By M. Suleman

16^th April 2012: By the grace of God, the resilience of Joyce Banda and the support of many Malawians, including the Attorney General and the army Commander, a new President was sworn in without a drop of blood being shed, injury, or imprisonment of any Malawian.

Joyce Banda was the Vice President but she broke ranks with President Bingu wa Mutharika when the President, drunk with power, attempted to turn Malawi into his property by appointing his younger brother Foreign Affairs Minister.  He also tried to front his brother to become the leader of the Democratic Progressive Party so that he succeeds him as President.

Joyce Banda courageously took leadership and endured the wrath of the President and the state institutions.  In the end, however, she saved Malawi from allowing nepotism to take root.  Above all, she fought for democracy, constitutionalism, and good governance in Malawi.  Through her actions, she proved that she was Malawian first and that the interests of Malawi were sacrosanct.

It should however be noted that Joyce Banda is not the first Vice President to show courage and patriotism. Gen. Tembo in Zambia broke ranks with President Chiluba when Chiluba, drunk with power, decided that he wanted to run for the third term.  Gen Tembo led his cabinet colleagues and together, they thwarted Chiluba’s third term adventure which would have reversed Zambia’s democratic gains.

Similarly, Vice President Atiku Abu-Bakr stood firm and broke ranks with President Obasanjo when Obasanjo, drunk with power, attempted to amend the Nigerian constitution in order to get a third term in office.  Again, Atiku’s brave leadership saved Nigeria from sliding into the abyss.

Before the unfortunate advent of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Uganda also had some courageous and patriotic Vice Presidents.  It is rumoured, for example, that when Idi Amin got drunk with power and wanted to turn Uganda into his property, his illiterate Vice President Gen Mustafa Adrisi volunteered to lead a plot to overthrow – never mind that it failed!

It is also a well known fact that the honeymoon between Obote and Vice President Muwanga did not last long.  The discomfort between the two in the end inspired a section of the army to kick Obote out of power with the expectation that Vice President Paul Muwanga would assume leadership.

It has however been different during Museveni’s reign.  From childhood, Museveni is said to have been obsessed with power.  He hunted it vigorously and finally got it in 1986.  As evidenced by his own testimony, his interests have never been about Uganda but power to improve his social status.

Museveni has never appointed Vice Presidents or cabinet ministers because of their ability to serve Uganda.  Apart from a few accidental exceptions, for the last 26 years, Museveni has continuously appointed people who share his philosophy of power for personal enhancement – people who have been happy to work as his maids.

In Buganda, he has picked from the class of people known as “nampa wengwa” (will die for whoever feeds me).  Museveni could never have appointed a serious man like Besigye to the post of Vice President – because he, more than anyone else, knew Besigye’s patriotism and leadership capabilities very well.

So unlike Malawi and other countries where Presidents look for patriotic and competent leaders, Museveni looks for desperadoes who can work as maids in his self aggrandizement project.  It is for this reason that I think it would be next to impossible for Uganda to witness a peaceful transfer of power as long as Museveni has anything to do with it.

It is therefore incumbent upon all patriotic Ugandans to join those already in the struggle to remove the cabal that is devouring the country to the bones – and the sooner the better.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.