|
|
Uganda: Museveni Fourth Term Splits NRM Youth
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Monitor (Kampala)
ANALYSIS
11 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Richard Wanambwa
Kampala
The youth arm of the National Resistance Movement is the latest arena for the enduring political question of the times: will Yoweri Museveni, who will be over 67 in 2011, seek another term in office? Inside Politics Richard Wanambwa brings you the details
At a controversial meeting (some youth leaders complained that they had been left out) NRM Youth League meeting held between April 17-19 at Bativa Hotel in Kampala a decision by attendees to support another term for the President was conspicuously absent from the final minutes of the conference. Some of the members who supported the resolution for a fourth term said the clause endorsing Mr Museveni was deleted in the final draft after a visit to Bativa by NRM Secretary General and Security Minister Amama Mbabazi.
Mr Mbabazi is widely speculated to be one of the frontrunners to succeed President Museveni and the vanishing of the clause begs the question whether as Secretary General, he is privy to a plan by Mr Museveni not to run (and hence discouraging the loud voices in the party that have been urging him to the ballot in three years time). The specific resolution [No.2] which read "Push H.E President Y.K Museveni for the 4th term and canvas support for him," remained in the draft.
It was replaced by a call for "party discipline and foster a culture of collective responsibility in accordance with the NRM Constitution by shunning subversive behaviours, subterranean talk, formation of cliques, promotion of intrigue, and turn-coatism,".When Mr Mbabazi was contacted he acknowledged closing the conference but said organisers had leverage to keep or omit even a controversial resolution like the fourth term because of openness within the party. He denied influencing their decision to boot the fourth term.
"Well, first of all why would they fear me, NRM liberated people from fear," he said about the curious events. Those who supported the resolution attributed its absence on Presidential Assistant on Political Affairs David Mafabi, Lt. Emmy Katabazi who heads internal security in Yumbe District and one Arnold Asiimwe of the Internal Security Organisation. But Mr Mafabi denied participation in any such process saying that he appeared only briefly at the end of the two day event.
|
The youth meeting was however poorly attended by under 50 youth and is therefore not representative of a national position for the party's younger members. Mr Moses Kigayi, NRM youth leader from Bududa District who attended the conference said the question of a fourth term was highly divisive and there is a suggestion that the issue be debated at a Youth Delegates Conference.
Mr Mafabi said he did not participate in the writing of the final resolutions. "On the day of closure it was not read among the resolutions possibly it might have been discussed at drafting committee but I am not among the alleged people frustrating the fourth term," Mr Mafabi said.
Mr Hood Hussein, National Secretary General of the NRM Youth League, who convened the meeting was more direct and said the resolution was taken out to leave room for those who wished to contest for party president and therefore provide an alternative to President Museveni as head of state. "We don't need to restrict the race to one individual. We have potential candidates like Mr Mbabazi who may be interested in the race" he said.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
