10 years on: DP wounds fail to heal, turn septic

History repeats itself when civilised people ignore its lessons and those who fail to heed its lessons are doomed to repeat its tragedies.
Such a description fits best the Democratic Party (DP) where unresolved leadership wrangles played out in the run up to its controversial delegates’ conference exposing just how deeply Uganda’s oldest political party is divided.
Looking back at the last 10 years of DP’s more than 60-year history, one can easily trace the DP wrangles on the current actors starting from 2005 when the party held a delegates’ conference that elected former Kampala Mayor John Ssebaana Kizito as president.
While the controversies of that election were not so much highlighted, they set DP, whose slogan is Truth and Justice, to a path of lies and scheming with one group plotting against the other.
In the November 2005 delegates’ conference, Mr Ssebaana defeated Nasser Ntege Sebaggala and current DP president Norbert Mao. After losing to Mr Ssebaana, Mr Mao organised a boycott of delegates from northern Uganda from further participation in the elections, on grounds that the conference had become a Buganda business.
Because of this, the northerners did not elect their regional representatives to the National Executive Committee (NEC) during the conference.
Another highlight of that conference was the fact that all the three candidates had mobilised youth brigades (bouncers) to help them further their individual goals.
The use of such brigades continues to permeate the party’s activities, a case in point being the recent attack on DP offices at City House by a youth mob.

Mbale repeated
Like a movie played on a similar script, DP could not avoid a repeat of the 2010 Mbale delegates’ conference in which a section of DP members stayed away from that conference.
Members went against the advice of senior party members such as former DP president Paul Kawanga Ssemogerere and former chairman of the Constitutional Review Commission, Prof Frederick Ssempebwa, who warned of tough times for DP if it went ahead with the Mbale conference.
Even reconciliation efforts by Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala, the retired Catholic leader, yielded no fruit. So, a wrangle-infested DP then conducted the delegates’ conference and like they say, time has since vindicated those DP leaders who warned against it minus reconciling the warring factions.
The Mbale conference was boycotted by a faction led by Mr Samuel Lubega, who was eyeing the DP and national presidency. Others who boycotted were Mr Erias Lukwago (Kampala Lord Mayor) and a host of other legislators such as Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze.
Mr Lubega would later run unsuccessfully for president as an independent candidate, the same platform on which Lukwago successfully vied for the Kampala Lord Mayor job. A number of legislators opposed to the Mbale meeting were also able to get elected.
A faction led by Lukwago and composed of DP politicians mainly from the Buganda region viewed as illegitimate Mao’s election as DP president. Mao’s leadership in turn backed Mr Michael Mabikke against Lukwago in the Lord Mayor contest which Lukwago eventually won.
Following that delegates’ conference, many DP leaders sat on the fence and watched as Mr Mao and his team navigated the party through the murky waters of politics. Occasionally, jibes would be thrown from the various factions at each other.

2015 grassroots elections
In the run up to the 2015 delegates’ conference, DP leadership organised grassroots polls where delegates who would elect the DP national leadership were supposed to be voted.
But the elections, which started in April, were marred by irregularities to the point that in some areas DP leaders engaged in physical fights, with each side accusing the other of rigging. In areas such as Bukomansimbi District, DP members organised parallel conferences while in Masaka it degenerated into the level of physical fighting.
Disgruntled members petitioned the party about the exercise, prompting DP’s National Executive Committee to appoint a six-member committee to, among others, receive, evaluate and decide on all petitions concerning DP’s grassroots elections, conduct district delegates conferences, make recommendations to DP’s constitutional review committee, carry out elections in areas of dispute and compile a register for the delegates’ conference.
The committee, which started its work on June 12, was chaired by former DP vice president Zachary Olum and deputised by Mr Peter Polly Mukiibi. Other senior DP members on the committee included Mr Henry Ssewanyana (secretary), Prof Peter Kasenene, Ms Agatha Kaboggoza and Baite Munobwa.
In a July 1 report, the committee recommended a near overhaul of the process in which the DP delegates who will be convening at Katomi were elected during the grassroots polls. This essentially meant that the already scheduled DP delegates’ conference would be postponed to allow the committee recommendations to be put in place.
Several DP leaders, including legislators, came out and backed the Olum report, calling for its implementation and the DP’s re-organisation of its structures before the party could go for a delegates’ conference.
But Mr Mao and his leadership stuck to their guns that DP will hold the delegates conference on the appointed days.
In a meeting held on July 6, some party members accused Mr Mao of failing to take immediate action when conflicts arose in the party. The MPs wanted Mao to effect his presidential powers and immediately implement some of their recommendations.
Mr Mao, however, refused to be party to the recommendations, explaining that he needed to first present them to National Executive Committee.
In a news conference on July 7, Mao reaffirmed that the issues of conflicts at the party’s grassroots level would be handled in the National Executive Committee and that the delegates’ conference will not be rescheduled.
In a July 16 letter to Mr Mao, Dr Lulume Bayiga, who competed with Mr Mao for the DP presidency, raised questions in the report and more especially how Mao’s leadership was disorganising the conference.
“As a DP presidential candidate, I have been denied access to the delegates’ register, yet for you (Mao), delegates forums are privately organised for you in various parts of the country by the NEC members who are behind you,” Dr Bayiga writes.
In an interview, DP secretary general Mathias Nsubuga said the irregularities in the grassroots polls were not substantial to delay the delegates’ conference.
“There were no irregularities in any other region of the country except Buganda. I have returns from 106 districts out of the 112. The problem we have is that some individuals think they are bigger than the party,” Mr Nsubuga said.

Reconciliation attempts
In the years after Mbale conference, several attempts have been made to reconcile the warring factions in DP.
Take for example DP’s launch of the celebrations to mark 60 years of existence last year which brought together DP’s old guard, those who left the party and those who had for years shunned the party’s activities. But even that golden moment could not reunite DP leaders.
Two meetings were recently held, one at Mr Mao’s home and another at Makerere University Guest House on July 11. Mr Lukwago and Mr Mao attended both meetings.
During the Makerere meeting, for example, Mr Olum was appointed to chair a reconciliation summit which would look at the issues from various warring factions of DP and propose solutions.
They also resolved that each leader of a faction appoints 40 members who would then constitute the reconciliation summit. The leaders included Dr Bayiga, Mr Samuel Walter Lubega, Mr Mao and Mr Lukwago.
The next meeting was set for July 21, but a day before the trio (Lukwago, Bayiga, and Lubega) resolved to endorse Mr Lukwago to lead a delegation of 120 members to the meeting. This pitted Mr Mao’s group against a united front of the rest, essentially with only 40 members to bring to the meeting.
Perhaps sensing that they had been outsmarted, the Mao-led group snubbed the July 21 talks. As Mr Lukwago and his team plus the mediators waited at Pope Paul VI Memorial Hotel, Mr Mao used the DP weekly press briefing to dismiss Lukwago’s group.
A day before, Mr Lukwago had accused Mr Mao’s leadership of failure to introduce constitutional reforms, arguing that this could end up pushing the party to the “dustbin of history”. Mr Mao said his leadership could not have talks with what he described as the “Anti- Mbale”. A visibly annoyed Mao then went on the offensive and hurled insults at Lukwago.
The final nail in the reconciliation coffin before the delegates’ conference was on July 22 when another reconciliation meeting called to unite the two factions flopped. Apart from the Mao group making a no-show at Mengo Teachers Hall, police also surrounded the venue and ordered those who had assembled to disperse because the meeting was illegal.
Out of options and seemingly resigning to the fact that they could do nothing to reconcile the two parties, Mr Ssewanyana spoke longingly about a possible reconciliation.
“Don’t be discouraged; when we are able to assemble all the groups, we shall meet. It would make no meaning of reconciliation if all the groups are not represented,” he said.
In a separate interview, Mr Ssewanyana said a prevalence of sanity was all DP needed.
“It is my sincere hope that sanity will prevail in the party. In the reconciliation committee, we were of the opinion that to remain united, all sheds of opinion in the party should first unite before a delegates’ conference.”

Katomi vs Luweero
All attempts at reconciliation having failed, DP held what could best be described as two parallel conferences.
The Mao-led group held their delegates conference at Katomi Kingdom Resort at Entebbe were they elected new leaders and amended the DP constitution.
Former vice president Gilbert Bukenya and former Coordinator of Intelligence Services David Sejusa were invited as special guests at the conference. The DP faction led by Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago headed to Luweero District where they held a rally and opened up offices.
Of the 15 DP MPs in the 9th Parliament, seven attended the Katomi delegates’ conference.
These included Susan Namaganda (Bukomansimbi), Brenda Nabukenya (Luweero Woman), Mathias Nsubuga (Bukoto-South), Joseph Balikuddembe (Busiro South), Florence Namayanja (Bukoto East), Joseph Ssewungu (Kalungu West), Deogratius Kiyingi (Bukomansimbi county) and Lulume Bayiga (Buikwe South).
The rest openly sided with the Lukwago led faction.

DP committee recommendations
1. Specific amendments be made to the DP constitution
2. National council to establish a committee to view and resolve disputes and petitions before confirmation of national delegates conference dates
3. The established committee goes around the country to check and ensure that the delegates had been duly elected for a genuine national delegates’ conference
4. A special committee be established to handle and conduct the national delegates’ conference

Verbatim > They said it this week

“I do not have more constituencies. The ones I presented are enough. Those are the ones government can afford for now. If your district council did not request for the counties, I cannot impose a county on the people,”
Local Government minister Adolf Mwesige

“I am worried about the rise of Amama because he is likely to take some of our party supporters in the 2016 presidential elections because of the division we have in our party that are yet to be resolved,”
Former FDC president Kizza Besigye on former prime minister Amama Mbabazi bid

“Mr [Erias] Lukwago seems to be a man who gets excited thinking that if he has many crowds, he has power. I feel pity for him because is beginning to behave like dikuula (comedian) yet he is a young man with potential,”
democratic party president Norbert Mao on party division

“...it is therefore, sub judice but I have not gone far to establish whether the Parliament debate on Article 83, will jeopardise the rights of the people (the four expelled MPs) in court”
Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah on flopped debate on proposed constitutional amendments

“There is a need to approve the party roadmap because the one issued by Mr Otunnu expired on July 10 and yet the party has to organise its self for the national elections as per Electoral commission’s road map”
Lira Municipality MP Jimmy Akena on Uganda Peoples Congress national council meeting