{UAH} M7 ENDORSES NUP’S RUBONGOYA, MAO FOR EALA POSITIONS & VOWS TO FAIL FDC’S ROLAND KAGINDA AS LATIF SEBAGGALA PREPARES

By Otim Nape 

Reliable State Houses sources have revealed to Mulengera News that the contempt with which the FDC party treated his invitation as IPOD Chairman to attend the Friday IPOD Summit at Kololo Airstrip has caused President Museveni's anger and resentment towards Patrick Amuriat's party to multiply. That the powerful man from Rwakitura was angry that not only did FDC opt out of the meeting but also unleashed its spin doctors, led by Semujju Nganda and Nandala Mafabi, to demonize the Summit which Asuman Basalirwa's JEEMA equally boycotted and stayed away from despite pressure from its ordinary members (would-be delegates) who salivatingly looked forward to the Shs500,000 each one of them would get as participation allowances.

It's now clear the conduct of the two opposition parties left Gen Museveni with an egg on his face and itching for a belligerent fight with his tormentors from both Najjanankumbi and Mengo. The Kololo event was partly convened at the instigation of DP President Norbert Mao who rang the State House switchboard seeking to speak to Gen Museveni. He was unable to promptly speak to him but left a message. "I'm told you have been looking for me. What is it that you want us to talk about?" Museveni casually asked Mao on returning his call [this calling on the switch board is something Gen Museveni encourages all fellow IPOD Summit members-not just Mao/UPC's Akena actually uses it more often).

In his response, the DP President cleared his throat and said: "We need to have an urgent IPOD Summit and the purpose of my call was to get the IPOD Summit chairman to call one." Mischievous as ever, Gen Museveni sarcastically asked Mao "who is the IPOD Chairman?" Equally sarcastic, Mao responded "it's you." He went ahead to tell Gen Museveni that much as the political environment had become so toxic following what arguably stands to be the country's most violent election, there was need for the political protagonists to talk.

He suggested that even Robert Kyagulanyi, whose NUP isn't yet a member of IPOD, should be invited as an observer at the Kololo Summit as his party awaits formal IPOD admission in July when Gen Museveni will actually be handing over the chair to the political colossus from Magere. Renowned for being very witty, Mao added this wasn't new at all because even at the UN, a representative from Palestine's PLO used to be invited to the UN meetings in the same observer capacity to the total chagrin of Israel which considered them undeserving.

Gen Museveni, who critics say badly needs pictures from such meetings to bolster his public relations, readily offered to convene the Summit as Mao was suggesting. We now understand that the DP President has continued using the current political stalemate to portray himself as a voice of reason and moderation at a time when majority of the opposition leaders consider Gen Museveni too insensitive and indifferent to merit any such talks. Mulengera News understands that the great credentials Mao exhibited as a diplomat in that phone call has since moved Gen Museveni to realize he deserves being prompted and later on supported to take one of the two opposition slots for Arusha-based EALA where his estranged VP Mukasa Mbidde has eaten things (Shs50m per month) for the last 10 years.

The practice has been that NRM galvanizes 6 out of the 9 slots Uganda has at the Arusha-based assembly leaving three for the opposition-one of which must go to an independent who has been Mukasa Mbidde's great friend Susan Nakawuki for the last 10 years. Nakawuki used to belong to FDC on whose 2006 wave she rode to become MP for Busiro East which Medard Segona grabbed in 2011 up to this day. Despite being FDC, Gen Museveni considered her to be a moderate politician and urged is NRM caucus members to elect her for the independent slot. The truth is Gen Museveni's NRM will always determine who goes to Arusha because the principle is one man one vote and he who garners the highest number of votes from the entire house (which becomes an electoral college on that day) is announced winner regardless of who gets nominated by which party.

This has, for the last 10 years, given Gen Museveni leverage to dangle his carrot to opponents he considers moderate and not too resentful towards his brand of politics. Besides Nakawuki, the beneficiaries of that Musevenist carrot have, for the last 10 years, been Mukasa Mbidde (for DP) and UPC's Chris Opoka who many ordinarily had considered simply unelectable. Gen Museveni, initially using JPAM, opted for the two [Mbidde and Opoka] as a way of punishing FDC whose Col Kizza Besigye has always consistently disputed his electoral victories.

In 2016, Gen Museveni's agents vigorously decampaigned Ingrid Turinawe who the FDC had fronted on grounds she was too radical and her going to Arusha would be synonymous with indirectly funding the Defiance Campaign in which she was a pillar. The NRM implied that FDC, which used to have two reps at EALA before 2011, would only resume representation in Arusha after Kizza Besigye softened on his rhetoric, disbanded People's Government and recognized Gen Museveni's victory over him.

Naturally, the FDC remained adamant and that is how their Ingrid Turinawe and Ibi Florence walked away empty-handed as Mbidde and Opoka sailed back for another 5 years. Nakawuki, who eventually defected to NRM openly, too went back for another 5 years on the independent ticket though Gen Museveni continued perceiving her as another representative of the opposition. It should be noted that none of the trio is now eligible for reelection because EALA strictly enforces term limits implying no one can do more than 10 years.

AND NOW

Fast-forward, the EALA polling will soon be around the corner and credible State House sources say that Gen Museveni has signaled some of his assistants; errand boys and girls around Parliament that he would have no problem using his NRM numeric strength to ensure the following eat things at EALA in the name of the opposition as his NRM continues having a lion's share of 6 slots: NUP's David Lewis Rubongoya, DP's Norbert Mao and NUP-leaning Latif Sebaggala (for the independents).

State House sources say that Gen Museveni has indicated he has no problem with NUP SG Rubongoya because he has effectively and inadvertently used his influence on Bobi Wine to ensure the militant NRM opponent doesn't use his wide appeal to call for Besigye-like riots protesting his reelection. "He is grateful that much as tensions remains, the Rubongoya he knows from Kanyaryeru and since his days at Makerere as an NRM-leaning student's leader, has used his leverage as SG to ensure things don't escalate into street violence," says a knowledgeable State House source deeply involved in Gen Museveni's political calculus for the next 5 years.

Rubongoya has indeed implied (in a recent newspaper interview with Observer) that he will be running for an elective position in the very near future which many have since construed to be a reference to EALA. And gratefully, his EALA plans is something we reported about months ago as seen in this news link https://mulengeranews.com/what-makes-nup-sg-lewis-rubongoya-very-powerful/. It's very unlikely that the flamboyant Harvard-trained lawyer, still determined to remain NUP SG too, will be facing any internal challenge from within NUP regarding his EALA ambitions.

The plan, as we reported earlier, is to simultaneously serve at EALA and complete his PhD at Oxford University at the same time.

Latif Sebaggala, who was badly humiliated by Mohammed Segirinya for the Kawempe North MP Seat, is equally having his eyes on EALA and must present himself as the opposition-leaning independent who Gen Museveni (his political admirer of many years) will have no problem backing. Like we reported many months ago, Gen Museveni has always considered Latif Sebaggala to be a very good and well-matured politician.

And we can illustrate this with a number of references but just one or two will do for now. When she was Chairperson Buganda Caucus in Parliament (2006-2011), NRM's Rose Namayanja reached out to Gen Museveni suggesting a de-escalation meeting on the Buganda question following the bloody Kayunga riots of 2009. She suggested that, for inclusiveness purposes, she wished to come with one of the leading caucus members from the opposition. But before she even completed her point, Gen Museveni cut her shot saying "Please don't bring me people like this confused MP of yours called Hussein Kyanjo; at least we can do with Latif Sebaggala because I find him very progressive."

Yet that isn't all. Some years ago, Gen Museveni desired to reshuffle his cabinet and considered replacing Frank Tumwebaze and Idah Nantaba as Ministers of Information/ICT. He, at some point as he travelled abroad for an important meeting in the West, he rang one of the intelligence chiefs (as he prepared to set off) and directed him to assess for him the possibility of replacing Tumwebaze or Kampala Minister Beti Kamya with Latif Sebaggala who Mohammed Nsereko would deputize. He directed the intelligence chief to try and even initiate some discussions to establish if Latif would accept [we can profile for you how far that went next time].

The other person the President indicated to the same intelligence chief he was badly interested in but doubted he would ever accept a post in his cabinet was FDC's Nandala Mafabi who he said can make a good Finance Minister (replacing Matia Kasaija). So, lending the NRM numbers to deliver Latif to EALA is clearly the least Gen Museveni would be prepared to do for the key surviving political figure from the Kisasi-based Sebaggala family.

As for Mao, sources say, the pressure to abdicate the DP Presidency (on grounds of the lukewarm performance in January 14^th elections) is becoming too much, a scenario that can only cause the Oracle from Gulu more political humiliation in the coming weeks and months. It's considered that being sent to EALA would give the sometimes frail Mao a decent exit option so that the likes of Mbidde or even Leander Komakech can agree on who must fill the Presidency vacuum at City House.

The fact that the modestly rich Mao, unexpectedly considered returning to Parliament in 2016 only to be overcome by the fact that he hadn't registered for the National ID, makes the naturally very magnanimous Gen Museveni confident that the long-serving DP President could after all welcome the idea of going to EALA once he is assured of the required support among MPs. This EALA posting is being considered at a time when the wedge between him and key allies like Mbidde and Komakech is said to only be widening implying his days at the key big man at City House may not be many.

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"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"

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