CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Fred Kirungi, Uganda, August 1998
THEME = POLITICS
If anything has emerged from the election
and appointment of senior state officials of the last two months in Uganda,
it is that President Yoweri Museveni will get whatever he wants
First was the Movement Convention of 13-18 July. It was convened to elect, for the first time, leaders of the Movement, Uganda's supreme political organisation. The Movement is President Museveni's alternative to political parties which he blames for the country's past political turmoil. Every Ugandan is, by law, a member of the Movement. It is supposed to be a broad-based organisation, with diverse political interests represented. But in reality, it is dominated by Museveni's former guerrillas and political backers. Supporters of a multi-party system, who are constitutionally prohibited from conducting party activities, have dismissed the Movement as a disguised one-party system designed to keep Museveni in power. The election of Museveni and his close ally, Moses Kigongo, as the Movement's chairman and vice chairman respectively unopposed at the convention, will only have served to confirm their fears. Museveni and Kigongo have been at the head of the Movement since its foundation in the bush in 1981 as the National Resistance Movement.
No one was surprised by the election of the two unopposed. Any challenge to their leadership, without signals from them that they were ready to leave, would have been viewed as treachery within the Movement. It has become a habit for Movement politicians to regularly visit State House and pledge their loyalty to President Museveni, and vehemently deny any suggestions of ambitions to succeed him. A casual observer might think that it is a crime to entertain thoughts of succeeding the President.
It was the vital post of National Political Commissar that attracted greatest attention at the Movement elections. The National Political Commissar is an equivalent of a secretary- general of a political party. The chairman of the Movement nominates up to three people, from whom the Movement's National Executive Committee elects one for the post.
Before the convention, it had emerged that President Museveni strongly favoured the then Speaker of Parliament, James Wapakhabulo, for the post. Wapakhabulo is a long time buddy of the President. The two were even room mates at the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania in the late 60s.
Younger members of the Movement, who have felt marginalised for a long time, however tried to exert pressure on Museveni to nominate one of their own for the post. They threatened that if he didn't, they would deprive him of the support of their 80-member Young Parliamentarians Association in Parliament.
They were humiliated when Museveni didn't even make a fleeting reference to their candidate. To prevent any serious contest without appearing to be imposing his will on the Movement, Museveni nominated only two candidates - his favourite James Wapakhabulo and Betty Akech, a politician midget many Ugandans have never heard of. The latter promptly declined the nomination, leaving the former to win the post also unopposed. There were reports that Akech had been "advised" prior to her nomination, to stand down on the understanding that she would be appointed minister by the President. Her appointment as minister a month later, lends credence to the reports.
If Museveni's will was the deciding factor only in the Movement, probably not many Ugandans would be bothered. After all, aren't all the main political organisations virtual properties of their founders? (Exiled Milton Obote has clung to the leadership of the Uganda Peoples Congress since independence in 1962, and Paul Ssemongerere to that of the Democratic Party since 1980). It is the extension of this predominance to structures of government that has rattled many, with some legislators accusing Museveni of "political blackmail".
Following the election of James Wapakhabulo as National Political Commissar of the Movement, there was need to fill his former post of Speaker of Parliament. Members of Parliament (MP) showed preference for a backbencher (an MP who is not a member of the executive), Edward Sekandi, but President Museveni pushed for a minister of state in his office, Francis Ayume. He summoned Sekandi and Movement MPs to State House, to secure their support for Ayume. Sekandi was promised the post of deputy speaker if he "co-operated". Ayume subsequently won the seat without much difficulty.
Just how far Museveni will go in trying to get his will done was put to the test by the deputy speaker, Betty Okwir, who refused to budge despite considerable political pressure exerted on her by the President and his supporters to resign. Her term had not yet expired, but her job had been promised to Sekandi. She was promised a cabinet post in exchange, but she still refused to quit, probably fearing to be double-crossed. President Museveni was forced to make a quick cabinet reshuffle, appointing her minister along with 15 others. At the same time, it was indicated to her that a vote of "no confidence" would be moved against her if she remained "obstinate". Beleaguered from all sides, she resigned, paving the way for Sekandi to become the deputy Speaker.
While Museveni gets his way once he has set his mind on something, it is not always clean sailing for him. He has often run into some resistance, especially from Parliament, if only momentarily. In such cases, he summons the MPs to Parliament, and uses carrot-and- stick tactics to beat them into line. The weapon he has often used against MPs is to keep a number of cabinet posts vacant. Whenever they have tried to stand up to him, they have backed down, on being reminded that there are vacant ministerial posts available and they might miss the chance of occupying them if they remain troublesome.
It came as no surprise, therefore, when Parliament rejected Museveni's list of 16 cabinet appointees at the end of July, claiming that it did not cater for ethnic and religious interests. Since all the vacant posts were to be filled by the 16 in question, MPs had nothing to lose by rejecting them. Who knows, maybe they could even get the President to replace some of the 16 with their own names.
As usual, however, Members of the parliamentary Appointments Committee capitulated after a meeting with the President and agreed to endorse his appointees. If Parliament, whose primary role is to check the powers of the executive, cannot stand up to President Museveni, is there anything or anyone who can? Whatever Museveni does, some would say, he cannot contravene the law. After all, didn't he spend five years in the bush fighting for the rule of law?
Museveni might be reluctant to break the law in pursuing his objectives, but this does not mean that he cannot go round it. For one, he can get Parliament to change the law, as he did when he got it to increase the number of ministers he can appoint from the 42 prescribed by the Constitution to 60, soon after his election in May 1996. Or he can exploit the ambiguity of the law, as he did when he created the dubious post of "Overseer of the Ministry of Defence" and gave it to his brother, Maj.Gen.Salim Saleh. He could not appoint Saleh a minister for lack of the academic qualifications set by the Constitution, but as "Overseer" he was as good as a minister.
The ultimate test of how far the law can limit the powers of Museveni, came when, at the end of July, he tried to turn this brother into a Minister of State for Defence (Museveni himself is the Minister of Defence). According to the Constitution, one must have completed a school leaving certificate at Advanced Level or its equivalent, to qualify as being a minister. Salim Saleh clearly didn't have that qualification, and Museveni knew it, having been the one who pulled him out of school before he even completed his Ordinary Level to join his guerrilla force.
Ugandans held their breath, waiting to see how Parliament, which approves all ministerial appointments before they take effect, would handle Saleh's case. In the event, it is Salim Saleh himself who saved the situation, turning down the appointment before it was considered by Parliament early this month. Given Museveni's reputation of always getting what he wants, many Ugandans believed that Parliament would close its eyes to Saleh's lack of the required qualifications. Significantly, the Parliamentary Appointments Committee did not raise the question of Saleh's lack of the necessary qualification when it met the President to discuss his list of appointments.
The question of whether Museveni can override even the Constitution in trying to achieve his wishes, was thus not answered. What became clear, though, is that he was prepared to try. Will he as usual, come out on top? Going by the events of the last two months, he just might.
END
CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
PeaceLink 1998 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement