Leading one’s disciples or followers to the Promised Land is something which even divinely inspired men like Moses failed to do while on his Egyptian assignment.
Among the Bamasaaba, it is a long-held practice that while escorting candidates to the circumcision yard to be circumcised, those escorting the candidate(s) must ensure that the candidate is brought to the circumcision yard and not abandoned midway. This is what the National Unity Platform (NUP), especially in Bugisu, failed to do. The purported big numbers were nowhere during the time of elections.
The National Unity Platform abandoned its candidates in the race, while the NRM teams ensured that their candidates were properly escorted to the “Imbalu” grounds.
While both the bullet and the ballot are instruments of power, others like Abraham Lincoln viewed this differently. Lincoln rated the ballot much higher than the bullet. He is reputed to have said that the ballot was much stronger than the bullet.
Politicians must use state deontology tactics, including developing the capacity to have visible structures. Without such, it is a wastage of time. FRELIMO had thousands of cells while it was fighting white Portuguese rule in Mozambique. The FRONASA and later NRA had several structures they relied on.
The National Unity Platform, with this level of disorganisation, will gradually disintegrate just like JEEMA and CP of Hon. Lukyamuzi and such groups, and will never capture state power unless they change their modus operandi.
A political party that is structured on tribal agendas can’t sell its ideology beyond its tribal inclination. While Baganda voted for its candidates on tribal sympathies, other tribes, especially the Bagisu, rejected such labels. If you are not competent, nobody will vote for you, and the quality of the NUP candidates was also an ugly scene altogether.
Many senior leaders in NUP occupying senior positions in the party failed to ensure that even a sub-county councillor was elected.
Hajji Mansa Musa, one of the NUP-leaning mayors in Mbale City, failed miserably, coming number five, yet he was viewed as one of the strongest candidates for mayorship. He was not led up to the circumcision by his own base.
Every profession has its skills and tactics. The skills needed for ingress into political office may be quite different from those needed for a music show. Just as while teaching law, one needs to have a command of case law and statutory authorities at one’s fingertips, and while teaching public administration, one may need theories on the evolution of public administration as a discipline, perhaps alongside legal authorities.
It is good practice to assemble your teams and extend appreciation, even after failing in an election. It is good political etiquette.
The NRM made very sensitive promises to the region, which could not be glossed over by the Bamasaaba. They were acute.
The writer is a Master’s student of Law.
