The Otunnu Factor

Miria Obote fired Okello-Okello and his gang, and maybe rightly so. The Okellos-Okellos were the ones who likely engineered her ascendancy to inherit her husband’s UPC leadership. Her husband died in a foreign land, unfulfilled with, maybe, sadness. So, there is an emotional tie to the party that many of us ordinary mortals have no clue about.

“ How dare these characters to go behind my back?,” she might have furiously asked.

Okello-Okello is a fighter for many causes I care about. However, it is time to let the past go. Change is the only constant. UPC is a spent force. The only energy of the party is nostalgia among the old diehards and Langi tribal loyalty.

A political party is like a raft. You use it to cross a river. Once you have crossed the river, you may discard it at the shore. To cling to it and carry the raft on your back everywhere you go is to look foolish and ridiculous.

Equally, other than nostalgia, going to beg Olara Otunnu to lead the party was not based on any hard cold calculation. Sure, Otunnu is a once-wiz-kid who was a star debater even from primary school. Testifying in his father’s Mulokole gatherings may have given him a head start advantage in honing his oratory skills. And sure, he rose to hold very high profile positions, which few Ugandans remember. Some who do may recall that he had a similar journey to his uncle’s 6-month government where he was bamboozled and out- maneuvered by Museveni in Nairobi.

Now, the question is: What does Otunnu have that should make me vote for him? So far, there is nothing and, I suspect that many Ugandans will see no reason to vote for him come 2011. Let him stand for a parliamentary seat against people like Hilary Onek—now you are talking! Or will that be below him?