By Joachim Twino
Renowned for taking no prisoners in his approach to issues, senior Museveni RDC Moses Nuwagaba (aka the giraffe) has spoken out on the defeat his NRM party suffered in the just concluded Rukungiri woman MP elections where FDC’s Betty Muzanira defeated Winnie Matsiko of the ruling party with a margin of over 4,000 votes. In his argument posted on his facebook wall, Nuwagaba argues that reliance on old generals who politically have even outlived their usefulness cost the NRM party. He argues that Generals Henry Tumukunde, Jim Muhwezi and Johnson Byabashaija who passed off as the guys leading Matsiko’s overall campaign suffer from complacency and diminished political ambition that comes with advancing age. Below is Nuwagaba’s facebook rant reproduced with all its original mistakes:
VERBATIM;
Rukungiri: FDC walked on NRM greed. I did not know FDC’s Betty Muzanira till the just concluded by-election. But i’ve known & seen Jim Muhwezi, Henry Tumukunde, Sezi Mbaguta & Winnie Matsiko for very many years! Why must it be them to mobilize & contest, all the time? Are they title holders in our politix or what? Didn’t they groom any other pipo in Rukungiri to sapot & grow the party? Are they the alpha & the omega? The average age of Ugandans is 15. How then can we rely entirely on big names of yesterday for political relevance? How inspiring are such retirees to the young generation? Any party that wants to remain relevant must constantly renew itself. Even if that means annoying the selfish old timers. They go into govt offices, lockout or undermine real, perceived & potential political competitors; and when the laws of nature take a toll on them, they sink with the party. Let all who hv eyes see. Uganda’s democracy is still young; it has to be guided, lest it be abused & sparks mass discontent. Take an example of my muko Hon. Elioda Tumwesigye. I call him muko b’se he marries from my Neighborhood in Nombe, Kashare. Very gud family frndz. He has bn mp for many yrs. Without even resigning his seat, he is busy contesting against job-seekers in Sheema Municipality!! And the party membership is expected to rejoice in his greed. Why? B’se he is a minister & senior NRM cadre!! Really? What cadreship is in his greed? What benefit does the party draw from his seniority? Being a disgust to his subordinate party membership? Taking voters for granted! They may be quiet but they are not happy. They are not fools either. We hv reached a stage where politix means taking advantage of one’s position to knock off the rest, manipulatively play with the pipoz psychology so as to shamelessly aggrandize & enrich ourselves no matter how nude we appear in the entire process. I think H.E the Prez needs to convene the Party CEC so as to guide some of his big men properly. Their appetite is getng uncontrollably high & repulsive. They must be controlled if NRM must remain a party of pipoz choice. In the words Taylor (an 18th century scholar), “a herd of wolves is quieter than a group of men with neither a common aspiration nor a superintending authority”. I insist, the NRM party must control this indiscipline now manifesting itself in the form of acute greed. Love me or hate me, this is the truth.
