however, would specify what it was they learnt, that they did not know already, given that Museveni's rivals love to rehearse how he has been in power for "so long"; how he has done a terrible job of being president; and how they are sure they can do better, although they don't always provide convincing reasons for why they think so.

Yet others have been content to blame the moderators, one of whom they accuse of arrogance, the other of excessive timidity. These two, they claim, "spoilt" the "debate" by being too aggressive in their questioning, or too timid.

At the end of the day, though, it is unlikely the debate did anything to change people's minds about their preferred candidates. That includes Museveni, who chose to stay away and who later dismissed the whole exercise as childish.

Childish, it wasn't. However, it seems that in refusing to attend, Museveni understood the marginality of the event in as far as influencing voters is concerned. This marginality became clear to me when, the following day, I travelled upcountry

It takes anywhere up to three hours to travel there by car from Kampala. It is important, first of all, to describe the local context before proceeding. The area is in a volcanic region with fertile soils. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood.

There are well-tended banana groves everywhere one looks, suggesting that people here earn a healthy income from growing matooke, a key staple of millions of Ugandans.

There are some hybrid cattle farms and almost every homestead has goats or sheep and chickens. Increasingly, tourism is gaining importance, sucking a growing number of locals out of agriculture into the service industry.

In general terms, the past 30 years under Museveni have been something of a growth period for the area, resulting in a boom of sorts. Roads have been built and others are being built, with one about to be tarmacked by a Chinese contractor whose bulldozers and earthmoving equipment add colour to the landscape.

Many government and private schools have sprung up, as have health centres and clinics.

There is no piped water yet, but the area is well endowed with rivers and crater lakes. As a result, there is no shortage of water, although one cannot vouch for its quality. The 30 years have brought electricity as well. All this would suggest that Museveni is universally popular. He is not.

At the time of our visit, no presidential candidate had been there to campaign. I had accompanied a well-known friend whose face is widely recognisable, to his village. He started school here, going to a little village school and getting to know everybody. He also left long ago and found fame in Kampala. He is therefore a local boy made good, and also not averse to mischief making.

The latter quality became manifest as soon as we arrived at the local trading centre, where he promptly asked a group of young people milling around, to tell him who supported Museveni and who was for Besigye. Very quickly, about two-dozen people admitted to being Museveni supporters, with 19 saying they were for Besigye.

In the heated open-air debate that ensued, in which my friend happily participated, and which was more issue-focused than the one on television, Museveni's supporters were all praise for the development he has brought to the area. To their credit, Besigye's supporters acknowledged all that.

However, they were quick to point out problems with the said development, with which they were dissatisfied, and which they hoped Besigye would solve if he won.

They complained about lack of medicines in health centres, the absence of teachers from their schools, and the poor state of the local main road, which they acknowledged had not been there before the Museveni government built it.

As for electricity, which Museveni had given to them, what good was it if they had to endure long periods of power failure? What did the Musevenists have to say about all that? It was true, they admitted, but then asked: How sure can we be that Besigye will rectify all that, if he wins the election?

By the time we left, it had become clear that Museveni's problems are now more complex than simply delivering things.

Increasingly, quality now counts as much as quantity. If Museveni wants to provide a defence of his record, what is better than going down to face such villagers?

Museveni dismisses candidates debate, but can he face villagers? - Comment

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/Museveni-dismisses-candidates-debate/-/434750/3045684/-/poi8b5/-/index.html

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