Once-vocal MPs explain why they are silent

Once vibrant and outspoken, these lawmakers, who were known for criticising the government, have suddenly gone silent. Saturday Monitor’s Rodney Muhumuza finds out why. Some lawmakers in the opposition are increasingly exposed to the allegation that they lost the political energy—the strong anti-government rhetoric—that helped get them elected.

Curiously, however, nearly all of the accused politicians are saying it is true, but they raise defences ranging from the need for pragmatism to the difficulty of adapting to multiparty politics. Saturday Monitor has interviewed several lawmakers and other active politicians, including former MPs, and a list has emerged of politicians who are said to “have lost the fire” that once defined them.

The suspects
The list includes Michael Mabikke (Makindye East, Ind), Abdu Katuntu (Bugweri, FDC), Geoffrey Ekanya (Tororo County, FDC), Odonga Otto (Aruu, FDC), Reagan Okumu (Aswa, FDC), Cecilia Ogwal (Dokolo Woman, Ind), Issa Kikungwe (Kyadondo South, DP), Harry Kasigwa (Jinja West, FDC), Ben Wacha (Oyam North, Ind), and Alex Onzima (Maracha MP).

Most of these politicians spoke to Saturday Monitor with the rest unavailable for comment or reluctant to talk, and their reactions fell short of outright denial and instead pointed to a unifying theme: If we have lost the spark, there is a valid reason for that. And some are even asking: Fire for what? “Maybe I was angry,” said Mr Katuntu, “but now I don’t think it is correct to be angry. I don’t have to indulge myself in the politics of komanyoko.” Long before Mr Katuntu, in the battle that made him famous, defeated Internal Affairs Minister Kirunda Kivejinja to reclaim the Bugweri seat, he had been called “a poisonous mushroom” by President Museveni.

Born again
At the time, in 2005, the description seemed to fit Mr Katuntu’s reputation as a rabble-rouser. Now, some politicians such as former Bugabula South MP Salaamu Musumba, who is one of several politicians against whom the state worked hard to defeat in 2006, say Mr Katuntu may have gone from poisonous to edible.

“I think he got caught up in the whirlwind of success,” Ms Musumba said of Mr Katuntu. “I know what political power does to people.” The allegation against these politicians lacks a narrow definition, so that the talking points include such broad terms: selling out, cowardice, coyness, or, as Kampala Central MP Erias Lukwago put it, playing it safe.

The allegation is tailored loosely around the theory that these MPs, perhaps educated by the stories of politicians like Ms Musumba and former Rukiga MP Jack Sabiiti, are hiding their faces in order to avoid unnecessary attention from the state’s political machinery. “I don’t know what happened to them. Where did the fire get extinguished?” Ms Musumba said. To defend themselves, the MPs, who were interviewed separately for this article, have offered stunningly similar reasons for why they are no longer as loud as they once were.

Changed strategy
“The position hasn’t changed,” Mr Mabikke said. “It’s the tactics and strategy which have changed. What we want at the end of the day is regime change.” According to Mr Mabikke, a change of strategy was needed after it became clear that being vocal was not enough to be an effective legislator. “You can talk for over 30 years. Politics is not about talking. And you don’t put all your cards in one box,” he said.

Mr Mabikke’s argument was echoed by several of his co-accused.
“I would really agree [that we have lost our energy],” said Mr Kikungwe. “That’s an obvious fact. But it is not really losing the energy; it’s redirecting the energy.” Mr Kikungwe said he was spending more time with his constituents. “You can talk and talk [in Parliament], but at the end of the day nothing happens.”

Mr Kasigwa said he was deliberately keeping a low profile in order to navigate a political situation that is constantly evolving, always looking for new victims. “Yes, some of us are taking a back seat,” he said. “But the objective is still the same; there is no compromise or anything. Strategy is something we [in the opposition] should sit down and resolve. We should outlive ajjagenda.”

The Luganda phrase “ajjagenda” is a throwback to the political campaign of 2001, a powerful cliché brought into the political lexicon by Forum for Democratic Change leader Kizza Besigye, who asked voters to imagine the idea of Mr Museveni’s defeat.

What Mr Kasigwa was really saying, and what Mr Katuntu raised in his condemnation of “extremism” in politics, may in fact be a criticism of some opposition politicians. “I am not in Parliament to make a show,” Mr Katuntu said. “Political anger is not physical anger. You need to be as simple as possible. It improves your standing with colleagues on the other side. I can’t give blanket condemnation of the government.”

Most of the opposition lawmakers who spoke to Saturday Monitor expressed pity for themselves and for their colleagues. Nearly all of them, citing the fact that they are terribly outnumbered in the House, were basically saying: Don’t you feel sorry for us? What can we do in these circumstances?

If there is one person who does not feel their pain, it is Ms Musumba. “We never ceded space even when the Speaker was irritated by us,” the FDC official, who represented Bugabula South in the 7th Parliament, said. “They have been very cautious. There has not emerged an outright leader. The spontaneous leadership has risen from an unlikely circle.”

The reliable ones, she said, are from the National Resistance Movement, men like Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo and Rubanda West MP Henry Banyenzaki. Ms Musumba’s critical review is accepted by some of the few opposition MPs still vocally present in the House, such as Mr Lukwago, and recognised by some in the NRM.

Inertia
“I would agree generally,” Mr Lukwago said. “I think it is political inertia, stagnation somewhere. You feel like you are not effecting any change. There are those who want to play it safe.”

Mr Banyenzaki said the role of critiquing government was too important to be left to a “weak” opposition. “Their number is insignificant,” he said. “It is too small to cause change. It’s not been easy for them. They may be losing track. The right to oppose wrong should not be left to the opposition.”

Ms Ogwal and Mr Okumu could not be reached for comment. Mr Wacha, officially an independent lawmaker in the House, and Mr Onzima, who has since fallen out with the FDC establishment, would not talk when Saturday Monitor contacted them. Some of those who spoke on the record, beyond facing the accusation boldly, said it was important to put their situations in the proper context. “What is the use of talking when people don’t want to listen to you?” Mr Otto asked. “Sometimes you decide to style up. We are using more effective means. It’s probably true that (I lost energy). We have to relax. Talking may spoil your chances.”

Mr Ekanya said the transition from “individual merit” to multiparty democracy had played no small part in reducing the visibility of some MPs, especially since Speaker Ssekandi has not treated the opposition with much compassion. “When I don’t speak, [my constituents] get annoyed,” Mr Ekanya said. “That is why I have changed strategy. I address the press on Monday.”

Mr Augustine Ruzindana, the former Ruhaama MP, who belonged to the category of lawmakers deemed hostile to the ruling party, gave an assessment that roughly tallied with Ms Musumba’s. But he was reluctant to focus on the individuals, saying they were just cogs in a dysfunctional wheel.

Diminished role
“The role of Parliament has diminished over time,” Mr Ruzindana said. “It is very difficult for individuals to play a role. I think that the members don’t feel that it matters any better for them to stand up and make speeches that will not make any change.”

According to Mr Ruzindana, because everything rotates around President Museveni, many players in the political realm no longer matter. He asked some questions: The House Speaker is a very important person, but do you remember anything he has said recently? Do you remember anything the army commander has said in the last six months? “The Mabikkes came at the wrong time,” Mr Ruzindana said. “They will just fizzle out.”