Gawaya Tegulle
4 October 2008
opinion
Last Saturday I pointed out that British Prime Minister Gordon 'Boring' Brown's excellent speech at the Labour Party Conference has plenty of lessons for Uganda's politicians. What I didn't say was that in matters of this nature- a politician and party under pressure, bad poll ratings and decent possibility of losing the next election- the speaker has little or nothing to do with the speech.
It is his back-up team that does the donkey work, drafting the speech and coaching him on what to say and how to say it. What most politicians have in Uganda is two things: A Dirty Tricks Department that organises how to steal elections, kill opponents and make smear campaigns or arrests for non-existent crimes. Two, plenty of money to buy votes or buy opponents to stand down.
I say this is unscientific, barbaric, primitive and outdated. It is time for Uganda's politics to invest and venture in civilised and sophisticated politics.
The modern politician should be built and designed as an institution in himself; a person with a huge and efficient machinery behind and around him that manages everything he does in public and private. The team should take care of his research, his speeches, his image, his interface with the media, his business ventures... and his relationships.
The team should advise him on the shirt he wears on a Saturday shopping excursion as much as his comments to be made on television regarding a matter of national import. Submissions in Parliament must be planned in advance and backed by impeccable scientific research that will help the politician grow in stature, not reckless statements that earn them ridicule or resentment.
A modern politician should know by mid-term whether or not he will make re-election and why. That is because his team would be on the ground, engaged in systemic research, gauging what people perceive of the politician compared to his actual performance in public office.
The team should know for certain what issues will drive the next election, who the opponents could be and what strengths and weaknesses they have.
Every matter, no matter how trivial or how private should be subjected to the scrutiny of the team, because it is these little things that often explode and take them unawares and sometimes destroy them. The team should have the latitude to arraign all the worst case scenarios on the table, explore all options and advise.
If he is a man with Kuku wa Zabanga propensities - a loose zipper that finds it hard to leave a woman untouched - he should have within the team, an inner circle that can advise him on whether or not he should date such a woman, lest she has anything about her that could explode and become politically counterproductive.
Skeletons in his cupboard must be confessed and a cure arranged for them, which could include destroying all evidence linking them to the politician, so that they do not show up at just the wrong time and disorganise a great campaign or decent career.
Every business venture must be scrutinised and subjected to a sanitation check by the inner circle- any dirt could be used against him by his enemies. Even the most innocent deal could backfire and cause undue chaos and destroy an otherwise decent politician, something one would say about Security Minister Amama Mbabazi who, I say, has no case to answer in the Temangalo controversy.
I envisage two options. One, politicians could build their own teams, full of brilliant, educated and talented individuals, rather than the thugs that they use to beat up opponents. Two, political consultancies could - and should - arise as an important industry that can manage individual politicians' affairs in strict confidence, on long-term contracts. Politics is too important to practise by default; everything must be done by design.
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