By Beti Olive Kamya

18^th February 2013:

It has not been a good month for Speaker Rebecca Kadaga – what with backtracking on recall of parliament, expulsion of journalists, stopping OPM investigations…..and two litigations, one by her very own “partners in crime”!

I hear women empowerment activists are planning activities to protest that Kadaga’s woes, saying they are a result of chauvinistic schemes by men who can’t abide successful women.

If it is true, I would advise them not to hide behind the timeless “sex curtain”.  If they persist, they will be no different from Bahororo, Ateso, Acholi, Baganda, Moslems and Lugbara etc who throw all values, morals and meritocracy to the wind when one of their own lands in trouble.

The “save-Kadaga” activism should focus on creating an environment that can nurture the principal and values of separation of powers, so that Speakers, male or female, are able give their best to this country, safe in the reality of a legislature independent of the executive!

If women activists want to explain away Kadaga’s problems as chauvinist driven, they must also explain former Speakers Wapa’s abdication of the Speakership and Ssekandi’s apathetic tenure of that office!

Kadaga’s real problem was naivety. First of all, she got carried away by success early in the game – leading to inability to manage her rising star. Success is the twin of rivalry, and unless it is handled with tact, it leaves some people bruised, which they don’t normally take lying down!

Secondly, Kadaga was also naïve not to realize, after twenty four years  in Parliament, that Uganda’s Constitution and Parliament are President Museveni’s home playground, where rules of the game are tilted in his favour and where anybody playing against him will lose the game, unless they are ingenuous enough to lure him to a neutral playground, where the rules of the game are different!

As part of the executive for seventeen years, Kadaga should have worked this out, and recognized her advantaged position as Speaker of the 9^th Parliament, to turn around the status quo. Unfortunately she lacked entrepreneurship to take the risk, so a great opportunity is lost, for Uganda!

Thirdly, as if that was not enough, Kadaga naively clashed with the international community, head on, on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Now she has three powerful foes:  the international community, Museveni and the media!

In a nutshell, Kadaga behaved like Moses Golola who promised kickboxing watchers a great match, but did not invest in learning the real game – part of which is to know your opponent’s strength.

Former Speakers Wapakhabulo and Ssekandi, to a large extent, were victims of their time.  The difference is that they were smart enough to recognize the wars they couldn’t win – so they cut their losses and played ball. Kadaga’s time is different.  They is a need for change, which should have offered her the perfect break to play the game differently, albeit with tact and ingenuity.

Unfortunately, she neither recognized nor seized the opportunity.  Now it seems she has only the devil’s alternatives to choose from: she can either choose to eat humble pie and climb down to Wapa’s and Ssekandi’s level; re-assert herself and face a full-scale war with Museveni; or resign from the Speakership and keep her dignity!

If she chooses the latter option, she will be well placed to begin the real struggle for independence of parliament, beginning with telling “The untold story” which Wapa and Ssekandi couldn’t tell because they became accomplices.

I sincerely hope her political career is not chasing after twilight, because all said and done, she is made of good stuff.  END: Login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories mid-week for our updates

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Beti Olive Kamya-Turwomwe the president of Uganda Federal Alliance