By Our Reporters
Mukono MP Betty Nambooze, who is also chief opposition spokesperson, on Saturday battled chief opposition destroyer Dr. Abed Bwanika for two hours during a talk show on CBS radio. She put it to him that the DP Bloc, whose MoU-signing ceremony was held at Hotel Africana earlier in the week, was nothing but an effort at “political deception.” She said if it isn’t for this deception, there is no reason why smaller parties like PDP and SDP (whose leaders claim similar ideology and values with DP) don’t dissolve themselves and become part of the Democratic Party. In the alternative, she says it’s possible for them to make use of Sections 17 and 18 of the Political Organizations Act and formally register an Alliance and operate as one with binding rules as opposed to the so-called Principals preserving their own parties with a view of returning back to them in case the DP Bloc flops. “If it’s not deception and it’s for the good of the opposition why would you use such a big day for the Bloc to launch attacks on Dr. Kizza Besigye? You show dishonesty by deliberately distorting his message that he is against elections and ID registration. He has clearly been saying the vote alone, without undertaking many other activities, can’t remove Mr. Museveni but you go to a public ceremony and deceptively distort his message as if you think Ugandans are fools,” said Nambooze who was appearing with other panelists like Joseph Sewungu and Imam Kasozi. She also said the fact that JEEMA immediately had to issue a statement denying signing onto the MoU is proof the promoters of the Bloc politics still have a lot of explaining to do for the public to adequately understand them.
She said the fact that Abed Bwanika was contradicting Mao by calling it an Alliance (Mao had described the Africana events as a settlement) was proof even the chief proponents of the Bloc aren’t unanimously agreed on the proper description for their thing. She also said the proper way would be for Mao to call relevant meetings and go through the DP party organs before plunging the party into such a deal with leaders whose political strength can’t easily be ascertained. She referred to Sam Lubega Mukaku who was permitted to present himself as the leader of the TJ Platform yet the legitimate group leader the public knows is Erias Lukwago. She also repeated what Semujju Nganda said earlier on the NBS TV that this isn’t the first time actors like Mike Mabikke are being paraded as fresh returnees to DP. This is the fourth time having been introduced to party members at Sharing Hall Nsambya during the celebrations to mark DP’s 60 years of existence. The same was repeated at a party event at Gaba Beach and in Entebbe Municipality on another occasion. Critics say this is deliberate deception aimed at creating some media visibility for the 65 year old party that doesn’t believe in having many news-making political activities in the field for fear of being harmed by the police and other security forces. Nambooze says all this shows dishonesty and deception that is beginning to take root in the way the current DP leadership operates. She also said the DP leadership has always reprimanded her for being a firm believer in opposition unity. She referred to 2011 when she and others were fought for backing Dr. Besigye in the name of opposition unity. “They showed usual dishonesty when Semujju Nganda, who was speaking for IPC, announced that the unity Mayoral candidate was Erias Lukwago. The DP leadership, which keeps asking why Lukwago didn’t run on party ticket, created more contradictions by declaring support for Mike Mabikke who had acrimoniously left DP years earlier. They said he was their candidate but the Kampala voters were wiser. They coalesced around Lukwago and that’s how he became the City Lord Mayor up to this day,” Nambooze said after making a long narration of how DP adherents stormed CBS at night to assault Semujju for declaring Lukwago. “He only survived by God’s grace because the plan for those people was to kill Semujju Nganda that evening. This is something still fresh in many people’s minds.” There are also wide spread concern regarding the actual status of SDP in the DP Bloc because it’s the party ex-VP Gilbert Bukenya (who Salaam Musumba says paid Shs300m) represented in TDA whose eventual Presidential candidate Amama Mbabazi had Mabikke as campaign spokesman. Nambooze says there is need for all these things, uncomfortable as they are, to be confronted and explained to the public if the DP Bloc promoters are to overcome the widespread public skepticism.
BWANIKA RESPONDS
On his part, Abed Bwanika explained that the constituent parties like PDP still exist and have only come together to form an Alliance for purposes of winning 2021 elections. Having been away from the same radio program for 2 weeks since the Mao/Bobi Wine contradiction was unleashed by MP Muwanga Kivumbi, Bwanika said he wasn’t obliged to explain to anybody why he had conspicuously missed two consecutive shows. Moderator Med Nsereko let him off the hook saying he wasn’t obliged to explain to anyone because it his right to miss the show. He said they will soon register their Alliance with the EC and that Bobi Wine will soon bring his People Power for a similar MoU-signing ceremony. Gen Muntu’s ANT is another entity Bwanika said was being expected to sign onto the MoU. He said they are still committed to their “One to One” approach and that it will apply at all levels from Presidential to the lowest elections. He said they would still insist that parties joining the DP Bloc are assigned regions to be in charge of with DP being in charge of Buganda. He said all candidates running under the Bloc would be required to have the DP hoe as their campaign symbol because DP is destined to become the leading opposition party in Uganda. He said theirs is a coalition of the willing now comprising of TJ Platform, PDP and SDP. For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755.
