UPC should field presidential candidate

What you need to know:

  • UPC has an opportunity to stop, think and reflect on the future of the party and the country. We need to reestablish the national character of the party, encourage criticism, internal democracy and respect for the rule of law, and reconciliation within and outside the party.

I am overwhelmed by the desire for literary correctness. Every thought is in dilemma, and my sight is too keen to edit out every impulse not carrying my perception of certain facts at play in the UPC. Unfortunately, the current dilemma in the party may also be a political dilemma for the future of Uganda.

The UPC definitely presents a formidable fabric of the Opposition. The party boasts of tested alternative welfare policies vital for the development of our country.

However, the current UPC party president will not represent the UPC in the forth coming General Election as the parties presidential flag bearer. The party claims that it will need more MPs in Parliament before it can contest in the presidential race.

This is not a new illusion. The argument follows a similar one made in 2015 when UPC delegates in Lango Sub-region were promised that President Museveni would gracefully hand over power to UPC in 2021.

This stance followed a controversial negotiations between UPC and the ruling NRM party. The only known or assumed results of the controversial negotiations was the compromising of a Shs2b offer to UPC party leadership from the NRM and a ministerial post.

Worse, still, all criticism in the party is often met with a ‘fight- fight’ attitude. You are either ‘pro Jimmy Akena or you are not. I have been caught in this fable.

It ignores all circumstantial realities, principles, or rules set in place to guide a political institution as respectful as the UPC.
It also involves contempt of court where need be, a bit of sycophancy, and an absolute apathy to the party constitution.

Naturally or by default of this status quo, we have been forced to reminisce the bitter wounds of Legal Notice No. 1 of 1986 that banned all political party activities in the country, especially by UPC. Later embedded in the 1995 Constitution, the Legal Notice heralded the beginning of the demise of UPC.

Sadly today, the party is finding itself in a worse reality, battling not only the subtle continuity of Legal Notice No. 1, but also a very cancerous growth (national political inactivity) not even future political chemotherapy may cure.

The relevance of presenting a presidential candidate under a multiparty system cannot be underestimated. It is an opportunity for Opposition political parties to revitalise its base, sell its policies, and recruit new members, especially youth, into the party.

The five-year sequence creates a rhythm that is continuously built upon to create a beautiful atmosphere of sustained progress that ultimately culminates into victory over time.

Without active participation in every competition for the highest office, UPC members will be defranchised and left without viable alternatives, or opportunities to express their party’s polices and direction.

Under multipartism, failure to present a presidential candidate is tantamount to injustice. Moreover, in the consequent lack of national visibility, other forces have emerged to fill the void that was hitherto occupied by UPC. We see this in the recent struggle for the colour red between UPC and National Unity Platform (NUP).

UPC has an opportunity to stop, think and reflect on the future of the party and the country. We need to reestablish the national character of the party, encourage criticism, internal democracy and respect for the rule of law, and reconciliation within and outside the party. UPC is still a party to reckon with.

Ongom Ongom Adero
[email protected]