Ugandan Obama fires up Bufumbira South campaigns

At only 28 years, Bernard Sabiti is the young prodigy that has fired up the campaigns in his constituency with his Obama-like confidence and enviable intellect, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza

At the height of the Obama mania in early 2008, a young Ugandan took his fascination with the then US presidential candidate by forming Ugandans For Obama (UFO), a movement of Obama’s die-hard admirers that within a few days had over 100 registered members. The brain behind UFO was Bernard Sabiti, who two years later, finds himself on the campaign trail, seeking to represent Bufumbira South constituency in Kisoro District.

Ugandan "Obama" Mr. Bernard Sabiti

His Obama-like confidence, eloquence and enviable intellect has driven many into composing songs and slogans of praise in his honour.

“Representing my people in parliament was my childhood ambition,” he says assuredly. “I stand for integrity in politics, truth, hope and change.”

The born-again independent candidate is tussling it out with NRM’s Tress Bucyanayandi who is also the incumbent MP, FDC’s Joseph Munyaneza and another independent candidate, John Tereraho.

“Mine is a struggle to get our country out of the quagmire of corruption, which is in part rooted in the methodology of electing our leaders with politicians taking advantage of people’s poverty to bribe voters,” he says. “I’ve tried to unequivocally denounce such actions on the local FM stations and wherever I’m having rallies and the response is great. In fact, my opponents are scared dead and are beginning to realise their money won’t take them far in this election!”

Sabiti quickly adds, “I’ve been found between a rock and a hard place, with my most vocal and influential campaigners telling me to do as others are doing –give some money, booze, soap etc., to voters to stand a chance. The soul of this nation is so fundamentally flawed that in Muramba Subcounty, I was almost beaten for calling people and just reading them my manifesto without buying them local brew at least.”

The lanky contestant has made it his preoccupation to urge voters to vote wisely.

“Leadership is such a serious virtue that it is ridiculous for anyone seeking it to think they can buy that mandate.” he says. ‘That should be the first indication to us that this person is a mere pretender because he violets the most basic of leadership tenets. Let’s look at qualities that make a good leader and elect someone based on those qualities.”

In his manifesto, poverty eradication comes on top: “I’ve felt the pangs of poverty myself through the tough childhood that I underwent, and the deprivation I suffered as an infant when I lost my parents.”

Kisoro is well endowed with fertile soil and reliable rain fall, he argues, and that people are hungry because of poor leadership and unreliable representation in parliament. Sabiti also promises to invigorate the tourism, improve education as well as find the antidote to the water shortage in his constituency.

The light-skinned and soft-spoken contestant was born to David Sebujangwe and Jurita Mukandanga of Kisoro, south western Uganda, and attended Gitenderi Primary School, Kabindi Secondary School for O’Level and proceeded to St. Paul’s Mutorele S.S. for A’ Level. He then joined Makerere University in 2003 for a Bachelors degree in Social Sciences, majoring in Psychology. He returned to Makerere in 2008 for a Masters of Science degree in Population and Reproductive Health and has since been working with Straight Talk Foundation.

Sabiti says he devours books like breakfast cereal, with Charles M. Sheldon’s In His steps: What Would Jesus Do, as one of his favourites.

“I like his insistence that in a bid to be Christ-like, today’s Christians should ask themselves; ‘What would Jesus do?’ before doing anything,” he says. “Although he was dismissed as trivialising Christ by applying him in the world’s social troubles, Sheldon was a decisive voice of the social gospel in the mid 19th century and his books are still relevant today.”

He may not be the “political rockstar” that Obama became on his way to becoming the first African-American president, but Sabiti quotes Job 19: 25 (My Redeemer lives) to denote his optimism.

Come the February 18 polls, he hopes to overshadow his opponents by winning the majority vote off the 53,000 registered voters in his constituency, thereby becoming one of the youngest legislators in the 9th parliament.

--Sunday Monitor, February 6, 2011

Obama bug bites Ugandans

"He's so adorable!" those words, said emotionally, by Linda, a Makerere University student, explains better the frenzy surrounding Barrack Hussein Obama in Uganda.

At university campuses, in taxis and on the streets and blogs, the talk is about the Illinois senator who's seeking his party's nomination for the US presidency.

The obsession with the light-skinned Democrat has the more been made easy by that distinction in him as a man of the people. His followers have not forgotten August 2006, when he came 'home' and joined Kenyan Nobel peace prize laureate, Wangari Mathai, to plant a tree at Uhuru Park.

His confidence, "flow" and sense of humour appeals to the young generation who picked a cue from their American counterparts to form Ugandans For Obama (UFO), a movement of his diehard admirers.

"Our passion for Senator Obama is based on the fact that he stands for truth, sincerity, hope and change; something that is not only relevant to America but the entire world," said Bernard Sabiti, president of UFO.

Sabiti, who works with Straight Talk Foundation and insists he has no interest in politics, was visiting Kisoro, his home district when the idea of forming UFO struck.

"I entered St. John's Pub one evening and was shocked to find locals in a hot debate about Obama. Someone wondered how a Kenyan was going to be an American president while others contended that would never happen. I saw that they were all crazy about Obama," he said. "In Kampala, Obama was an even hotter topic and as an honest man that I had so much come to admire, I decided to do something that would bring together his fans."

Over 100 people have since registered and many are university students and the young, working class. To them, Obama is "a sensation, a lyric and an irresistible political rock star" for whom they have composed poems, songs, canticles and slogans of praise.

Although they don't have an office, they meet weekly, in the homes of their well-off comrades to watch the progress of the campaigns on CNN and other recorded items on Obama, and are planning a mega launch soon, according to Sabiti.

Meanwhile, they exchange regular e-mails and jokes on the latest from the campaigns. One joke is about their political 'foe' John McCain driving his Straight Talk Express Bus that along the way somehow loses a wheel!

Those who can have arranged with their relatives and friends abroad to send them Obama-branded shoes, mega posters, caps, T-shirts, key holders, name it. And those with unlimited Internet access have opened blogs and facebook accounts wholly dedicated to their hero.
Edward Echwalu, for example, has designed an Obama template for his blog which can be accessed at echwalu.blogspot.com. He owns two mega posters of him and kneels before them thrice a day [morning, noon and at night] to pray for his man.

"Oh man, that man is everything," he said breathlessly, "I don't know how I'll take it if he doesn't become president."

Edward posts updates on Obama and one of his entries echoes the slogan of his hero: "Change we can believe in!" The comment's section captures well the sentiments of other Obama fanatics. The optimistic say they are keeping their fingers crossed while one of the superstitious alludes to a story in Drum magazine about a revered South African fortuneteller who prophesied a woman becoming the next American president.

But this has not dispirited another ardent Obama fan. Gerald Bareebe, for that is his name, even picked a line that was first used to refer to Obama for his blog name. It is called "A man from nowhere!" and can be accessed at bareebegerald.blogspot.com

One of his entries is a funny story picked from the New York Times online about 'mama Obama' –"an illiterate, barefoot woman…" who claims to be Obama's grand mother.

The Obama bug has also bitten Ugandans on Facebook. They upload pictures of him as a young man, his speeches, plus videos of his campaign rallies. The Facebook girls claim he's presently the hottest thing on earth! At 46, Obama is certainly a hunk, no wonder that famous U-tube video of the I Got a Crush on Obama has found itself on Facebook accounts of many Ugandan girls who go about joking that they will have their Obama babies real soon! One of them is a Ugandan journalist Rosebell Kagumire who read his books and fell for his intellect, uniqueness, humility and passion for his own people.

"I understood the plight of ordinary African-Americans and Obama as a man who tries to reason out rather than pass judgment," she said. "When he started his campaigns, few believed he would pull it off, but as a centre person he has beaten the long held beliefs of far-right and far-leftists in the US politics and I believe he will be the first black American president like the Americans call him," Kagumire said.

You would think it weird of Ugandans to form support groups for a candidate they will never have chance voting for, but in a country where many struggle on without jobs, they cannot be blamed for identifying with a man who has given them reason to believe.

In fact, they believe that joining UFO or supporting Obama "is the most important decision you will ever make in your life!"

Except for one lady, all the interviewees were pro-Obama: "Poor Mrs Clinton! Woman has played the game for donkey's years, set a thorough plan and has experience in her bag but I suppose that isn't enough," sighed the lady who preferred to remain unnamed.

Obama's Ugandan camp is confident he will become the official Democratic candidate that will most probably battle republican John McCain in the November general presidential election. And then we shall wait to see if one little man will indeed make history as first black president of the most powerful country in the world.

--Sunday Monitor, March 9, 2008

Museveni Faces LRA Dilemma

Will he seek a compromise peace deal with the rebel group, or keep to his original demand to see its leaders prosecuted in The Hague?

By Evelyn Kiapi, Dennis Muhumuza and Gawaya Tegulle in Kampala and Katy Glassborow in northern Uganda (AR No. 112, 15-May-07)

Faced with resolving a 20-year-long revolt in his northern provinces, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni is trying to decide between supporting an international court case against rebel leaders or reaching a gentleman's agreement with them in the hope that this might hasten peace.

In 2003, Museveni invited the fledgling International Criminal Court, ICC, the world's first permanent international war crimes tribunal, to investigate alleged crimes against humanity committed by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army, LRA. But he then infuriated officials at the ICC headquarters, thousands of kilometres away in The Hague, with a policy flip-flop last July in which he offered an amnesty to the LRA leaders, including the rebel chief Joseph Kony, in return for a peace deal.

The LRA and government forces have been engaged since 1986 in a war that has taken an estimated 100,000 lives. As many as 1.6 million people - mainly from the Acholi ethnic group of northern Uganda - live in displacement, or internal refugee camps, where nearly a thousand die each week from disease or violence.

The LRA has abducted more than 20,000 children. Boys have been used as guerrilla fighters, while girls have become sex slaves as well as combatants.

The economic, social and political development of northern Uganda has been severely set back, but there has also been a knock-on effect throughout the country, where budgets have been affected, urban migration has increased and slums have grown.

With the bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, CHOGM, scheduled to be held in Uganda in late November this year, President Museveni faces a severe dilemma as he seeks to cast his country in the best possible light to the international community and to the hordes of foreign journalists who will descend on his country.

Will he seek to bury the past by pursuing a compromise peace deal with Kony and the LRA? Or will he renew his original request - still on the books at the ICC - to have the LRA leaders prosecuted at The Hague?

The continued unrest caused by the northern conflict has raised fears that the government will be unable to provide security for Queen Elizabeth - Head of the Commonwealth since ascending to the throne of Britain in 1952 - and Commonwealth heads of state when they arrive in Kampala, Uganda's capital, to attend the summit. Reports in the British media suggest that CHOGM could be shifted to Canada or South Africa because of insecurity in northern Uganda and other parts of the country.

ICC prosecutors have conducted investigations into atrocities alleged to have been committed by the LRA, and in October 2005 ICC judges issued warrants for the arrests of the top leaders of the rebel group - Kony; his deputy Vincent Otti; Okot Odhiambo; Dominic Ongwen; and Raska Lukwiya, subsequently shot dead, in August last year, in a battle between Ugandan soldiers and LRA guerrillas.

The ICC has no police force of its own that it can use to apprehend suspects, but under the court's founding 1998 Statute of Rome - which sets out the institution's strict rules and guidelines - it is beholden upon states that have ratified the Rome treaty to make arrests. Neighbouring states that are signatories are also obliged to assist. By entering into peace talks and offering amnesties from domestic prosecution, Museveni is in direct breach of Uganda's treaty obligations.

"Museveni is acting in contravention of international law," Justice Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, told IWPR. "His government signed the Rome Statute, and offers of amnesty violate the letter of the law."

But the dilemma confronting Museveni is a tough one when the northern citizens of his country, especially the Acholi, are desperate for peace by any means after having been persecuted by a rebel militia for more than two decades.

Northerners are crying out loud for peace and for the chance to return to their homes. They simply and desperately want to move on with their lives without surrounding warfare that has now gone on for four times as long as the Second World War.

However, the enthusiasm for peace talks is not universal: a significant minority are sceptical about the possibility of success for the peace talks - being held in Juba, south Sudan - because they have so far gone on for many months and seem to have no clear strategic direction.

Although the negotiations have brought an interim relative peace to the northern people, residents continue to live in fear of a return to the barbarity of the recent past if the peace deal is not sealed. The LRA rebels cut off ears and noses of its victims as punishments, and the Ugandan army has also been widely accused of atrocities by northerners and human rights organisations, although none of its members have been indicted by the ICC.

One alternative for Museveni to the ICC and the peace talks is to use local traditional methods of justice to bring an end to the northern war. These ceremonies involve a series of symbolic acts to restore unity between the injured and offending parties. Prodigal sons and daughters can receive forgiveness and be welcomed back into their communities.If Museveni were to give local justice his full support, he would need to approach the United Nations Security Council and request that they pass a resolution commanding the ICC to suspend dealings with Uganda in order to give peace a chance. Conversely, if he were to support the ICC, he would need to retract amnesty offers and concentrate efforts on arresting LRA leaders.

Since the war started, there have been several peace talks in a bid to end the war, including attempts by Ugandan politician Betty Bigombe, who is an Acholi, to act as a mediator between the government and the LRA. All these have failed, but so also have the Ugandan army's military offensives against the LRA.

Evelyn Kiapi, Dennis Muhumuza and Gawaya Tegulle are IWPR reporters in Uganda. Katy Glassborow is an IWPR reporter in The Hague. Published on IWRP website, 15-May-2005

‘Theatre politics’ at Makerere

A candidate contesting for the culture secretary post had to buy a packet of condoms for Gongom, the Lumumba Hall deity, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza

The politics at Makerere University never ceases to amuse! A few days after FDC's Gerald Karuhanga was voted the new Guild President, the students were at it again to choose their leaders in halls of residence and student representatives at the university's Guild Council a.k.a parliament.

But the story is about theatrics that make campus politics exhilarating. For instance, during the recent campaigns in the 'Great Patrice Lumumba Empire [hall]', a candidate contesting for the culture secretary post had to buy a packet of condoms for Gongom, the hall deity. Surprisingly, it garnered him massive support.

In the nearby Box [Mary Stuart Hall], Gongom's wife, Gongomes the 'diva', was given a 'birthday present' of a cashmere gomesi and a beautiful handbag bought by Ms Nansamba Daphne Robins, a student who was eyeing the hall's culture secretary chair.

But the frenzy did not stop there. Candidates did anything to appeal to the electorate. Eyeing the Lumumba's top seat of chairmanship was FDC's Atria Angels Bismarck (surprisingly his real name). His radical approach and oratory did it for him - just like his icon Prince Otto von Bismarck, former German aristocrat who earned himself the nickname Iron Chancellor!
During the campaigns, the Bismarck of Ivory Tower vowed to resign if "the 1971 trays used in the mess are not discarded by the end of the semester." His most popular line: "If a potato can be as sweet when it's raw, what happens when it's ripe?"

Then there was Zalson Khor, popularly known as Obote [see picture up]. Indeed the fellow is a spitting image of former President Apollo Milton Obote(RIP), complete with the afro hairstyle. Problem is that this 'Makerere Obote' sounds like someone singing a lullaby. Just listening to him gives you a sleepy feeling; not that he is boring but he speaks so gently, almost like a doctor advising a patient. This Sudanese -born Obote was such a darling among the students who would shoulder him high during the campaigns shouting: Obote, Obote! His catch phrase: "I've been at the forefront of the struggle that has been going on here. No mincing words, I deserve to be the chairman of the great Lumumba Empire."

One cannot leave out Raymond Okello, a cripple who has no wheelchair and has to use both his knees and hands to pull himself along. His disability earned him a lot of sympathy support. "The time is now for Lumumba to have a chairman with disability," was his slogan.

Then there was Lattimore Kermundu Martins whom Boxers loved to call Kenny Lattimore after the American super lyricist. Kermundu is a very smart gentleman; this prompted campusers to conclude that he would do better as an entertainment secretary, yet he wanted the finance post.

How about Nesterous Tumwekwatse? The lad behaved like Jamaican Reggae maestro Bob Nesta Marley - something that inspired 'Lumumbists' to christen him so. Interestingly, the Bachelor of Horticulture student has never been a music fan, preferring soccer. In fact, he chose to capture students' attention by calling himself the '[David] Beckham of ideas!'

The campaign trail also included a 'Robert Mugabe'. Like his counterpart in Zimbabwe, Makerere's Mugabe vowed to become a guerrilla for the betterment of Lumumba Hall sports. In Ankole, Mugabe means King, as in Omugabe wa Ankole or King of Ankole. So, then, Mugabe wanted to be Lumumba's sports king [secretary].

While some candidates spent a fortune designing colourful posters, Mr Abdullah Kisembo chose to stand out from the rest by sketching some comic cartoon of a man with a raised baton chasing a thief. Accompanying the comic strip is a caption: 'Committed to the fight, ready to work with you to curb the evils of our society and promote values.'

I can't forget 'badboy' Olwa Bonny Brown, a favourite among 'Boxers'. They have changed his name to Bobby Brown after the '80s funkstar and Whitney Houston's husband, Bobby Brown. The girls would walk around with big posters that read 'Box loves Bobby Brown'.

These campaigns!

Published in Sunday Monitor, April 23, 2006

I’m a serious enemy of tribalism’

Mr Gerald Karuhanga [pictured], was on Monday elected the new president of Makerere University Students Guild for the 2006-'07 academic year. Karuhanga, who stood on the FDC ticket, defeated 13 other contestants for the post. He becomes the first serving guild speaker in the history of the university to be elected president. Dennis D. Muhumuza interviewed him. Excerpts

Who is Gerald Karuhanga?
I’m the son of Mr and Mrs Jacob Kafureka. I was born in Itojo Sub-County in Ntungamo District. I studied in Kitunga Boarding Primary School, St. Mukasa Preparatory School, Kitabi Seminary and St. Mary’s College Kisubi before joining Makerere University where I’m studying Law. I’ve also been the campus guild speaker besides being the national speaker of Uganda National Students Association [UNSA]. In national politics, I’m an ardent supporter of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). I also served in the transitional national youth council.

Why did you contest?
When I was the guild speaker, I realised there were many things I would have done if I were the president. So I said I must come in and try to change a situation gone bad.

What are those many things and how are you going to achieve them as president?
There are issues that need urgent redress. These include the security of lady students and their halls of residence. I also want the university to involve student leaders in policy making and implementation. For instance, the hiking of retake fees and tuition were never resolved - it was pushed to this academic year. I tend to ensure that before decisions on such matters are reached, student leaders are consulted. I also promised to provide a shuttle to medical students. Besides, the state of lavatories in students’ halls of residence and sanitation in some hostels leaves a lot to be desired. I appeal to the university authorities do something to address this very unfortunate situation. I believe we need a students senate where at least two student representatives from each faculty come together and form a body similar to the Guild Representative Council (GRC) that is recognised by the university. This new body should handle students’ academic problems.

What really prompted Jet John Tumwebaze to petition the guild electoral commission to disqualify you?
My opponents raised many issues to discredit me before the voters. I was branded a Movement candidate because a Movement person here at campus can’t sell. However, students who have worked with me know that I’m not a Movementist. There was also tribal sentiment but I told students that I’m the most serious enemy of tribalism and divisionism based on race and religion. Now my friend Tumwebaze was uncomfortable with my candidature because I belong to FDC and he belongs to the NRM. He wrote a petition to the electoral commission, copied it to the Dean of Students, Dean of Faculty of Law, the Academic Registrar and the Senate chairperson. The Academic Registrar said there was a difference between missing an examination and having a retake. The word retake means you are re-doing. You don’t retake what you’ve not done. Prof. Ekiirikubinza, who holds a PhD in Law and also the chairperson of the Senate and the Guild Constitution, confirmed that I do not have a retake. She said that it is the Senate that determines the normal progress of the student. Their aim was to disorganise my campaigns and get me disqualified.

Students from western Uganda have for long been associated with 'Musevenism' and rejected at the polls. What was your winning strategy?
I won in 11 out of the 12 polling stations [halls of residence] and my trick was simple - I associate with students from other regions because I believe in objectivity; where one comes from is of no consequence to me. Besides, when I was a guild speaker, I organised the Gulu Walk; it was a very wonderful event that showed the whole world that northern Uganda is also part of Uganda; that the region shouldn’t be suffering the way it is. Students from the north, east and even central concluded that even though I come from western Uganda, I had a nationalistic spirit.

Who sponsored your campaigns?
My physical and financial support came from all walks of life. I appreciate the support from FDC, especially from the party’s president Dr Kizza Besigye. Do you have political heroes?Locally, I admire Dr Besigye - I think he’s strong-hearted and a man of his word. Internationally, I admire Nelson Mandela because he’s not a politician but a statesman. Whereas a politician looks forward to the next election, statesmen look forward to the next generation.

What was your childhood like?
I was a very stubborn child and my parents wondered whether I would finish school. Had I not gone to a seminary, I think I would by now be a rebel leader.

What do you do with your free time?
I read political books. Currently, I’m reading a book titled Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent. I enjoy reading books that have some relevance to Africa and explore the theme of unity. Biographies are my favourite. I’ve read Kwame Nkrumah’s Africa Must Unite, Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, Yoweri Museveni’s Mustard Seed and many others.

What are your future political aspirations?
I expect to be legislator in five years time. I will also devote my life to the unification of Africa.
Last wordI promise to work for students’ rights. I believe in consultations and dialogue and appeal to all students to support me so that at the end of this academic year, everyone will say we had a guild leadership that performed to our expectations. As we build for the future. For God and my country.

Published in Sunday Monitor, March 1, 2006.

Voters too have learnt: Crossing is for “eating”

The Election Day is getting nearer with each day and so is the tension and excitement as vote seekers seek to woo their way into the corridors of power. It is the first time Uganda is embracing what could be termed as reliable multiparty politics after 20 years of leadership under the Movement system of governance.

Those who cowed under the iron-fisted rule of Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada in 70s and others who froze under the cold multiparty politics of 80s steered by Milton Obote are looking at the new political arrangement as the real test for multiparty democracy in Uganda.

But that's not the gist of this piece. As campaigns evolve, and like elsewhere in the rest of the world, they never are devoid of bickering, bribery, betrayal, empty promises, even death. But to digress a bit, it is prudent upon all the keen followers of the prevailing political trend to remember Nelson Mandela who writes in his biography, Long Walk to Freedom, that if your husband is a wizard you must become a witch.

Simply put, this nugget of wisdom instils in women the idea of supporting their spouses' endeavours even to the point of sacrificing their own lives. Contemporarily relevant as per the last referendum where the visionary sons and daughters of our motherland used the power of the ballot to choose that a multi-party system of ruling was very ripe and ready to be enjoyed by all Ugandans, we must now fall back and examine whether we are bearing the cross we thrust on our shoulders when we first said multiparty oyeee!

Foremost, the sanctuaries have long caught fire - in there the shepherds have become umpires to an unclean game, giving credence to the assumption that politics is a dirty game. From Roman Catholicism to Protestantism and mostly among the radical Pentecostals, men and women of God are loosing sleep with recitations urging their flock to elect a particular candidate depending on his religious or political affiliation.

With due respect, one climbed a ladder and announced to the nation that one presidential candidate would drop dead. Well, he did garner himself publicity he is the talk of the town, but also, he has helped send panic in all political camps!

Then to the prospective presidents -Dr Abed Bwanika, Mrs Miria Obote, Dr Kizza Besigye, Mr Ssebaana Kizito, and at times the incumbent, Mr Yoweri K. Museveni, the whole lot seem to have been sent on a rampage of smear battles aimed at discrediting each other in the eyes of the voters.

Of course politics is an ugly sport, but the least Ugandans are interested in are insults. We are hungry for a promising programme, but most for a man who does nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit as is put in the Bible, and who considers all Ugandans better than himself. This is the man they would love to lead the nation in the next regime.

As such, the campaign trail snakes on as voters too play opportunistic. The spectacle is high; each campaign day where a group of so and so from wherever are assembled for the cameras before they testify to the nation how and why they chose to drift from a particular party to the other.

With the highlight that accompanies this, is the literally washing of the feet where defectors are pumped with money and whatever the party stands for before they are unleashed out into the world to get votes. And everywhere one passes, it has become a case of give me and I join you, a classic story of give and take.

The most threatening bit of the campaigns is the children. They can be seen flashing all the signs that have crept into the camps. Jesus of Nazareth was a great leader who encouraged the little ones to come to him. It would not be far fetched to assume that presidential aspirants are borrowing a leaf, but should they drag an infant in the midst of maddened crowds to campaign for his father?

What would happen if a stampede occurred, forcing the crowds to scatter for dear life? Who would protect the vulnerable child?

As we speak, some civilians have already lost their lives in the prevailing madness that is typical of most if not all-political campaigns in Africa. The drivers drive like mad. The other day, Carol Taka, a Uganda College of Commerce [UCC] student in Soroti died when a speeding vehicle she was travelling in to attend a presidential rally in Kaberamaido crashed. Others are reportedly hospitalised.

But what is there to learn from the examination chronicled above? Ugandans must desist from being part of dirty politicking orchestrated by most egoistic but sugar tongued politicians hassling to enter State House soon. Let them table their offering, is it the healthy lamb or are they giving be-weeviled beans?

Remember, nothing will sustain you more potently than the realisation that you made the best decision in voting who you voted, especially when you begin to see and reap from the fruits of your wise judgment within a few years.

I wrote this article using a different identity because I didn't want friends to think I did hold 'strong' political views afterall. Published in Daily Monitor, February 11, 2006

Political parties seek converts at Makerere

The latest tussle amongst the major political parties is playing out at the universities, especially Makerere, the largest of them all. And it all makes sense that the parties should keenly focus on universities for recruitment of much needed younger blood to help fire things up a little bit.

More importantly, almost all students at the universities, are above 18. That means every one of them recruited into a party is a potential vote. So it is not just about looking for membership. Parties are also looking to getting new voting members come elections next year.

Makerere, with a student number of well more than 20,000, is alive with registration of new members, formation of branches, consultative workshops and civic education. Things are so feverish that the Democratic Party's Uganda Young Democrats, which has been the dominant branch of any party on campus, is almost dead. The persistent wrangles within DP and UYD itself have not helped matters. The more exciting groups now are those of the Forum for Democratic Change, the Uganda Peoples Congress, and the well-facilitated NRM.

FDC leads the pack
Undoubtedly, FDC Makerere Branch is more active than other political parties. Its emergence can be traced back to Dr Kizza Besigye's presidential run in 2001. The exiled Besigye, now the chairman of FDC, was a darling among campusers so much that they even stopped President Museveni from addressing them until some policemen fired live bullets in the air to restore order.

"We have launched moves to woo new members to the only party with a vision for this country," said Mr Atria Angels, the FDC president at Makerere.The branch organises press conferences, debates, and seminars as a way to spread word regarding what FDC is all about. Publicity Secretary Ivan Ssekatawa said that they reach out to people through email, text messages, and posters. And things seem to be working fine. The party recently launched another branch at Uganda Christian University in Mukono. Ssekatawa said the branch's followers are fighting corruption and general moral degeneration to ensure democracy in the country.

UPC branch
Meanwhile, the UPC youngsters are going about their business quietly and methodically. Headed papers with the party symbol of a palm are used for official work. The branch has distributed caps and T-shirts, all in party colours and symbols. Members and sympathisers refer to each other as 'comrades' or 'congressmen/women,' which reportedly creates a sense of belongingness.

"Now is the time to redirect the future of our dear motherland, and to protect the grains of our party," said Mr Emmanuel Kigaye, the local branch boss.

The branch scores because of its unparalleled seriousness, said observer Dennis Mayobo, a social sciences student. Kigaye claimed that the branch has 800 registered members. Among them is a Catholic general secretary and a Muslim speaker – the branch's way of emphasising diversity.

"Religion is a colonial tag of divisive politics," Kigaye said. "That is why the national chairman [Hajji Badru Wegulo] is a Muslim."

The branch has opened others at Uganda Christian University in Mukono, Kyambogo University, and Makerere University Business School. All the branches are guided by a constitution similar to the one of the national party.

NRM swings
While Makerere University maybe a multiparty stronghold, the Movement government is not sitting back. The NRM branch is up and running. Members have composed pro-kisanja songs, canticles, and slogans to chant all over the leafy campus.

Mr Vincent Nuwagaba, a master's student of Political Science, said NRM support at the university is more or less non-existent.

"Some time back, they held a consultative meeting in Nkrumah Hall but only 10 people attended," he said, adding that those who pose as members do so expecting cash.

Not so, say branch members: "NRM reflects the [desires] of the people and there is no way it can form a branch without support," said Mr Aggrey Kyobuguzi, a prominent branch member.
He said the branch's popularity is reflected in the big number of students who go around explaining NRM achievements. He cites one consultative meeting held in Mitchell Hall and attended by Ms Alice Kaboyo, an aide on youth affairs at State House, where Mr Morris Okeni, a former chairman of the UPC Youth League, defected to NRM.

"We have even carried out cadre courses and taken members to Kasenyi to equip them with military tactics for self-defence," Kyobuguzi said.

Published in Daily Monitor, March 27, 2005

Town politicians hold their breath as Makerere votes

For the last two weeks, Makerere University has been alive in light of the 2005/06 Students Guild presidential race. Students go to the polls tomorrow, and whoever takes the day out of the 14 candidates will have overcome a tough challenge. The campaigns have been spirited - with rhetorical flourishes, praise singers and cash all making for a rich mix.

And there was a healthy infusion of national politics as well. Now the battle seems to have boiled down to between Jet John Tumwebaze and Henry Maurice Kibalya.
The grapevine has it that the Movement government is rooting for JJT, as Tumwebaze is fondly called. What with his convoys of expensive vehicles filled with "high" students flashing gigantic colour posters and swearing by his name.
JJT, however, says he has no link with the Movement government.

"I have been receiving external support from friends and also using my savings," he said.

A smooth talker, JJT is concerned that only one third of the students usually vote. He blames this on the voting system, which is done at hall level. He wants students to vote from their faculties as long as they have valid identity cards.

The tradition here is that someone believed to be pro-Movement rarely wins. But this might soon change because this third-year Law student is pulling out all the stops. He has the money, the voice, and the girls are all over him. He is promising a "new beginning" for Makerere students.

Kibalaya and the parties
During the inaugural rally at University Hall, different political parties sent representatives to figure out a formidable candidate to support. FDC sent Mr Thomas Tayeebwa and Mr Samuel Makohha, while the Uganda Young Democrats of DP deployed Mr Bernard Luyiga. For its part, JEEMA dispatched former guild president Yusuf Kiranda.

A closed-door meeting in Wandegeya zeroed on Mr Henry Maurice Kibalya, an economics student, as their man. Indeed, Kibalya, who at his first rally was clad in a cheap suit and was without any poster, now cruises around campus stumping from hall to hall in a convoy, sports shiny suits, and his full colour posters are all over. Oh, he dishes out hard cash too.

Like JJT, Kibalya's speeches are quite captivating. He is using everything his rival has employed. For example, both camps use brass bands to march around campus, announcing their serious intent to lead.

But then, of course, Makerere elections are ever unpredictable. Last year, a mulokoole, Mr Ronald Mukasa Ssenkubuge, whom many least expected to win emerged the victor - with a landslide to boot. Indeed, this time round, Mr Patrick Junah Wangura, also a mulokole and a great orator, has a huge following among fellow savedees - and the frontrunners had better watch out.

Humour
During such campaigns, master clowns take centre stage. "Ladies and gentlemen," bellowed one at a recent campaign stop, "I am ready to sleep naked until the political destiny of our great hill is realised."

Another appeared at a rally in a kanzu, while yet another from University Hall (read goat land) wrapped a goatskin around his waist and went off searching for votes. And not all students are impressed.

"We want candidates who will take Makerere to greater heights," said Mr Vincent Nuwagaba, a post-graduate student. "Clowns are getting no votes. Let them present issues and we shall vote them."

"I am yet to see a competitor who is ready to replace violence with good values, malice with mercy, hatred with love, hostility with hospitality; ¼most of them are crooks who are out to run down the Guild to satisfy their thirst," said Ms Annet Kurgat, a Kenyan student.

Kurgat may have a point because out of the 14 candidates, only JJT has a manifesto in which he talks about looking into the plight of international students, addressing university health concerns, having more non-residents on the Guild committees and raising the voices of disabled students.

That aside, the campaigns are punctuated by so much noise that students who attend evening classes are affected. "They make so much noise and interrupt our lectures. It's incensing," said Mr Godfrey Kimono, a second-year journalism student.

Little wonder, few students are interested in campus politics. Statistics show that only 4,860 voted in last year's Guild elections - out of a population of more than 20,000 eligible voters.

Published in Sunday Monitor, April 24, 2005