NRM ‘rebels’ vow to oust Museveni

A section of ruling party MPs have told President Museveni to step down as party chairman if he wants Amama Mbabazi to vacate the position of secretary general.

The MPs also vowed to campaign against Museveni if he dares seek re-election in the 2016 elections.

Addressing journalists at Parliament yesterday, Wilfred Niwagaba (Ndorwa East), Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga), Barnabas Tinkasimire (Buyaga West), Raphael Magyezi (Igara East) and Michael Mawanda (Igara West) said Museveni doesn’t have the “moral authority” to ask Mbabazi to resign.

Mbabazi has reneged on the promise that he would resign from the position of secretary general which he is understood to have made after he was appointed Prime Minister last year.

The reason he appears to have changed his mind is apparently because Museveni remains president and chairman of the party at the same time. Amelia Kyambadde remains minister of Trade and NRM Treasurer at the same time. Why should his position be different?

“Who does not know that Museveni is responsible for the NRM weaknesses? He should stop blaming other people like Mbabazi because it is very clear that he has himself failed to deliver,” Ssekikubo told journalists.

While meeting the NRM campaign task force for Buganda region (excluding Kampala) at State House in Entebbe last week, Museveni is reported to have said that he is considering appointing another secretary general to help strengthen NRM because Mbabazi is too busy with state duties.

Reports from the meeting added that Museveni blames NRM’s poor showing in recent by-elections on the lack of a committed, full time secretary general. The President suggested that his new secretary general would probably have a different title but perform the same tasks, suggesting that he has given up trying to persuade Mbabazi to give in.

But this hasn’t gone down well with some of the party’s MPs.

“[Museveni] is the one who appointed [Mbabazi] as Prime Minister yet he was very well aware that he was secretary general. How come he wants him to vacate now?” Ssekikubo wondered.

Ssekikubo and his colleagues believe that Mbabazi might be just another victim of Museveni’s appetite for power. They argue that the President isn’t at ease with the fact that the position of secretary general gives Mbabazi a chance to build a power base that might help him run for president in future.

In fact, Tinkasimire said that before Museveni makes Mbabazi vacate his party job, the NRM chairman himself should commit to vacate in 2015.

“[Museveni] has never faced primaries and he risks being sidelined if he comes back in 2015 (delegates conference),” Tinkasimire said.

During the same briefing, the MPs repeated their criticism that Museveni had failed to curb corruption, was presiding over poor service delivery, and had refused to be transparent about his succession plan.

The President was reported to have said in the meeting with Buganda campaign agents that he is not willing to relinquish power because when he looks around he doesn’t see anyone with the correct vision for the country. The lawmakers described these remarks as a manifestation of hunger for power.

“He is may be interested in being in power forever. Why has he failed to groom a successor in the last 27 years?”  Mawanda asked.

Tinkasimire and Ssekikubo added that Museveni’s remarks are meant to ridicule and hoodwink Ugandans.

“Does he think that he is the only one who can be president? This is an insult,” Ssekikubo said, as he tore up a copy of the newspaper that carried Museveni’s utterances.

The MPs threatened to dislodge Museveni if he dares seek re-election in the 2016 elections.

“He should start preparing for his exit because we are not ready to vote for him if he comes back in 2016,” Niwagaba said.

The MPs also had time to scoff at plans by their colleague, Kampala Central MP, Muhammad Nsereko, to form a new political organisation.

“The country has not run out of political parties and we are not ready to form one. Our agenda is to cause change from within,” Magyezi said of Nsereko’s move.

Source:  The Observer