Muniini K. Mulera
Term limits would lift the dark political clouds
Posted
Monday, April 2
2012 at
00:00
Dear Tingasiga: I was as resolute in advocating
presidential term limits during the making of Uganda’s Constitution in
the early 1990s as I was opposed to the amendment that lifted them in
2005. I have not changed my mind. Indeed I am more persuaded than ever
before that it is in Uganda’s national interest that presidential term
limits be restored. The gentleman for whose benefit the Constitution was
amended has proved to the doubters that prolonged stay in power
corrupts and fossilises national government, and amplifies instability
in young states.
The President’s need to entrench and defend
himself amid declining popularity, widening economic disparity,
escalating corruption and other scandals has propelled him to rely on
militarism, State violence, bribery and manipulation as the preferred
means of governance. This, in turn, has pushed many citizens to nurture
thoughts of violent response and a rejection of peaceful dialogue.
Street protests, for example, have become a substitute for sober debate.
The State has responded with violence against unarmed citizens. A
vicious cycle has been set in motion, creating a political tornado with a
potentially dangerous destination.
Such fear of change or loss of power is not a
monopoly of President Museveni or the NRM. The symptoms of intolerance
for genuine competition and top leadership change have been manifest in
the opposition parties as well, especially the UPC, DP and FDC. Men and
women in the forefront of the struggle for political and leadership
change in Uganda, have had trouble accepting challenge and genuinely
free and fair competition within their own political parties.
One of the most fascinating dramas of 2011 was the effort by senior FDC leaders to lift term limits. FDC spokesperson Wafula Oguttu informed the nation last December that some party leaders had wanted to amend the constitution in order to enable Dr Kizza Besigye to stay on as president.
One of the most fascinating dramas of 2011 was the effort by senior FDC leaders to lift term limits. FDC spokesperson Wafula Oguttu informed the nation last December that some party leaders had wanted to amend the constitution in order to enable Dr Kizza Besigye to stay on as president.
Yes, Tingasiga, the very people who had parted ways
with Museveni’s NRM had brought the bad habits of the ruling party to
the one that was supposed to be a vehicle for “democratic change.” “It
was not easy when (Besigye) announced his decision,” Oguttu told
journalists. “We had a two-hour discussion and disagreements over the
decision. Many officials did not like it, but the party has to go on.”
That these agents of “democratic change” had spent two hours debating
the validity of term limits was a very sobering revelation. Frankly some
of us wondered whether or not we were drinking from a poisoned chalice.
To his credit, Dr Besigye stood firm and refused to be “persuaded” by
the appeals of those who wanted to betray FDC and democracy. However,
his biggest test will come when the time comes for the party to select a
candidate for the 2016 national presidential elections. One hopes that
he will reject any and all efforts by party members to persuade him to
seek to be the FDC’s presidential candidate for 2016.
While there is nothing in the FDC constitution that
prohibits Dr Besigye from seeking the party’s nod to take on Museveni
in 2016, his greatest contribution to democracy in Uganda will be his
voluntary decision to completely retire from his party’s leadership.
Like the great leaders of the past, such as George
Washington of the USA and Nelson Mandela of South Africa, voluntarily
relinquishing of power is a greater legacy than heroic acts on the
political and military battlefields. Among the oft stated benefits of
presidential term limits is the opportunity for leadership renewal, with
its attendant new ideas and approaches to national development. It also
spreads economic and social opportunities among a larger section of the
population, with different political or regional groups taking their
turn at the trough. This, in theory at least, reduces the envy that is
often directed at a group that monopolises power.
A benefit of presidential term limits that deserves greater
emphasis is the hope it gives other political players to occupy State
House one day. Such hope encourages opposition groups to focus their
energies on developing alternative policies and programmes, and on
seeking the electorate’s approval in advance of the next elections.
Where such hope exists, there is hardly any reason
for opposition politicians to take to the bush or the streets in mass
protests. The Walk-to-Work protest in Uganda is the direct consequence
of the closed doors to genuine democracy and freedom. The Activists for
Change (A4C) would probably not have been necessary had there been an
opportunity for the opposition to have a fair shot at gaining power
through free and fair elections between fresh candidates, not against a
deeply entrenched incumbent with no term limits. The dark clouds that
threaten to engulf Uganda trace their origins to the pockets of the MPs
whose votes were bought with Shs5m to lift the term limits in 2005.
Those clouds can be lifted by Parliament, propelled to action by a collective voice of citizens at home and in the Diaspora.
Dr Mulera is a consultant pediatrician and neonatologist
mkmulera@aol.com
mkmulera@aol.com
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