OWEYEGHA AFUNADUULA: NUP should not antagonise the strong political bases of fellow opposition parties

If I were in NUP and the Chief Advisor to Hon. Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, the NUP Supremo, I would tell him to work closely with the Opposition -DP, UPC, FDC -to recapture Kampala City. That, therefore, implies supporting FDC’s Erias Lukwago rather than fielding an alternative NUP candidate.

By extension, NUP, while trying to build its own political base, should not antagonise the strong political bases of the Opposition parties but should concentrate on antagonising the strong political bases of the NRMO. It should be political cooperation, not political coercion, between NUP and the other known opposition political parties.

It is extremely rare for a new political Party to dislodge older parties from their strong political bases. You ask former Uganda Patriotic Movement people who joined Professor Yusuf Lule’s National Resistance Movement en masse. They performed extremely poorly in the 1980.elections. However, when they joined the National Resistance Movement, they grew in stature and even took over the leadership of the Movement. The Movement became effective politically and militarily and has been the dominant politico-military group for 34 years. It has created numerous paramilitary groups over time to protect its power.

To dislodge the Movement politically requires cooperation, not coercion, between the opposition groups. All the Opposition parties have been working to restore the effectiveness of the Constitutional phrase “All Power Belongs to the People”. Therefore, the clarion call “People Power” or “Power to the People” appeals to all opposition political parties. It should be a uniting factor for opposition parties. Trying to use it to show that you are politically stronger could prove counterproductive with passage of time.