Museveni needs a consultant to advise him on next cabinet

Some people are just lucky; and Mr Museveni is one such lucky guy. Can you imagine the petition challenging his re-election has been withdrawn from the Supreme Court of Uganda? And can you imagine the famous meri ennwanyi (warship) has also been withdrawn from Mombasa?

Dear reader, with the meri and court petition off the table, the State apparatus has no option but to facilitate Mr Museveni to form the next government after swearing some day in May. And we all may know, he needs a group of people to whom he will delegate the Executive powers and authority of the President. He needs a Cabinet for 2021 to 2026.

Elected leaders (as Mr Museveni is one such) tend to pick persons with whom they share political ideology (parties). In Africa, the natural and organic ideology is community, faith and political party (in that order of importance?).

These are not strange or new to him - for Mr Museveni is a veteran African leader, who has been there, done that and returned to tell the tale.

However, the challenge for Mr Museveni in his balancing-act of forming his next Cabinet derives from the voting patterns in the last elections.

Buganda or central region, from which Mr Museveni has enjoyed loyal support since 1996, returned Opposition MPs. As a region, Buganda voted against the NRM by returning Opposition MPs. Whether it was a protest vote or a resistance vote, the challenge Mr Museveni faces now is: How does he reach out to the Baganda community?

The NRM’s loss in Buagnda has been explained or blamed on a nationwide demographic consciousness (or constituency) called the youth. What administrative or political instruments can he deliver to appease this angry constituency called the youth?
I have been a regular visitor in Kasese since June last year.

And I have almost taken permanent resident in Kasese since January 14 (polling day). During my stay in Kasese, I smell a whiff of expectations from Mr Museveni. Now that NRM’s electoral fortunes in Kasese have improved, some people are even ‘rumouring’ that Kasese should (may) get three ministerial positions.

And if Museveni were to hire me as a consultant, I would advise that such ministers and ministers of state from Kasese should possess the capabilities to carry out community mobilisation aimed at national consciousness. It should not be those whose interest in their home districts is to check on their building (and other project) sites. One may say that appointments based on such criteria would not build the nation.

I may also say, if the success story of rural electrification could not bring in the vote and community support, what else does Museveni have in his repertoire? Only political appointments. The only thing we demand is that these political appointments should add value to the welfare of Ugandans.

Some people are asking me to use my witchcraft to predict who would make it to the next Cabinet. In Kasese, some people are even proposing names for what they think could be the three slots for ministerial appointments. I also have my choice of people from Kasese I would like to be appointed as Cabinet ministers. Since I am not the appointing authority, I will keep my list to myself; just a wish, you know.

Otherwise if Mr Museveni appointed me as a consultant, I would advise him to form a Cabinet that reflects the projected political dynamics of 2026.

Truth to tell, Ugandans will have the most complicated elections in 2026. We expect a raft of constitutional amendments to feed into the political dynamics of the next electoral cycle.

Mr Bisiika is the executive editor of the East African Flagpost. [email protected]

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