DP fronts Mao for President in 2011

THE Democratic Party (DP) has refused to join the planned opposition coalition because they want to field their own candidate, Norbert Mao, in the 2011 presidential elections. The party’s most potent mobilisation force, the Uganda Young Democrats, has already embarked on countrywide mobilisation for Mao, the Gulu District chairman. The current DP President, John Ssebaana Kizito, said Mao has the necessary qualities to lead DP and Uganda, but added that the party Delegates’ Conference will decide on who leads them. Sebaana will retire from the party leadership at the next Delegates’ Conference in November. “Mao is an outstanding orator and politics is about convincing. He has been a loyal party member since the days we backed him for the presidency of Makerere University Guild. While he was the Guild President of Makerere, I never heard any scandal about him,” said Sebaana. “He was my chief campaigner in 2006 and he is also working as the party vice president. He can make a good party leader.” Youthful DP stalwart Mukasa Mbidde said Mao is the most qualified person to become the party’s flag bearer in the 2011 elections. “To compete favourably at the national level, you must have the backing of your region. This makes Mao More powerful than FDC’s Dr. Besigye, who lost his home ground, Rukungiri, to Museveni. But Mao has already won the heart of the north,” Mbidde said. Mbidde, who has been moving around the country selling Mao’s candidature, argues that he is sure Buganda will vote for him. “Baganda are civilised people who don’t vote on basis of tribe but look for ability. Didnt they vote for Museveni in 1996 instead of their fellow Muganda Ssemogerere?” Mbidde asked. He added that time has come for Uganda to have a purely civilian president “We are tired of bloodstained leaders. We want a peaceful leader,” Mbidde said. Mao confirmed he wants to run for the presidency on the DP ticket. “As you remember I was narrowly defeated by Ssebaana in the previous election. I believe I will be able to win with a large majority. I will make sure that I strengthen DP so that it becomes the party of choice in the next general elections.” Mao reportedly convened a secret meeting recently with all the heavy weight politicians from northern Uganda, soliciting for their support in the 2011 presidential elections. Opposition and NRM politicians attended the meeting. Political analysts say fronting Mao will save DP from the long-time criticism that it is a party of Baganda Catholics, which has never been led by anyone from outside central Uganda since its inception in 1956. The UYD hopes that given his charisma and oratory prowess, Mao would help DP to win several constituencies in the 2011 parliamentary race and for the party to have more bargaining power if the need for a coalition in a re-run arises. They think he will appeal particularly to the younger generation of different tribes and religions. Using liberal political tactics, they argue, Mao has been supportive of development programmes and managed to raise the profile of Gulu, Acholi and Northern Uganda as a whole. Some party members are however hesitant to have Mao as their leader, saying he is not a DP diehard and is likely to make them lose some votes from the party’s main power base. Others think he too close to the ruling NRM. Another group within DP want to front Masaka municipality MP, Paul Kawanga as the next DP president. Kawanga, a veteran lawyer and former minister in the late 1980s, is a cousin to former DP chief Paul Kawanga Semwogerere. The legislator is considered within party circles as being experienced, competent and likely to galvanise support from the party’s main power base, the central region. Others fear that being led by Kawanga who is a Catholic, Muganda and a close relative of former party leader Semwogerere might deny them support from elsewhere However, Kawanga said he hadnt thought about contesting for the DP presidency. Inside sources have revealed that the desire to field their own candidate is the main reason DP is not interested in the planned opposition coalition. “We want to avoid past mistakes of alliances that led to the loss of our party's members to other parties," a senior DP official commented. Despite earlier promises by Sebaana, most party branches have indicated that they do not want DP to join the collation. “Though we are still making consultations, what seems to be the majority resolution is that DP will co-operate with other parties wherever it is necessarily but it is unlikely that we shall sign an inter-party pact. We realize it is not necessary as it may even be misinterpreted by our ordinary party members,” says Sebaana. The planning of the opposition coalition started early this year, with support from the Swedish Moderate Party, which dislodged the left-wing Social Democrats after forming an alliance with four other opposition parties. While visiting Sweden in July 2008, Ugandan opposition party representatives held talks with their hosts on campaigning tactics and skills for building a strong joint opposition. The DP was represented in the delegation and later participated in planning for the coalition. However, on August 5 when parties met to sign the Inter-parties Cooperation Agreement, DP did not turn up. On August 15, during an opposition parties’ conference at Ridar Hotel, Sebaana made a U-turn and promised DP would join the coalition. Days later, Sebaana said DP could not join before consulting party members. Recently the DP secretary general said they had given two weeks to their party organs including the district committees to consult members on the inter-party cooperation protocol. According to Sebaana, feedback from most areas indicates that DP members do not want a collation with other parties. DP members think they can co-operate with other parties in fighting common political barriers but not a coalition that involves fielding a joint candidate. Party insiders say they can only accept such a collation in case of a presidential election re-run. This stance has not gone down well with the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), the biggest opposition party, which is spearheading the coalition. Opposition Leader Ogenga Latigo said if DP cannot see the benefits of combined forces, other parties will have to proceed without them. The coalition, he explained, was mooted to create a joint platform for addressing political problems and not simply to get the numbers at elections. According to Latigo, the post-Museveni era will require a transition “because of the over-bearing nature” of the president. “If we were to win an election, our vision is that we would form a government of national unity.” But prominent political analyst and senior Makerere University political science lecturer, Dr. Aaron Mukwaya believes the move taken by DP is the wisest. “DP’s decision is the best. It is illogical for parties to think of an alliance before putting their houses to order. If they enter into alliance with their internal conflicts, the same conflicts will spring up in the cooperation or alliance and therefore it will be short-lived,” Dr. Mukwaya said. The political scientist said opposition parties should realize they are competing with powerful ruling party that is well anchored on the ground. “That is why we tell them not to waste their little time on cooperation. They should utilise this time to get established on the ground. They should be setting up structures and explaining their ideologies and policy plans to the electorate to get more support,” Mukwaya argued. Who is Nobert Mao?
Born on March 12, 1967
Chairman for Gulu district
Vice President for DP for Northern Region
Former guilt president of Makerere University
Former MP for Gulu Municipality
Chairman of the East African Chapter of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PnoWB) and member of its secretariat
Member of LRA-Government peace talks.
Lawyer by training
Founding member of the Great Lakes Forum for Peace