How did the FDC ever grow into the horrifying aberration of evil that it is today?

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By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba,UK

FDC is being destroyed by almost every leader of FDC because one man can’t destroy a political party. It requires the cooperation of several people when they collectively agree on an irrational view of reality and start fighting against something incompatible with reality. This is the problem currently destroying the FDC, in case you are not clear on the nature of reality. The divisions in FDC now, I believe, have been brewing for about the last four years.

The reality is that there’s no hard evidence showing that both Nandala Mafabi and Amuriat Patrick are ‘sleeper agents’ in FDC. The hyperbole and vulgarity aimed at both does nothing but insult, belittle and denigrate the people who voted for them in those positions. These insults are coming from those who are no more intelligent or moral than the ones they are insulting. The answer is that the process needs to be allowed to play out according to the FDC constitution. Doing anything otherwise is a waste of time and a breed for more infighting.

I’m actually at a loss as to how anybody would think that making the FDC problems public was/is helping the party. The top party leaders are working extremely hard to destroy each other’s images. There is a bias on either side.

The Nandala group has a very big advantage, though. They seem to have more money, more MPs and state institutions on their side and control almost all the media. Politicians are good at getting people to be loyal to them; so much that they can make you believe things about the other party that have never been true. This can lead to you and me having anger and hatred toward the opposing party. It can even divide the people of Uganda. It makes us so blind to what is really going on. Some can get so brainwashed that even if the other political party makes complete sense about something, there will be no agreement just out of spite. Instead of pulling together to help the opposition, they would rather it fail, to destroy the party’s image – It is so disgraceful to do that.

If we look back in time, the FDC came in 2004 after the Democratic party in order to remove Museveni from power. Later, NUP was revived in 2020 in order to stop the FDC party, and the majority of the voters in opposition are now likely to round themselves around NUP in the next 5-15 years. NUP will be discarded once their usefulness has expired – Count on it.

We are all well aware about how the NUP and NRM have usurped social media in order to begin the brainwashing of youth very early about the pending Muhoozi Kainerugaba Vs Bobi Wine contest in 2026. This has been done subtly and very carefully since 2021.

BESIGYE’S CONTRIBUTION

Yes, I adore Besigye but he has made some blunders in this conflict, though it’s wrong for anybody in opposition to start spreading propaganda against him. The FDC in particular owes its success to Besigye’s pragmatism (thinking of or dealing with problems in a practical way, rather than by using theory or abstract principles). Besigye’s arrest in 2006 after coming back from exile was the main recruitment point for FDC at the beginning. His boldness to confront the soldiers and police on streets for years was something Ugandans had never seen before. We were used to politicians that usually oppose Museveni through their respective offices and issuing endless press conferences.

Because of Besigye’s sacrifices for the FDC and opposition, I therefore, don’t foresee much problem for Erias Lukwago as interim President of FDC and the party not doing well under his leadership if he eventually becomes full time FDC president. I would also recommend, with the highest level of urgency and priority, that Lukwago works hard to unite FDC leaders instead of furthering more divisions.

MOVING FORWARD

Maybe to move forward FDC needs to look back at its beginning and really think about the values that made them the most prosperous party that everyone adored and wanted to come to.

Every party has got factions – anybody that tells you otherwise is lying. For the party to be successful, each faction pushes for what they want but understands that they need to back the group as a whole in order to achieve overall success. You may not get everything you want but you will still get some of what you want if you work with others.

Also, let’s stop believing everything we hear on the news channels and other places. Politicians and news channels are experts at twisting stories and making false accusations – somehow, they still get people to believe them. There is such a bias in the media that it isn’t hard to see who is working for who.

If the FDC carries on like this in the next year or so, then it’s likely to end like the Whig party in the USA – dead. The Whigs split over the question of slavery and were weakened by presidents of their party not supporting their ideals. Abraham Lincoln always characterized himself as an “Old Whig.” As the USA moved toward confrontation over slavery in the 1850’s, the Whigs faded away as irrelevant and lacking in attractive leadership.

There were physical fights in (and out of) the halls of Congress, personal insults entered in the congressional records, and it wasn’t unusual to find mob violence as a feature of elections. One Representative even resigned his office saying, “You can all go to hell, I’m going to Texas”. He did indeed go to Texas where he died fighting at the Alamo.

In the midst of all this the Whigs fought within itself until it splintered and disappeared completely. In 1856, the Whigs basically reorganized, changing their name to Republicans. You might even find some parallels that could be drawn with FDC, but to me this was the best example of political party conflicts. I can only think how truly wise George Washington was to tell Americans to avoid forming political parties ever.

Sorry to drag this out so long but I just wanted to say something by giving both sides of the story instead of making this a Nandala or Besigye bash.

A LETTER TO FDC SUPPORTERS

Dear FDC supporters and sympathizers,

I know you’re all hurting because of what’s happening to the party, but, please, you should work towards uniting party leaders; don’t take sides. Anybody who attacks Besigye, Nandala or any of the leaders is literally destroying FDC. I mean, the knife cuts both ways. When you attack the Katonga group, it hurts FDC. When you attack the Nandala group, you still hurt FDC. Insults won’t help solve FDC problems.

If FDC factions keep attacking each other, there’s only one way this is going to end – with FDC literally dead. Yes, it may hang around like DP did for a while, but I don’t like where this is going. By the way, sometime political parties disappear forever, as the Whig party in USA did. Yap, everything works beautifully until it doesn’t.

Secondly, please stop calling people spies or moles without any credible circumstantial or direct evidence. Look, I don’t discount the possibility that there are spies in FDC or any of the political parties, because “sleeper agents ” are obvious in every party. Museveni himself was once a mole in UPC in the 1960s. He even worked in Obote’s office to get a feel of it.

The least person suspected to be a spy might turn out to be the one. For instance, there was a British radio producer called Guy Burgess, who was working with the BBC in the 1940s. He was among the five Soviet spies recruited while studying at Cambridge, but nobody suspected him because he mainly portrayed himself as a “POKOPOKO” guy, like our Andrew M. Mwenda. He used to talk in support of Britain, like I see some ‘bloggers’ now shouting loudest for the opposition, yet he was a mole.

I also remember when Andrew Mwenda used to heavily criticise Museveni and his family(1990s-2006), and I thought there’s a man with real balls. Oh God, I liked the guy. I literally became a matching mole fan at that point, and I’m sure a lot of oppositionists fell into his crawls by entrusting him with their secrets and plans, didn’t they?

What’s odd is that all this still resonates in my consciousness somewhere, that how come nobody saw this at the time? How come we all concentrated mainly on his ‘attacks’ rather than the people he associated with, or he used to associate with (Gen.Salim Saleh, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Kayihura, e.t.c)? Is it possible he was already on the payroll then, but most of us didn’t know at the time?

Well, that’s for Andrew to answer, because we can’t know for sure, but it simply just shows that it’s difficult to pinpoint a spy or mole or whatever, just by links or association, unless one has got credible evidence. Just because someone is endlessly attacking Museveni at rallies or in the media, it doesn’t mean he isn’t working for Museveni.

John Cairncross was the last of the Cambridge Five to be recruited and the last to be publicly identified. He was recruited by one of the greatest spies of the 20th century, Arnold Deutch. That’s how Stalin knew that the British had cracked the enigma code. According to the Russian archives Cairncross leaked over 5,832 documents from Bletchley to the Soviet Union.

For the record, I have only called one person all my life a ‘sleeper agent’ in opposition, because there’s enough circumstantial evidence indicating that he’s working for Museveni. As for FDC, it needs prayers now!

FDC WAS INFILTRATED BUT THE LEADERS HAVE BEHAVED LIKE SCHOOL KIDS

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba,UK

A lot has been said and written about the recent fall out in FDC, and it has been painful to watch. I saw Besigye’s press conference where he tried to give some sort of background to the issue – he used a lot of wisdom to seemingly mask most of the rot in the party, and I hope that other leaders of the party start emulating him –they should stop talking carelessly in public.

I again painfully watched Ssemujju Nganda and Nandala Mafabi on national TV, and I felt so betrayed by both of them. Both built their brand by never sugarcoating the truth and saying what must be said, but it was sad to see them accusing each other like little children. There has been a lot of speculation, too, meant to clearly tarnish names of leaders of FDC. Ssemujju, for instance, was speculating on why Nandala allegedly received money from Museveni, and I wondered why.

Saying that the Nandala money was meant to fight NUP doesn’t benefit FDC – It only benefits three people: Semujju himself (if he plans to lure NUP supporters to his side in the next election), Bobi Wine( make him appear like he’s a threat to Museveni), and Museveni( because it makes FDC appear like it’s already in his pocket).

It should be noted that Nandala hasn’t denied receiving the money but he’s yet to mention the source and the reasons for the money. All we know is that money was received before or during the 2020-21 campaigns. Most politicians who receive financial help from some NRMs never reveal their sources to protect them. It was only Bobi Wine who confessed on national TV for having received money from some NRMs to help him become MP of Kyadondo East. He was cornered to confirm this after General Tumukunde and Tamale Mirundi had revealed the same information to the public.

Some unconfirmed media reports have revealed that the money in contention now came from an international donor to both NUP and FDC, and it had to pass via Bank of Uganda, because it was a very large sum of money.

If you have access to money— even if it’s not your money— you are morally responsible for what you decide to spend that money on, and what you decide not to spend that money on. I have a feeling that Nandala spent most of the money received in helping his party during the elections.For instance, I don’t know if people remember this, but FDC nominated more MPs than NUP and paid nomination fees for all of them. So, where did they think all that money came from? If it all came from party accounts, then FDC must be really a rich party.

There are three things people should know about life: what you desire, what you believe and what you should do. Regardless of whether NUP was created by Museveni, its leaders and followers turned a lot of FDC and UPC supporters into Museveni supporters before voting took place – people just wanted Museveni to win and for NUP to be put in its place. So, it was tempting for anyone in that category, including Nandala, to receive any help from Museveni if it meant to weaken the NUP.

Obviously, it’s Museveni who benefits from all these situations. He gets to reduce the popularity of something he created as a fake opposition in 2004 by sponsoring another party, or some individuals to fight it. And if it’s true that he’s the one that gave Nandala the shs.7 b, then he has already made a good ‘profit’ on his investment considering the ongoing public outbursts among the FDC leaders.

Obviously, the current problems at FDC extend beyond internecine struggle. A lot of FDCs attacking the party president, Patrick Amuriat, and Nandala wouldn’t be doing so if the party was doing well on the ground. The resurrection of NUP, a party that’s as old as FDC, directly affected the latter (FDC) tremendously in the 2020-21 elections.

MOLES

That said, we cannot rule out that Museveni had infiltrated FDC and other parties before the elections. It’s a well-worn aphorism that Museveni has eyes and ears in almost all political parties in Uganda. Infiltration is the action of entering or gaining access to an organization or place surreptitiously, especially in order to acquire secret information or cause damage. I’m loath to speculate about circumstances under which government agencies might choose to infiltrate a political party.

In Uganda, as far as I know, it is not illegal to infiltrate a political group as long as you do not break any laws. If you are able to find out inside information to give to your own party, that is not against the law.

Words have meanings. A “mole” has a meaning, and while Nandala and Amuriat are seemingly corrupt, self-serving, narcissistic obstructionists, that doesn’t make that an accurate label for them. In guessing a mole, you can only work with what you know and calculate, and you might be wrong. But do try, nonetheless.

Moles find it so easy to blend in and avoid detection in any political organization in Uganda. In Uganda, people only try to detect moles by their tribes though this may not necessarily give actual results. Someone can be a Munyankole in DP or NUP but not necessarily a mole, but a Muganda may be a mole in both parties.

You can’t detect a mole by their actions as Besigye said at his recent press conference. The most successful spying is performed by those who are never revealed. Interestingly, a lot of Ugandans ignorantly think that a mole in opposition is the one who criticises their leader. An actual agent is supposed to play nice in order to get close to the leader.

However, if you ask me, most political parties do themselves no favours in this area. They don’t do adequate vetting while recruiting people who work at their headquarters, or those standing for elective posts in and outside the parties.  For instance, FDC can easily endorse one as their candidate if one can raise the shs. 3m required nomination fee. It’s almost the same in other parties. In NUP, party tickets were reportedly being sold at astronomical prices by party officials before the 2020-21elections. All NRM needed to do was to pay the ‘’bribe’’ money, nomination fee and campaign money for most potential NUP ‘recruits’ in order to control most of the party.

That is how the KGB, too, partly managed to infiltrate both the MI6 and the CIA during the cold war. Both intelligence agencies did not conduct adequate vetting for their employees during the early Cold War. This was especially the case with MI6 – the KGB exploited MI6’s penchant for recruiting from elitist top British universities such as Oxford and Cambridge by getting their intelligence officers to recruit people at these universities as agents and then getting these agents to join MI6 as intelligence officers. This was the case with Kim Philby and the Cambridge Five. Philby was the biggest traitor MI6 ever had. He exposed countless intelligence officers, agents and operations etc. He also jeopardised MI6’s relationship with the CIA.

Ugandans should also stop attacking people in NRM especially if they aren’t hurting you directly. There are obviously so many people that are in NRM but sympathising with some in opposition. Similarly, there were a lot of people that worked for Hitler but were also trying to bring him down. German spies were generally agents of the Abwehr- German military intelligence, and the Abwehr was run by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, secretly an anti-Nazi and a member of the conservative resistance. He purposely staffed his organisation with people opposed to the Hitler regime and agents were implicitly or explicitly encouraged to defect or get caught at the earliest convenience; spies who were loyal to the Third Reich were prone to being sold out. Canaris was reportedly in direct contact with British intelligence throughout the war and may have had a hand in orchestrating the assassination of his former protege Reinhard Heydrich, who was onto him and building a case against him.

The Soviets, on the other hand, made no such error which is why they were more successful. Russian spies were famously involved in the allied atomic bomb project such that there is a story that when US president then, Harry Truman, hinted about the new weapon that Stalin showed little surprise.

So, everybody is useful during a struggle one way or the other if they are willing to help. If you receive money from Museveni or an NRM, and put it to good use, I don’t see any problem with it under the current circumstances. Good use shouldn’t mean buying bullet proof cars, houses abroad, e.t.c, but things to help the cause or the needy.

THE OPPOSITION STILL NEEDS BESIGYE BIG TIME!

Dr.Besigye standing with all siblings recently at his sister’s house.

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba,UK

Seeing Besigye’s photos today on FDC’s Harold Kaija’s Facebook profile made me sad – he has indeed been sick, and we wish him a quick recovery, because he is still very important to our nation. Hope the doctors in Geneva got to the bottom of his sickness.

You don’t have to like someone to recognise their achievements and effect on the nation’s life. I believe that Museveni doesn’t like Dr.Besigye but recognises his achievements and intelligence. It’s probably mutual respect between the two political giants more than a like/dislike situation. I don’t think they always agreed on things and had very different styles and opinions, but they are strong men for our times and respect one another for their accomplishments.

With no intention of being patronising, it is quite difficult for younger people (who don’t research) to understand what a mess Uganda was in the 1970s and 1980s. Besigye was part of the men that fought in the 1980s to make things right, and he is still fighting to make things better.

You might love him or hate him, and there are many that do both; he’s the saviour of the Uganda opposition politics from 2001 up today. It is only when intelligence information of the time becomes available to the public, that we shall know it all.

It is a furphy to assume that Uganda opposition is in a better shape now with the singer as the face of it than it was under Besigye. Our opposition is in such a mess politically today that we would be truly blessed to have a leader, like Besigye. He is not only mentally strong, unbribable,courageous, very smart, and educated, but he is also very determined and hard working. Together with his intelligence and vision, hard work is what makes him so successful. Did I mention that he works very hard? Yeah.

In his absence, we have had Bobi Wine release a song called ‘Nalumansi’ that has proved to be another divisive one – it basically pits Baganda against other tribes, and he claims that Baganda never truly support him, yet they voted for him and his party overwhelmingly in the 2021 elections. Anyway, time will come when Baganda will also see through him and drop him for good, because he isn’t good for Baganda, too.

Those of us who have been around since 2006, found Besigye’s guts breath-taking. No opposition leader has ever equaled him though he hasn’t yet led us to victory. I remember his arrest in 2006, and thereafter when we saw pictures of Sam Kalega Njuba,  Dr.Sulaiman Kiggundu, and other leaders on streets protesting. A lot of Ugandans (rich, poor and famous) have suffered for him.

Besigye was breaking Museveni piece by piece, and the coming of Bobi kind of disrupted that. The strategy was to seemingly weaken him one region at a time – consolidating elected officials etc there so they can hold it. Buganda still had NRM elected officials, but the voters had already moved on. The Iteso region had been liberated; so was Northern Uganda, Rwenzori, Kasese and most of Rukungiri. Unfortunately, the opposition seems to be now losing all those pieces that he had been put together due to the divisions, fake news, fake leaders, disinformation and misinformation that befell our politics in 2018 up to now.

The FDC strategy was kind of similar to what Russia is now doing in Ukraine — stop piling munitions / troops etc all in one location so the supply lines aren’t targeted by NATO ammunitions. FDC were learning and they were adapting, and maybe they didn’t expect (or care) to wrap this up quickly; how do you eat an elephant?  one piece at a time. Only my opinion, of course!

I THINK THIS IS WHY SOME IN FDC ARE DIALOGUING WITH M7

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

It may not be my assigned “job” to tell supporters of NUP the truth, but I still think they need to be told. I don’t dislike their ‘mole- politics’ because it has literally destroyed the opposition, such that I’m not surprised that some elements in FDC are kind of having dialogue with Mr. Museveni. Perhaps, we ought to understand the genesis of all this. It’s not the kind of thing that can be observed in a day, or even a lifetime.

What particularly got the ball rolling was what has happened to FDC in the last 4- 5 years, where the party has been getting a beating from both NRM and Bobi’s supporters – later NUP party. Most of these guys in FDC have been left so confused, exposed and vulnerable. They don’t believe that the people they have been fighting for all those years, have suddenly turned against them. And this is where Museveni, understandably, came in to exploit them. So, personally, I understand why some of them have taken that path., though DIALOGUE itself is not necessarily bad.

Museveni’s statement yesterday that he is dialoguing with FDC, UPC, DP, but not NUP, was meant to add confusion to an already a confused group, and this is where the leadership of Dr. KiizaBesigye and others at Najjanakumbi, should come in. Opposition leaders at all levels need guidance and some good lessons on dialoguing with Museveni.

In any case, Museveni should not be taken seriously when he says that he isn’t yet dialoguing with NUP, yet Bobi Wine was already calling on his supporters to vote for some NRM candidates during and after the 2021 election campaigns, isn’t that dialogue? Museveni, too, recently, posted pictures of his meeting with over some NUP coordinators, and they all appeared so comfortable around him, like they had known him for ages.

I think a lot of NUPs are suffering from Ostracism: Social version of putting your head in the sand. They don’t want to accept that there’s some obvious kind of understanding between Bobi’s group and the state. What boggles my mind is that they celebrate every angle that makes FDC look bad in the eyes of Ugandans. They absolutely negate every single suggestion that any person gives them for any reason whatsoever, no matter how well intentioned the person is who gives it.

A lot of FDC leaders have been ignoring Bobi’s peculiarities for years; just recently it’s escalated when he suggested that a meeting with them during the days of their retreat, it’s seemed to me, and perhaps a different approach is what’s required. FDC has started putting Bobi in his place, and that exactly explains the response from Hon. Salaam Musumba when she said that they won’t be able to meet him.

The mistaken assumption is that there is always a specific goal or choice of goals in mind when someone says something negative about the NUP leader. Sometimes it is just a case of like “hey, wait a minute! you just said this, yet you are doing that. so, what the heck does that mean?” Which is pretty much the case in, as far as, NUP and FDC are concerned at the moment.

After the elections, Bobi was reportedly asked to support FDC’s plan B , but he declined, and said that he was only going to concentrate on rebuilding their 25-year old party. Yet, a few days later, he was heard calling on people to demonstrate against election rigging, which, I can imagine, became so confusing to FDC leaders.

Generally speaking, Museveni may have infiltrated all political parties considering the numbers that voted for Ibrahim Nganda Ssemujju , but FDC still remains the best alternative in opposition. The party that campaigns and votes for some NRM candidates, cannot be an alternative. NUP is so indecisive such that their MPs even didn’t have an official position on speakership

OK, let’s hear from NUPs now. Please be mindful that your insults don’t convince, only detract from any logical dialogue.

Look at the elders surrounding Dr. Kiiza Besigye ma sha Allah

Look at the elders surrounding Dr. Kiiza Besigye ma sha Allah. They helped to guide him at all levels. Both Dr. Sulaiman Kiggundu(R.I.P) and Mr. Sam Njuba(R.I.P) were incorruptible. These guys built FDC to be what it is today (Please don’t betray them). Simon Ruta took this picture in 2006. He sat beside Jeff Koinage of CNN then. The camera he used then was bought by Johnston Mujungu who lives in the UK

 I saw Dr. Kiggundu before I left Uganda– we were driving in his famous Nissan car from Kololo to Kawempe to see my grandfather. He looked so strong. While around Wandegeya– Katonga, at the entrance of the famous Makerere University gate, our conversation switched to Ebola disease.

” kati tubonga bubonzi as a way of greeting “, he said.

His hands were on the steering wheel– I remember looking at his hairy hands, and I thought, “this guy could make a good president of Uganda “, but it wasn’t meant to be. I spoke to him over the phone in 2008, before he was hospitalised in South Africa— he sounded so weak, but he was still talking about the struggle. He died a few months later, aged 61 years inalilahi wahina ilayihi rajiuna.

Earlier at his house in Kololo, he gave me a book that formed part of his dissertation at university– it was his way of saying goodbye to me– I was about to leave for UK. I have forgotten the title as it burnt a few years ago while at SALABED store in Mengo, Kisenyi– it was among the books I had sent back to Uganda to form a home library.

Last time I saw him was at my graduation party in 2006. He gave a speech about the four Cs every graduate should attain after leaving university, i.e. Character, Creativity, Courage and Common Sense. In the same speech, he said that Uganda is mainly benefitting only 5% of the population. I kind of gave a similar speech, few years later, at the graduation party of my friend, here in the UK.

I dont idolise Besigye at all!

Defense of Dr.Kiiza Besigye has nothing to do with a ‘cult of personality’ and everything to do with the fact that the FDC feels itself to be under attack from both the opposition and NRM. I don’t idolize him; I think there’s plenty of fair criticism I can level at him for missing open goals.e.g changing from walk-to-work to hooting.

Amuriat and Besigye

A good start towards uniting the opposition would be an acknowledgement that Besigye, in the previous elections, came closer to achieving power than any leader in the opposition— some people, like Gen.Sejjusa David, are on record saying that he won both the 2006 and 2016 elections. He should now be regarded as an elder statesman and valued for his influence on thinking within the opposition.

The persistent attempts to misrepresent him, his words and his ideas, to trash his legacy and to consign him to history as ineffectual, incompetent, self-seeking and pro-Museveni are not only an offence to the man himself, but also to the whole of the FDC and to natural justice. He shouldn’t be called a mole simply because some of you want to sell your candidates: that particular assumption would fly in the face of the available evidence– I am talking about how much he has suffered in the name of opposing president Museveni, including losing his own brother, Joseph Musasizi Kifefe, who died while in prison on November 29th 2007.

We have power that we are refusing to see, because some Ugandans have clawed all dissent into a safe manageable bubble—thinking in terms of tribes, camps, ‘nfunilamuwa’, e.t.c.

After the 2021 elections, God willing, all opposition camps should sit down and evaluate themselves. Personally, I think Besigye will be most needed to rejuvenate the opposition again. Not restoring the whip to Besigye has basically hamstrung the main effective voice in the opposition (or at least one they are most afraid of). For now, I am appealing to Besigye to join POA’s campaign team, for the sake of keeping plan A alive.

Besigye’s drivers should write books about what they have seen

Fred Katto ‘relaxing’ in teargas

Asuman Ssemakula

Besigye’s drivers: Fred Kato, and Asuman Ssemakula should write books about what they have seen. Journalists should give them 1:1 interviews such that we learn the ins and outs of Besigye’s journey in politics. Interestingly, Asuman Ssemakula was recruited by Hon. Beti Kamya while she was still in FDC.

What do you learn from them?
Me: Loyalty

Nandala is another finished article in FDC!

This is another guy FDC are lucky to have. We last met him at a FDC conference in Leeds, UK, a few years ago. I found him so funny, easy to relate to,and serious when he wants to be. If Besigye hadn’t picked Erias Lukwago for Vice presidency in the People Govt, Nandala Mafabi would have been my choice.He told us at the conference how he met Besigye while he was still working in the URA as a chief internal auditor – Museveni’s company had evaded taxes, and he and Besigye were investigating it. I have forgotten the rest of the story, but it went along those lines.

For someone who made his professional debut in the financial sector, Mr. Nandala seems surprisingly well adjusted in politics, with a conventional home life that doesn’t fit the profile of a superstar politician with a massive, dedicated fan base, especially in Mbale.

Another thing, Nandala seems to be smiling 24/7- I wonder if he’s,subconciously, a ‘Muslim’ but doesn’t know it- Smiling is sunnah in Islam. Former FDC, Mugisha Muntu, is another one who is usually smiling. These guys are ”Muslims” but they just don’t know it. This can’t all be about emotional labour that we were taught in our undergraduate classes.

Besigye isn’t a mole but a patriot!

Besigye has been arrested over 200 times since he started challenging Museveni

Besigye isn’t a mole as some people are alleging, but a patriot in the best sense of the word (a sense that appears of late to have lapsed in common usage): someone who is willing to endure the wrath and calumny of the powerful in his country to follow his conscience. I don’t see how this petty slander advances the argument that Museveni is a good leader, or anybody in the opposition has done better than him, but people saying these things are predictable, I allow them that.

If one can cite Besigye saying that he sees Museveni as somebody who is going to change the future of Uganda , or bring evidence of him getting a bribe from Museveni,I’d believe they have a point, but his actions are enough to nail things down, as far as I can tell.

Besigye was once a member of the NRM/ NRA but he saw things going bad, and he decided to join the oppressed. He isn’t any different from Jewish intellectuals who, knowing the horrendous experiences of persecution they have suffered, feel a deep empathy with other oppressed people. This runs much deeper than idle nationalism.

When he was serving in various positions in Museveni govt, he was still part of the army. The duty of a soldier is to unquestionably follow orders, as long as those orders are legal. He never accepted to follow anything illegal by Museveni. He may have committed a few peccadillos here and there to impress the boss, like, I’m not sure, but he’s being accused of having been against federalism while still working for Museveni.

His approach to oppositoon, economic development, and national security is long-term and wide in scope. Before we accuse him of anything, lets try to follow his story critically before he left the NRM. Unity of the opposition is more important to him than any of this bickering. That’s why he keeps telling Ugandans that he isnt in politics to become a president, that this isnt the time to think about who is going to be the next president , but to think about how to get rid of the dictatorship in our country.

Yes, there area dozens of areas of opposition in which productivity depends fiercely upon individual initiative and critical thinking, and Besigye has proved to be an asset on that front. For instance, the Walk-to- work would have proved to be a lame duck if he didn’t take the lead. He even paid a big price for it, such that his sight was permanently damaged.Besigye has lived for self sacrifice– the military, the opposition to Obote and later Museveni, e.t.c.

Besigye should stop being too principled if he wants the presidency!

Besigye to Ugandans: We can get rid of Museveni before 2021 elections

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
United Kingdom

As I finish Daniel Kalinaki’s book on Kiiza Besigye, I’m not only fascinated by the many issues involved in his political journey; but I’m also interested in the many choices that he has had to make when faced with situations. The incident of his younger brother, Musasizi, for instance, being denied medical treatment while in prison, and later dying, is so nerve wrecking. It would drive most people away from politics, not Besigye. I don’t know of any easy answers, any pre-set challenges that politicians should meet, any particular “responsibility” that ought to override the larger goal of making our country attractive and safe for everyone.

The responsibility of a politician, in the case of a presidential election, I think, it is to re-create in his own mind the idea that unifies those who support him, and then deliver the message convincingly during the campaigns to attract those who don’t support him. This is the area in which Besigye excelled in all the elections he has been involved in since 2001. And that is why a lot of people believe he has been winning them all, only to be denied victory by The Electoral Commission and courts of law.

The opposite school to Besigye’s approach is the “shake your booty” approach of, for example, Yoweri Museveni, where the politician is saying to the audience, “Look at me! I’ve got the guns. I’m not going anywhere even if I lose”. I see Museveni’s behaviour as a mixture of ambition and a desire for mass acceptance, both of which have remained central to his drive since his days while working as a research assistant in Obote’s office. A person like that will go along with whoever has the power, cash and good opportunities no matter what their ideology is. A person like that would crack any deal with donors as long as it keeps him in power, and it has arguably worked for him.

Having followed both guys and their approaches, I came to the conclusion that, unless Besigye drops his principled approach of following a straight line, he will never be president. I’m sure if he had promised the donors all of Uganda’s oil at the prices they want, he would be president by now, but he has always presented a pan Africanist position in his meetings with donors, and that doesn’t get you anywhere. When it came to public posturing (I don’t mean that in the pejorative sense — I just couldn’t think of a better word), Besigye is certainly more outspokenly and consistently principled than any politician in our times. There are also many touching anecdotes about his genuine love for people who committedly worked under him while he was FDC president, whom he viewed as an extension of his family(despite the occasional rehearsal tantrums).

Besigye made plenty of aware, political decisions that have cost him friends. Among those that felt betrayed by him was late Sam Njuba when he was contesting to be leader of opposition against Ogenga Latigo. Besigye decided to stay out of it completely, and therefore, didn’t even vote or support his loyal friend, Njuba. It was the same case when Beti Kamya was campaigning to replace late Sulaiman Kiggundu as FDC chairman. Beti thought she would get an automatic Besigye endorsement considering that it was mainly her that kept Reform Agenda burning while Besigye was in exile in South Africa, but Besigye again left it to FDC delegates. Besigye didn’t support Bobi Wine during his parliamentary campaigns, and went for a FDC candidate, Katinti, primary because he couldn’t go against the party.

Furthermore, people say that he has failed to dislodge Museveni, and therefore deserves to leave the stage, but forget to add that Besigye isn’t a god. And that’s where this whole “political responsibility” thing breaks down, because politicians are politicians, not high Priests interpreting received wisdom. If you feel Besigye hasn’t done enough, do it your own way. And I long ago learned that courage is not something one should expect from others, especially if one has not assessed how much of it one has oneself. But one may look back and see what was possible, what was available, what was known at the time.

Tragically, over the course of this debate, people have started to insult him. The public enjoys creating a figure and then trying to destroy it by whatever means they can find. There are many instances of this throughout. Personally, if I were trying to get any kind of career off the ground in a military state, I would hate to have my actions judged from a distance by people living safely in a relatively free society, or people benefiting from the dictatorship.

But Besigye is here to stay,President or not, and there is nothing those who hate him can do about it, they will have to suffer to see him as the greatest opposition politician Uganda has ever had.

GUM BOOTS SCANDAL:Why exactly would Museveni have Besigye investigated three times by different departments?

I cannot make sense of what the exact intentions of Museveni were in regards to the alleged gumboots corruption scandal against Besigye in 1993. To help readers not aware of this, Besigye was informed by the then Army Commander, Mugisha Muntu, that he had orders from Museveni to investigate a procurement of gumboots from Nairobi, in which Besigye was alleged toi have colluded with the supplier and helped them to evade taxes.

Muntu investigated and Besigye was cleared as the probe turned no evidence of corruption. A few weeks later, Amama Mbabazi who was then the Defense Minister, was told by Museveni to investigate the same matter. He invesitgated and found no evidence of corruption. Then a few weeks later, then Attorney General, Abu Mayanja, was also told to investigate the same matter. He also found nothing tying Besigye to corruption.

Why exactly would Museveni have Besigye investigated three times by different departments? It doesn’t make sense!

ALLEGATION: ‘Besigye moved a motion that extended M7s term of office from 5 years to 10’……Is it true???

ALLEGATION: ‘Besigye moved a motion that extended M7s term of office from 5 years to 10’……Is it true???.

The NRC used to meet daily until 1989. An additional 220 members were elected to the NRC to represent the county, on top of the 10 army reps, 20 presidential nominees and disrict women reps.

Then there was the NEC that was created as the political organ of the movement, and it was dominated by the 38 historicals of the NRC, where Getrude Njuba was among them. In October, 1989, the govt tabled a bill before the NRC to extend its term in office to allow for the writing of the constitution. Some historicals wanted the issues put to the public to decide but Getrude Njuba, who was working as M7’s aide, opposed it. She argued that the NRC was set up to formalise decisions of the NRA. A few historicals including Besigye were not happy with the extension.

The first 4 years of Museveni’s rule was an Amanya Mushega suggestion which was endorsed by Museveni. Besigye’s role as NPC was to sell to the public the so called 10 point programs. Yes, he had direct access to the president, but people should stop exaggerating his role as NPC. He was in that role for arguably less than two years.

All extensions before 1990 were M7’s ideas. The extensions after 2006 were also Museveni’s, he only uses different players to sell them to different organs of the movement.

Just like Besigye, Tinyefunza too opposed the Movt extension for another 5 years. Later Tinye was forced to issue a humiliating apology before the Army Council.

ALLEGATION: ‘Besigye wrote the laws that strangled UPC to death’

ALLEGATION: ‘Besigye wrote the laws that strangled UPC to death’

Truth: As far as I know, DP and UPC agreed to serve in Museveni’s broad based govt without any formal agreement. UPC was given two ministries, and the rest is history. DP and UPC lacked strategists, so Museveni duped them, brought them into a marriage where incase of a divorce, there was going to be only one winner.

Besigye–the Incorruptible is still daring them!

Besigye (L) and his comrades during the bush war

It has been said that every man has his price. Perhaps Dr. Kiiza Besigye could be bought but, so far, nobody has ever produced any evidence showing that he has ever been om Museveni’s payroll while in opposition.As a result, a lot of people have grown to love and value him even more, because they just think his political range and the journey he undertook is so intriguing.
In 2005, Mayombo (R.I.P) reportedly met Daily Monitor’s Nkutu for lunch at Sheraton hotel. He asked Nkutu to reach out to Besigye to drop his opposition to the gov’t in exchange for shs. 500 m and the position of PM. Apparently, Besigye told them to shove it where the sun doesn’t shine, and he later announced that he was returning home from his exile in South Africa to contest against Museveni.The threats to arrest him did not stop Besigye from returning to Uganda. He landed back in the country on Wednesday 26th October 2005.

What’s so striking about Besigye is his extraordinary, exceptional ability to encapsulate the whole range of human emotions in political strategy. I don’t think anybody had done it before, and I’m not sure many politicians have done it since. For instance, he clearly didn’t intend to stand against Museveni in the 2001 elections. He only stood because the elders in the party, Bidandi Ssali, and Dr. Crispus Kiyonga, refused to do so. He also didnt want to stand against Museveni again in 2006 because he believed that the system in place wouldn’t declare him a winner even if he did win the elections. He made a statement in 2005, while still in exile in South Africa, saying that he was not going to subject himself to a fraud electoral process where Museveni almost controlled everything. However, with the emergency of FDC and PAFO, and Cyaapa Karuhanga’s party,Besigye was pressurised to come back to stand against Museveni. Ogenga Latigo, Munini Mulera and a few others wanted to pick Mugisha Muntu as the presidential candidate, but in the end, they all realised that Besigye was their best bet in shaking Museveni. It has been the case in almost all subsequent elections where he gives in to people’s emotions to stand against Museveni when clearly he knows that the system cannot declare anybody else a winner other than the incumbent. Of course, some people waste no time in using this against him calling him a four-times failure!

Over the years,he has found a way to combine the techniques he had evolved in military training, bush war, with what he learned from his closeness with Museveni after the war. For instance, his detailed escape from his house after the 2001 elections, is like a film when you read it in Daniel Kalinaki’s book. He planned the whole thing to detail, and its captivating. And what Besigye does better than anybody of his generation is to maintain the political interest in him. It’s not just an academic exercise. It has this humanity, which is so appealing and to me very Shakespearean. Every now and then, somebody emerges to take the centre stage, but events over the years, make people to fall back to him for rescue.I suppose the thing that strikes me most is the way that–again,going back to Shakespeare–he balances high life and low life.

Of course, I’m writing all this bearing in mind that nobody is completely blameless from a moral or ethical point of view. For instance,as a Muslim, I found it odd that Besigye could consider rearing pigs as a way of raising income for his family.But hey, who is me to judge. I’m not God, i’m i? The man had to survive!

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*Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba*

Stalk my blog at: https://semuwemba.wordpress.com

THIS IS WHAT AMURIAT NEEDS TO DO TO SORT OUT THE FDC MESS

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
UK
If witnesses were all that was required to “prove” anything we’d be in a lot of trouble. The way some FDC MPs and people in the opposition are attacking Besigye, one may think that he has really done something heinous, like murdering or raping someone. That’s why I have always gone by the advice given to me by my dear departed granddad who said “Don’t believe everything you read and only half of what you see”. There are people out there who are evil and just enjoy tarnishing others.

Besigye maybe a ‘sellout'(as some MPs are openly telling us) and a peddlebum, but at least he has, over the years, stood up to the dictator and their puritanical ways.The difference here is: the Muntu group (curse ’em) have no spine or cojones; Besigye (bless him) has a spine and cojones.The Muntu group were afraid to go on streets during the WALK TO WORK protests, and always too afraid to go after the peccadillos of the police and NRM. Besigye, on the otherhand, has been on streets fighting for us, faced teargas, arrested as many times as we kill mosqutoes daily, his relatives driven into exile, taken fear out of Ugandans,e.t.c, but all we get from his opponents is that: he is bad, he is an obstacle to democracy, he is working for M7, he bangs Ingrid Turinawe when Winnie isnt around,he hates Bobi Wine, e.t.c…what kind of nonsense is that?

It realy makes me laugh when there’s all this crow-cawing over “AMURIAT IS A SHADOW” and that Besigye is the one in charge, when the very people complaining don’t attend meetings called by the new FDC president; they undermind him for every chance they get; they refuse to depart with their financial contributions to the party because Amuriat is working with Besigye, e.t.c. It looks to me like the intrigue in the FDC is all matter of payback and whose got the balls, and I dont like the way some MPs have handled it, especially coming out on social media making live videos exposing the problems within the party.

My hunch is that the MPs openly fighting Besigye and Amuriat now are going to continue doing so, and will eventually leave the party. They aren’t influential in the party in the more because if they did, they will be taking their fights in the party committes, and its the reason they have gone public– to seek public sympathy. Party infighting is normal and it happens all over the world, but how its handled is the most important thing. In the 1950s, Ignatius Musazi lost control of the Uganda National Congress(UNC) party because he chose to go with the flow, especially the appeasement of the Buganda movements at the time, and this sidelined him from the original aims and objectives of the ANC. That’s how Milton Obote eventually took over the ANC, allied with rebels of ANC that had formed their respective parties, and then formed UPC. Incidentally, among those ‘rebels’ was John Kale(Kaliisa), the late father of the Gen.Kale Kayihura, who had opened up a ANC office in Cairo. If Musazi and Abu Mayanja had continued with the party objectives of fighting for the interests of all Ugandans, the rebels wouldn’t have achieved much.

Therefore, FDC must go back to the drawing board, and stick to the objectives of why it was formed. Let them not get distracted by ‘haters’. Attacking Besigye because he is more popular than the rest, doesn’t help anything or anyone. The guys handling enforcement of party discipline must get to work immediately, even it means losing some members. To emphasize this, all those MPs openly attacking the party must face the whip. FDC elders must swing into action to reconcile the different factions within the party. Yes, every party in Uganda,including NRM, has got ‘moles’ and we shouldn’t let them destroy such a young party. Mugisha Muntu should be put to a task to issue a statement explaining his relationship with those fighting Amuriat. He either distances himself from them or the party must say ‘goodbye’ to him. Those who want to walk out with him, should do so. The earlier Patrick Oboi Amuriat does this, the better.He must show that he’s got the balls!

Why Besigye is being fought by both the Govt and Opposition right now!

The narrative used to be about doing something but now it’s all about trying to be someone. That’s the curse of our generation. Everyone wants to be someone before doing anything.If you try to mobilise funds for your local hospital,for instance, people will ask you questions like, ‘who are you?, are you the MP, do u want to stand in some position, e.t.c. Most of the adults have given up on genuinely educating the young on life experiences and expectations. And so today we have to fall back to the leaders of past times in order to have an encounter with something real.

Look at what’s happening in FDC, most of the MPs opposed to Besigye are just simply jealous. Anybody who’s in their mid 40s plus are kind of jealousy of Besigye because they want him off the stage, to launch their political career. Their sub-strategy is that let’s get rid of Besigye too such that he leaves the stage the same time as Museveni. They aren’t worried about M7 anymore b’se they know he has past it—its now just a matter of when, not if, he goes. Unfortunately, most people aren’t thinking about the country anymore. Its all about me, me, me, and strategising.

Just to clarify, I’ve never been paid a cent to defend Besigye and his actions. I’ve neither met him nor spoken to him, nor communicated to him in any way. So, its unfair to brand all people defending him as paid servants, or on payroll, or FDC radicals. Most people defend him out of self conviction:country first before anything else. I’ve read about Mr.Mugisha Muntu’s background and his activities in student politics while at Makerere University, and I like him, and I dont think anybody is underestimating him. I know that he’s ambitious, and probably unfairly being accused of being a mole due to his tribe and past closeness to Museveni. But its important that he puts the country first before his own personal ambitions. He’s hiding from the fact that he can’t win against Besigye, or a Besigye candidate, even if he does participate. The truth is that Besigye remains the most popular opposition leader in FDC and elsewhere. Government has been trying to mitigate that for ages without any success. So, I don’t understand why anybody in the opposition would try to help them just because of personal ambitions.

Its the same situation with Bobi Wine. I like him but I don’t think there’s any need for him to flex his muscles to show that he’s edging Besigye out in any way. By doing that, he is exactly doing Museveni’s bidding,i.e. reducing Besigye’s popularity. In other words, Bobi Wine is like a gift to Museveni from God right now. We all know that even if he stands for presidency in 2021, he wont make it, but i’m sure the govt is dancing to his activities right now. All this just requires one to have common sense, it’s textbook stuff. KB is still the real deal, no question, I think all of that premieres,activities or whatever Bobi is doing right now, have been done in the past by the likes of AlHajji Nasser Ssebagala and others,there’s nothing new, but his story is fascinating.

There’s a lot of Judas- Isacriotism in Katuntu!

Hon. Abdu Katuntu

This was a purge not a reshuffle,” Hon.Katuntu

Being a lawyer, it always helps Katuntu to come up with the right words, or find fitting words to use, but I’m only surprised someone would say such a statement in apparent seriousness. Truthfully, I’ve rarely been his fan, and he comes across as someone who could betray anybody anytime. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a Museveni cabinet in future.

Let’s take the current parliamentary reshuffle, for instance, does it only become a ” purge” if he’s the one dropped? Why didn’t he use a similar word when Hon.Nandala Mafabi was removed as LOP, with all his experience as both an accountant and lawyer?

It’s obvious that every FDC President places increasing importance on loyalty than anything else, a reason why the reshuffle was necessary, since most of the people removed were loyal to the previous president, Mugisha Muntu. Mafabi himself was removed as LOP because of his undoubted loyalty to Kiiza Besigye.

In this country there are relatively few occasions now where people get away with the disloyal lady just taking centre stage and singing. Museveni tries it in NRM because he has different fat spots to offer even his “enemies” , and it’s his way of keeping them closer. An FDC president, on the otherhand, doesn’t have that luxury.

What’s so special about Winnie Kiiza? The only mistake FDC supposedly made was not to retain her in some capacity. For a party that is growing leaders, its better to help them develop in some other capacity if you think they aren’t doing well in their current positions. But if FDC offered another position to her and she declined, then she doesn’t deserve anybody’s sympathy. Good leaders come and go, but especially they come back!

Therefore, an analysis of Amuriat ‘s “sinfullness” based merely on the extent of this reshuffle, and the FDC loses in Bugiri,would, in that context, seem wildly inappropriate. People should give him a chance to set his own pace in an office environment he feels comfortable with. Byebyo ebyange!

THIS IS JUST IRRESISTIBLE!

Well, this is just irresistible; I’m almost apologetic for bringing this sort of thing up again, because it has already been shared else where, but you’ve got to admire Besigye’s humbleness. I’m not friends with Ms.Winnie Byanyima but I’m sure she was attracted to Besigye mainly because of his big heart. Just look at him, guys.

If we admire noble character and admire good governance, then the two belong together. Also, if music makes us feel good in a noncriminal way, then Bobi wine deserves a place in the revolutionary history of uganda. Besigye is admirable while Bobi Wine is a beautiful musician and MP. The impulse to join the admirable with the beautiful is nearly irresistible for most of us, and I think that’s why some writers refer to Besigye supporters and sympathisers as ” radicals “.

Besigye has been fighting for Uganda since he graduated as a medical doctor in his early 20s, when he joined the NRA in the bush . When his Bush war leader deviated, he started resisting again and he hasn’t relented. Martyrs are few now in Uganda. Self-preservation is strong. A lot of people are even afraid of just speaking up, not Besigye. Cowardice is a human concept. Animals run away without apology when they feel themselves threatened. This may make them smarter than a lot of us, but the son of Kifefe is still on course.However, his continued participation in the useless presidential elections is making some people lose faith in him.

Hon. Okupa is a rock!

Mr Elijah Okupa has been defeating NRM since 2001 with a large Margin in Kasilo County , Teso region. He is among the few Uganda politicians I long to take a photo with and keep it forever because he is principled,patrician and incorruptible. He was among the few MPs who refused to be bribed with shs. 5m to remove the presidential term limits. He was quoted as saying, “let’s face It, shs. 5m is an insult. How can I take it and remain with my conscience that I am representing my constituency? I did not come to parliament to be rich”.

In the present Uganda, it’s difficult to find a politician of that statue. Mr.Museveni knows that every politician in Uganda has got a price, but Hon. Okupa is among the few who have resisted the brown envelopes. People like him should be recognised evenif they miss out on medals given on heroes day.

I’m begging FDC to stick with Hon. Winnie Kiiza as the leader of opposition!

Having watched the parliamentary seating on Tuesday this week, thanks to the Nilepost, I’m begging FDC to stick with Hon. Winnie Kiiza as the leader of opposition. She’s still the real deal!

It was also emotionally moving to listen to what Hon.Zaake and Hon.Nambooze are going through. That attack by the army left a bad mark on our parliament. Hopefully, they get well soon!

Round 1 of age Limit removal had a heroe!

Forget Bobi Wine, and his excuses for being out of the country,

Forget Hon. Mp Bakireke Nambooze, and her nursery games with Abiriga’s hat,

The real heroe was this guy,Hon. Kabaziguluka…..What does his name mean? The Nakawa people got a real deal here. This was a class act. Get well soon,brother!

FDC members shouldn’t call Ssemujju a mole!

I consider myself to be a super tolerant person. I’m not being an angel. It’s simply my nature … It’s “me”. And I am ASTONISHED as to how easily some FDC members have become trapped and goaded into disliking Hon. Ibrahim Nganda Ssemujju, simply because he is campaigning for Mugisha Muntu.

OK, granted, attacking Besigye as a campaign strategy was, in my opinion, unnecessary. Yeah, i was rolling on the floor laughing my Arse off literally as I read Ssemujju ‘s attack on Besigye, but, God damit, it doesn’t necessarily make him a mole in FDC. He just chose a wrong campaign strategy.

Campaigns seems to make some people ‘forget themselves’. This observation is often made and repeated. In Uganda, for some silly reason, even your own brother is capable of shooting you during campaigns, just to appease someone.

Hey, maybe it’s a bit like driving a car. It is said that when certain people get behind the wheel they consistently turn into a different type of person. Road rage is both dangerous and a big problem. Interestingly, some people miraculously look handsome or beautiful when behind the wheels.

Looking at the people standing against Muntu, I will actually be surprised if he doesn’t win. And if he doesn’t, it will summarise everything I have thought of him: an overrated leader who probably shouldn’t have risen without Museveni handpicking him to lead the army.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

“In tribute to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Uganda, two bastions of strength in a world filled with strife, discrimination and terrorism.”

STOP COMPARING BOBI WINE TO BESIGYE

Bobi wine sung for kizza besigye while at Besigye’s home in Kasangati

I have too much respect for Hon.Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, but, please, for the last time, people should stop equating him or comparing him with Dr.Kiiza Besigye. The reason I respect Bobi is because he has been using his music to speak for the poor, the ghetto, for us.An artist that uses a big soapbox and loudspeaker to push their views, a power the rest of us do not have, deserves respect.When an artist makes a statement that is pro-people,he is sticking his neck out on the line.If a self employed business person makes prominent political statements that upset people, it may hurt his/her business, whether it is organized or not.

By the way, we should also stop ‘punishing’ those artists that ‘offended’ us during the 2016 elections by supporting Mr.Museveni. Let’s just find another way of convicing them to join our line of thinking.Telling you their opinion was actually exercising free speech, telling people not to attend their shows was attempted censorship,boycotting the show’s sponsors is punitive (and an attempt to stifle an opinion you disagree with!).So, my anger with Iryn Namubiru, Kanyomozi, and others is done, apart from Bebe Cool. The later continues to rub it in!

Bobi Wine reminds me of Cardew!

Bobi Wine

36 years ago , on 13 Dec 1981, the music industry suffered a terrible loss, when Cornelius Cardew was killed in a mysterious hit-and-run accident in London. The following year, Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine was born in Uganda. The first time I watched a video music of Bobi Wine, I told my wife, and my friend Johnson, that the guy was destined for politics at some point in his life, because he had a good mouth on him. So, when he joined the race to stand for MP in Kyadondo East, I wasn’t surprised at all. What surprised me was actually FDC fielding a candidate against him.

Truth be told, Bobi Wine(whatever that means) is more popular than any of his opponents in the Kyadondo East race. A lot of people in Uganda seem to translate their love of music (and the arts more broadly) into “support for anything”, which I would characterize as a liberal instinct.I’m rather moderate on this issue because I don’t listen to music that much, but I like Bobi Wine’s songs in particular. He reminds me of Cardew.

Cornelius Cardew

Cardew is perhaps more interesting for his politics than his compositions. He was the leading composer of the English experimental school in the sixties, and pupil of Stockhausen. His most famous composition is the Great Learning, a setting of Confucius written for the Scratch Orchestra. Many of his works of that period have more in common with “happenings” than traditional composition.

But the really interesting thing about Cardew is that sometime in the seventies, he either was told or realised himself that modern music did not appeal to working class audiences and gave it all up to write revolutionary songs. Cardew was active in various causes in British politics

Finally, in 1981 he was killed by a hit-and-run driver in east London whilst returning from a political meeting.The driver was never found.There are all sorts of rumours that this was a political assassination, possibly by one of the British Fascist parties.

But what’s relevant is to investigate how and if a particular political view of a composer is reflected in his or her music.The fact ‘composer X supports candidate B’ taken on its own doesn’t mean shit.

But if composer X starts composing agitprop-type of music, regardless of whether it is a nazi or commi staff – well, it’s a sell-out.

And then there are those who prostitute themselves like Bidandi Ssali’s son, Bebe Cool. Nobody could ever convince me that Bebe Cool composes songs to praise Museveni because he thinks he is the best leader for Uganda, and that’s because I don’t think he is a dummy. I strongly believe he only does it for money and other privileges that comes with it.

The bottom line is that what someone composes ultimately determines how he or she would be remembered, and not the particular political believe. Interestingly enough, I still log on youtube to watch Iryn Namubiru yet she sold us out too in the last elections, and I could probably be in a sombre mood for days if she dies before me. Good luck to Bobi Wine and other candidates in the race!

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
UK

MUSEVENI’S LONG STAY IN POWER HAS KILLED AMBITIONS!

Friends,

According to Hon.Mp Bakireke Nambooze’s online paper, the Spear, FDC’s Dr. Frank Nabwiso will rejoin NRM soon. I dont know how old this gentleman is but I think there is some kind of a ‘death’ of political activism and opposition in the country at the moment, that is causing people to review their political careers.Ten years ago, many young people were idealistic fire brands who wanted to change the country – through revolution and very likely bloodshed. Then those people either lost their enthusiasm, or simply “joined the system”. In the meantime they brought much grief to those who copped their belligerence – people who simply wanted to live in peace.

Frank Nabwiso

Basically, because an old Museveni is showing no signs of giving up on power, or giving anybody a chance to lead, there’s that feeling of ‘what can i do now’ among a lot of people who harboured presidential ambitions, or careers in a new govt. With Besigye now rocking 60 years old and getting tired himself, there’s no visible opposition anymore. So, i’m not surprised when I see especially a 50 year old plus joining the govt.

A lot of young people that had presidential ambitions have also kind of given up. They watch with grief and pain as young leaders, such as Emanuel Macron, take over in France, and yet it looks almost like a dream in Uganda. Now, with the talk of removing age limits, everyone is scracthing their heads for a quick alternative.The opposition has to wake up and go back on the drawing board. A leader who stays long in power kills ambitions and quality for everyone and inhibit progress.

Politicians too often go into Politics with the noblest of ideals. Then they too get corrupted by the wealth to be had – the kickbacks, bribes, etc. and become yet just another politician.

Abbey

FDC is the best political party in Uganda but it needs prayers!

Anybody heading a political party, or even an online forum, under the current political environment in Uganda is a ‘spy’. That’s why FDC needs a lot of prayers.Bali mukiisela kizibu nyo!….. Lots of accusations being thrown around, and to almost everybody.We can never full understand something or access all the information about the ‘moles’ in political parties. Everything we say or do is already based on unintentional bias.We have to go on information we have, while the information we don’t have is a lot more.

FDC actually is an independent beautiful political party, but I suspect some people within kind of look at it as their personal property, and that is a big challenge!

Everybody is a spy, and somebody has intentionally created this bad environment for us.I remember when I had just started UAH, there was this website called Radio Katwe that branded me a Musevenist(museveni’s spy)living in London and working to fight them. But now i’m a Tom Voltaire Okwalinga according to my mate, Andrew M. Mwenda…Yes, he is kind of my mate because we used to get along before he abandoned the Batooro principles of honesty!

Abbey Semuwemba
UK
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The world of politics is always intrigue filled. The truth in politics is subjective and it’s only players active and exposed to the dynamics within political parties that know the truth. But as in all things, the truth is subjective too!

All I can state is that in politics there are no absolute angels and neither are there absolute demons. All politicians are human beings. They are not perfect!

The problem that we have been grappling with for the longest time is that some opposition politicians claim “sainthood” and gullible people believe them. This is the Genesis of altars that name people or brand people moles or saints!

This brand of politics is only in Uganda and no wonder change is happening everywhere in the world with Gambia being the latest! As we watch and participate in the game of “saints” and “demons”!

Until we learn that political ideology/theory vs practice is global and lessons in other countries need to be applied if we are to leave this vicious cycle of the no-change political gimmicks!

Even the Almighty in heaven cautioned us that those that claim uprightness will most likely be the biggest sinners! The list to hell and to Janna or heaven is only privy to God Himself!

But I see some people playing to be “all-knowing” yet all that glitters is not Gold! Many Ugandans had painted “Museveni” in angelic wear! Yet they are now the same people regretting as to why they were taken for a ride!

Let’s learn from our political history and avoid the same pitfalls!

By Hon.Nabilah Naggayi Ssempala

What Next for Ingrid Turinawe??

” Hey Abbey, I know a number of EALA MPs who were rejected at country level but are now serving in Arusha from different countries. Mukasa Mbide was one of them in Uganda. But I think the Iron lady, Ingrid Turinawe, will need to reposition her approach to opposition politics that is awash with intrigue . Aligning with KB alone is not going to be helpful. Muhammad Nsereko is no longer the same man I used to admire when he was still in the group of four.The group of comprised four comprised Theodore Ssekikuubo (Lwemiyaga), Barnabus Tinkasiimire (Buyaga), Mohammed Nsereko (Kampala Central) and Winfred Niwagaba (Ndorwa East)…….. I used to be an FDC diehard, but I got demoralised by the behaviour of some of those people. Some of those people are wicked I’m telling you, but such is politics. As for Ingrid again, this business of dropping piglets at Parliament cost her. I think it was a little far stretched considering the people such a practice would offend. My suggestion is that a rediscovery process for FDC is needed.”

Besigye’s shoes are too big for anybody in opposition to fill them at the moment!

Besigye’s shoes are too big for anybody in opposition to fill them. And I think people should just work with him instead of attacking him out of frustration! The argument that Besigye is more of a weakness for the opposition than a strength is so lame!

Andrew Mwenda is the master of misdirection!

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba, United Kingdom.

Andrew Mwenda is the master of misdirection. Get the focus on himself, “gay” activities, Besigye and FDC , to stop people from talking about: Kasese massacres, Kanyamunyu, crane bank, increasing sugar prices, Muslim murders, Raid on mosques, the other guy who almost lost his balls to UPDF, e.t.c,and he’s by all means succeeding on all fronts. It’s like he has made a promise to somebody that he could make all this disappear from the front pages.Ugandans have even stopped talking about the rigging that took place in this year’s presidential elections despite Besigye’s pleas that “the election isn’t over”.

I hate band-wagaon politics. All of a sudden some people are calling for the opposition to strategise again after reading Andrew Mwenda’s latest ‘attack’ on Besigye. Come on people, Besigye is OK as he is. He doesnt need to change into anything else other than becoming the next president of Uganda. I don’t wish him to change into a Mao(likeable but not for muddy politics), a Mbabazi(strategist but not really a politician), an Olara Otunu( diplomat and that’s all he is), Mugisha Muntu( i dont really know that one), and certainly not an Andrew Mwenda( hypocrite).So I think as long as Besigye’s shoes fit and his feet are well covered, that should suffice. At this point I would be far less concerned about color or or style of the shoes, as long he gets the job done.

Mwenda also has the annoying habit of confusing his opinion with objective fact. In fact, there appears to be a measure of arrogance in some intelligent and highly educated people in Uganda. I don’t mean to generalize this to all, but to some. It is probably easy to feel arrogant when you have such an advantage in education, power connections and high IQ. Some of these arrogant people think they are above the rules of civilized society. I think the Nazi hierarchy is a perfect example. I do remember seeing a documentary on the Nazi hierarchy. In particular the ones being tried at Nuremberg. The majority of these individuals had high IQs. Some like Albert Speer were in the genius category. These so called geniuses helped Hitler make mistakes, just like some of our elites are helping both Museveni and the opposition to make mistakes.

I’m not a connoisseur of journalism but I could point out that there’s a fundamental constraint on its ability to illuminate issues.Election rigging, for instance, can’t be “investigated” in the same sense that corruption and crime can because most journalists tend to have a side they support during elections. Journalists can let the parties speak for themselves, but that’s about all. When journalists do try to go beyond this, they end up investigating things that make their opponents look bad in the eyes of the public. In this case, Mwenda seems to be portraying Besigye as a bad loser, and this all sounds like music to all those in NRM, a reason one ‘NRM-Hajjati-friend’ has excitedly been sending me all Mwenda’s postings on whatsapp. Similarly,a reporter can investigate the background to the election and help his readers or listeners understand what is really going on.Saying that Besigye accuses Museveni of rigging the 2016 elections while Museveni denies doing so is meaningless to anyone who doesn’t know anything about the rigging culture in Uganda elections since 1980, when Obote rigged DP out, and why it has been generally been the case since 1996 when Ssemogere stood again against Museveni.

Well, in a better world the audience would realize that Mwenda is ‘feeding’ them ‘poison'(katwa)(as we used it call it in Kibuli S.S), but Uganda isnt a normal country. Even those who witnessed the mess in our elections, and know our history, are now cheering with Mwenda’s funny ‘evidence’ in his articles.Makes one despair for our country, doesn’t it? But what can one expect, when those who are educated are behaving like headless chicken. Mwenda is certainly polemic and one-sided, but that’s his prerogative; but its upsetting when he does claim to be the keeper of the objective truth. I fail to see how hearing lies,distortions, and propaganda (from him) enable me to home in on the truth about Besigye and the 2016 elections. “Spin” seems to be more important for him than reality,and that’s our most influential journalist in Uganda.Makes one wonder how much more of the news that gets filmed never gets beyond the studio’s vaults, doesn’t it? He’s so egoistic, isnt he? I have a hard enough time not allowing my own ego to control the show. I can’t afford to deal with anyone else’s.

Lastly,successful leaders have supporters willing to call them out,and, unlike Museveni,I believe Besigye would be more than willing to put Mwenda’s input into consideration if he thought he had his interests at heart, but we all know he(Mwenda) doesnt. With Museveni- no matter what he says or does, his surrogates defend him to the max and his base makes excuses for everything. I feel that we as a society are willing to let a lot of serious issues be brushed under the carpet rather than confronting them upfront. This sets us back in our fight for social justice.’