Is UPC Out? Is UPC In?

UG Cyberspace is abuzz as to whether or not UPC has called it quits. Kaput! Cut ties with the loose opposition alliance. For weeks now the party’s wing of the mental grunge has been impatient and unhappy. What they cannot understand: How come people can’t see that the precocious Olara (they prefer to address him as The Ambassador, Dr. Olara Otunnu) should be the flag bearer of the opposition joint venture? Can’t people see that Olara is gaining ground in the North, especially the Acoli sub region? Forget that the region alone cannot mathematically secure a whimsy competitive edge against the wily Museveni. Somehow the rest of the country will see the shinning light and UPC will hit a homerun. And then, there is the Mao factor: The two will have to split the loot of the Northern Illusionists’ votes, making them both weaker in the numbers game, if not personal political power.

Here is what we know: Olara had jetted (we prefer the Ugandan lingo) to London where he rolled out his 10-Point Program to an assortment of adoring Keyos, whose aspirations are projected in him. The wisdom of the venue and the vote-getting feasibility of the program are for others to judge.

We also know that Olara is a fugitive, courtesy of a Lira judge. It is possible that he is trying to be sneaky to avoid being paraded in handcuffs. A tactical person would have said: bring the handcuffs and let the whole world see the pernicious nature of the NRM regime. In any case, why didn’t he call up his ICP comrades and tell them he was in a bind? Instead one “insider” complained about the nature of Ugandans: How they like publicity and had to hold the nominations at Kololo airstrip with cameras flashing. What is wrong with that if not the essence of openness? No, according to this wiseacre—he prefers some dark corridors to cut shady deals. Can anyone recall where and how the KY-UPC alliance was cooked up? If you guessed dark corridors, the Red party might award you a medal for your [extinguished] memory.

Let us be serious, brothas and sistas. UPC can exit the ICP at its own peril. It is a party coming from the ashes of utter and complete defeat in the game of machinations of man-to-man. Someone said: Patience is not only a virtue, sometimes it is simply survival. As the current opposition Big Kahuna, of course, FDC has a dominant role. So, the notion that ICP is FDC should be taken with a resigned acceptance of the nature of change. By hanging onto the coattail of ICP, a.k.a. FDC, UPC can bid its time and one day will gain national currency. It has a bevy of highly educated (mostly of the “expert” or functionary varieties) zealots who will do anything to revive their fathers’, uncles’ or brothers’ party of yesteryears. Sooner or later, sleek Mercedes Benzes might one day again snake through the village dirt roads to pay homage to the patriarchs, and all will be well. For now, let us get rid of the Yellow peril.

The alternative is, of course, to quit and scramble for Acoli votes that are not decisive. Even Lango is not going out in droves to support the party of the Nyamuranga which has been usurped by an unreliable Agang. If UPC gets one-tenth of one percent in West Nile, it will be godsend. Soon UPC will shrivel into an Acoli party—affirmatively, sans Soko.