The danger of picking a compromise candidate as leader

Ugandans are in the process of identifying a new breed of leaders that hopefully will arrest Uganda’s shameful decline which is no longer a debatable issue. NRM has been a big disappointment to Ugandans and development partners. And staying in power too long has made matters worse. Guns have failed to produce right leaders for Uganda so has money.

Leadership has to be earned through hard work on the right things, not through rhetoric or picking non-controversial subjects so as not to lose popularity. Hard work on military training and experience hasn’t produced good leaders for Uganda. We should drop the idea of picking another military leader. Soldiers are not trained to handle civilian populations especially in circumstances where law and order, separation of powers and checks and balances don’t exist. They run the country like the military where instructions – right or wrong – are followed without question. That is why Museveni’s unquestioned vision for Uganda which was basically hot air has driven the country backwards. This is a fact as evidenced by re-emergence of diseases that had disappeared. Look at maternal mortality which is rising and some hospital wards that have turned into hospices! When we comment correctly like this on Museveni failed policies we are branded controversial or sectarian, unfit for leadership.

Uganda’s democracy won’t be won at gun point

The year 2011 will go down as a defining moment in Uganda’s political economy history. Those who have followed political debates since before independence in 1962 will agree that this year has been exceptional in this regard. The services provided particularly by radio munansi and Ugandans at Heart Forum that have facilitated exchange of information and debate are highly commendable. They facilitated the birth of United Democratic Ugandans (UDU) – an umbrella organization that has brought together parties and organizations opposed to the NRM system to coordinate their activities and speak with one voice.

Uganda has entered the age of Enlightenment based on the concept of reason, not swallowing orders from the military dictator lock, stock and barrel. The debates on oil and Mabira forest are some examples of this Age of Enlightenment. And there is no turning back.

The people of Uganda are thus demanding to start from a clean slate. They want to develop their future path and occupy the driver’s seat with external helping hand as appropriate. The preparation of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) by Ugandans is a concrete example of what we mean.