A presidential contest without Dr Besigye will look different
After running for president of Uganda in the four previous elections one somehow got used to Dr Kizza Besigye running and running again. Now he is not.
It will be an interesting electoral contest without Dr Besigye directly in the ring, at the ahead of the Opposition forces.
He says he will be carrying out Plan B. Whatever that is, maybe more of the defiance campaign against the NRM government, it is not the same thing as carrying out Plan A — taking on President Museveni directly on the campaign trail and at the ballot box.
Dr Besigye’s stepping aside provides an entry point for other FDC leaders to step up and make their mark. At the moment, none of the would-be contenders has the raw appeal, even charisma, of a Dr Besigye.
The man had his bona fides. He participated in the Bush War. He was a government minister the war succeeded. And he launched his open disagreement with Mr Museveni through a thoughtful critique that he published in the newspapers.
It still reads interesting more than 20 years on. Apart from displaying a good mind, he also showed he has brawn in the manner that he took on and resisted the brutality the Museveni machine unleashed on him. The man is no wimp.
A successor will have to display much of that gumption to measure up. He or she does not have to be a Besigye, but we need to see courage in thought and action.
This is all the more so because for nearly two decades, FDC (including in its prior guises) has provided the pre-eminent Opposition leader — in Dr Besigye. Can the party do so through its new flag bearer? It is one thing to lead FDC, it is another to inspire confidence, even if grudging, in the Opposition forces. It will even be trickier with Mr Bobi Wine flexing his muscle and commanding quite a following.
I have a feeling, however, that Dr Besigye will return to the trail as a presidential candidate in 2026. I doubt it is all over for him. But that will also be a function of how the Opposition performs in this election cycle. If succeeds, good. If it fails, how it behaves post-elections will be important to Dr Besigye’s return or not.
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Whatever the failings of the political system in Uganda, it appears we have continued to resist the path of coups, having had our fair share in the 1970s and 1980s. Not so Mali. Not even the coronavirus pandemic could dissuade Malian soldiers from pulling the trigger.
They threw out their inept president, Mr Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, last week. They must have been really pissed off.
Poor Mali, literally and otherwise, is not just fighting jihadists and ethnic violence. There is also corruption, economic failure, and more recently quarrels over parliamentary elections. The people have been marching in the streets for months to express their dissatisfaction.
The soldiers, already bitter about poor pay, saw their chance and took it. They brought down the government and established a governing organ they named the National Committee for the Salvation of the People. In 2012, they carried out another coup and the name of the governing entity then was National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State.
They love national committees, these Malian soldiers. The lofty names they come up with never amount to anything. No salvation comes for the people. And certainly, no democracy. Just more coups.
It is time they gave up coups and tried politics. It may be hard, but they should move beyond cartoonish takeover of governments.
Mr Tabaire is a media trainer and commentator on public affairs based in Kampala.
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Twitter:@btabaire
