By Arthur M. M. Katabalwa.
A lot is being said
about the just concluded FDC party leadership debate and the coming delegates
conference. I never the watched the
debate live. And that was a decision that I took trying to see how the messages
that came from it would be received. As a consummate journalist, I spend an
inordinate amount of time online and on social media. This time around, I
decided to gauge how Joe Blogs, down in the not so fashionable suburbs and the
villages of Uganda would get what transpired. How they felt about it.
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| Mugisha Muntu arriving at the delegates conference this morning. |
You see, many people
are blaming those of us who have access to such technologies of being out of
touch with what is happening on the ground. For example, there is a belief
among some quarters in Uganda that the Mbabazi campaign is being run on social
media. I can say that that is not entirely true but I can see where they are
coming from. Certainly the people in Mabanda are not bothered about what is
trending on twitter. And neither do many of them read that many papers. A lot
of what is heard is sometimes pure gossip or what is being said on radio.
The debate, I am sorry
to say, went down like a lead balloon. Not that many people have been enameled
by it. First of all holding it on a Sunday evening on TV was not a brilliant
idea. There is a problem which even Kiza
Besigye acknowledged he found as he traveled in the country. Digital migration!!The debate was on TV and there are a lot of people who have
"migrated" from TV because they have to pay for it. And 2200 hours on
a Sunday is hardly prime time.
Then there was the
setting; Sheraton hotel Kampala. Well, other than Serena Hotel one could not
have had a more exclusive venue than that. That then excluded a huge chunk of
the public. I would struggle to find that many people who would want to attend
such a function, where the two protagonists were actually from the same
political fold (we only saw fireworks maybe once or twice?).
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| Kiza Besigye and his wife Winnie Byanyima. |
But that aside, the
debate was a good thing for Ugandan democracy. Certainly the ruling NRM party
pales in the distance with this debate. They are not coming out smelling like
roses as dissenting views seem to be stifled. Maybe we could organize for a
debate between Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo and Mr. Matayo Kyaligonza? The two are vying
for the NRM chair in the west which has rubbed the nose of the war veteran
Kyaligonza. But Odrek is one of the Presidents sons in law. Which really
becomes difficult for The President. Hajji Nadduli from Luwero the other day
laid in on the issue basically saying that Kyaligonza as a veteran should be
left the seat. He agitated against Rwabwogo especially because of his
connections. But then Nadduli himself is shamelessly positioning his son to take
over his seat in Luwero.......Confusing? Last night Rwabwogo shot back on TV
saying that millions of kids have been born in Uganda since 1986 and they need
fresh ideas. Mr. Rwabwogo,........ have you got that comment cleared by your
father in law?
Ronnie Mayanja, Editor
of The Uganda Diaspora news writes today in his editorial piece of the FDC
debate: "For a first both candidates showed political maturity by
subjecting themselves to such scrutiny." That maturity was commendable. It
has been nothing like we have seen before as they have traversed the country.
The winner will be the FDC not an individual. And whether the country as a
general goes on to win in the short term remains to be seen.
Mayanja continues to
highlight a further spat between retired FDC (and NRM) stalwart Amanya Mushega;
"Mushega's opinion piece/open letter in one of the dailies exposed Besigye
especially his back-tracking and failure to support Muntu after stepping down
from the FDC party leadership." This is the last thing that the FDC wants
at this time. Maybe even to them democracy is young. They have the delegates
conference coming up soon and Uganda demands that what was started with that
debate, however faltering, that "maturity" is built upon also as an
example to the rest of the political elite.
mwenky99@gmail.com
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