We shall hand over power on our own terms
By Adam Kazoora
12th Dec 2011: I will not respond to all the crazy comments about my last article; not least because unlike most people in the opposition, we in the NRM are too busy and we have a country to run. But I feel compelled to respond to a certain Joan Ncaacha, who in her political naivety and delusion said this to me:
“…You must admit there are a lot of angry people as the postings show. Ask why they are angry. Why is your hero Museveni so universally disliked? What has he done to deserve such hatred? You are scared of genocide against the westerners. It is in Museveni’s power to avert it.” She then goes on to lecture me on what President Museveni should do to avert genocide in Western Uganda and says:
“…He [Museveni] should put in place a programme to hand over power to an interim administration that should include a broad section of Ugandan society; civil society, academia, religious leaders and political parties etc. This will pave the way to real elections, supervised by a truly independent electoral commission made up of Ugandans of integrity, of an assembly to write a new and tamper proof democratic constitution.”
After that, Joan says, “…Museveni will be an observer during all this time he will have handed over power to the interim govt.” I give up; I really do! I have tried to humanly drill some political sense in some opposition nut-heats but I have sadly failed. As I said before, the reason is that they are simply too angry to think straight. It is particularly sad because I know for a fact that a few of them have the mental capacity to think rationally and realistically.
The bitter pill for Joan & Co in opposition:
If they could do that for just a minute, they will quickly realise that as people who fought and lost loved ones to give them the freedoms they enjoy today, it is only fair that we be allowed to hand power back to the people on our own terms, and in our own time. When President Museveni said he “hunted and killed his animal” but some people wanted to enjoy the meat without his permission, he was alluding to this very point.
So let me give our opposition pretenders the bitter pill without sugar-coating anything in proverbs and philosophy like President Museveni did. Politics, my friends and foes alike, is like a game of boxing. If you enter the ring when you are consumed by anger against a powerful and well armed opponent like the NRM, you can be sure you will get a bloody nose. You might not even get out of the political ring alive!
That, of course, is not what we want. But let there be no doubt in your minds whatsoever. Our great revolutionary leader Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will stand again in 2016 and win fairly as usual if you join the political contest as sober men and women. But if you enter the electoral ring with this level of anger, we shall definitely give you a bloody nose in 2016; one that you might never recover from!
So here is my most patriotic advice:
Take a deep breath and accept that for the time being, that is just the way things are; however unfair that may seem to you. This world has never been a fair place, and it’s not about to be. Be patient. Your time to “rule” and “eat” [as many of you think of power] will come when we finish the job we fought for.
And before you accuse me of defending corruption, we didn’t fight in the bushes of Luwero in order to steal from Ugandans. As a matter of fact, fighting corruption is one of the few remaining jobs that we in the NRM are determined to accomplish before we even think of handing over power back to Ugandans.
Ugandans will never forgive us if we fail in the fight against corruption because in all fairness, I will admit here and now openly that corruption has indeed increased under our rule. It’s therefore up to us to eliminate it and hand over a morally upright country to the next generation of NRM leaders who will have to face the opposition in a truly free and fair elections. If they lose, then shall force them to hand over power to the opposition.
That is the democracy we stand for and want to bequeath to the country. The era of seizing power by force is long gone. So, even in your many hours of deep anger against us in the NRM, never ever think of picking up arms to fight us like some mad dogs in Buganda, Busoga, Acholi, Teso, and West Nile tried to do.
The UPDF is the most powerful army in Africa now. It will finish you off or failing that, push you out of Uganda like Joseph Kony. We in the NRM don’t want to see war again and we hope you feel the same. END. Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
