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The Role of Political Parties in the Quest for Federalism |
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By Prof. Aloysius M. Lugira
Introduction Here are some pertinent facts about
the relevance of political parties relative to the establishment of a
federally organized nation-state. Uganda is a country, which came into
being as a result of a colonialist and arbitrary patching together of
peoples. Uganda is a country, which, for about six decades, was
possessed and ruled by a colonialist oligarchy. During the late forties the writer
of these observations personally underwent some of the effects of such a
situation. I went to a high School in Masaka District. The School was
known by the name of Bukalasa Seminary. This school, at that time, had
the particularity of admitting students from all corners of Uganda
including students who attended this school coming from as far as
Gikuyuland in Kenya Colony. We lived side by side in diversified ways. One of the ways that tended to hurt
was to be looked down upon because of the particular area a student
happened to have come from. The ushering in of audible and visible
nationalism, during the early fifties, started a new era by which
students who graduated from Bukalasa Secondary to the Tertiary school of
Katigondo Major Seminary, also in Masaka District, began to develop new
attitudes of mutual respect. This is the time when Political Parties
were beginning to shape in Uganda. It is the time when, say, people like
those who came from as far as Kitgum would politically associate with
those who hailed from as far as Kisolo. During the early forties the
Ignatius Kangavve Musaazi's and the Reuben Ssebbanja Sseddimba Mukasa
Spartas' vibrantly appeared on the political scene. They planted seeds,
which germinated. The seeds gradually and politically grew into the
initial Political Party the Uganda National Congress (UNC), in 1952. In
1954 the Joseph Kasolo's also appeared on the scene with another group
of Ugandans who organized and associated themselves into what eventually
came to be known as the Democratic Party (DP). Being ambushed by the Obotes in
1960, the Uganda National Congress was highjacked into becoming the
Uganda People's Congress (UPC). These are the party organizations which,
unlike in the case of neighboring Kenya Colony, contributed to achieving
political independence for Uganda, by negotiation, that is without
having gone to the bush. It is a historical fact that Political Parties
in Uganda greatly contributed to the supplanting of colonialist
oligarchy. In other words they contributed significantly to the cutting
out of the continuation of the ruling of Uganda by a foreign clique. However, due to egoistical
imbalances, the deservedly won political independence has been thrown to
such turbulent floating, mainly for lack of appreciating the role of
Political Parties. In such a situation one can relate Uganda to
countries like Switzerland, USA and Germany. For Switzerland the pangs of nation
building lasted for several centuries. Switzerland, in spite of its
geographical size, did not become great the way it is, until it had had
recourse to democratic arrangements through Political Parties and
Confederacy. The United States, the world's lone superpower cannot
imagine its viability, after the excruciating turbulence it went through
in the seventeen hundred seventies, without Political Parties and
Federalism. Germany after she survived its tempestuous Nazism cannot
imagine a hope for a future without its Political Parties and
Federalism. Surely these can be some of the role
models in many respects. Ugandan wisdom has it that "Wisdom is like
fire, when fire is extinguished in your house it is wise to have
recourse to the fire at your neighbor's house. Parties still have a job
to do in Uganda. In Uganda they will help to supplant at nationally
nation-state level, in particular, the tendencies of egoism, ethnic,
confessional and old-boys club oligarchy. The Role of Political Parties includes the promotion of human freedom, unity in diversity, as well as national stability. As one wraps up the deliberation on the Role of Political Parties, it is appropriate to recognize all compatriots who have actively participated in the exchanging of notes on the subject. Mr. Moses Kibuka has not only cheered us all, he has also contributed practically to all views touched upon on the subject. Above all he has accentuated the need of orderliness regarding party leadership. He has suggested the establishment of rules that would not allow incumbents to overstay in the positions of party leadership. Mr. Johnnie W.F. Muwanga-Zake has observed that Uganda Independence was won under the shadows of national bandwagons, which strongly advocated for unitary government with a single all-powerful leader. Among many other suggestions, he proposes that the role of Political Parties can be enhanced in Uganda, if parties would become completely democratized with leaderships, which democratically accommodate the existence of federal units in Uganda. Mugisha gwa Kasigi joins in with propositions of the establishment of coalitions. Mr. Kyijomanyi points to the democratic bankruptcy, which has afflicted political parties. Although political parties are part of the political problems, which are bedeviling Uganda, he expresses the hope that if up-hauled, political parties can still be part of the solution. Mr. Ed Kironde is of the opinion that political parties, as it were, are conveyors of external influence into Uganda. Mr. Simon Nume thinks that those who "agitate for the removal of article 269 without demanding federo" do so for ulterior motives. Mr. Lutimba Matovu expresses the audacity of claiming that Museveni has never banned political parties. Matters
Arising From The Above Summarized Positions Before expressing ourselves about
the positions held above, it is helpful first to make it clear as to
what may be practically understood by a Political Party. A Political
Party is not a clan, which is based on the hereditary leadership of
extended families. Neither is it a faction, nor a voting block nor an
interest group. A political party is expected to be more durable than a
faction. A political party is about democracy. Demo- = people + -cratia
= power, rule, strength, might. Democracy is the power of the people. It
is peoples' rule in the sense of a government by the people as a form of
government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and is
exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free
electoral system. In this connection, as descriptively defined by J.P.
Monroe [THE POLITICAL PARTY MATRIX: THE PERSISTENCE OF ORGANIZATION
pp. 17] " a political party is an institution through which elites
coordinate their activities in elections and government as they attempt
to satisfy the interests of their support base". Consequently the
role of a political party is to unite people within the context of the
pursuit of their rights of association and assembly with regard to
bidding for power in government. Party organization is an institution
organized to capture public office. As an organization a political party
is a people's unit in pursuit of national unity as unity cannot come
about without units. In that sense the establishment of federalism will
hardly be clear without having recourse to the contributions of
political parties. Since the time he captured power by the barrel of the gun in Uganda, President Museveni has openly and smugly characterized us, Ugandans, as "backward". Whatever he means by that epithet is explained in a variety of ways by a variety of his cohorts. One inescapable connection is that he could be under some nostalgic influence. The Bolshevist-Marxist camp utilized the term "backward" to characterize situations it deemed not going, Ugandan style, under its "armpits". To President Museveni, in spite of having claimed to have been a member practically of all Ugandan political parties, still he chooses to characterize party members in Uganda as "backward". However when it comes to situations of seeking the donors' Pounds, Dollars, Deutsche Marks, Francs, and the list goes on and on to being encapsulated in the "Euro and Dollar", President Museveni is quick to hasten to those
countries whose acquisition of the Euro and Dollar is gained through the
facilitation of the political orderliness, which is derived from party
politics. If those countries are regarded as advanced as to go and beg
from them, surely the beggar must be regarded with an association of a
good amount of backwardness in the real sense of the word. Refusing Political Parties to have a
role in the development of Uganda only heightens the identification of
backwardness and shortsightedness in those who deny a role of political
parties in the development of the country, particularly in as far as our
human and cultural diversity is concerned. Political Parties as units in which collaboration of Ugandans from all geographical and cultural constituents is nurtured, politically take precedence over anything which may be identified as conducive to the promotion of Unity in Diversity in Uganda. It is incumbent on us all to be clear about this. Orderliness
in Political Parties in Uganda The fact that political parties
helped in the production of Independent Uganda is undebatable. The fact
that political parties in Uganda have been messed up by the lack of
direction on the part of party leadership is also clear. The Uganda National Congress saw its
demise at the hands of those who aimed at vanquishing the Buganda
element. The Uganda People's Congress came into existence to compete
with the Democratic Party. While the UPC became intent on demolishing
bi-partisanship in Uganda, the DP remained to fit in with the Carthagian
Barca Maharbal's observation about his gallant commander-in-chief
Hannibal. Hannibal, an African, almost captured ancient Rome. Because of
his indecision and lack of prioritization, Rome slipped out of his
hands. In disgust, Maharbal who was Hannibal's commander of the cavalry
told his boss that: "In very truth the gods bestow not on the same
man all their gifts; you know how to gain victory, Hannibal: you know
not how to use victory." Very often some Ugandans argue that
in face of the problems which have faced political parties in Uganda,
probably the existing parties should be disbanded all together. Such a
position would be somehow simplistic. For the good of the country and
for the common good of the people, as history testifies, already
historically existing political parties in Uganda should be given a
chance to play the role parties are expected to play. Iconoclasm is not
creative. Freedom, conscience, responsibility and commitment to constitutionalism are the way forward for Political Parties in Uganda. Of late there has come the idea of
coalition. Understood as union into one mass fusion is not a new
phenomenal of the Ugandan political scene. Coalitions as have been
experienced in Ugandan political life have not advanced political
mileage for the country. The constituent parts of those coalitions have
lacked the necessary "personality". Instead they have ended in
doing things by "horded mentality". Political parties worth
the name are guided constitutionally for purposes of bidding for
national leadership with clear-headed intents. We have experienced the UPC-Kabaka Yekka coalition. It was a coalition full of confusion. UPC was a registered political party. Kabaka Yekka was clearly presented by Masembe Kabali, as a movement, not a political party. One still remembers the end result of the mukago. Binaisa's umbrella ended by the very people who had put him in power deposing him. The NRM broadbasedness could go by the name of multipartyism and horde-mentality par excellence. The so-called individual merit tactic does certainly reflect representation of people in Parliament. It is either representation of oneself or the person who produces the Trojan horse. It continues to saw seeds not of the Biblical Mustard tree but of egoistical and oligarchical confusion in Uganda. DP-UPC of 1996 resulted in DP losing most of its natural constituents. The DP-Besigye saga turned DP into Hannibal. I still ask myself the question: "Why did Dr. Besigye refuse to take the advice given to him by Mrs. Byanyima, Sr.? The message was join DP and we shall comfortably vote for you. The DP-Besigye coalition or what some party Stuarts preferred to call alliance persisted. We are not told any more what has become of that coalition. Political Parties in Uganda should accept to be political parties. As such they should broaden their membership. They should care about grassroots membership. They should mobilize. They should friend-raise before they can comfortably fund-raise. They should aspire for political freedom for all the citizens of Uganda. They should work for amending the guileful 1995 Constitution. In this, one would agree with the great civil rights activist of our time, the late Martin Luther King concerning bad laws. This applies to the current constitution of Uganda. He said: " I submit that an Individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law". |
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