{UAH} Anite: the Museveni ‘child’ behind daddy’s Kyankwanzi coup

Anite: the Museveni 'child' behind daddy's Kyankwanzi coup

• June 9, 2015
• Written by BENON HERBERT OLUKA

By the time President Yoweri Museveni captured power on January 26, 1986, Evelyn Anite, the Youth MP for northern Uganda, who led the Kyankwanzi push for the 2016 Museveni sole candidacy, was just 14 months old.

In that sense, she is one of the 'Museveni children', that generation of Ugandans born after – or shortly before – Museveni shot into power 28 years ago; Ugandans who have only known one Ugandan president all their lives.

Yet, early last week, Anite spearheaded a move to virtually determine the fate of Uganda's presidency up to 2021 when she engineered and led a move to arm-twist members of the ruling NRM to endorse Museveni as their sole candidate.

If Museveni wins the 2016 presidential election, for which he is expected to be the runaway favourite given the current unrest in the leading opposition political parties, then he will be on course for an unprecedented 35 years in power.

Museveni's latest political coup, which has paved the way for the 70-year-old leader to retain power, will even be sweeter, given that it came after fending off a growing internal challenge to his tenure.

Throughout most of Museveni's current term, there has been a mounting push within sections of the NRM for Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and/or Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga to challenge the incumbent for the position of the ruling party's flag bearer in the 2016 polls.

Who is Anite?

So who is this Anite who ended up playing such a pivotal role in ensuring Museveni's continued stay in power, even though she only completed her university education in 2008 and is still cutting her political teeth in her debut term in Parliament?

Born on November 11, 1984, Anite is a daughter of Steven Dravu, a civil servant, and Sarah Wokoru Dravu, a businesswoman in Koboko district, in the West Nile sub-region. She did all her pre-university education in West Nile, attending Arua Hill Primary School, St Mary's Ediofe Secondary school for ordinary level and Muni Girls Secondary School for advanced level.

She dreamt of becoming a radio presenter right from her secondary school days and frequently conducted impromptu radio skits for fellow students. Anite eventually got a job with Arua One FM during her senior six vacation. Later she worked at Radio One from 2005 to 2007.

The job only enhanced her appetite for journalism, which led her to the Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Mukono, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication in 2008.

During her time at UCU, Anite found time to participate in public radio talk shows around Kampala, from where her arguments caught the attention of some NRM and government officials. Between 2006 and 2010, Anite had a stint as a presenter on Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) radio.

She later had to juggle the radio gig with another job at the Uganda Media Centre, where she served as Public Affairs Assistant for International Relations between 2008 and 2010.

And then, like a bolt from the blue, Anite threw her hat into the political ring in 2011, and beat four opponents to take the Northern Youth MP seat. Once in Parliament, her media background came in handy. Although she was still wet behind the ears, Anite muscled her way through to become spokesperson for the NRM caucus.

And the president was alert to this rising star, gracing her 2011 wedding to Allan Kajik, an assistant publicist at the National Medical Stores. She has distinguished herself as the voice of the NRM caucus, frequently offering official statements about the group's meetings.

She would later use her position to mobilise fellow legislators to retain Museveni as party leader, with the spotlight finally falling on her this week as she knelt before the ruling party legislators to read out a memorandum, backing a fresh Museveni bid for the presidency.

With her recent performance in Kyankwanzi, the 29-year-old mother of one, who is already looking to unseat Margaret Baba Diri as Koboko Woman MP, could have buttressed her political future in the ruling party.

hobenon@observer.ug

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

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