By George Murumba

28^th May 2012:

Under Attack: DP Supremo Norbert Mao

Democratic Party [DP] President Norbert Mao’s leadership and personality has been severely criticised by a Diaspora based DP supporter, Uganda Correspondent can reveal.  In a long missive sent to this newspaper, Mr Timothy Mwaka, a DP supporter based in China, attacked Mao’s leadership on a number of personal and official fronts.

“…As any concerned member of DP, I would like to express my worries over what I see as a weak leader in Norbert Mao. The party has no official complaints route for anyone like me in China to comment or express myself – hence my decision to use the mainstream media.” Timothy Mwaka kicks off his tirade.

He then goes on to say how quickly the euphoria of Mao’s election died down.  “…Mao’s presidency was supposed to make Museveni look like a very old man – one who needs to retire because he is being challenged by his grandchildren…but to my surprise, Norbert Mao has already been a disappointment to the party, including all the neutral potential supporters who would have joined DP.” Mwaka says.

The DP supporter then goes into what he sees as Mao’s failures, listing at least five in numerical order.  In the first instance, he accuses Mao of failing to build grassroots support for the party.

“…One would expect that DP under Mao would be re-building strong bases at the grassroots level.  But this is not happening. I have not seen or heard Mao and his executive in villages consulting and building the party, or empowering supporters, except during the elections.” says Mwaka

From failing to build grassroots support for DP, Mwaka turns his guns to Mao’s failure to bring unity to the party.  “…For the two years he has been in office, he has failed to reconcile the DP young leaders who connect very well with the voters. These are Ms Betty Nambooze, Mathius Mpuuga, Medard Ssegona and Erias Lukwago, among others.” the aggrieved DP supporter points out.

The reason for Mao’s failure to bring unity to the party, Mwaka suspects, could be down to Mao’s own personality:  “…Why has Mao failed to bring these people on board yet they seem to have a lot in common – such as attending the same university…has this got to do with his personality? Is he very egoistic and unable to come down to earth? Or does he think those politicians have to go looking for him?” Mwaka wonders.

According Mwaka, a good leader should be able to identify and articulate the values that unite the different factions, and concentrate on those as a way forward. Because of that, he argues, “…it is more likely than not that the different factions would work together, even if they do not like the leadership or the personalities.”

Although he is known for his great oratory skills, Norbert Mao’s communication skills also came in for harsh criticism from the DP supporter.  “…Progressive political parties and their leaders effectively communicate the vision of their parties, but Mao has miserably failed to do this…many are not sure of what Mao stands for, or what his party is trying to achieve?” Mwaka says.

He also took issue with the fact that Mao runs a personal website while DP has no official website.  “…By only communicating through his personal website, is Mao telling us that he is DP, and DP is him?  A good leader is a good communicator, and this goes beyond being able to speak four different languages.” Mwaka says.

Forth on the list of Mwaka’s concerns is Mao’s failure to raise funds to run a big and old party like DP.  “…To this day, DP still has its offices at City House, one of the oldest and dirtiest buildings in Kampala. The building is also popular with prostitutes at night!  If Mao was…capable of building the DP, he should have embarked on improving the party finances long time ago.” the DP supporter charged.

In what could sound like music to President Museveni’s ears, the DP supporter also questioned Norbert Mao’s “vision” for the oldest party in Uganda – the same “vision” issue that Museveni opportunistically advanced in 2006 to justify his continued stay in power.

“…Successful party leaders look at the bigger picture, and avoid the trivial things. Mao should stop playing the tribal card and concentrate on working to build the party. The few times I have heard him on radio stations when his leadership is under attack, he has always claimed that those criticising him are tribalists.  This is wrong.” Mwaka says.

To read Mwaka’s full missive, click here Norbert Mao is a very weak DP leader.  Uganda Correspondent was unable to get a reaction from Mao by press time but would welcome it for publication next week.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.