Benjamin Rukwengye
When the Reform Agenda – a precursor to the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) – was started, key among its founders were many political heavyweights from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). However, there were several others who hadn’t been part of the political class – technocrats and businessmen – who threw their weight behind the nascent political outfit. One name that many younger readers might not recognize is James Garuga Musinguzi. He even contested a Parliamentary seat in Kanungu, against the all-powerful NRM honcho, Amama Mbabazi.
Court ruled in his favor, accusing Mbabazi of vote rigging, voter intimidation and violence. However, Musinguzi opted to not run in the by-election after the results had been nullified. More importantly though, Musinguzi goes down as, perhaps, the biggest businessman to have publicly associated with and backed an opposition party. He would also be the last one to – overtly – do so. There is a reason why. To understand why business people don’t want to get caught touching the opposition – even with a long stick – let us come to this week’s events.
News coming from Butaleja District in Eastern Uganda is that Patrick Wakida, a leading opposition figure and member of the FDC, has defected to the NRM. There will be many people reading this who also don’t recognize the name or his hugely successful Research World International outfit. So, for them, this defection doesn’t really matter. But the picture becomes clearer when you consider that about two or so years ago, he also moved into the education business, starting one of the fancier primary schools in Kampala. So, make no mistake, his defection is a big deal – especially if you want to understand the realities of doing business in Museveni’s Uganda.
Many businesspeople who have tried to flirt with the opposition have discovered that you have to choose between that and keeping your business afloat. Stories are told of downtown traders who had been in business for generations but made the mistake of ending up on the wrong lists and paid heavily for it.
Even with a 40-year lifespan, it is intriguing that the most prominent local businessmen are appendages of the ruling inner circle. You will find their names on bailout lists, or accusations of flying in unmarked pallets on chartered planes, or contributing monies to incumbent presidential campaigns. They also probably make untraceable contributions to the opposition but would take a bullet before admitting it. All the more reason why you should remember this, when you complain about why the go-to investment for many half-educated older Ugandan businessman is an arcade, and not a factory, a technology plant, or a retail chain.
The mechanics involved in running and keeping those kinds of business require a lot more thinking than many of us are capable of. If Uganda is your operational base, you will not have enough shelf-life to figure things out. The environment is volatile and hostile – so you would rather not toy with whatever little you have. Even more, our politicians and their lackeys aren’t so clever as to know how good business works. They will sink you without a thought because most times, many of them are incapable of any. The arcade owner doesn’t need to run from one office to the next with a stack of papers to prove his innocence.
He doesn’t have to try and lobby through a powerful tribesman so that his container of laptops can be cleared through customs. Heck! He doesn’t even have to worry about the fact that should his importation or exportation do so well, it might get hijacked and monopolized by the deep state. All he has to think about his how much more he can increase the monthly rent by. That is realpolitik.
The writer, Benjamin Rukwengye, is the founder Boundless Minds
