Tag: Hon. Christopher Opoka Okumu
Opinion: EALA Parliamentary Election ended expectedly with massive win for former Movement MPs!
“Politics is like monkeys’ dance, if you do not want the tail of monkeys to touch you, you don’t join their dance” – Fred Mukasa Mbidde
Who thought this would be race for the opposition to get golden tickets to the Star-ship and fly-away to moon? Who thought that the Movement would act like gentlemen and give what is proper to the opposition, than you haven’t followed class or known the Movement’s way of doing business. Surely it was all fixed at the State House, the result was pre-fixed and the time it took in Parliament was made to make the charade look like an open bazaar, when it was a closed session for the chosen few that the kingpin had decided.
The ones winning were these ones:
“Mukasa Fred Mbidde (DP),
Akol Rose Okulu (NRM),
Mathias Kasamba (NRM),
Mary Mugyenyi (NRM),
Paul Musamali Mwasa (NRM),
Dennis Namara (NRM),
George Steven Odongo (NRM),
Christopher Opoka Okumu (UPC),
Suzan Nakawuki (Independent)” (New Vision, 28.02.2017).
The official results and votes don’t really matter, the winners out of the 49 candidates, two who was from Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and none of them was elected. Surely, the FDC didn’t trade or give ways to the Movement. Therefore, the sudden resignation of Fred Mukasa Mbidde as Deputy President of Democratic Party (DP) before the EALA elections and he was even parts of the NRM EALA Primary Elections at the State House. Nevertheless, the man who was parts of the party that Museveni once a point in the time wanted to destroy dearly together with the Uganda People’s Congress, he has given one candidate from each party.
So who is this Christopher Opoka Okumu, the Nebbi representative who apparently was good enough for NRM MPs to vote for a another term for the UPC candidate, who wants James Akena to run for President in the next election, though that would alter the paradigm agreement done with Museveni. That is how the UPC-NRM agreement and why the UPC got even cabinet members this go around. Therefore, Museveni offers the UPC another slot in the EALA as thanks.
Dennis Namara is the former NRM Youth Chairman and Presidential Advisor for Youth, George Steven Odongo the former Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Lira, Rosa Akol Okulu, the fomer Minister for Internal Affairs, Mary Mugyenyi, the former MP for Nyabushozi County and former State Minister for Animal Husbandry, Mathias Kasamba, the former Kakuuto MP, who lost in the NRM Primary in 2015.
Susan Nakawuki is a former UPC member of EALA, but this time around she went as an Independent candidate this time around. Last time she was representing UPC and as MP for Busiro MP, who even wasn’t believed to be an MP because of her dress-code in 2009, also been in trouble with the law in 2011. So after the issues, she still had capacity to get elected for EALA in 2012. So now she soon starts her second term in EALA as part of the Ugandan Delegation.
So the opposition that isn’t really opposition is the ones that one a slot to the EALA, because the ones been in EALA delegation there, are not rocking the boat or using the title to pressure anything vicious in the East Africa Community (EAC). Therefore, that Mbidde who was part of the celebration of the movement in Masindi and even parts of the Primary in the State House, the other UPC candidates are already spoiled by the wealth of EALA, that they do not want to cut their pay-check and lose their livelihood.
The others are old-timers and former leaders who certainly have traded favours with the president, as some of these lost out at the NRM Primaries in 2015. We the knowledge of the pay-checks coming with the service at the EALA, the price of getting the offer and lose out on being a MP for the NRM. Must seem decent for the loyalist that Museveni can count on to continue his trench-hold on all most of the seats anyway!
Like Nabilah Naggay Sempala wrote on a secret meeting in Parliament:
“The meeting scheduled at Parliamentary building for 10am according to sources at the Government Chief Whip’s office, is to strike a deal with the leaning independent Members of Parliament to vote for all the 6 NRM candidates. The NRM would also in turn vote an independent candidate who is yet to be agreed” (…) “In politics nothing is done until it is done. We need any potential ally at this time to comfortably secure victories today,” a source from NRM said. The independent members are 66 accounting for 16 percent of the total members and bigger than the combined opposition members” (…) “NRM has 6 candidates in the race including former ministers Rose Akol and Mary Mugenyi, former Government Chief Whip’s office Policy Analyst Paul Musamali, former RDC George Innocent Odongo and former NRM National Youth boss Denis Namara” (Nabilah Naggay Sempala, 27.02.2017).
So with this in mind that these members we’re mention in regards, plus the amount of fixed movement MPs there wasn’t hard to see how this would go. As well, the ones that one today are proven to be former losers in the Primary, therefore the meetings that was at the State House was making sure the loyal MPs of the past would get a secured livelihood after their days in Parliament. However, there are now also Youth League leader, RDC and Political Analysts that are now paid with a heavy salary in Arusha. You can just know that there have been a trade-off and Museveni offered it for creating no issues during the campaign of 2016. That has been visible as the NRM stalwarts was offered plenty. Expect other NRM former MPs to be hired as Envoys or even Ambassadors to the UAE or any other place with a Mission.
Enough of the mellow yellow brown envelope fellow! Peace.
MinBane 