My friend Muggaga Remi Mukuve was Guild Presidential candidate at Makerere in 2007 on the Forum Democratic Change (FDC) ticket. His was the first election I actively participated in, supporting and volunteering in an FDC camp. I led the ‘famous’ Freshers’ brigade which was being bankrolled by Gerald Karuhanga and Thomas Tayebwa among others, doing our best in the campaign, but we lost the election. After losing, I was picked by Muggaga and appointed acting Secretary General of the Makerere branch of the party as we struggled to build structures. Let me cut the intro short, Muggaga is central to my own membership of FDC at many levels. This is why I take his views on the party presidency race serious. I reproduce his essay below, a first in a series of three on the elections so far. To bias you a little, take note of the weaknesses of the Besigye party presidency so we can see where the party should go and who can take it there.

Essay starts;

Earlier this year Rtd. Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye retired from the Party Presidency of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) in accordance with the Constitution of the FDC Party. Besigye’s term was set to expire in 2015 but he chose to retire early and give the party an opportunity to find new leadership in time.

The FDC party then commenced the process to replace its Party President Kizza Besigye. The FDC Constitution (unlike the constitution of the NRM) provides only two terms for the Party President. Three candidates have emerged to contest the party presidency and campaigns are underway. This article constitutes the first segment of a three-part series covering this election. Part I will focus on the state of FDC and what type of leadership I feel FDC requires at the moment.  Part II will then focus on Nandala Mafabi and his suitability for the job. Lastly Part III will discuss General Muntu’s candidature and then conclude on whom I personally will vote for.

SALUTATIONS FOR THE FDC PARTY

The FDC Party should be saluted by all Ugandans for upholding constitutionalism, an aspect of democracy which is lacking in many Parties in Uganda. The FDC should also be saluted for the elements of democratic governance that it has properly practiced so far. It is worthy of mention that the FDC is the only party so far that has held internal elections successfully on three occasions without causing significant unrest within the party. As a young Ugandan I am glad to belong to a party such as this one which encourages healthy political competition and which is able to manage a transition of leadership. If I were an NRM member am sure I would die without having participated in any realistic internal political contest in my party. The FDC should be given tons of credit for this.

RECOGNITION OF DR. KIZZA BESIGYE’S CONTRIBUTION

In addition, Dr. Besigye, the outgoing Party President of FDC, should be lauded for giving way peacefully-something that is rare in the Politics of Africa. We have seen many leaders cling on to power (including class monitors and head prefects in schools!!!).

Dr. Besigye should also be commended for the role he has played in the democratization process of Uganda. This is a man who has endured numerous hardships in the name of our liberation stretching back to 1984. Many of our children and our children’s children will remember him as a courageous, brave and selfless leader who moved our politics forward at a time when everyone was hiding in their kitchens or eating with the devil.

I am particularly glad to have lived in a generation where I could see such a selfless, courageous, dedicated, generous and principled leader. Dr. Kizza Besigye your service to this country will never, ever be forgotten. Your contribution to our freedom will be marked by future generations and many of us will even name our children and grandchildren after you.

I will not forget how I fought beside you in the demonstration against the illegal detention of the so called PRA suspects. During that demonstration I was on your car when we got cornered at Jinja road towards Parliament Avenue by the military police. As I struggled to disembark and run I was shot in the back by a rubber bullet. Nevertheless I was able to escape by hiding in the supermarket at the nearby fuel station. I will also never forget the belated financial contribution you made to our Guild campaign at Makerere University in 2007/08. I was heavily cash strapped after that election but you gave me some relief from your fuel station at Nsambya. I will never forget the first meeting I had with you at the Grand Imperial Hotel where you urged us to stop glorifying your contribution and “stand up and fight for ourselves”.

You are a very strict leader-particularly about time. If I missed an appointment by two seconds you would crack the whip. I sincerely believe that is the kind of leadership we need in this country. Lastly I won’t forget how you stood for over 6 hours in 2008 at Kyambogo University in order to deliver a public lecture on leadership. We were all in awe!! If my future kids and I ever reap any governance dividends in this country I know they are largely due to your selfless leadership.

SO WHAT DOES THE FDC REALLY NEED?

I have found it prudent to address this question before looking at the competencies of the people who are contesting to replace Dr. Kizza Besigye. I believe it makes sense to first state what I believe the party requires and then discuss the abilities of the respective candidates viz a viz their ability to deliver what the party requires.

Secondly it should be noted that the FDC Presidential elections are primarily an internal process of the party. It’s true that the race will take on a national dimension, but ultimately I believe the FDC delegates who will vote in this election will consider the internal dynamics of the party first and foremost.

That having been said, I believe the FDC requires the following in terms of leadership at the moment and going forward;

MILITANT BRAVERY

Uganda as a country is under a military dictatorship. Whoever doubts this is either naïve or deluded. Power in Uganda is firmly held by the military under General Museveni whose guiding principle is “power derives from the barrel of the gun”. All that Museveni cares about is preserving his regime and he uses the army to do this.

Because power in Uganda derives from the military, it follows that whoever challenges Museveni must be willing to strike him at the heart of his power base which is the military. I strongly believe that one of the main reasons Dr. Besigye was able to provide a credible challenge to Museveni was due to his militant bravery and the initial expectation that he would wage a war against the regime.

There had been many opposition politicians in Uganda like Dr. Semwogerere, Cecilia Ogwal, Zachary Olum, Aggrey Awori, John Ken Lukyamuzi etc but Ugandans and Museveni as well never really took them seriously. Besigye chose to confront the dictatorship on the streets through civil disobedience which culminated in the famous walk to work protests. He led from the front and not the back and he exhibited astounding bravery hitherto unmatched in the modern politics of Uganda. It’s upon the brave shoulders of Besigye that the FDC party has been built and Ugandans know it. Besigye believes that dissent without disobedience is consent.

Many politicians today are engulfed by fear and are not willing to sacrifice life, limb or even treasure at the altar of regime change in this country. Those who are a bit daring restrict themselves to making statements at press conferences and behind closed doors or maybe writing in the press.

If the FDC is to remain a strong opposition party it will require a leader who is brave and who understands that it is his will that shall ultimately sustain the party. We need a leader who can confront Museveni and his military dictatorship directly in the theatre of war. Ugandans can easily differentiate political charlatans from men of consequence.

INDIVIDUAL CREDIBILITY AND TRUST RESULTING FROM CLEAR AND CONSISTENT PRINCIPLES AND VALUES

A leader of a political party represents the values and principles that the party stands for, not just in private but in public. The Party leader gives ideological clarity. The delegates of the FDC Party will only trust a leader who has unwaveringly lived the principles and values of the party and hence is credible. One of the principles that the FDC stands for is that regime change should be achieved before any realistic reforms can be obtained in this country. This means that we can only start to achieve meaningful policy reforms in education, the economy, etc if Museveni and his cohorts are dislodged from power.

Secondly the FDC Party believes in constitutionalism, good governance based on democracy, zero tolerance to corruption and providing economic opportunity to any Ugandan who seeks it but not just the privileged few. The candidates who aspire to lead FDC must demonstrate unequivocally how they have provided leadership on the principles and values of the party. Have they fought corruption, bad governance and dictatorship? Have they created economic opportunity or highlighted the lack thereof?

The FDC Party will also need a person with demonstrated individual credibility as to his convictions and political identity. On so many occasions, the opposition has seen many leaders with dubious credibility who lead crusades against Museveni during the day while consorting with him at night. These politicians care for more for popularity than principle and they are only too willing to sacrifice conscience for expedience or greed. They have a rather strange appetite for celebrity and many start out as seasoned opposition politicians only to end up handing their respective revolutions over to Museveni. Names like Mukasa Mbidde, Nasser Sebaggala, Beti Kamya, Norbert Mao, Andrew Mwenda, John Butime, et al are all cases in point.

What makes a true opposition politician is his credibility. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “the dissonance between creed and deed is the root of innumerable wrongs in our civilization.”As well what makes a true opposition party are its values and principles. Accordingly it is imperative that if the FDC party is to remain relevant it requires a leader that it can trust implicitly and who is credible. This doesn’t mean that the leader should not be open to compromise for as long as he does not compromise the fundamental values and principles of the party.

STRENGTH TO MANAGE PARTY CRISES, CONTRADICTIONS, CHALLENGES AND ERRANT OFFICIALS.

In every political organisation, contradictions, crises and challenges will emerge. The test of a true leader is whether they have the strength of mind and character to manage those contradictions and earn the respect of the people they lead. The FDC Party is always facing crises and challenges and any Ugandan will know that it is quite a challenge to be an opposition party in a poor country that is under a military dictatorship. The FDC Party faces challenges of generating income for the party, opening lasting party structures, the lack of credibility amongst some of its leaders, harassment of its officials by the state, outright sabotage of its political activities and many others.

Another gargantuan challenge is the Machiavellian approach to politics by Museveni who deploys all sorts of unfair and nefarious tactics against his political opponents. Lastly there is the challenge of errant FDC officials who lack discipline and believe that they are bigger than the party itself.

The FDC party has gone through most of these challenges and survived largely thanks to the leadership, strength and character of Dr. Kizza Besigye. Therefore whoever intends to lead the party must have already exhibited competency in managing internal dissent and handling of party crises. This will demonstrate that the person also has the ability, if elected President of Uganda, to transform Uganda’s public institutions which impede the delivery of policy regulation and public services.

CLEAR KNOWLEDGE OF POLICY PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION

The FDC Party has always been criticized for being a party of perpetual oppositionists who lack a clear policy agenda regarding the processes that determine resource allocation and the administration of justice. Opposition parties around the world have always been adept at critiquing policies and providing alternatives but when it comes to policy implementation, they fall short. As the old adage goes, “they make bold promises but disappointing performances”.

The FDC Party needs a leader that can generate clear policy alternatives and demonstrate their practical workability to the population, not just during campaigns but even between them. He must have some demonstrated competency in Management and the ability to bring promise and practice into closer alignment. Ideological and political gamesmanship will only result in inaction. We need a concrete programme and not just a collection of grievances.

To this end the Policy desk at the party headquarters that is being manned by Mr. Augustine Ruzindana should be equipped to do more research so that the party is on the cutting edge of policy innovation. So that the party has clear and detailed policy preferences on infrastructure, the economy, culture, regional integration, pan Africanism and the African identity, unemployment, international relations, governance and constitutionalism.

These policy preferences should be detailed and should give the elite population the confidence that the FDC is a government in waiting. The idea of waiting to comment on failed policies without furnishing detailed alternatives is not tenable. Whoever seeks to lead the party must therefore have an in-depth knowledge of the policy direction our country should take.

FORWARD LOOKING VS. BACKWARD LOOKING

The FDC Party needs to position itself as the party for the future. We need to generate ideas that will shape tomorrow and cease grasping at the ideas of the past like Museveni and his NRM who have made our future a hostage of their past. Accordingly therefore the party will require a comprehensive strategy aimed at bringing young people back into the mainstream political processes and shedding but not discarding some of the old guards.

The FDC party will therefore require a leader who is attractive to the youth and is willing to work meaningfully with young people especially those who are at higher institutions of learning.

The FDC party needs a leader who is willing to wield the wonders of technology so as to engage with young people. This engagement should largely be intellectual and ideological. There has been a tendency in the opposition for young people to be summoned only to do manual labour or to engage in demonstrations. When intellectual debates are taking place the youth are left aside. This approach will not work if the party is to survive in the future.

To meet future demands, the FDC Party also requires a leader who is willing to reform the manner in which politics is being practiced in this country because politics today seems to speak so little to what the common man is going through. Politics in Uganda today is a business not a mission and the way it is practiced does not reflect the lives of Ugandans as they are actually lived. We need a leader who can reconstruct our politics from the best of our traditions. As George Bernard said “we are made wise, not by recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for the future”.

INSPIRATION AND A PERSONAL STAKE IN UGANDA AND THE NEED FOR CHANGE.

The FDC Party requires a leader who provides inspiration and hope to the people of Uganda who have been through so much under the Museveni dictatorship. The FDC leader should also be one who joined politics out of personal conviction and not merely career advancement. He must have a personal stake in this country and in the need for it to change. It is my considered opinion that human beings are only convicted about things that are personal to them and the best leaders are always those that are personally convicted about the causes that they lead. This personal conviction is what drives them to transform power into justice. Besigye has a personal conviction about change which is why he never waivers in his quest for change in this country.

It will be a very grave mistake for the FDC to choose a leader who is merely looking to advance their political career and has no true and personal convictions about change in Uganda. The FDC delegates should interrogate the personal stories of the candidates and see whether their reasons for joining the struggle are personal or purely political.

BUILDING OF A LASTING INSTITUTION

The FDC requires a leader who is willing to commit to building it into an institution that will outlast him. This is what Besigye has done. The party should be built on the strengths of its values and its commitment to making Uganda a better country. This is in contrast to the NRM which is a party that is built on the shoulders of Museveni only and the tax payer’s cash. We need a leader who can build the party into an institution that can effectively coordinate and manage mobilization of party members, generation of party funds, electoral campaigns and the generation and supervision of policies.

The candidates’ records should be scrutinized to expose what leadership they have provided in terms of building the party as an institution.

CONCLUSION

Being an opposition political party in a poor country which is governed by a dictator is a very big challenge. Nevertheless, the FDC Party has been able to weather the storm and continue the struggle despite the malice and sabotage of the Machiavellian Museveni dictatorship. The current elections for the presidency of the party will determine whether the party remains relevant in the politics of Uganda or not.  The person we elect must possess the personal qualities which will then arouse the necessary qualities in the community.

Essay ends!