Mbabazi ‘falls’ as NRM changes constitution

Kampala

The ruling NRM party’s National Conference, protected by layers of tight security, yesterday adopted and approved a raft of constitutional amendments that substantially change its character and sets the pace for the country’s future political direction.

With effect from today, the party will no longer have an elected secretary general, deputy secretary general, national treasurer and deputy national treasurer. President Museveni, who is the party chairman, has been given powers to hire and fire members of the national secretariat.

The NRM meeting at Mandela National Stadium in Namboole effectively sanctioned the dismissal of the current party secretary general and former prime minister Amama Mbabazi among other party officials, in a purge analysts said seeks to bolster President Museveni’s sole candidature ahead of the 2016 election.

“By allowing the party chairman to hire and fire the party secretary general and others, the NRM has weakened itself by missing out on analytical, intellectual and ideological interventions of elected individuals,” Mr Mwambutsya Ndebesa, a senior lecturer at Makerere University, said.

Other analysts Daily Monitor talked to said the amendments aim at narrowing the participation space since the hand-picking of the executive is going to deny NRM ‘dissenting views’ and ‘alternative views’.

The fear is that within the ruling party, everybody is going to echo what the chairperson says, something Mr Ndebesa said, brands as ‘authoritarianism’ and that the victim will be democracy. “The implication of this is that it’s going to stagnate the party and through this action [amendments], they have given a negative lesson to other political parties who would want the party president to control the secretary general, curtailing freedoms and political dialogue,” Mr Ndebesa said, adding that “as of now there is no NRM position that is grooming a president.”

However, the Information minister, Ms Rose Namayanja, yesterday rejected Mr Ndebesa’s narrative as ‘deceptive’ and ‘misguided’.

Ms Namayanja insisted that the amendments were carefully debated and passed by Central Executive Committee (CEC) and the National Executive Committee (NEC). She said the amendments were moved in “good faith” and seek to empower the chairman to sack non-performing members.

“Under the new arrangement, the secretary general and other appointed cadres will be full-time officers of the party to ensure that the secretariat is functional and effective,” she said.

Although the amendments take immediate effect to pave way for the party to have new appointed office bearers, NRM deputy spokesperson Ofwono Opondo was diplomatic in his response on Mr Mbabazi’s fate: “NRM hasn’t fired its secretary general Amama Mbabazi, but has amended its constitution to have the position appointive.”
Mr Mbabazi, who has been the substantive NRM Secretary General, now ceases to hold the position ‘with immediate effect’ after the NRM delegates voted to authorise the party chairman to appoint another person occupy that office.

The latest development obliges Mr Mbabazi to vacate the office today alongside his deputy, Ms Dorothy Hyuha, who has been acting in his position. The new amendment to the party constitution also affects the party treasurer, Ms Amelia Kyambadde (trade minister) and her deputy Mr Parmindar Marwaha Katangole Singh.

The President sacked Mr Mbabazi as prime minister on September 18, ostensibly over perceived presidential ambitions. However, Mr Museveni later told BBC he could not tolerate Mr Mbabazi because he had been engaged in divisive activities.

Weighing in on Mr Mbabazi’s fate, Mr Siraje Nsanja, a don at Kampala University, advised the former PM to use the amendments as ‘turning point’ and declare his alternative position, a new political dispensation within the NRM party. “He can start a new party like Kizza Besigye (former Opposition leader of the Forum for Democratic Change) and declare his candidature,” Mr Nsanja said.

Other analysts and senior legislators across the political spectrum believe that such a move would have far-reaching implications to the NRM party, adding: “the worst case scenario is that the current tension within the ruling party could spill over into the military as was the case in 1960s.”

In October, Mr Mbabazi accepted to take leave of the office of the NRM secretary general following a two-day meeting by members of the NRM Central Executive Committee (CEC) in Kampala. In the meeting chaired by President Museveni, CEC members asked Mr Mbabazi to take leave amid accusations that had refused to hand over the party register.

The top party organ later asked Ms Hyuha, who doubles as Uganda’s ambassador to Tanzania, to act as the secretary general. Mr Mbabazi was due to return to office at the end of this month.
At the CEC meeting on Saturday, Mr Mbabazi tried to save his job but without success. He warned CEC members that it would be illegal to abolish any elective post since they never gave notice as per NRM governing laws in the constitution.

Mr Mbabazi, who reportedly walked out of the meeting with his wife Jacqueline, protesting the move on Sunday took his legal opinion to NEC, which also rejected his position. Some sources close to Mr Mbabazi have hinted that he could take his case to the courts of law.

Yesterday’s National Conference also resolved that the affected positions be filed with and approved by the national Electoral Commission within 21 days to become effective.

However, proposed amendment to vote by lining behind candidates in NRM primaries was withdrawn due to stiff opposition from delegates.

Sources told this newspaper that most of the delegates thought such a proposal would not solve the problem and instead called for transparency in the management of the electoral process.
The presence of Mr Mbabazi, who sat among the party leaders, was not acknowledged by the speakers.

On sole candidature
The much-discussed issue of Mr Museveni’s sole candidature, however, was not on the agenda and delegates did not pronounce themselves on it. But the venue was littered with President Museveni’s posters, vending his sole candidature as the delegates chanted “Neera, Neera” in reference to a possible fifth elective term in office.

[email protected]