Letter bomb, Kyankwanzi and Mafabi exit dominate

Ms Kadaga was allegedly a target of the letter bomb.

What you need to know:

Busy House: From the news of an alleged ‘letter bomb” to the Speaker to the Mafabi sacking, the MPs, some of whom are in Kyankwanzi for a retreat, had a busy political environment last week.

Parliament was the focus of a discreet police investigation last week after sections of the media gave scrappy accounts; alluding to an alleged “letter bomb” targeting Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.

While the veracity of the events, the source and motive, hide a much sinister reality, other reports indicated that the suspected “letter bomb” comes hot on the heels of new reports that some three months ago, unidentified pellets, later proven to be deadly, were left on Ms Kadaga’s eating tray. The story indicated that an explosive device was sent via the postal service and was picked up and opened by one of Kadaga’s aides.

What makes this story ‘interesting’ is that the alleged victim, Mr Herman Kaboggoza, is apparently unscathed yet police, in spite of the gravity of the incident, have not issued any statement to that effect and the government officials said, they were not aware of such a thing. The Speaker was also not willing to talk about the incident. It was after the journalists pressed hard, that she said: “All leaders in this country are targets. I have been out of the country in New Zealand and the matter is under investigation. You wait for the police report.”

A local newspaper started what the Uganda Media Centre boss, Mr Ofwono Opondo called, “trash” and “cheap politicking”. Mr Opondo has questioned the circumstances under which the alleged letter bomb passed through the hands of security personnel to get to the Speaker’s office. A friend told me last week that police authorities had drafted a press statement but it was not released because the police chief, Gen Kale Kayihura, is still studying the alleged incident.

So, whether the “letter bomb” story was a prank, planted to back an impending supplementary request to beef up security at Parliament, the police findings will tell us the full story and the finer details will be for another day.
Mafabi exit
This week, the president of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Maj Gen (rtd) Mugisha Muntu, replaced Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi, as Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP). This is the man with whom Gen Muntu fought a grueling election battle at the end of 2012. In appointing Mr Mafabi’s friend, Wafula Oguttu (Bukooli Central) as LoP, the former army commander who is now the head of a major opposition party in the country, did not give the reasons why Mafabi was removed.

Mafabi’s supporters, some of whom have talked of leaving FDC and forming own political party, said they would like to know whether their man was dropped because he had failed to perform or because of what happened in the elections [for the party presidency].
Amid accusations of rigging, Gen Muntu defeated Mafabi by 32 votes in a contest that polarised the party. Since then, party leaders have been struggling to hold sway.

The out-going LoP has since clarified that he will not quit the party he helped to build. He also said it’s up to Gen Muntu to explain to the people why he was removed and begged his supporters to accept the new LoP. He pledged to work with his successor [Mr Oguttu] to build FDC into a party that can ascend to power in 2016.

Reacting to his removal, Mr Mafabi, who toiled to ensure that the opposition leaders live to the billing of a government in waiting, said: “I did my best as LoP; you know I never leave any work undone. Now it is Waf’s turn. He has my maximum support and I will do whatever he asks me to do. I will now remain as the FDC MP from Budadiri East.” Although Mafabi says he will do whatever “Waf” asks him to do, it is not yet known whether he would accept to go back to Public Accounts Committee as chair, if the new LoP asks him to help in an impending Committee changes.

Kyankwanzi retreat
The whole of this week, the ruling party will be in Kyankwanzi, on their annual retreat. The NRM Caucus will discuss tools of improving service delivery, and focusing on the implementation of Presidential pledges in the party’s 2011-2016 manifesto, among others.

The ministers are expected to brief the Caucus on the progress in their respective dockets. They have also invited resourceful persons including Prof Mamdani, the director Makerere Institute of Social Research, to help them deal with the challenges that are holding our country back. This year’s retreat opened on Friday by President Museveni is also expected to discuss the proposed Anti-Gays Bill. Doctors will present their findings on whether homosexuality is a genetic abnormality or it’s a behavioural deviation developed through training and financial inducements.

In trying to understand what exactly the ruling party is up to, I sought views from one of the analysts, Nicholas Opiyo, the Secretary Uganda Law Society. Mr Opiyo’s view is that the party must focus on the job at hand - governance - other than spending time in party politicking and bickering. He told me that if the NRM party wants to live beyond its founder and leader, President Museveni, “they had better begin to act as an institution with a clear path of succession.”

The NRM Caucus must demonstrate the ability to reach beyond the political divide in order to have better governance.

IN THE HOUSE
some resolutions from last years kyankwanzi retreat
1. Ideological, political and organisational discipline in the NRM:
a). That members of the NRM Caucus shall deepen their ideological and political clarity around the aims and objectives of the NRM, eschewing careerism and developing as leaders on a mission of service to the people;
b). That members of the NRM Caucus shall strive to maintain the highest levels of conscious political and ideological discipline, as members of the NRM organisation;
c). That members of the NRM Caucus strongly condemn the behavior of errant colleagues, who routinely flout the NRM Constitution and other regulations, disparage its leadership, and recommend that these members should face appropriate disciplinary action; d). That at the beginning of every Parliamentary term of 5 years, Members of Parliament should undergo comprehensive ideological orientation at the National Leadership Institute, Kyankwanzi.

2. The NRM parliamentary caucus rules of procedure:
That the NRM Parliamentary Caucus Rules of Procedure proposed by this Retreat, be expeditiously transmitted to the Central Executive Committee, for final promulgation;

3. Criminality and corruption:
a). That members of the Caucus reiterate their full support for the continuing commitment of the NRM government to zero tolerance to corruption as pledged in the NRM Manifesto 2011 Elections, and to the smooth functioning of the comprehensive institutional framework put in place by the NRM government since 1986 to fight criminality and corruption;
b). That members of the Caucus fully support all the efforts aimed at fighting the vice of embezzlement of public funds, which is being tackled in a systematic manner, and are confident that the thieves in the Goverment will be effectively and decisively dealt with. They note with satisfaction that uncovering the scams in various government departments has been the work of patriots and the Police Force;
c). That members of the NRM Caucus support the full operationalization of the provisions of the law that deal with the confiscation of the proceeds of ill-gotten wealth, and accordingly support the directive of His Excellency the President to the leadership of the Caucus to urgently harmonize the upcoming pieces of legislation from both the Executive and the private member’s Bill - Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2012 - as a contribution to stringent legislation aimed at fighting graft.