One evening, on a date I cannot recall, in early 1979, I was getting into my car ready to drive home when I was approached by a long time friend and colleague in the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), one Mr. Osindek Wangwor.
Mr. Wangwor enquired whether I was aware of a meeting then taking place at the University of Dar es Salaam Main Campus, where I was a lecturer at the East African Statistical Training Centre. I answered that I was not aware.
Mr. Osindek Wangwor then urged me to scout around till I find the venue of the meeting, then join what he termed the “Discussion Group”, and report the proceedings to the UPC Party President, Dr. A. Milton Obote (RIP), through Mr. Ben Wacha. I did just that.
The first meeting I attended was a continuation of the previous meetings of the Group and the discussions revolved around a proposed “Unity Conference” to be held either in Kenya or in Tanzania. The reason for the proposed Unity Conference was to galvanize the efforts of all Ugandans opposed to Idi Amin’s dictatorship so as to form a political front that would augment the military wing of the struggle. At the time, the Tanzanian army, the Tanzanian People’s Defence Forces (TPDF), and the Uganda exiles forces were already
Being my first time to attend the meeting I simply listened attentively and contributed almost nothing of substance. I nonetheless took note of the persons in attendance, some of whom had come from Nairobi and I was meeting them for the first time.
As instructed by Mr. Wangwor, I reported all that transpired to Mr. Ben Wacha, who in turn informed the UPC Party President.
The second meeting I attended consolidated the grounds covered in the previous meetings and it became clear that the proposed Unity Conference would be held somewhere within Tanzania territory, given its pivotal role in the liberation war then going on.
It was during my third meeting that the number of attendance increased almost two-fold. Notable among the persons that attended that meeting was one, Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, accompanied by a contingent of body guards. I had earlier known that Mr. Museveni was the leader of the Front for the National Salvation, (FRONASA) and as such I was not surprised to see him accompanied by a contingent of mean-looking bodyguards
As expected, he was asked to brief the gathering about the progress at the war front, which he did, briefly .
However, as discussions about the Unity Conference progressed, he got curious and asked the Chairman, Prof. Dan Nabudere, why Dr. A. Milton Obote and himself, who had fighting forces in Uganda were not actively involved in the preparations of the proposed Moshi Unity Conference. To this question, the Chairman retorted that the people fighting were Ugandans and as such both Mr. Museveni and Dr. Obote should not claim any special position in the convening of the Unity Conference.
Incensed, Mr. Museveni asked, “How many Ugandans have you recruited and organised to fight Amin since 1971?”
Prof. Dan Nabudere got visibly embarrassed, picked up his papers and left the meeting. The Secretary, Mr. Omwony Ojwok (RIP) also downed his tools and left!
The Group quickly re-organised itself and appointed Mr. Augustine Ruzindana as its Interim Chairman, and Mr. Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile as the Interim Secretary. But even with that swift action, the damage had been done and the Group had disintegrated. It never reconvened.
Before we dispersed, Mr. Yoweri K. Museveni told the Discussion Group that his mission was to meet Dr. A. Milton Obote the following day, agree on a joint approach to the Unity Conference, then go back to the war front.
As my brief demanded, I telephoned Mr. Ben Wacha and asked him to inform Dr. Obote to expect a visit from Mr. Museveni the following day.
At about six O’clock the following day, I telephoned Ben to find out whether the meeting did take place and if so what was discussed and agreed. I was surprised to learn that the meeting did not take place. I later learnt that the meeting aborted ostensibly because of the incident on Lake Victoria, which claimed the lives of 111 combatants.
According to the information I received, Dr. A. Milton Obote blamed the deaths on Mr. Yoweri K. Museveni, Mr. Ateker Ejalu, and Colonel Tito Okelo (RIP). He was informed, and he believed, that the trio lured about 300 combatants to travel to Jinja on two ships. One of the ships carrying 120 of them capsized and only 9 were rescued.
With our “University of Dar es Salaam Discussion Group” virtually disbanded, I resigned to my teaching job till the Centre went into recess in March of 1979.
As was usually the case during the long vacations, I was hired to teach Mathematics of Finance at the Institute of Finance Management.
On March 21, 1979, while teaching at the Institute, I got a message from my wife that she had received a telephone call from “Msasani Residence”, as we all called Dr. Obote’s home in Dar es Salaam, that I should report to the Residence as soon as I could.
Fortunately for me I was winding up the lesson. I apologised to the students, jumped into my car and sped off to Msasani.
On reaching, I met a number of people, most of whom I had never seen in my whole life. Notable among them were Dr. Moses Apiliga, who appeared to be the in-charge of the people assembled at the Msasani Residence, Dr. John Luwuliza-Kirunda (RIP), Dr. George Obua (RIP), Justice Emmanuel Oteng (RIP), and Dr. Willy W. Anokbonggo, among others. The only person I had met before was Dr. Absolom Kenneth Oteng.
Most of the people had arrived from Lusaka, Zambia, and wore the looks of persons in transit. The Nairobi group included Mr. Chris Rwakasisi and Mr. Edward Rurangaranga.
Dr. Moses Apiliga took charge of all the groups and briefed us about the Unity Conference, which was slated to take place in Moshi in two days’ time! He then instructed us to sub-divide ourselves into several “Discussion” and “Liberation” groups so that we may boost UPC’s participation in the Conference as a Party.
Mr. Ben Wacha, Mr. Fabian Odongo, and myself found ourselves in one faction called the “National Unity and Reconciliation Group”, led by Ambassador Eric Otema Alimadi (RIP), whom I was to meet for the first time in Moshi, since he was not present at the Msasani Residence at the time.
The rest of the factions were given different names such as the Uganda Liberation Group (ULG), Zambia. Dr. John Luwuliza-Kirunda, a combative and reflective man, headed the UPC (Lusaka) Group.
There were other groups from the United Kingdom, the USA, Stockholm, Geneva, Cairo, Barbados, etc.
Departure was to be the following day, March 22, 1979, on a night express bus departing at 6 O’clock and we were all instructed to be punctual. We did just that, and off we went.
We arrived in Moshi to find accommodation already booked for us in various hotels and lodges. I shared a room.
Day one saw nothing but confusion of the highest order. At the centre of it all were Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, Prof. Dan Nabudere, Prof. George Kanyaihamba, Prof. Yash Tandon, Dr. Andrew Lutakome Kayiira (RIP), and Mr. Omwony Ojwok.
These gentlemen constituted themselves into the Unity Conference Credentials Committee, under the Chairmanship of Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, and set about vetting the delegates with impunity.
By evening, the meeting had not taken place because the UPC factions and others from the Democratic Party (DP), and the Kabaka Yekka (KY) who saw no chance of being accredited to the Unity Conference had forced their way into the Conference venue and occupied the same to full capacity.
We refused to yield when the Accreditation Committee, represented by Dr. Andrew Lutakome Kayiira disqualified a number of us, including Hon. Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa, and ordered all those not holding Accreditation Cards to leave the venue.
Nightfall meant that we had to get some food and go to sleep, having travelled overnight with hardly any sleep in the fast-moving night express bus. When we left the venue, the same was firmly locked till the following day.
Day break came and then it was time to get into the Conference Room. No one was allowed to enter without an Accreditation Card. However, a few of us were issued with the cards and were allowed into the meeting venue. The majority, including Hon. Binaisa, remained outside, with the younger ones shouting and heckling.
The Unity Conference opened at about 10.30 a.m. on Saturday, March 24, 1979. When the Conference got underway, a number of issues had to be resolved.
In his opening address, Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere apologised for the delay in getting the Conference off the ground by one whole day. He also appealed to the Delegates to consider, in their deliberations, the need for national unity. He then welcomed the Tanzanian Foreign Affairs Minister, Hon. Benjamin Mkapa, to the Conference.
Finally, Prof. Kabwegyere invited nominations for the Conference Chairman. However, there was need to agree on the proceedings of the Conference beforehand, which was immediately tabled and adopted.
Earlier in the morning, we members of the various factions of the UPC, who had been issued with Accreditation cards met under the leadership of Dr. Moses Apiliga and Dr. John Luwuliza-Kirunda and took a position that the Conference Chairman was to be Ambassador Eric Otema Alimadi, while the leader of the organisation to be formed during the Conference was to be Ambassador Paulo Muwanga (RIP).
But since we were grossly out-numbered, with the majority of our factions not accredited to the Conference, a fierce debate followed, spearheaded by UPC (Lusaka) and ULG (Zambia). The UPC (Lusaka) revealed that the Cairo, Barbados, Stockholm and the Geneva Delegates, who were actually in Moshi were not allowed to participate ostensibly because they did not meet the “criteria” set by the Credentials Committee!
The ULG (Zambia) complained that apart from the groups mentioned by the UPC (Lusaka), there were the Women’s Brigade and the Students’ Organisations which were also debarred from the Conference, not to mention several other groups and individuals, who were also deliberately locked out of the Unity Conference.
The two groups then walked out of the Conference in protest, after Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, the Credentials Committee Chairman, stubbornly shelved the matter as if it were of no consequence to the proceedings of the Unity Conference.
After the two delegations left the Conference venue, the remaining delegates moved swiftly and proceeded to amend the Rules of Procedure No. 2 to read, “Only registered delegates and observers at the conference.....”, instead of, “Only registered persons at the Conference....”. Rule No.10 was also amended to exclude all forms of voting; meaning that all decisions and elections results were to be arrived at through consensus.
Arising from the above amendments, the Conference elected Mr. Semei Nyanzi (RIP) as its Chairman. Although I nominated Ambassador Eric Otema Alimadi to contest for the chairmanship, he stood down, because it was pretty obvious that he would lose to Mr. Nyanzi, since part of our groups had walked out. Mr. Semei Nyanzi immediately took control of the Conference and the delegates settled down to serious business.
The Chairman appealed to the delegates to forget their past mistakes and misunderstandings and instead work together so as to liberate Uganda from the claws of dictatorship.
However, sensing a rift amongst the Delegates, and probably happy that the important task of electing the Conference Chairman had been accomplished in the absence of the two Delegations, Mr. John Katende moved a motion that the two groups be persuaded to drop their demands and return to the Conference.
The motion was unanimously carried, the Conference adjourned, and negotiations with the two Delegations began in earnest.
After about 20 minutes, the two groups returned to the Conference amidst a deafening applause, but not before Dr. John Luwuliza-Kirunda insisted and telephoned Dr. A. Milton Obote for a final decision as to whether or not they should go back to the Conference.
As soon as the two delegations resumed their seats, the Chairman proposed that the Conference names the Organisation to be formed.
There were a few names suggested but the Delegates zeroed on the name, “Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF)”, as the political organisation to spearhead the war efforts, while the name “Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA)” was given to the Ugandan exile forces then waging war in Uganda against the Idi Amin Regime.
The Organs of the UNLF were formed as the National Executive Committee (NEC), and the National Consultative Council (NCC). The NEC was in turn sub-divided into functional Committees, namely: the Military Committee, later renamed the Military Commission, the Finance and Administration Committee, and the Political and Diplomatic Committee.
The following Agenda was proposed and adopted:
1. Roll Call of the Delegates present;
2. Constituting Delegates into the First NCC;
3. Resolutions of the Delegates’ Conference;
4. Policy of the UNLF;
5. Branches of the UNLF;
6. Timetable of the UNLF;
7. Relations between the NEC and the NCC;
8. Committees and their functions; and
9. A.O.B
Several leaders of various groups then took the floor in turns to read their prepared resolutions. However, almost all of the resolutions revolved around the following:
1. Removal of the dictatorial and murderous regime of
2. Restoration of democracy in Uganda;
3. Forging National Unity;
4. Reconstruction programmes after the fall of Idi Amin;
5. Ensuring that no dictatorship emerges in Uganda, again; and
6. Ensuring that no Ugandans become refugees again.
The structures of the UNLF were formed as follows:
The Tanzanian Foreign Affairs Minister, Ndugu Benjamin Mkapa, addressed the Conference shortly before the elections commenced. He drew the attention of the delegates to the need for urgency in their deliberations regarding elections so that something concrete should emerge in order to relieve the Tanzanian Government from certain pressures arising from the conflict with Uganda.
Two names were proposed for the Chairmanship of the UNLF, namely: Prof. Yusufu K. Lule (RIP) and Ambassador Paulo Muwanga. The two were then asked to leave the Conference room to allow a debate on their suitability to take place.
However, after about 30 minutes, it became clear that the debate on the two nominees was headed for a deadlock and something needed to be done quickly to ensure that a consensus is reached without any further delay.
During the rather heated debate on the two candidates, Mr. Yoweri K. Museveni took the floor and cautioned against sidelining the fighting forces led by Dr. Obote and himself, as this could negate the war efforts by demoralising the combatants then inside Uganda. However, he was cut short by the Tanzanian officials monitoring the progress of the Conference, and invited to go outside for consultations.
The Conference was also adjourned to allow the Delegates to consult each other on the issue.
This was one of a number of times Mr. Museveni was invited for consultations outside the Conference room! This time round, however, he returned to the Conference and sat down quietly, leaving some delegates wondering what could have transpired.
Shortly after the Conference resumed, Col. Tito Okelo took to the floor and stated that they have agreed that since Ambassador Paulo Muwanga was doing a good job at the war front, he should leave the Chairmanship of the UNLF to Prof. Yusufu K. Lule.
The conference adopted the proposal by consensus, and Prof. Lule was declared the Chairman of the National Executive Committee of the UNLF.
Thereafter nominations for the remaining posts were invited. However, the Chairman, Mr. Semei Nyanzi, more or less dictated terms and the process went on at an unprecedented pace.he results of the elections were subsequently declared by
Conference Chairman as follows:
1. Prof. Edward Rugumayo - Chairman, NCC
2. Mr. Omwony Ojwok - Secretary, NCC
3. Prof. Yusuf Kironde Lule - Chairman, NEC
4. Eng. Akena P’Ojok - Vice Chairman NEC
5. Mr. Andrew Adimola - Member, NEC
6. Dr. Martin Aliker - - do
7. Amb. Eric Otema Alimadi - - do –
8. Mr. Sam Ssebagereka (RIP) - - do –
9. Mr. Mathias Ngobi - - do –
10. Mr. Ateker Ejalu - - do –
The Military Commission was composed of the following members:
- Amb. Paulo Muwanga - Chairman, Military Commission (MC)
- Mr. Yoweri K Museveni - Vice-Chairman, MC
- Col. Tito Okelo - Member, MC
- Col. David Oyite Ojok (RIP) - - do
- Col. William Omaria - - do
- Col. Zed Maruru - - do
Mr. Semei Nyanzi was elected to Chair the Finance Committee, while Prof. Dan Nabudere took the Chairmanship of the Political and Diplomatic Committee. The two were then mandated to co-opt members to their committees as they may deem necessary.
The Delegates then elected one member from each group, which had the credentials to attend the Unity Conference, to serve on the National Consultative Council. This was done in spite of pleas from most Delegates that the membership of the Council should at least reflect the democratic image of the regions; e.g 10 members per region.
I was nominated to serve on the 30-member National Consultative Council of the UNLF by Ambassador Eric Otema Alimadi, who was my Chairman of the “National Unity and Reconciliation Group”.
The Rules and Procedure Committee was set up as follows:
1. Mr. Steven Ariko (RIP) - Chairman/Convener
2. Mr. Osindek Wangwor – Member
3. Mr. Daniel Omara-Atubo - - do –
The Drafting Committee for the Constitution of the UNLF was formed with the following members:
1. Prof. George Kanyaihamba – Chairman
1. Prof. George Kanyaihamba – Chairman
2. Prof. Yash Tandon – Member
3. Hon. Grace Ibingira (RIP) - - do –
4. Mr. Steven Ariko - - do –
5. Mr. John Magezi - - do –
6. Dr. Peter Ssinabulya - - do –
The structures of the UNLF were formed as follows:
After some discussions, the Conference decided that the Time Table of the UNLF should not exceed a maximum of two years, after the first meeting of the National Consultative Council to be held in Kampala when conditions in Uganda permit.
Co-option of Members to any of the Committees, when necessary, was to be done in order to ease the task ahead, while taking into account the financial and geographical constraints of the Front. The Activity Time Schedule of the UNLF was agreed to as follows:
AMIN’S REGIME STILL RULING CONSOLIDATION OF VICTORY INTERIM GOVERNMENT GENERAL ELECTIONS
War for as long as it takes – i.e an indefinite period
Consolidation Period Administration formed by the UNLF plus the people inside Uganda Democratic Government formed (Administration Formed Now) 26.03.79 - to - Z or = 6 months or = 24 months Indefinite here Z = End of Amin’s regime Part 2 Beyond The Moshi Unity Conference
For some of us who went to Moshi by bus, returning to Dar es Salaam by air was both perplexing and exciting. I went back to my teaching job with no idea that I had become a “big man” within a space of seventy-two hours.
A minor traffic offence and a flash of my Identity Card, plus a brief introduction that I am a member of the National Consultative Council of the Uganda National Liberation Front earned me an unexpected salute from the police officer on duty, who then immediately let me go off scot free. In hindsight I feel rather awkward about the incident.
Kampala fell to the combined TPDF and exile forces on April 11, 1979, exactly 16 days after we left Moshi. Within a few days all the NEC members accompanied by a few over-zealous NCC members flew into Entebbe to form the UNLF government. Professor Yusufu K. Lule was sworn in as the President of the republic of Uganda on April 13, 1979.
In early May I received a telephone call that I was wanted in Kampala for the first meeting of the NCC, and that I should collect my air ticket from subsequently came to address the now politically fractured NCC he concluded thus, “....the UNLF goes on forever ...”. That did it and plans to remove him started in earnest, this time spearheaded by the UPC and the DP, both working in tandem, and Hon. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Sensing imminent danger to his tenure, President Binaisa took the worst political gamble ever taken by a sitting Ugandan President. He transferred Hon. Yoweri Museveni from the all powerful Ministry of Defence to that of Regional Cooperation, Hon. Paulo Muwanga from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Paris, as Uganda’s Ambassador to France, and Brigadier David Oyite-Ojok from the post of Chief of Staff of the UNLA to Algeria as Uganda’s Ambassador to that country!
With Hon. Dr. John Luwuliza-Kirunda as our leader, Hon. Osindek Wangwor and myself rallied behind our Party flag bearer, Hon. Paulo Muwanga, and put up a spirited fight to keep him in Cabinet, while the rest of the NCC members loyal to the status quo rallied behind Hon. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Brigadier David Oyite-Ojok.
Our view was that with Hon. Paulo Muwanga in the Cabinet, both his Vice Chairman of the Military Commission, Hon. Yoweri Museveni, and Brig. David Oyite-Ojok would be safe.
The last meeting we held with Hon. Paulo Muwanga, just minutes before the show-down NCC meeting commenced, he told us thus; “I don’t care which Ministry I am transferred to, but I must remain in the Cabinet”.
The three of us sat strategically separate, and were all picked a specified office. I picked the ticket role in the removal of Idi Amin, Prof. Yusufu Kironde Lule, and Hon. Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa, which paved the way for Obote II. He also saved the Langi from Lieutenant Ojuku (RIP) and Brigadier Bazilio Olara Okelo (RIP), the duo who had targeted notable Langi for elimination.
It is sad to note that before the 26th day of January, 1986, the following Langi had fallen prey to Lt. Ojuku’s and Brig. Bazilio Okelo’s ill intentions in the short period that the two military men wielded immense power in Uganda under General Tito Labule Okelo Lutwa’s regime; namely: Mr. Christopher Omach, the then Administrative Secretary, Apac District, Mr. Amos Okodi, the then District Commissioner, Soroti District, Mzee Petero Wacha, Ex-Sub-county Chief, and father to Hon. Ben Wacha, and, the then Manager, Acholi Inn, Gulu; to mention but a few.
Hon. Akbar Adoko Nekyon, Hon. Prof. Peter Omara-Ojungu, Mr. Nikanori Apita, myself, and many others, were all targeted for elimination but we were all saved by the NRA’s intensification of assaults on the UNLA positions, which attacks kept Lt. Ojuku and Brig. Bazilio busy trying to salvage the Lutwa regime.
Therefore, for the people of Lango, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is more of an ally than an enemy. It was through his efforts that the Lango Community escaped the brutality of the errant UNLA soldiers of the Post-Obote II era, then mostly made up of anti-Langi elements.
It is important to mention here that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni started his political career as a DP supporter. Later in his youth he became sympathetic to the UPC. Being alone, I was consigned to a vehicle in which Shaffique Arain (RIP) and Gurdial Singh (RIP) had travelled to Mbarara and Ishaka, to bring me back to Kampala.
On our way to Kampala, we discussed many issues, political. Among the most important political issues we discussed was the formation of a National Unity Government after the elections then slated for December, 1980. The justification was that it would not be prudent for one political entity to win the elections and form the post-Amin Government alone at the exclusion all the others who had also participated in the removal of Idi Amin from power.
In the subsequent meetings at the UPC Party President’shome along Impala Avenue, Kololo, almost all the partysupporters agreed to that arrangement as the most suitable for the emergent Uganda after the brutal regime of Idi Amin. What surprised most members of the UPC was the cabinetappointments that followed the 1980 elections. The first nine ministers appointed by the President, Dr. A. Milton Obote, on or about the 15th Day of December, 1980 saw four Ministers emerge from Bushenyi alone, namely: Hon. Adonia Tiberondwa (RIP), (Industry), Hon. Yonasani Kanyomozi, (Cooperatives), Hon. Edward Rurangaranga (State for Local Government), and Hon. Patrick Rubaihayo (State for Agriculture).
When a fifth minister from Bushenyi, Hon. Ephraim Kamuntu, was added and disguised as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and made to preside over the Ministry of Finance, passing as a Personal Assistant to the President/Minister ofOn his part, Hon. Paulo K. Ssemwogerere actually led a delegation from Buganda to the UPC Secretariat and made their intentions known to the UPC President through Mrs. Cecilia Atim Ogwal, then a more amiable and candid Assistant Secretary General of the UPC.
By the dawn of 1981, there were no more vacancies left in all the Ministries and so it became common knowledge that those who had fought Amin expecting to participate in the governance of post-Amin Uganda were not happy to be left out in the cold.
Therefore, when on the 6th day of February, 1981 a guerrilla war broke out with an attack on Kabamba barracks, then spread into the bushes of the infamous Luwero Triangle, one cannot rule out the possibility that it was as a result of the “winner takes all” and the “loser loses all” attitude exposed by the UPC leadership after the 1980 elections.
A few of us openly expressed our disquiet about the issue when it became apparent that the UPC leadership had dropped the noble idea of forming a Government of National Unity, but our concerns were ignored. The events of July 27, 1985 were, therefore, a natural sequence of occurrences that culminated in the NRM/NRA capturing power in Uganda on January 26, 1986.
So, what is the way forward for the people of Lango as we participate in the political affairs of our motherland? Put simply, the Langi as an ethnic group must understand that politics is first and foremost a game of numbers. When the numbers do not add up to handsome figures, we must or join the ruling NRM Party.
However, given the trend of events in our country today, remaining in the UPC is foolhardy in that it will not lead us towards achieving our desired goals of economic and social development in the short run. As I have stated elsewhere, most of the “Independence Parties” in the Eastern African sub-region are at their varying stages of dying, save for Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), which, thanks to the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere’s vision, was transformed into a Revolutionary Party, and given a Kiswahili translation as its name, Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), on February 5, 1977, in order to avert imminent disintegration.
For instance, out of the 333 Members in the Ugandan Parliament today, the Independence Party, currently boasts of only 10 (ten) members, representing a mere 3%.
Of the 10 UPC Members of Parliament, 6 (six) come from the Lango sub-region, while the remaining 4 (four), each comesfrom Nebbi, Moyo, Kitgum and Kaberamaido Districts, respectively; meaning that the “Congress of the People” is now sparsely distributed outside the founder’s sub-region, and confined to the north of Lake Kioga!
And, within the Lango sub-region itself, the UPC occupies only 6 slots out of the 17 seats the sub-region has in theNational Assembly, representing 35.3%; thus, signifying a dwindling influence in its founder’s very birth place!
In a lighter tone, since 60% of its Members of Parliament. The only viable option for the Langi, therefore, is to embrace the ruling NRM Party, so that we may join hands with the Government to develop our sub-region. Doing otherwise would be an unforgivable dis-service to our people.
However, if some of our leaders feel strongly against joining the NRM, then the best option is to remain loyal to the UPC and not join the young and restless Forum for Democratic Change, or any other new parties, because in my opinion, all these emerging political parties have very little, if at all, to offer to our people in the immediate future.
Finally, if the people of Lango have an axe to grind with the NRM, whose leader once held a close relationship with the UPC leadership, then by association we should also have an axe to grind with the FDC. This is because selecting and working with a faction of the whole is, in my humble opinion, despicable.
HENRY MAKMOT.
No comments:
Post a Comment