UPC's place

I would like to stake a claim that UPC operates in the realm of qualitative politics and that it aims to be nothing else but to operationalise it. To do this, it has to cajole and nudge leaders of social forces into freeing Ugandan's, however adverse the political environment, to stick to the political processes as the viable salvage route to improve a socio-economic and cultural environment. One may make the following anchors points in operationalising qualitative politics that the UPC has worked on and in turn freed themselves from the party, and can claim a place in what could be a 'national democratic programme'.

1. In seeking electoral mandate, the UPC always displays its political party manifesto for public scrutiny. In it the party simply promises to work with the people to improve the socio-economic and cultural lives of the country at their pace. It is a humbling exercise that has been carried out with humility.

2. Honoured with plural politics, the electors have always given the UPC some limited but working majority to implement their manifesto promises. The proviso being that the party has to re-seek any further mandate on unrealised promises, which opportunity putschists have, persistently, denied the party.

3. The draw back is the excessive arguments in the body politic that seek for information to justify why the party and indeed all political parties are right or wrong for the sake of it. In the case of UPC to pre-empt the people's judgement on the party's success or failure to deliver its electoral promises. It magnifies the trust people put in the party as equal to being 'predestined' to the rulership of Uganda, with unintended/intended outcome of distracting the party from focusing on the electoral promises within the limited mandate. It also provides slippery reasons seized by putschists that falsehoods underlie excessive arguments to magnify the trust people put in the democratic process.  Uganda body politic as of now may need a 'national democratic programme' along the above anchor points.

To illustrate an excessive argument, if Kakungulu went to Tororo and say killed one Japadhola dead and whipped a few others, a Japadhola opinion leader present or from hearsay might fan it as the Ganda people came from abroad and killed many of 'our people' and made the rest to 'suffer'. Not knowing differently, the 'respected' Japadhola opinion makers and esterwhile opinion carriers down the road will propagate this until all the Japadhola unquestioning are so frenetic that whenever they wish death on every Muganda they see, or worse, school all others into hating anybody with name or initials 'Y' or 'Z' as likely to be associated with the Ganda. You can imagine even the unborn Japadhola armed with tales retold will find this indignation towards the Ganda without the attendant reasons explaining the origins of the hatred. Worse, new and unrelated reasons such as the artistry of planting of Mvule trees to create a boulevard, construction of 'bulungi bwansi' and trading markets ('katale') are substituted as the hidden intentions of the Ganda robbery, to perpetuate non-existent hatred. A privileged Japadhola in an 'andaki' and well-primed AK-47, away from prying eyes will get away with killing any careless traveller who replies 'nze' on the road block challenge call 'wewe nani''?

Another example is a frenetic celebration of logical executive order, such as that of Dr Obote, to a lawfully established force to quell a military rebellion against a mandated government, as a deathly blow to 'chauvinism'. Yet, in the case of the Ganda, possibly 51% of the Ganda opinion drivers were unaware of the conspiracy and may be 90% of the Ganda masses never participated in the rebellious act. Among the participants a crucial 10% may have been paid or given promissory notes to whip up rebellious acts, yet 90% of them may have escaped abroad without talking part and are forever claiming bravery because no one saw escape before the first shot was fired. The 99% who died may never have knowingly taken part in the 'rebellion', they merely followed orders of their superiors. If they knew the whole ramifications of what a rebellion entails, some of them might even have refused to participate in the act. The collapse of that rebellion needs to be analysed not so much for the fire power but the level of will to sustain it, which may have been only skin deep. Without in-depth analysis of the Ganda rebellion a thesis long the lines of an excessive argument against 'Ganda chauvinism', as that to be challenged and pursued relentlessly until slain with incontemplatable consequence, an assessment without comparative in-depth analysis of the history may find resonance with gullible readers and will reign supreme.

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UPC's people-centred legacy

Sacrificed in the wishes to bestow on the UPC a 'chosen' status and excessive reasons for UPC to be right for rights sake, is the qualitative role of politics that UPC champions and the defence of people-centred institutions to nudge social forces into conceding leadership to politics that does not denigrate or indignify any nationality. The following may be the anchors of UPC's legacy to Ugandan people that the party has worked at and in turn freed themselves from the UPC to claim a place as national assets.

1. Culturally: The UPC successfully pushed a strategy of celebrating different cultures through Uganda crafts, the Heart beat of Africa dance troupes and Schools cultural festivals, National Theatre and Art galleries, Library services to bring learning to all, Roads building to expedite cultural exchanges, etc.

2. Socially: The UPC conceptualised and successfully implemented the infrastructures such as free Health Service accessible to all. Streamlined and equalised the schools administration, supervision and syllabuses, Roads to breakdown physical barriers between nationalities, Coffee shops where the Ugandans just melee around, reminisce and socialise, and cultural community Centres for Adult Learning Programmes, Tata lorry schools; Tertiary learning centres, etc.

3. Economically: The UPC developed the Uganda Development Corporation that spurred state investment; Uganda Commercial Bank that supported the private sectors investment and the Co-operative Bank to help the farmers and Co-operative Societies - no tribal certificate required; Roads to facilitate faster inter-community threading into communication and trade no tribal land excepted; Produce Marketing and National Food Reserve to ensure full belly before work; Waragi distilleries etc.

4. Politically: UPC has nudged opinion makers and leaders to respect the Parliament as legislature, the Judiciary, and the Executive as the component apex of political governance. This is where many of the attacks against UPC have been levelled, and I suspect, those with capacity to overturn this are abdicating from examining the reasons for the insidious attacks that contributes to the putsch against the UPC political programmes and more so to keep UPC out of the political fray by the NRA-regime. To examine this more closely, we may stumble on the reasons why national assets are being stripped by militarists without even a murmur from the attendant social forces. Without hard facts, I can only hazard a vile, disgusting and trite suggestion that as the 'protected' social forces revel in the undiminished attention to keep agape the social fault lines, the NRA are busy asset-stripping to forever erase the imprints of the UPC from the memories of the population.

To conclude, given the drive to improve all facets of society, Ganda aspiration and emotions included, the UPC has made a difference bit-by-bit in all sectors of society. It is therefore relevant to study this intellectually enriching social relations and behaviour of social forces, my fear is the tendency to emphasize what is identified as a problem in a political phase, becoming 'the description' and equal to a political process. A political process is a building culture that cannot be prescribed but worked at. Political prescription is a pastime for political fortune-tellers.

Approaches that link or conjure a notion that the UPC party is 'predestined' to rule the country, creates resentments and provides ammunition to other 'chosen' AK-47 bearing type to come out of the woods and claim to be equal to a political institutions. Thus they impose themselves on the people and go on to arrogate the right to write themselves 'as' the Constitution thereafter freely mount a political referendum as an assault on political pluralism. A thesis that trudges along predestination lines may justify the actions of gunmen and go on to prescribe for 'chosen' gunmen a perpetual rotation of rulership of Uganda amongst themselves.

The world is too big for the ordinary mortals to hitch a ride on, that is why its' thorough study led to its reduction and re-shaping to what is baptised as a wheel. The wheel is now manageable and is continually getting easier to ride on, simpler to use and to perform a host of other things, including the task yet to be brought into being. The wheel was never invented, it was brought into being through bit-by-bit engineering and those who did so stopped to claim it as their own, hence the adage 'you cannot re-invent the wheel'. Anyway, no one claims the wheel has replaced or inherited the earth and mere mortals continue to work on the wheel to make life easier for them and it is unlikely that we have heard the last on the improvements of the wheel. Clearly there is no room or time for prophets in the wheel improvement process.

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