The spectacle of Moses Nsereko, one of the contenders for the NUP party ticket for Kawempe North constituency bi-elections, collapsing and shedding tears after the ticket was handed to Nalukoola Luyimbazi shouldn’t be taken for the drama it set off. It was a culmination of an exercise symptomatic of the internal contradictions in some of these parties and why conscientious Ugandans should observe matters carefully before getting carried away.
For some time, and starting in the 2021 elections, questions have come up about the internal mechanisms in the new party which started as “people power.” For its claim to a presence and contribution to Uganda’s politics so far, people power/NUP hypes a call to restore democracy, fairness, transparency, competitiveness and other tenets of good governance which they claim have been swept under the carpet by the National Resistance Movement (NRM).
Forget that in 2020, NUP had no primaries and the party’s candidates were handpicked, anointed by the party bosses. NRM, on the other hand, and some other parties, held party primaries. Primaries guarantee participation of ordinary party members in choosing the best candidate to carry the party’s flag. When candidates are handpicked, this locks out the true owners of the party, and this could cede ground to internal dissent and disintegration.
We are already witnessing fallouts in NUP with some MPs at a point of no return after sensing authoritarian tendencies within, marked by foul language and intolerance to divergent views and ideas. For the very MPs selected in 2020, for some the ground is getting prickly, with the voters demanding instant answers of them in regard to their term in office. This was to be expected since these leaders were never chosen by the members initially who only acted under command to vote “the umbrella”.
Kawempe North should have been a crucible to create a new formula that complies with best popular practices in preparation for 2026. The debate between contenders at the party headquarters was a good idea, but should it substitute primaries in the constituency where the party’s faithful would determine who takes what? The debate would have been one of the ingredients in the soup, and should have been held on the ground.
Therefore, Nsereko’s heartbreak and tears shouldn’t be taken lightly. They represent the neglected, the voiceless.
We are assembling our skills and lessons from past experiences to construct practical democracy and everyone can be asked questions without those asking facing reprisal from the power bench. Everyone should account, not just NRM which is in power but even those vying for it. If the dissenters accuse NRM of lacking democratic principles despite sustained evidence of upholding and mainstreaming the same, how better placed are they to provide a more “reliable” variety?
The deceased former area MP Ssegirinya’s aide, Luwemba, was also in contention for the ticket but, like the other eight, missed out. Apparently, he has elected to go into the race as an independent, indicating another departure from the outcome of the process. Nobody knows what the other seven are thinking but even if they were agreeable to the process, was it exhaustive and fair?
The most dangerous part has to do with claims of influence-peddling and bribery, alleging that aspirants have to part with large sums of money to be considered. Obviously, if this is true then the party is on shaky ground. A foundation based on vices that they say they set out to oppose can’t hold.
Someone may ask, “But NRM also hasn’t held primaries?” There is a difference between consensus and sidestepping primaries. Aspirants from the NRM side agreed to front one person, Hajjati Faridah Nambi, to prevent fallouts from adversarial campaigns and infiltration by opponents. By the time of writing, I hadn’t heard of a “Nsereko” kind of outcome from the NRM camp.
Be mindful that not all the time that internal elections must be held. In consideration of time, resources and party cohesion, they can be left out, but when voices of discontentment emerge, the process can be discredited. It could be Nsereko or Luwemba overreacting but for a young party, so much is at stake. Every voice matters! Charity begins at home!
If the late Ssegirinya had been ignored despite his energy and talent in attracting attention, and the fact that he sanctified his political journey by seeking direct mandate from the people (as councillor) before vying for a Parliamentary seat, his fortunes may have been different. He could have left the world without giving top leadership a shot.
Nsereko must have seen himself as a befitting replacement but because he was “unknown” and without an electoral base, he lost out to the more exposed and connected Nalukoola. This doesn’t mean that Nsereko can’t lead or represent the people. He can, but without transparent, all-inclusive internal play, such underdogs will always suffer discrimination and the party will be one of the “knowns and haves”.
When incidents like Nsereko’s happen in full view of the world, it’s a serious warning to Ugandans not to accept to be misled. The best that the responsible party functionaries should do is to come out and apologise for the mess. Keeping mum means that it is business- as-usual and that there is no room for making amends; that they cannot practice the democracy they preach and that Ugandans expecting change from them are in for a fundamental disappointment. God help us!
The author is the Special Presidential Assistant-Press & Mobilisation/Deputy Spokesperson
Email: faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug
0776980486/0783990861
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