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What and which mission is the NRM candidate pursuing?
At a campaign event held in Kumi Town on November 23, the NRM presidential candidate arrogantly dismissed his 10 opponents in the 2021 elections, including two decorated generals, as “job seekers” without a mission to transform Uganda.
According to a story published in Daily Monitor of November 24 titled, ‘I am here on mission – Museveni’ Sabalwanyi claimed: “NRM came to deal with historical problems of Uganda and Africa. They think I am here looking for a job.
They are lying to themselves.”
He added: “We are not after positions, we are after a mission.” I tell you, nobody can deceive and fool all Ugandans all the time!
Urging wananchi of Teso not to vote for FDC presidential candidate Patrick Amuriat, Sabalwanyi said: “I hear people talking about Amuriat, that he is a son of the soil. This is politics we left long ago. It is not biology. We are talking about ideology.”
One wishes that was true.
Contrary to his constant lectures against sectarian politics, what he has practised since January 1986 is the exact opposite, as keen observers of Ugandan politics can readily confirm. If you doubt, ask Prof Mamdani of Makerere University.
For a man whose record is in the public domain, much of what Sabalwanyi said at Kumi was dishonest, misleading, tasteless and laughable.
No wonder on November 27, BBC’s Focus on Africa programme ridiculed Sabalwanyi in a weekly satire called, ‘BBC Resident Presidents’ featuring Olushambos and Kibakiman.
They reduced him to a laughingstock, casting him as a leader devoid of useful ideas who, out of desperation, resorted to use of excessive force to subdue a young political opponent.
Sabalwanyi has done enormous damage to the moral fibre, body politic and national prestige of Uganda.
On January 26, 2017, Sabalwanyi launched his ‘mission statement’ at a public event in Masindi District which was broadcast live on UBC TV. Here is what the NRM candidate said on that sad day.
“I hear some people saying I am their servant. I am not a servant of anybody. I am a freedom fighter; that is why I do what I do. I don’t do it because I am your servant. I am not your servant. I am just a freedom fighter. I am fighting for myself, for my belief; that is how I come in. If anybody thinks you gave me a job, he is deceiving himself. ”
He repeated those remarks in a television interview with Mr Jeff Koinange of Kenya’s K24 TV and reiterated that he is fighting for himself and his family.
Sabalwanyi has neither denied nor retracted the above outrageous, unacceptable and unpatriotic remarks, which means that he meant what he said.
So what mission is he pursuing which is relevant for Uganda and Africa? Which historical problems of Uganda and Africa is he dealing with? You don’t have to be a genius to know that he is pursuing a personal agenda at the expense of millions of Uganda’s taxpayers. It’s the moral equivalent of blasphemy and sacrilege!
Sabalwanyi’s mission is neither national nor pan-African. If he was on a mission to transform Uganda, our country would now be a middle-income country like Kenya.
On the contrary, economic and social indicators released by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics show that abject poverty is more rampant in Uganda today than in 1985, especially in the greater north and eastern Uganda.
The Uganda Shilling has, on his watch, lost so much value that it’s only slightly stronger than the Zimbabwe dollar, which ceased to be national currency long ago!
If the 2021 elections are genuinely free, fair, credible and peaceful, Sabalwanyi and NRM cannot win. Their day of reckoning is coming soon.
Mr Acemah is a political scientist and retired career diplomat.
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