FORMER UN DIPLOMAT, DR. OLARA OTUNNU WINS THE UPC PARTY PRESIDENCY IN A HOTLY CONTESTED ELECTION

Writes Leo Odera Omolo

SIX of the eight contestants for the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) presidency yesterday conceded defeat and pledged to work with winner Olara Otunnu.

The losers noted that Otunnu is qualified to revamp the party. The contestants were Jimmy Akena, Yona Kanyomozi, Sospater Akwenyu, Dickson Opul, Joseph Ochieno, Henry Mayega and Samuel Luwero.

In his speech, Otunnu promised to work closely with the supporters of the losers.

Akena, who gathered 180 votes against Otunnu’s 623, promised to join in the revamping of the party at the grassroots.

“It has been a tough struggle but I will continue to see that the congress takes its rightful place,” Akena said.

Kanyomozi called upon Otunnu to reconcile the party members. “The party needs our support,” he said.

Opul, Ochieno and Akwenyu promised to support Otunnu’s efforts to rebuild the party. However, Mayega, who got 17 votes and Luwero, 11 votes, walked out on realising that the results were not in their favour.

Supporters attributed Otunnu’s success to the one-on-one meetings he held with them while traversing the country.

“Otunnu has a lot to offer the party. He is experienced, and well connected,” said MP Livingstone Okello Okello.

While opposition parties yesterday called Otunnu a force to reckon with, the ruling National Resistance Movement said his appearance on the political scene would not change much.

“I don’t see him as a major threat since the NRM responds to people’s needs and deals with challenges facing the people,” said Government Chief Whip Daudi Migereko.

DP’s Norbert Mao welcomed Otunnu’s election, calling it “the new lease of life for UPC.”

FDC spokesperson Wafula Oguttu said Otunnu’s election was exciting for the Inter-Party Cooperation. “He has strong credentials, a good asset for IPC.”

In his acceptance speech, Otunnu extended a hand to the Buganda Kingdom, which has had acrimonious relation with UPC and its founder, Milton Obote, who abolished the kingdom and forced the Kabaka into exile in 1966.

“We cannot forget what UPC did to Buganda but we need to move forward,” said Mengo spokesperson Peter Mayiga. “The Kabaka has always emphasised the need for reconciliation. If UPC is ready to come to terms with the mistakes they made, we shall be willing to work with them.”

Although eight candidates were in the race, it was clear from the start that the race was between Akena, son of former party president Miria Obote, and Otunnu.

What set them apart was the tactics deployed to win the hearts of the delegates.

Otunnu exploited the division that exists in the party. He persuaded all opposing factors to Miria Obote’s leadership to vote for him. In addition, Otunnu approached and held meetings with elders and youth leaders who had long shunned the party.

Present to support Otunnu were Obote’s former ministers and party elders such as Maj. Edward Rurangaranga, Samwiri Mugwisa, former Chief Justice George Masika, Sam Masiga, Nicholas P’Minga, former Obote’s agriculture minister, Matia Kisembo, Yosam Mugenyi, Patrick Mwondha and Ignatius Isiagi.

According to party insiders, Otunnu skillfully won the hearts of the governors of the Milton Obote Foundation, the party’s financial arm. The foundation has had a difficult relationship with Miria’s regime in the last five years.

Governors like Peter Walubiri, Celestine Mindra, Okello Okello, Chris Opio, Ignatius Barungi, and Patrick Rubaihayo all threw their weight behind Otunnu. It was this group, led by Okello-Okello, which persuaded Otunnu to return to Uganda after 23 years in exile.

Otunnu’s financial and organisational capacity enabled him to set up a fully-fledged secretariat of talented personnel, who drafted the winning plan. The plan proved useful on Saturday when allegations of altering voters’ registers cropped up.

A section of Otunnu’s team spent a night at the voting venue, another monitored events at the party electoral commission office, while a third group spent the night with delegates.

“On Friday, we kept watch till 4:00am. That is how we got to know that one of the electoral officials spent the night locked up with one of the candidates, deleting and adding names to the voter registry,” said a member of Otunnu’s campaign team.

The discovery of irregularities in the voters’ register halted the conference for close to three hours and cost electoral commission officer Margaret Kirunda her job.

End