By Mulengera Reporters
Embattled UPC President Jimmy Akena realizes that his presidency over UPC is no longer sustainable. Dissenters are growing in number and becoming more emboldened to call him out and take him on like never before.
He has been UPC President since 2015 when he upstaged Olara Otunnu using a coup and forcefully took charge at Uganda House under the support of then IGP Kale Kayihura who gave him protection and deployed Police to flush out his opponents.
Akena’s growing vulnerability is deriving from many factors including a cracking relationship with Gen Museveni who has been his funder and protector since 2005 when he returned from exile to Uganda upon the death of his dad Milton Obote in a South African hospital.
He became UPC President after his dad leading the party for over 40 years as founding president and his mum Miria leading the same party for some time (five years). So UPC, in existence since the 1950s, has had four Presidents, three of whom have been father, mother and son. Olara Otunnu only reigned for 5 years and got forced out by pro-Akena hooligans many of whom have since turned against him. Otunnu suffered many attacks, allegedly including witch-craft.
Museveni’s belief and faith in Akena diminished when the man who has been MP, with his support, for 20 years, began stabbing him in the back. He had always taken the Lango block vote for granted and yet Akena, a kingmaker in Lango, now says it’s his time to stand for Presidency.
This risks depriving Museveni of roughly 2m votes, which greatly hurts his chances to remain President in a country where regions like Buganda and Buganda, which traditionally supported him, are revolting and embracing regime change.
Museveni must be nervous seeing Akena, who no NRM candidate can beat in Lango on the same ballot paper, stabbing him in the back. State House is nervous that even if he doesn’t stand for President, Akena (who originally was ignored by intelligence thinking he just wanted to blackmail Museveni into paying them Obote’s retirement benefits and IPOD money) is more likely to ally with Bobi Wine of NUP than Gen Museveni of NRM this time round.
This is why he rightly believes that the Musevenist state, which was always pro-him, has turned to politically destroy him. So as plan B, Akena has resolved with his key advisors to let go of the UPC Presidency as was signalled by the Judge last week, and let someone else run the show.
This has to be someone with financial means yet very loyal to the Obote brand. This has been identified to be Maruzi County MP rich man Maxwell Akora, who is a relative of some sort. The idea was to use the now banned Kamdin special delegates conference to designate Akora to serve as Ag Party President in the interim period, supported by a Presidential Policy Commission (PPC) similar to what Obote had in place and used to govern the party and direct its affairs for the 20 years he was in exile in Zambia till his death in October 2005.
Akena, who is increasingly getting isolated, can’t imagine the more than Shs10bn in IPOD billions coming to UPC when he is no longer in charge. His rivals have clearly ganged up and they are determined to politically obliterate him now-once and for all.
He will need divine intervention to prevail and might end up having to found another party like Dr. Kizza Besigye has had to do-forgetting about FDC and painfully moving on to something else. The good thing in Akena’s case is that the Langis still like the Obote brand and not just UPC, which means there is something Akena can build on to found a new party. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
