Prime
Did the tail wag the dog in Buganda and Busoga?
Author: Okodan Akwap. PHOTO/FILE.
What you need to know:
- Mr Okodan Akwap says: Those who voted NUP. .. were angry at Museveni. Museveni is also now angry at them.
We are still deep into the post-mortem phase of the January 14 polls. Indeed, the analytical phase of this election could last a little longer than what happened in previous times. This is largely because of the news bombshell Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, a former presidential candidate of the National Unity Platform (NUP) and leading challenger to President Museveni’s 35-year iron grip in power, unleashed in Buganda and Busoga.
The bombshell triggered a media feeding frenzy. Journalists competed to file stories about the massive win for NUP and the bloody nose NRM got. In journalism school, aspiring journalists are spoon-fed with this phrase the way newborns are breastfed: “When a dog bites a man, that is not news, but when a man bites a dog, that is news.”
There are several versions of who coined this perky phrase, but two names of shapers of modern journalism stand out. The first is a British newspaper magnate named Alfred Harmsworth, who was born in 1865 and died in 1922. And the other is John Bogart, an editor of the New York Sun newspaper, who was born in 1848 and died in 1921.
The “NUP wave” in Buganda is the closest we get to a man biting a dog. That kind of thing, done in broad daylight by Bobi Wine, who was dismissed by leading NRM cheerleaders such as Mike Mukula as a mere boom-boom musician, was truly unusual.
It was everything you wanted to tell somebody else. It is hard to tell if NRM will ever recover from the shock of being so mercilessly pummelled in Buganda where Museveni launched his Bush War in 1981.
Around about the time the originators of the man-bites-dog idiom were born, another dog-related phrase, “the tail wagging the dog” was coined in America in a 1858 play by Tom Taylor titled: Our American Cousin.” This one also has many usages to describe all kinds of odd occurrences.
The gist is that when you see a dog wagging its tail, it is not that big of a deal, but if you see the tail wagging the dog you begin to doubt your sanity.
By some accounts, the January 14 election in Buganda showed that something of great national importance (voting for president and MPs) was decided by the narrow interest of something less important (Buganda sectarianism).
Second, it would appear obvious that a small and seemingly unimportant thing (the fledgling NUP) was in a more controlling position than a bigger and more important entity (the mighty NRM) in Buganda. So, did the tail wag the dog in Buganda?
That could be true only in Bobi Wine’s dream. The key words here are “controlling position.” NRM is still firmly in control of Parliament with a more than two-thirds majority required to push its agenda this way and that way.
Also, there are many so-called Independents, who managed to make it to the 11th Parliament, but with big holes in their pockets. It may be just a matter of time before Museveni, the master mender of pockets, beckons them. Many will be more than happy to dance to the NRM tune.
Just ask Beatrice Anywar, the tall, confident and tomboy(ish) Independent MP for Kitgum Municipality. The former FDC warrior, who attracted global attention because of her courage in leading street protests against the government’s decision to give away part of Mabira Forest for sugarcane growing, almost danced herself lame in the NRM camp for defectors. She did!
Also remember, NRM people are excellent raiders of our Constitution. Should Museveni give them the signal then Article 246 safeguarding traditional and cultural leaders could be ejected from the Constitution even before the “NUP wave” ebbs.
When Milton Obote banned monarchies in 1966, he wounded Buganda pride. Baganda never forgave Obote even after he died in 2005. Instead they threw wildcat parties to celebrate his death. That was just one small way of showing how Buganda Kingdom is at the centre of the pride of Baganda. The 1995 Constitution preserves this pride. But those who voted NUP forgot this because they were angry at Museveni. Museveni is also now angry at them. Be very afraid, Buganda. The tail cannot wag the dog in Buganda.
Dr Akwap is the deputy vice chancellor for academic affairs at Kumi University. [email protected]
