National unity is not needed prove it
Answers
OF late, the media has been awash with reports that the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) wants President Museveni to form a government of national unity and appoint ‘credible opposition leaders as ministers to check corruption in the country’.
The UJCC goes on to argue that this move will bring reconciliation and healing to enable the country move forward. I think the UJCC got it all wrong because forming a government of national unity is not necessary now for the following reasons:-
Firstly, a government of national unity is always formed where there is no obvious winner among the parties that participated in the election. In such a case, a coalition government is normally formed involving the parties concerned.
However, this arrangement is subject to tests because if the journey gets tough somewhere along the road, any of the party may decide to jump ship and get out of this marriage of convenience resulting in a serious crisis for the nation.
However, this scenario does not apply to our situation because President Museveni won with a landslide majority, beating all his opponents. At the same time the NRM party garnered more than three quarters of the seats in the Parliament.
Secondly, the people of Uganda from all the regions have already initiated the process of national reconciliation and healing by voting massively for President Museveni and the ruling NRM party as a block.
In the past northern and some parts of eastern Uganda used to be a hot bed for the opposition. But this time round, the people in these areas came to their senses and realised that continuous wallowing in lies and deception from the opposition would only alienate them further from the rest of Uganda, and reconciliation was the only way forward. This time the people used their votes as a tool for reconciliation and voted the way they did.
Appointing opposition leaders in the cabinet will only benefit those leaders and not the ordinary people apart from boosting ethnic sentiments only.
However, to consolidate this process which has already been initiated by the people themselves, the new NRM Government should hit the nail while still hot by implementing and effecting its promises on service delivery promptly, and adhere to the policy of zero-tolerance to corruption.
I am pleased with the President’s proposal of hiring permanent secretaries and commissioners on contract based on evaluation of their performances in service delivery. This is a better way of fighting corruption and effecting accountability, than appointing opposition political leaders in the Government.
Thirdly, the idea of forming a government of national unity gains credence only in a situation where there has been war and polarisation between the ruling party and various opposing political groups based on regional and ethnic camps.
In such a scenario, a government of national unity may be considered to bring about unity and healing to the nation. However, since the end of the Kony war in northern Uganda in 2007, there has never been any polarisation in Uganda based on ethnicity or political camps.
Moreover, all the political parties that participated in the election, boast of membership and support from all the ethnic divide across the country, as evidenced by the results of the concluded polls.
The talk that Uganda has a serious political crisis which should be addressed immediately is talk from the opposition political elites who are merely talking for themselves — not for the masses because they themselves are the ones fighting for political power.