I had declined to comment about President Museveni’s suspicious relationship with the late Milton Obote’s family, and the inclusion of Honorables Betty Amongi, Beti Kamya and Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi in his cabinet.
However, the uproar that followed the appointments of the Kyabazinga of Busoga and DP national chairperson Mohammed Kezaala prompted my input in the debate. Ever since the latter appointments came to light, most analysts, including NRM fanatics, have already committed the opposition to the mortuary, and have concluded that Mr Museveni is in full control and only dictates of nature might determine his exit.
First, this type of thinking, in my view, is comparable to the story of the Titanic ship, whose crafters dared God to destroy it claiming that they had exhausted every science to its perfection.
And if there was any opportunity to jump aboard the Titanic, the short-sighted people would have joined it even at the time of its collapse. Unfortunately, this did not, in any way, mean that the ship would be intact and would not sink.
I also equate this situation to a football coach I hired during the time I wanted to resurrect Nsambya FC. Whenever we were supposed to face a supposedly stronger opponent, this coach would come to me asking for money to bribe the referee or a player in our opposition team who would score an own goal.
In the worst-case scenario, this coach would go an extra mile to ask for money to hire a witch doctor to bewitch the game in our favour!
Obviously, this was a sign of weakness by the coach and the team, and I could not offer him any money since it would only help us in the short-run. And if our opponents only suspected it, they would just have to keep us in an area where we would not have a favour for a penalty or an own goal.
So, the Ugandan opposition should just realise that the NRM is at its weakest point, and the recent appointments only aggravate its race to its tail end. Additionally, none of the above appointees can hold a single political rally in their constituencies to mobilize support for Museveni.
Instead, as they are being referred to as traitors by their former supporters, the old guard in government view them as parasites and opportunists who, after Museveni’s fall, will claim that they were fighting from within.
If Al-hajji Nasser Sebaggala, for example, who enjoyed massive support across Uganda before crossing to NRM, can no longer step in Owino (St Balikuddembe) market, who among these opposition appointees can ever attract support in Museveni’s favour anymore!
Incidentally, history tells us that when 11 and 21 members of parliament from DP and KY respectively crossed to UPC in the 1960s, the perpetrators of this move had a similar thinking. The same happened in the 1980s but, in both cases, people’s hatred and agitation to get rid of Obote never reduced.
Similarly, when Kenya’s Daniel Toroitich arap-Moi divided the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (Ford) into three, after buying many of his opponents, he could only postpone his stay.
In fact, even in countries such as Iraq, Libya, and Egypt where there have been virtually no opposition leadership, and where presidents have been getting 90 per cent in their elections, they have only managed to cripple opposition leaderships, but not their opposition in general. And none of those countries can claim to be peaceful now.
So, the most critical debate should focus on what shall befall our country if we landed a headless revolution after all the would-be leaders have been destroyed. Managing a post-repressive regime hangover is not only in the interest of those who are oppressed, but also the oppressors themselves.
For example, although the aforementioned presidents had the opportunity to choose who to appoint just like our president today, they never controlled the repercussions of their actions. And apart from leaving their countries in turmoil, even their families can no longer be traced.
Of course with the economic distress facing the opposition, the faint-hearted may and will not survive Museveni’s temptations. Museveni’s invisible, expansive and illusive intelligence shall always hoodwink the cash-strapped opposition stalwarts with bailouts from his agent financial and lending institutions, to quicken their vulnerability.
And this will automatically force their surrender to the predator, who comes as a saviour. However, and just like experience has shown, the bitterness and hatred in the population shall grow until it bursts by itself, something that we are all duty bound to avoid.
The author is the vice chairman and spokesperson of the People’s Progressive Party