On Monday, exactly five days from the day I wrote that Owiny-Dollo and his bench need a streetwise political strategist in order to navigate the election petition before them, Bobi Wine made good on his threat and indeed instructed his lawyers in the exact manner I hinted on.
In the wake of this latest development, the media has sought the views of Tibuhaburwa’s lawyers and they seem to only focus on the money and the vain hope that they could tie Bobi Wine in court which failed the test of basic decency using the threat of exorbitant costs in the case of withdrawal.
This talk of money by Museveni & EC lawyers serves to expose the shallowness of their appreciation of the political developments in the country. Most lawyers falsely believe that nobody is above the law. The reality is that politics is ALWAYS above the law. The false belief in the supremacy of the law has more often than not turned very brilliant lawyers into poor political strategists and schemers.
As the lawyers salivate at the costs, they do not see how tricky the situation has become for their benefactor Tibuhaburwa. Let us look at a hypothetical situation to better understand the coming days. Suppose that the Museveni and EC Lawyers ask court to slap a huge bill of costs on Bobi Wine, but he opts to call the public to his rescue by starting a nationwide fundraising drive — some sort of ettoffali incarnate. Does this benefit the lawyers’ benefactor?
The second alternative is for him to claim that he cannot pay and leave court with no option, but to jail him. Can peace and tranquility prevail in this land with him heading to jail because of some money owed to the vampire machinery of the NRM which rigged his electoral victory?
Having failed to shine when he ought to have, Owiny-Dollo can salvage the situation by avoiding to dance to the folly of the Museveni & EC hungry lawyers. He can convince his bench to accept the withdrawal and direct each party to bear its own costs. In any case, neither Besigye nor Amama Mbabazi has ever paid Museveni costs to the petition. Of course Owiny-Dollo may remain true to self and want to get even with Kyagulanyi, but he will be left with a bloody nose. And not only him, but his benefactor too!
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