People Power vs Party Politics

The emergence of people power wave in the body politic of Uganda adds to the already crowded political space, which is intended to bolster the visibility of Hon Kyagulanyi as a power broker. People power is a generic mutation of the “defiance” mantra of FDC. A critical look at both defiance and people power reveals two faces of the same coin. Listening to Hon Kyagulanyi pressers, you get the feeling that he is out to ride the tide and rally the masses to defy the government without having formal structures on ground. He has severally said that he has no trust in political parties and his wave is to cause change without tagging it to parties as political vehicles.

Apart from using different nomenclatures, people power and defiance have hallmarks of popular uprising aimed to change leadership in Uganda. Dr Besigye has been calling on the masses to rise up and change this government without following the laid down procedure of elections. There is a feeling that Museveni is too entrenched in the system that winning him through an election is impossible. With that mind set, Dr Besigye’s call for walk to work was an attempt to cause a mass uprising. Though it caused numerous pressures, politically it failed to achieve the ultimate purpose of overthrowing the leadership. This failure affected the political standing of Dr Besigye and FDC in general. Most of the political heavy weights in FDC lost their parliamentary seats, a clear message that the public was jittery about that mode of change of leadership.

When Bobi wine, espouses the people power mantra, it is clear that it is just an extension of defiance mutated into people power. When he down plays the role of parties, it means that his preference is in defiance and popular uprising through mass action. He has been too evasive whenever asked if the people power can take on a political party formation.

There is a general feeling that BOBI WINE being young endears himself to the youths and young people. A critical look at this thinking reveals two important things. The first, it is true, Bobi is popular with his music and his style of music appeals to both the young and old, however, as a politician, his appeal may not go beyond his constituency when it comes to a vote.

Secondly, the general feeling that he is popular among the youths, poses a question, what percentage of the youths look up to Bobi as an inspiration given his lifestyle and his past riddled by drug addiction? It is true that as a musician he has a sizeable following, but this does not automatically translate into political clout. So when he presents himself on the national platform as a presidential candidate, it is most likely that he will make a no show.

The seasoned politicians who are hobnobbing with him, are those who have either lost appeal to voters, like Dr Abed  Bwanika or who want to catch the wave hoping to reap political mileage like Mike Mabike. These are people whose parties have over the years made no significant inroads in the political space and now feel that the option is in mass action. That is why they are comfortable to call it “EKISINDE” or pressure group. That trick is to make sure it does not alienate any member of another political persuasion, while at the same time positioning its self as a popular appeal.

The final strata is that of professionals and intellectuals, this is a group that may advocate for change, but they cannot imagine BOBI being their presidential candidate. Given his ghetto origin and his education, makes intellectuals jittery. So when it comes to presenting him as a consensus candidate may be too hard to gain traction. So people power could be like any other attempt at mass action that has failed in the past.