TIM MUGERWA on the A4C Facebook page alleged that the DP is a party for the Baganda and Catholics and I found it prudent to clarify for him and his ilk. I am amazed at people who say DP, my parents' and grand parents' party is a Baganda Catholic Party as though they don't know the history of the Democratic Party. That the two of the party flag bearers Ben Kiwanuka and Paul K Ssemogerere have been both Baganda Catholics doesn't mean they own the party. At independence, DP was defeated because of the unholy marriage of convenience by the Protestant Kabaka Yekka with Protestant-leaning Uganda People's Congress. Since, UPC's Milton Obote became Uganda's first independence Executive Prime minister courtesy of UPC's alliance with KY, does it sound true to say UPC is partly a Baganda Protestant Party and Partly a Langi-Protestant Party? The lies, misconceptions and half-truths against DP cannot be swallowed anymore. Like the Bible says, "They will know the truth and the truth will set them free". For the information of Mugerwa and his ilk, Mzee Boniface Byanyima - Dr Besigye's father-in-law was until 2005 the national chairman of DP and is still a strong pillar of the party. Byanyima's wife, Gertrude Kabwasingo Byanyima (RIP), Winnie's mother was known as mother DP in the whole of western Uganda if not in the whole of Uganda. You need to be told that before the advent of Museveni's NRM, virtually all the Bahima who are neither Baganda nor Catholics were DP members and supporters.
And by the way you need to recall that in 1980 Sam Kutesa stood on the DP ticket to defeat Museveni in Nyabushozi. I wish to aver that it is largely because Kutesa left DP and joined NRM that he started behaving like the NRM people whose party is synonymous with corruption. Otherwise had he remained in DP most likely he wouldn't be embroiled in corruption scandals. That's not to say DP is purely free from the corrupt. DP - a spotless party may be infiltrated by people who at heart are NRM but superficially claim to be DP. At least, those who read the Bible know that when Job's children went to dance for the Lord Satan came along with them. So where there's good, the devil must be there to tempt the good people. Where people worship God, Satan will be there to tempt God's people to evade HIM. Those who wrongly perceive the party to be sectarian must know that DP is a party with a big heart welcoming and accommodating all people that believe in truth and justice.
And please, don't make a mistake of calling FDC a party for Banyankole/Bakiga or protestants because the party president is a Munyankole/Mukiga cum protestant or because the leader of opposition is a protestant. By attaching political parties to religion or ethnicity we miss a big point: namely what the parties stand for. Nobody applied to belong to their ethnic group and majority of us find ourselves following our parents' faith. Although, I proudly cherish the Catholic faith, most likely if I was born or brought up in an Anglican or Muslim family, I wouldn't be a Catholic. We have no control about our ethnicity and have very little control about our religious beliefs. Let's confine ourselves to the issues that we can control.
It's not a crime for a Muganda Catholic to stand on the ticket of DP simply because we fear the false perception that the party is for only Baganda Catholics. Mzee William Mukaira was until recently deemed father DP in the greater Bushenyi although he's a Munyankole Anglican. His crossing to FDC had neither to do with his ethnicity nor his faith. I have talked to him several times and I can authoritatively say, he's still DP at heart although he may have been disillusioned by the slow pace at which the party was moving. I will not comment on UPC for reasons best known to me but I also know that it has some well-meaning people.
Formation of political parties is often influenced by causes. If Catholics are marginalised as Catholics they make no crime forming a party to address their marginalisation thereby calling upon all Catholics who resent marginalisation to shun other parties. Aristotle's dictum that man is a political animal and that whoever claims to be apolitical is either a god or a beast is axiomatic. The mistake arises only when they lock out other people on religious or ethnic grounds or if they use the party to marginalise others. Even if I was not a Catholic I would find it prudent to identify with a party that espouses my cherished values: truth and justice. This I have done and those who have seen me since 2001 can attest that I have strongly identified with the marginalised Ugandans from the north and north-east. I wonder whether the NRM is called a Banyankole- Bakiga protestant party since the core leadership comprises of Banyankole/Bakiga Protestants.
We shouldn't fall prey to the NRM propaganda by labeling the opposition parties sectarian. The most sectarian party that I have known is NRM. I agree DP was largely followed by Catholics while UPC was largely followed by Protestants but at least religion cuts across the whole country meaning if DP was a Catholic Party like it is portrayed, a Catholic in Acholi land would see it as his/her party and the same applied to the one in Kigezi or Ankole. In Museveni's reign, today people are divided along ethnic grounds and parties are largely ethnic! So between the NRM and the past political parties where is sectarianism highly pronounced? I have seen some people who criticise me sharply when I support a fellow Catholic for any leadership position arguing that I have chosen to be sectarian on religious grounds. But whenever I support a Muslim or Anglican even if such a person is a fellow Munyankole-Mukiga, they don't criticise me. Does it mean Catholics are devoid of leadership credentials? I have seen some people from my area who critiqued me for joining Uganda Young Democrats arguing I did that because I was a Catholic but they don't criticise westerners who join NRM or FDC youth leagues. We must not be hypocrites if we are to make Uganda better for all of us. Incidentally, I like the FDC Slogan of "One Uganda, One people" but the Alpha and Omega for that slogan is justice which will remain an illusion if we shun the truth. Therefore, truth and justice to me are the cherished values while "One Uganda, One people" is a motto. It's because of this reason that DP, FDC and all other opposition parties must necessarily work together never apart. You also have to know that for every rule there's an exception. Therefore, even the perverse parties such as NRM have got some good people. I think Theodore Ssekikubo is a respectable gentleman.
Ugandans don't eat parties but all they need is what the parties promise and ultimately do for them. In Uganda, we don't have ideological differences as all parties ironically including the ruling party promise better health facilities, education, roads, markets for agricultural products, jobs and so forth. Even the parties which call themselves right-wing parties end up campaigning as social democratic parties. We have parties that call themselves social democratic parties but have not proved to be so when they are in power. Social democratic parties cannot fight trade unions or accept wholeheartedly to be in the pockets of the western capitalists. The NRM is an ultra-right wing political party but some members who suffer the dearth of knowledge of political ideologies call it a social democratic party which necessarily must be centre-leftist.
Finally, we must sit down as Ugandans, identify our problems and prescribe remedies for them. We must extricate ourselves from the yoke of the current capitalism which has emphasised heartless individualism and exploitation. All of us must participate in politics either as leaders or voters or activists who will hold our leaders to account for the taxpayers' money.
No comments:
Post a Comment