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19.09.2015 Feature Article

Both Mbabazi And Besigye Should Be TDA Candidates

Both Mbabazi And Besigye Should Be TDA Candidates
19.09.2015 LISTEN

Friends,
I feel that most of the debates on The Democratic Alliance(TDA) in Uganda are rather fixed to choosing one flag bearer for presidency, but it shouldn't be that way, should it? TDA should provide a third party in the elections with the sole purpose of taking votes away from the party they don't want elected. It's therefore important that both Besigye and JPAM are fronted in the 2016 presidential elections. The two shouldn't dare attack each other during campaigns. TDA should just be a Ssalongo with twins instead of producing one kid. The one who gets more votes in the first round should then be the TDA flag bearer against Musanvu!

Such a process will also stop all the bickering now going on between Mbabazi and Besigye supporters. Some FDC members should be taught not to hate JPAM without thinking. The guy is definitely a big asset to the opposition because he has some support in NRM and some of his 'dogs' are ready to bite Museveni alive. Not everyone in NRM is pro-Museveni and they need a candidate to identity themselves with. And I think Mbabazi is their man. Just look at this way: Just like all dogs are dogs but they come in different breeds.Some are big...some small....some yappy....some not. The thing certain is that none of them are cats.

Mbabazi seems to be is a silent worker, very effective and calculating in everything he does. He likes working in shadows and that makes him very unpredictable and dangerous. I'm sure even my "friend", Besigye, must have noticed him by now as a big challenger, especially with the way he turned TDA into his own weekly ice cream. He's like that Salbado guy in the Second Chance!

I watched a rally video of JPAM in Mbale but he looked vigilant all the ...time. He never got out of his car to freely mingle with the crowd as Besigye does. The guy doesn't have any "Katinko" of any sort.There was a moment people crowded around his car and he was shown standing on the doorway looking around, watching his back, looking at their faces like some sort of a psychiatrist observing body language. He kept his chest and stomach guarded by the car door in case anyone was to snip him out. He never at anyone moment let his guard down. He was like a man expecting an unpleasant surprise from somewhere. It made me wonder if Mbabazi has got some skills in karate!

And by the way, he picked himself the right spokesman in Ms. Josephine Mayanja-Nkangi . She speaks simple English with the same accent as my eldest daughter. Mayanja Nkanji must be proud, I guess!

The most vigorous resentment in TDA politics is not the envy of the JPAM by the financially poor leaders of other parties -- the poor almost always admire the rich, but it's all about perception. The perception the public has on Mbabazi is what is driving everything and everybody crazy.Basically, there are some people who don't just trust him yet he may be genuine, and you cant blame them, can you? Though I admit that when it comes to ethics and politics, a lot of people are bound to make contradictory statements--because what's the difference between former NRMs that have joined the opposition and JPAM?

Personally, I think having JPAM as the flag bearer wouldn't be a problem but there's a lot of mould and mixed signals around him that may be confusing to the ordinary voter, and you wouldn't wanna put yourself in that position when confronted with a giant like Mr.Museveni. Again, why would you wanna risk and market only one product that appears a bit tainted when you have got a finished product in front of you? It just doesn't make sense to me at all! But you could risk marketing both products and see if people eventually like the tainted product too. If they do, then you are game!

I think the whole TDA process was built on weak legs. It needs to be reviewed every now and then.If you ask me, I'm so uncomfortable with the whole arrangement at the moment. Actually, I have been uncomfortable with it for a long time but I couldn't bring myself to write anything about it!

Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
UNITED KINGDOM
Stalk my blog at: http://semuwemba.com/
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'Football is a game about feelings and intelligence. I am Jose Mourinho and I don't change. I arrive with all my qualities and my defects.'' JM

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