The Observer (Kampala)
David Tash Lumu
29 October 2009
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has declined two government invitations to Kampala in just one month largely to avoid explaining her role in convincing her former UN colleague, Olara Otunnu, to return to Uganda and launch his bid for the presidency, The Observer has learnt.
Government first invited the Liberian leader, the first and only elected female president in Africa, for the National Prayer Breakfast and Independence Day celebrations early this month, and later, for the African Union (AU) summit on Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, but Sirleaf skipped the three events.
Though President Museveni attributed her first conspicuous absence to a "miscommunication" problem that led to a "mix up of dates", our sources say the no-show was deliberate. Invited again for the AU summit last week, Sirleaf again cancelled her visit at the last minute. Indeed Kampala continued to announce that she would grace the occasion until Tuesday, three days to the event, when the government confirmed that she would not attend.
Government didn't explain why she had skipped the event that many African leaders snubbed too. Out of more than 40 heads of state invited, only five--from Zimbabwe, Somalia, Zambia, Western Sahara, and the host Uganda--attended.
According to our sources, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, at the urging of two FDC strong women, convinced her former colleague at the UN, Olara Otunnu, to return to Ugandan politics, a move experts say didn't go down well with Museveni. The Observer has learnt that Museveni had wanted to use the opportunity presented by her visit to discuss with Sirleaf what her intentions were in urging Otunnu to return home.
The same Liberian president was also scheduled to grace the Independence Day celebrations, but she chose to stay away, making Uganda's 47th anniversary celebration the first of its kind in recent years without the presence of a single foreign head of state. President Sirleaf is currently under immense pressure at home to resign as the Liberian peace and reconciliation tribunal investigates her role in the civil war led by former President, Charles Taylor, in whose government she served.
TOP FDC WOMEN
At the centre of the 'bad blood' between Museveni and the Liberian leader are two influential FDC stalwarts who recruited Johnson into their Otunnu project, according to reliable sources. The two women, Anne Mugisha, the FDC Deputy Secretary for International and Regional Affairs, and Winnie Byanyima, wife to FDC strongman, Dr. Kizza Besigye, reportedly pushed for Otunnu's return to give new momentum to efforts to oust Museveni.
But a fearful Otunnu was quick to point out to the two women that he lacked support since he had been away from home for 23 years, our sources said. To convince Otunnu, the two women reportedly resolved to bring the Liberian president on board. Since she had worked with Otunnu at the United Nations, Sirleaf would easily convince him to take another shot at politics in Uganda.
This hair raising account of three women and one man, according to one of our sources, saw Mugisha, who is regarded as a good mobiliser, together with Byanyima, sweet-talk Otunnu to come back to Uganda and bolster the opposition's Inter-Party Co-operation (IPC).
Opposition parties, FDC, UPC, JEEMA and CP are united under the Inter Party Co-operation and plans are underway for them to front one leader to challenge Museveni's NRM come the 2011 general elections.
Some in this group favour Besigye to become the joint candidate while others see Otunnu as an alternative. Yet others want the two men to share the presidential ticket with one becoming presidential candidate and the other his running mate.
ENTER OTUNNU
Indeed the involvement of Africa's most powerful woman worked. Otunnu was finally persuaded to return home, and on June 5, 2009, he met a group of opposition figures in Nairobi, Kenya, who further encouraged him.
Chwa County MP, Livingstone Okello Okello; Moroto County legislator, Benson Ogwal Obua; Omara Aliro, a former commissioner at Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC); and Leonard Okello, a party supporter based in Nairobi, were some of the UPC members who received Otunnu in Nairobi.
Subsequently, after several Kampala meetings by opposition members, Otunnu jetted into the country on August 22, 2009 and he quickly embarked on a country-wide tour. Otunnu, however, remained cagey about his political ambitions. Analysts now say that Besigye detected a veiled opposition coup against him in Otunnu's return.
However, some FDC officials dismiss this view as being simplistic. According to FDC's Soroti Municipality MP, Charles Willy Ekemu, the return of Otunnu was just a move to "bolster a diplomatic strategy" and expose NRM's failures to the international fora, and not to kick out Besigye.
"We know that Museveni is only scared of Besigye. Not this Otunnu. And it's not possible for Winnie [Byanyima], Anne [Mugisha] and Besigye to disagree on political issues, especially regarding FDC's top job," he argued.
NOT TRUE
Anne Mugisha, who admits that she talks to Otunnu "regularly" on phone and supports his drive for unity among opposition parties ahead of 2011, says she has however never met President Johnson Sirleaf, and that she last saw Byanyima in September 2007 in Boston, USA.
"I have never been to Liberia, I have never met Johnson Sirleaf and I last saw Winnie in September 2007 in Boston. I speak to Olara regularly on phone and I support his drive for unity among opposition parties ahead of 2011," she told The Observer.
Commenting on whether they planned a coup against Besigye in favour of Otunnu, Mugisha said both leaders are "excellent" and there's no need to belittle any of them.
"Kizza Besigye and Olara Otunnu are both excellent candidates and one does not have to denigrate either of them in order to support the other. Ugandans need to think of the presidency as an institution that is not the destiny of any one individual but one that ought to be occupied by the best possible person to lead us into the future.
Such a person should be able to work with a team of leaders. Kizza Besigye and Olara Otunnu are my dream team," she added, arguing that she will be "deeply disappointed" if there is no consensus on who should lead the opposition in 2011 of the two heavyweights.
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This article about the decision Of President Sirleaf not to attend a couple of functions in Uganda is an example of very poor reporting. It is filled with innuendos about Olara Otunnu's return to Uganda and for all we know is completely off the mark. This is an attempt to make something of nothing. Look at all the other heads of state who did not attend. Give us a break!