The wife of former Uganda dictator, Milton Obote and her camp within Uganda Peoples’ Congress (UPC), have been engaged in around the clock meetings with an Acholi faction for days, to avoid a major split in the party which was formed by her husband. A frustrated Muganda UPC member told this writer by email that the Acholis are determined to take control of UPC while Miria would very much like to see her son Akena replace her as party president. According to our source, the fight is one about real northerners reclaiming UPC from a weak Muganda leader and her half-Muganda son. He went on: “I stupidly joined UPC during last elections because I thought Mrs. Kalule was going to make UPC good for Baganda. Now assure you UPC business is really only for northerners. That is why they are bringing in the northern best hope Olara Otunu even before telling Mrs. Obote about it.”

According to the UPC party constitution, Miria Obote’s seven-year term as president ends in 2012.  And many political analysts in Uganda think that UPC is on the verge of collapse from lack of leadership, after a dismal performance by Mrs. Obote as president. Prospective replacement living in Uganda include her own son and Lira Municipality MP Jimmy Akena Obote (Langi), Yona Kanyomozi (Munyankore Mulaalo), Darlington Ssakwa (Mugisu), George Okrapa (Iteso), Joseph Ochieno (Japadhola) and Sospater Akwenyu (Acholi). These groups made up the bulk of UPC Youthwingers and army which, along with special units of Mr. Museveni’s national resistance army (NRA), killed and harassed hundreds of thousands of Baganda during the Obote II regime.

Recently an Acholi dominated UPC faction, led by an MP called Okello Okello, kicked off a campaign to recruit Olara Otunu (Acholi), a former United Nations undersecretary and minister in Obote II, to lead the party when Mrs. Obote leaves. Okello Okello and team recently met Mr. Otunu in Nairobi behind Mrs. Obote’s back, leading her, after finding out, to reshuffle party officials. The reshuffle seems to have created a crisis, which Mr. Obote is hoping to control starting with the press statement reproduced below. It is not yet clear how Baganda, who overwhelmingly, consider Obote and UPC, which was president Museveni’s original politically party, the kingdom’s original enemy.

UGANDA PEOPLES CONGRESS
NATIONAL SECRETARIAT
Plot 8-10. Kampala Road. Uganda House. P.O Box 37047, Kampala. Phone/Fax: +256-41-236748

PRESS STATEMENT
(Embargoed for release at 3:00pm, 12th June, 2009)

PARTY UNITY

Following the recent cabinet reshuffle there has been a lot of conflicting information and interpretation in the media and public domains.

I have today held a consultative meeting attended by amongst others Hon. Okello Okello MP Chua County and Hen. Benson Obua-Ogwa! MP Morato County. This consultation will continue but the meeting resolved as follows:

1.   This consultation agreed that in the interest of Party Unity and impending work leading to the upcoming Delegates Conference the recent reshuffle remains in force.

2.   That the recent reshuffle was not done in bad faith and it should not be misconstrued otherwise. This reshuffle is part of the ongoing strategy to expedite the process of establishing new Party structures, implementing the new Constitution and preparation towards the coming Delegates Conference in. October, 2009 during which new Party leadership will be elected and more importantly prepare the Party for next elections in 2011.

3.   I ask all Party members, friends and well wishers to focus on electoral preparation for a brighter future and a strong and united Uganda Peoples Congress Party in the coming days, months and years ahead.

For God and my country

Mama Miria Kalule Obote
PARTY PRESIDENT