Amama Mbabazi Arrest: Who Was In Charge?

By Arthur M. M. Katabalwa.

Amama Mbabazi being arrested. (Photo source unknown)

I was lying in bed last night thinking about the whole political landscape in Uganda today and my thoughts went back to my writings last year. On July 15, 2014 under the heading: Museveni, Opposition; The Message needs To Change (http://mwenky.blogspot.com/2014/07/museveni-opposition-message-needs-to.html) I noted with concern that HE had called former President Idi Amin an "idiot".  I contended that; " Now, whereas I may probably agree with Mr. Museveni the private citizen I find it difficult that President Yoweri Museveni has called President Idi Amin Dada an idiot. My main argument was that there was some kind of talk that was allowed of a private citizen that Mr. Museveni is, but not as "The Fountain Of Honor" as the constitution describes the holder of the office of the President Of Uganda.

At the time, I was belittled for my views but I stood by them. And my ire was not merely leveled at the government as a whole. It was leveled at the opposition. In further articles, (http://mwenky.blogspot.com/2015/02/ugandan-opposition-not-fit-for-purpose.html)I also laid into the opposition saying that their message was also laughable because they did not provide us Ugandans with a justifiable cause to think of them as a Government in waiting. They were preoccupying themselves with the removal of Museveni. That message was counterproductive because much as the public thinks of opposition leader, Kiza Besigye as a peoples' politician, we are not satisfied with his message and style. He is yet to look statesman like. He is too ANGRY!

The others like The Democratic Party and The Uganda Peoples' congress are fighting within themselves. We cannot forget the unedifying images of Olara Otunnu, whom I have met on several occasions, being chased through the toilets of Uganda house. Even to this day we are not sure who is at the helm of the party. Hon Akena is supposedly the new leader of the party. But many people will not forget his father, former President Apollo Milton Obote. Is Akenas' pedigree a seller outside Uganda house especially in Buganda? Would he win an election? Maybe within the UPC but elsewhere I will let the others be the judge at that.

First forward to the events of yesterday when we saw Amama Mbabazi arrested allegedly for defying police orders. One may ask: Is it really the police orders that Mbabazi defied? Read between the lines but personally I doubt that he actually "defied police orders".......if you get my drift. The questions will forever be asked of the police: So you deploy in Eastern Uganda like we are about to be invaded by a foreign army only to arrest the principle and charge him of "defying police orders"? Come on guys!!!

Political strategists within the NRM must go back to the drawing board and, to use a well used cliché, "think outside the box". They need some proper "blue sky thinking" on how to handle the problem that is Mbabazi. If they are aware of what is happening on the ground, they should be listening to the chatter among the public. I know they will not believe what I am saying, just like they are blithely dismissing just about any opinion makers, the public are seeing a government public relations machine in complete disarray.

I never watched the program on TV last night but I am told that my good friend, the indefatigable journalist Andrew Mwenda advised government that if they left Mbabazi to his own devices, he would become irrelevant like Tinyefunza. But will they? I am want to doubt that they will which in its own makes the public think that Mbabazi is stronger than we even think.

Mbabazi has dominated the headlines for months on end. The government is constantly reacting to what he actually doesn't say! The man hardly says much. Yet we have government lawyers and the people from the Uganda Media Center constantly trying to belittle him. Isn't it the case that the may have a point when it gets to his record in the government, his much publicized closeness to the President over the past 40 years and of course his involvement with the much derided Public Order management laws? But is any one listening? No. The message is being all lost in translation. His involvement in all this is looked at by the population as an aside.

But why is Mbabazi occupying the political ground now? It is because he has crafted his message in a very clever, concise way. It is different. It looks at the future but most cleverly, he has tried to identify it within a selling brand, The NRM. One would think they would jump to embrace such progressive ideas. But have they? Nope.. And that has put the government on the wrong foot. The reaction has been very much anticipated: Pull the police out and get all kinds of rowdy youths across the country to "protest" against Mbabazi. We have seen this tried and tested method. And this time it is counterproductive. It  doesn't work at all. Uganda is no longer at war! The NRM has been given a chance to project itself as a peace time party by him and also to show that it is an institution not just about one personality. And yet on this measure the NRM has failed abysmally. If only they could look at the Communist Party in China. Anyone remembers the Chinese President before the last one? I can't without Google.

In my travels around the country, the mood that I sense around the people is that they are predominantly still pro movement. But they want a different message. Mbabazi, trying to move things on from the "we fought and brought peace in 1986" was a master stroke. It resonated with the people a lot. A huge percentage of the population doesn't identify with 1986. They were born after 1986. So that argument is now a dud. The public out there are still not convinced about the other players in the political field as they are with the NRM. But they need a different message fit for the 21st Century. They want jobs. They want Mulago Hospital to work. They want a comprehensive plan for public transport. Investment in Education, serious tangible work being done to eradicate poverty, corruption, rural electrification, protection of our markets, traceable trade with other countries, a shilling which is worth its worth in paper. Bread and butter politics!!

We are struggling with several issues here in Uganda. We are surrounded by unstable regimes to the north in South Sudan. Who is in charge of Eastern Congo by the way? Somalia is hemorrhaging terrorists and they are causing havoc in Kenya. That doesn't make us safe. We are safe with benign Tanzania and Rwanda is surprising and completely out performing on all fronts. But therein also lies a problem for Uganda. The Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is very media savvy. Kikwete in Tanzania....? I don't know much about the man. Kagame is like a rock star. These are the people we are also looking at.

Government Spokeperson, Ofwono Opondo.

We need, and I will say this until my voice goes, a renewal in the system. Some changes at the top because we have people like Frank Tumwebaze who frankly is comical as a politician. Does he actually believe in himself? Then we have Don Wanyama who is a also a government spokesman of some sort. His comments yesterday online made me wonder if there is anything between his ears. As for Ofwono Opondo? One word: laughable! Absolutely laughable!

So who is in charge at government headquarters? Please look at your political strategies and whoever is in charge should have the testicular fortitude to get the house in order. Is there anyone who on occasion tells "The Emperor", (even under the threat of being beheaded), that beneath all those clothes he is naked? After 30 years in power, my fear is that we have some kind of political inertia on many fronts. There is one man who everyone is looking at to sort things out; The President. And yesterday while he was on the international stage in South Sudan, no one noticed. We were all standing in the heat outside Kira road station.