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By Barrister Peter Magomu Mashate
News of President Museveni endorsing the candidature of Acholi son, Amb. Olara Otunnu for the United Nations Secretary General Job comes with mixed reactions. To me, this is part of the wider move by the President to pursue and achieve national reconciliation.
For starters, Museveni and Otunnu have not been the best of friends from time immemorial. Before his capture of power in 1986, this position of Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the UN, right from Obote I, had seemingly been a preserve for the Acholis. It began with Otema Alimadi, whom Obote posted to the UN.
However, his posting was deemed by the Acholis as a banishment of their son, whom Obote treated as a threat to his continued leadership of UPC/President of Uganda. Even when his tenure expired at the UN, during the UNLF government, where Obote had strong influence through his men, Paulo Muwanga and Oyite Ojok, Alimadi Otema was not posted to any other ministry except Foreign Affairs to keep him away.
During Obote II, Otema was posted to the Prime Minister’s office, a role the Acholis received with skepticism because they expected him to have bounced back as Vice President. Obote gave this position to Paulo Muwanga, whom the Acholis viewed as a junior and political novice compared to their son.
All these appointments point to a fear Obote personally had of Otema being highly empowered, because he saw him as a big threat.
Because of his constant fear of the Acholis, Obote opportunistically quickly appointed another rising star from Acholi by the name of Olara Otunnu to the same position of UN Permanent Representative, which Otema Alimadi originally held.
These appointments partly answered to Obote’s plan to curtail the chances of Acholis to ascend to UPC presidency, and therefore National leadership.
The Acholi threat finally happened as two sons of their sons, namely Bazilio Okello Olara and Tito Okello Lutwa, staged a coup in 1985 and toppled him.
Olara Otunnu, however, never participated in it, but he was among the first to be invited to join as a Foreign Affairs minister for the junta, just like Paulo Semogerere, who was invited as Internal Affairs minister, among others.
That year, following the establishment of the junta government, there came the Nairobi Peace talks between the Junta and the NRA rebels led by Yoweri Museveni.
The government side was led by Tito Okello himself, alongside key military and cabinet officials including Lt. Gen. Bazilio Olara Okello, Brig. Gadi Wilson Toko, and Foreign Affairs minister Olara Otunnu, who played the role of a dominant intellectual force.
The NRA group was led by Museveni himself. Otunnu’s role directly made him face off with Museveni, another intellectual and rebel group leader. No wonder the peace talks later collapsed, and the NRA eventually seized power through a protracted armed struggle in 1986 and *VESITED POWER IN THE NRM/NRA BY PROCLAMATION NUMBER 1 OF 1986.*
Since then, Otunnu has been in opposition politics even though some of his influential tribesmen such as Richard Todwong (NRM SG), Hillary Onek (Minister), Alphonse Owiny Dollo (former Chief Justice) and Jacob Oulanyah (former Speaker), among others, have been working with President Museveni to date.
Otunnu’s current bid for the UN job is not just starting. It actually started back in 1997 when Tony Blair assumed the office of British Prime Minister. It is stated that Blair, a Barrister at Law of the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, London, slept in the same room at Oxford University with Otunnu. No wonder, in 1997, at the time of nominations for the UN SG job, Blair vigorously campaigned to have Olara Otunnu as the UN SG against Kofi Annan. Blair is said to have vigorously lobbied the US president Bush to support Ambassador Olara Otunu against Koffi Annan and Prime minister described his alumnus Olara Otunnu as a man of impeccable integrity. However, he lost out after failing to secure the backing of his home country, Uganda. Olara Otunnu would later stand against President Museveni on the UPC ticket but lost miserably.
The events happening now, therefore, point to a realignment of relations driven by President Museveni’s cherished principle of national reconciliation, including reaching out to his long-term political opponents. This is indeed a welcome move by H.E Gen. Museveni and must therefore guide our present and future engagements with our opponents for the good of the country.
*THE WRITER IS; FORMERLY LONDON BASED BARRISTER PETER MAGOMU MASHATE AN ADMINISTRATIVE, CONSTITUTIONAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS BARRISTER-AT-LAW OF THE HONOURABLE SOCIETY OF LINCOLN’S INN OF COURT LONDON UNITED KINGDOM*.
Email; e2016v29@yahoo.com
