Inside Mao and Mbidde’s plot to keep Museveni in power

The NRM-DP Alliance: DP President General Norbert Mao (left) stands with President Yoweri Museveni shortly after being sworn in as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs

Such a plot, in case it actualizes, would make a mockery of and, in fact, remove the veil from the anticipated transition from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni currently Tibuhaburwa, to another leader.

The transition is being pledged by Museveni himself. He says the same is going to be implemented by Mao. For which reason, the President shares, he appointed Mao as the Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister.

The plot involves taking away one of the most fundamental human and political rights of any citizen in any republic – of directly electing the President by each and everyone of age willing to exercise such a right.

This right known as universal adult suffrage, would now be taken away by the elected parliamentarians and who would thus henceforth, automatically be deemed to have been elected freely and fairly by the masses through the ballot box.

The political party that would emerge with majority of parliamentarians would now be the one to elect the President who would go on to form the government in power.

We know how groups of people from different walks of life are being currently guided and bankrolled to come up with proposals to back up the move by the Parliamentarians to elect the President.

The NRM’s Transformers Cadres Association Uganda (TCAU) is known to have met with Minister Mao in his office on Thursday last week to present the proposal of a constitutional amendment to empower MPs to elect the President.

The group’s boss, Felix Adupa Ongwech led the delegation to the meeting which the host termed as cordial and useful

Mao revealingly pledged to look critically at the proposal and called for more proposals from the public about what they would want to change in the 1995 Uganda Constitution.

The idea behind the lawmakers electing the President, is to save the ruling party from violent and bloody as well as very costly campaigns which have tended to gravely taint the President and the regime whilst struggling with the Opposition for power and even to drain the public coffers.

Such proposals, now being fine-tuned, would now be introduced before the Constitutional review commission. Remember Museveni is quite eager about this commission.

So is Mao known to be under very strict instructions to fast-track it’s formation as well as composition.

In order to ensure a smooth ride, Museveni is known to be quite agreeable to the restoration of the two term Presidential limits.

Just that several groups of people are being organized around demanding for each of the Presidential term to be elongated to seven years just as it is currently in Rwanda.

Going by the 1996 experience where the current President exploited the restoration of the multiparty dispensation following the end of the Movement system, to now stand as a fresh candidate under the fresh dispensation, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to state the same is likely to be the case still with the advent of the prospective system now being cooked by Mao.

As if to confirm the perception the President is going to still be around even after the end of his current term, Mao’s own key confidant, Freddie Mukasa Mbidde is known to be currently selling the narrative about how the Opposition is not ready and prepared to take over power in 2026.

In an interview with one of the news websites in the country, Mbidde insists no single Opposition party in Uganda, is capable of taking power in 2026 nor is vested with the capability to govern thereafter.

The domino effect of what Mbidde states is that President Museveni, or anyone he might choose to succeed him from within the ruling NRM party, could as well be left free to take power in 2026.

Why not ? After all, no one single Opposition party, as per Mbidde, is ready and capable of taking power let alone governing the country yet.

To be fair to Mbidde, which incidentally he doesn’t point out himself, another person can understand him to mean the only way whereby the Opposition can take power come 2026, is by joining hands in order to zero in on one single Presidential candidate.

That single candidate would now be prepared and go on and vie for power with Museveni, or whoever candidate, the President would have appointed to be his successor.

Mbidde enthusiasm is believed to be stemming from the desire to attract the President’s eye and ear on the way to being backed for some government job as it was pledged by the President in the joint cooperation agreement inked and signed between Museveni and Mbidde’s tight buddy, Mao.

It is worthy pointing out at this juncture the fact that much as the First Son, Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, had started off with a lot of steam to campaign to replace his father, he has since applied the brakes.

Inside sources now tell us after on realizing that Muhoozi’s bid was antagonistic within the ruling NRM and, mostly importantly, within the army, the parent now chose to waive the same and restored his wish to return to the ballot paper come 2026.

Other sources within the NRM inform us that the President and his strategists after weighing Muhoozi and realizing he wasn’t weighty enough to overrun the Opposition should they come up with one candidate in 2026, they decided to withdraw the First Son’s bid in order not to give the Opposition the open cheque to run away with power in 2026.

We have captured these lines about Muhoozi, to try to cement the narration that the President is going to come back in 2026.

And, in case Mao succeeds with his project and get elected by the ruling NRM lawmakers, whom he would have backed to succeed at the polls in the first instance.

If that happens, chances of sending unreliable MPs would be minimized and assist the country to ultimately get the best President.

This is not in any way to suggest that such MPs can’t end up being bribed to vote with their stomachs as opposed to their conscience.

The other advantage with this system is that conflicts and deaths arising from campaigns between presidential candidates are greatly reduced and so are the colossal public funds which go into bribing voters and what have you.

Time spent on campaigns is also saved and now spent by the masses whilst engaging in productive work for themselves and the country at large.

By and large, we can only wait to see how the changes in the Constitution are going to be effected and for what ends.

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