Following in the footsteps of Milton Obote and Yoweri Museveni, UPC’s Olara Otunnu has, over the last 6 months, secured a deal (“mukago”) with respected foreign based  Baganda to promote his presidential candidacy. According to a press release dated July 11, 2009, Mr. Otunnu, an Acholi, has been joined four USA based Baganda men,  James Ssemakula (California), John Mayanja (Massachusetts), Mubiru Musoke (Massachusetts) and  Aloysius Lugira (Massachusetts) to form the Campaign for Democracy and Justice in Uganda (CDJ). According to our sources in New York, this is a major step in Mr. Otunnu’s plan to sell himself as the next savior for Baganda – following Obote, Amin, Okello and Museveni.

All Mr. Otunnu’s Baganda partners, with the exception of James Ssemakula, are long-term DP activists and it is not yet clear how their new relationship with UPC’s designated 2011Uganda  presidential candidate might affect their politics.  Additionally, Otunnu’s Baganda partners are all old men over 50 years old who have lived out of Uganda for decades. Interestingly, Mr. Otunnu has not included any of his many American based fellow Acholi’s in this group. Yet his UPC political and security infrastructure in Uganda is getting constructed exclusively by Acholis and anti Miria Obote Langis.

The CDJ leadership is clearly dominated by Baganda who are known to put Buganda and Kabaka first.  However, their press release does not even include the word “Buganda”.  Some Buganda watchers might interpret this as a sign that, like Nsibambi, Gilbert Bukenya, Sekandi and Kiddu Makubya, the CDJ Baganda members fear that direct promotion of Buganda interests would be “tribalistic” and embarrassing.

The press release announcing the formation of Mr. Otunnu’s CDJ is reproduced in full below:

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PRESS RELEASE
 
Ugandans Launch Campaign for Free and Fair Elections
 
Kampala, Boston, London, Toronto
 
11th July, 2009
 
Today a broad spectrum of Ugandans launched a major national and international campaign for free and fair elections in Uganda. This collective patriotic mission is called Campaign for Democracy and Justice in Uganda (CDJ).
 
The interim president of CDJ, Mr. John Mayanja, stated: “Previous elections conducted by the Museveni regime, which has been in power for 24 years, were massively rigged and manifestly lacked a level playing field. We must absolutely change this. This is the primary reason for the formation and launching of CDJ.”
 
CDJ will campaign for the following norms and standards:
 
. genuinely free and fair elections;
. transparent democratic practice and process;
. the rule of law and accountability;
. justice and equity for all Ugandans;
. national unity.

 
These norms and standards constitute the foundation for democracy and good government in Uganda and worldwide.
 
CDJ is not a political party. It is a non-partisan advocacy project committed to advancing the norms, principles, and standards set out above. CDJ is not affiliated with any particular political parties in Uganda; it is a broad-based network of Ugandan patriots, within the country and in the Diaspora, of diverse political affiliations and persuasion.
 
A particularly important date is approaching on the Ugandan political calendar. The country is preparing to hold national elections in 2011. CDJ will not support any parties or candidates in the forthcoming electoral contests. Its preoccupation is to mount a vigorous campaign for genuinely free and fair elections, with a level playing field for all.
 
The interim chairman of CDJ, Olara A. Otunnu noted: “Today, Uganda is a country in the throes of a grave national crisis and distress. The best way to combat this malaise is the institution of genuine democratic practice and process, beginning with free and fair elections. This would allow the Ugandan people to freely choose and shape their own destiny. It would ensure that leaders are held fully accountable for their actions before the law and the electorate. Democratic process also is the best way to prevent resort to violent conflict.”
 
CDJ calls on Ugandan patriots of all hues, both within the country and in the Diaspora, to come together and mount a robust campaign for free and fair elections in 2011. The interim secretary, Professor Aloysius Lugira stated: “The norms and standards for free and fair elections are now universally accepted. Uganda must not continue to be a perennial exception to universally accepted standards”.

This campaign is in support of the demands for electoral reforms which have been jointly tabled by the political parties in Uganda. The campaign is being launched today on the occasion of President Barack Obama’s speech in Accra; we are inspired by his seminal message, in particular on free and fair elections, accountability, anti-corruption, anti-ethnic sectarianism, anti-nepotism, and equitable opportunity, as indispensable components of democratic governance. Significantly this campaign also echoes and is in line with observations and recommendations made in 2006 by all election observers, including the European Union, the Commonwealth, and Ugandan civil society led by the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) and the ruling of the Supreme Court of Uganda.
 
2011 must inaugurate a new era for Uganda–an era of free and fair elections, with a level playing field. Ugandans demand, deserve and will accept nothing less. As President Barack Obama stated today, “History is on the side of these brave Africans.”
 
Signed by:
 
Mr. Olara A. Otunnu (Interim Chairman)
Mr. James Ssemakula (Interim Deputy Chairman)
Mr. John Mayanja (Interim President)
Mr. Mubiru Musoke (Interim Treasurer)
Professor Aloysius Lugira (Interim Secretary)
 
For further information, contact:
 
Mr. Jude Mbabaali
Foundation for African Development [FAD]
P.O. Box 2326, Kampala
Tel: 041 4510 486/041 4269 562
Mobile: 0772 444 663
Email: mbabaalij@yahoo.com; fad@infocom.co.ug
 
Professor Aloysius Lugira
Tel: 617-552-3539 or 781-439-3875.
Email: lugira.cdj@gmail.com; lugira@bc.edu