WITH OBAMA RE-ELECTION CHANCES AT 53.9%, US GOVERNMENT SHOULD ADDRESS MUSEVENI SUCCESSION

President Obama has the challenge to see that he is re-elected in the forthcoming elections in November this year. However, when re-elected, it is my prayer that the issue of succession in Uganda is put as a worthy agent for his Government, given that when helped, Uganda has the potential of getting to a Somalia. It is not disputed, Museveni has played what is seen by many as a positive role in international politics including the current roles in Somalia in restoration of order in governance. If the succession issue is not solved to see Museveni relinquish power in 2016, Uganda is on a time bomb, whose explosion may be so disastrous. Signs of this development are so clear within the ruling NRM where a good number see that Museveni has played his role, and the challenges the country faces in the near future are above him given what he has the taken the country through. It is therefore appropriate for the post re-elected Government of Obama to give the Uganda picture good attention to see succession well managed. William Kituuka Kiwanuka ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MUSEVENI'S ATTACK ON MBABAZI ROCKS NRM By Isaac Imaka & SHEILA NATURINDA Posted Thursday, June 21 2012 at 00:00 In Summary MPs warn of split in ruling party as President comes under fire for criticism of the Prime Minister and Speaker Rebecca Kadaga. MPs and other politicians yesterday hinted that the NRM is close to its second major split after the President’s outburst against Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and Speaker Rebecca Kadaga on Monday night. Several MPs who spoke to Daily Monitor said the National Resistance Movement is experiencing its second birth pangs nearly 10 years after the delivery of internal opposition when Dr Kizza Besigye issued an indicting critique on the lack of democracy. The MP for Ajuri County, Hamson Obua, said a further breakaway resulting from the current stand-off could confirm that there is more than meets the eye. “The best thing will be for the NRM leadership to harmonise what is lying ahead of it. Break away of a section of members will lead to the collapse of the party,” he said. On Monday night, President Museveni lashed out, telling the ruling party’s parliamentary caucus that Ms Kadaga and Mr Mbabazi were responsible for the ongoing NRM troubles. He is quoted as having accused the two of nursing personal leadership ambitions and carrying on without consulting him yet he is the commander-in-chief. His verbal charge on Ms Kadaga has since attracted criticism as undermining the constitutional principle of separation of powers which insulates the Speaker from undue pressure and interference from other arms of government. President threatened? At Parliament, former Ethics and Integrity minister, Miria Matembe said the President is threatened by the growing popularity of the Speaker. Ms Matembe was part of the first break-away which followed sharp disagreements over the controversial lifting of term limits in 2005 which paved the way for Mr Museveni to run for office in perpetuity. Other MPs said the President was really reacting to the emergence of a parallel power base within the party which some say could rally around either Ms Kadaga or Mr Mbabazi and wrest power from him in 2016. Share This Story 161Share “The continuous abusing, quarrelling and telling members that he fought the bush war; how he is the commander in chief and the chairman of the party, as if we do not know that already, confirms the long held fear that he takes himself as the alpha and omega of the party and, like a dictator, his word is final,” one young MP said. Asking not to be quoted, the MP said: “It shows that there is something fundamentally wrong within our party and if not addressed the party is going to fall apart. The President should know that the bushes have been cleared and the country is ready for take-off. We are no longer in the military mentality where the President can just scare everyone into submission.” In 2005, a faction of the NRM broke away to form the Parliamentary Advocacy Forum which evolved into the Reform Agenda (RA)under which Dr Besigye contested for the Presidency in 2006. RA has since expanded into the Forum for Democratic Change. Ndorwa East MP Wilfred Niwagaba has emerged as a leading voice in the want-away faction, and said yesterday that the final breakaway will depend on how the party handles the internal primary elections mid-way 2015. “We have our government of the NRM backbenchers and it has been there since the Eighth Parliament where Hon Banyenzaki chaired it and now it’s Theodore Ssekikubo chairing it. “We recruited new members from the Ninth Parliament and it’s like a shadow government within the ruling government to check on the front bench excesses and offer alternative policies. We need to be robust and continue showing positive performance,” he said. Mr Medard Lubega Sseggona, a DP member representing Busiro East constituency, believes the faction fighting in the NRM is good for the country’s politics. “We shall have a dictatorship in perpetuity if the NRM remains intact so the break off faction is well intentioned. What I see is that whoever breaks off should join us in the Opposition to uproot the dictatorship,” he said. Former Gulu MP and Democratic Party leader, Norbert Mao, agreed that only a revolt within NRM can deliver democracy to Uganda. “It goes without saying and the signs of a split are more than evident now. Am sure before 2016, we shall have a breakaway faction from the NRM because we can’t afford to have a post 2016 Museveni rule. “There is a jittery younger generation in the NRM which sees Museveni now as the mathematical pi (leave pi as pi) because no one in his generation has ever taken him on at the ballot,” he said. Pi is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Mr Mao said institutional weaknesses and succession gridlock in NRM is frustrating young ambitions, which could result in the bubble of cohesion bursting soon. NRM Spokesperson Mary Karooro Okurut could not be readily got for a comment as her phone was off by press time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESPECT KADAGA, PARLIAMENT COMMISSION TELLS PRESIDENT By Isaac Imaka & Sheila Naturinda Posted Saturday, June 23 2012 at 01:00 As the NRM party schemes to limit the damage the President’s attack on Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and Premier Amama Mbabazi brought to the party’s unity, NRM members of the Parliamentary Commission have asked the President to desist from any further ridicule and attacks aimed at the Speaker. The commissioners said an attack on the Speaker is equally an attack on the institution. Addressing the press in the Speakers boardroom, the three commissioners said the President’s attack was an unfortunate attack on the institution and the office of the Speaker which should not be repeated. Commissioner Emmanuel Dombi said the decision to respond and caution the President was reached in a joint meeting between the three members of NRM on the House Commission who attended the Entebbe meeting and witnessed the President’s outbursts. “Although the law is silent on the nature of respect the President should accord to the Speaker and other leaders, it is naturally inferred that the President should reciprocate in propositional measures the respect that he is accorded,” Mr Dombo read from the statement. “We therefore do not expect the President to refer to the Speaker and other leaders with whom he has been mandated to manage the affairs of this country in a derogatory manner,” The commission, which is chaired by the Parliament Speaker, is the highest decision making body of Parliament and comprises four back bench MPs; three from the ruling NRM and one from the opposition who serve on a two-and-a-half year basis. Other members of the commission are: Minister of Finance, Prime Minister, and Leader of Opposition. The statement presented was by Commissioners Emmanuel Dombo (Bunyole East) and Dr Chris Baryomunsi (Kinkiizi East) and also signed by another NRM commissioner Jalia Bintu (Masindi) who was not present while they presented the statement. In response to the President’s rhetoric question of ‘who is Kadaga’ during the Entebbe meeting, the commissioners reminded the President that she is the number three in the country and so deserves the respect accordingly. “In case he doesn’t know who Kadaga is, she is the second national vice chairperson of NRM and a member of the Central Executive Committee, the apex organ of the NRM, and she is number three in the order of precedence,” the statement reads in part. Going forward, the commissioners said referring to Mr Eriya Kategaya as being more senior to Speaker Kadaga was an affront to the office of the Speaker and a contravention of the Constitution which stipulates that she is number three in the country. “According to the order of succession, the Speaker is number three in that if the President isn’t around his functions are for the Vice President and in the absence of the VP, those functions are performed by the Speaker and if she is publically ridiculed, she may not be in position to do the functions when need arises,” Mr Dombo said. Mr Chris Baryomunsi added: “We all appreciate the contribution of the historicals who fought in the bush war but for purposes of progress, we should respect whoever supports the struggle and the development of this country.” Meanwhile, this newspaper has learnt that President Museveni has summoned Ms Kadaga, Premier Mbabazi, Chief Whip Daudi Migereko and his deputy David Bahati to his rural home in Rwakitura in Kiruhura District on Sunday. However, we couldn’t readily ascertain the details of the impending meeting and the other members due to attend. editorial@ug.nationmedia.com