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02.09.2015 Feature Article

My FDC Debate Verdict: Muntu Won But Besigye Is Still The Man!

My FDC Debate Verdict: Muntu Won But Besigye Is Still The Man!
02.09.2015 LISTEN

The Republic of Uganda is a great country. You can debate absolutely nothing for 30 years, ban debate on radio stations(bimeeza), present yourself as the sole candidate of the party, and keep yourself president whether or not it has merit, and whether or not people like you or not.

Many are now rightly wondering how this upcoming presidential election will be different from the past years.

Well, I can tell you right now the first difference has been created, and that was the Kizza Besigye-Kifefe Vs Mugisha Muntu debate last night on NTV. It wasn't as elegant as the 1960 debate between Kennedy and Nixon but it was the closest to a debate we have ever had in the history of Uganda.

No matter who will finally run as the FDC flag bearer, the debate yesterday gave Ugandans hope that there's still a party out there, a party of hope.This was a moment for FDC to shine and it indeed shined.Who knows what non FDC members,as myself, saw those questions and candidates and thought, "Maybe I should start taking FDC seriously.They don't seem to have the crap of sole candidatures in their party!". It was certainly the first time I can ever remember enjoying watching NTV live-streaming. Took gumption to ask the hard questions though i hated the 'yes' or 'no' question from the moderator.

Verdicts on debates are fickle but Muntu seems to have won the first debate,but who gives a shit anyway? It was obvious that Muntu had prepared more for the debate than Besigye. He took it more seriously than the colonel, but he,Muntu, doesn't seem to have the ability to galvanize the population behind him. That is why Dr.Besigye rightly said that 'In every political engagement, the bottom line is you must have support.'

The questions asked came from the NTV team, i guess, but there was also a lot of soul searching and debate about them also. Personally I enjoyed the debate especially the part where Muntu told Besigye and I quote:

''My believe is that the 2. something million people that have been voting for my colleague, Dr Besigye, as a candidate, are not for him as an individual......', and Wafula Oguttu was caught on the cameras shaking his head in protest. And no, I am not a supporter of the Muntu.

Besigye is definitely more popular than Muntu on the ground.There's an old saying in marketing that no matter how great your ad campaign or how vast your budget, the product will fail if the dogs won't eat the dog food. I don't believe a Besigye supporter will vote for Muntu if Besigye isn't in the race, and I'm surprised that Muntu cant see this.That's because you can't win a gunfight if you're shooting blanks.

There's a lot of mould around Muntu that sometimes put people away from him, though he was right when he said: 'If we don't build our organisational capability within FDC', then nothing the opposition can do.

I want everybody to know, there is no debate about Besigye's heroism. He is a Ugandan hero, and I thought he did admirably with the two or three questions he was given.Besigye also surprised me with really how humorous he is. I believe he handled the question on homosexuality very well. He tactically answered it, and he was aware that the powerful homosexual movements were taking notes.

Besigye also showed a lot of maturity throughout the debate as Muntu's responses were meant to wind him up a little bit. At some point, I thought he was gonna lose it when he painfully asked Muntu:

'Are you suggesting that TDA is posturing?......whether indeed FDC has reneged on those positions or there's another position he is committed to?'

All right, we'll see. The agendas, they're all out there. The politicians, they're all out there.You're going to be out there.You're going to be raising heck. FDC delegates are out there and are the ones to decide.You see, If I eat at Nandos and I love Nandos chicken, I don't judge the food by how many other people eat there. Why do people who don't have a financial stake in the company care? At all? We now leave the FDC delegates to decide come Wednesday, and I think they will go with the candidate that has already got the population behind him. Might as well get it over with.

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba

UNITED KINGDOM

Stalk my blog at: http://semuwemba.com/

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