REBECCA KADAGA, THE END OF AN ERA?

This week Rebecca Kadaga made way for her successor Jacob Oulanya after weeks of acrimonious campaigning, that was brought to a decided close when the National Resistance Movement (NRM) top organ nominating Oulanya as the party flagbearer in the race for speaker.

After her Sunday snub by the Central Executive Committee (CEC) Kadaga opted to break ranks with her party and run as an independent the next day.

"Only the romantics thought Kadaga had a chance in a house firmly in the grip of the NRM. President Yoweri Museveni, filling in for the Chief Whip made personal calls to key members to ensure Oulanya took the day...

The drama that preceded the count however masked another interesting story, that Kadaga is one of a pioneer group of politicians that benefitted from the NRM’s overhauling of the country’s politics.

When the NRM took over Kampala in January 1986 they were the most formidable fighting force but were politically weak on the ground. Were elections to be held within the next 12 months they may very well have been sent packing back to the bush.

To their credit they could have decided not to bother with politics, like Idi Amin before them but they decided they need to create a political base. They did this by suspending political party activity and allowing people to run for office on individual merit.

The first change froze the parties in place and the second allowed budding politicians to jump the party queue and compete for office, an opportunity that may not have turned up soon give the party processes of the time, where a small clique of men decided who run or did not.

Not only did Kadaga benefit from these two moves but also the introduction of the women’s district seat in the 1989 National Resistance Council (NRC), another initiative that ingratiated the NRM with the woman vote and expanded their political base even further.

Apart from the Constituent Assembly, where she did not participate, Kadaga has been the woman MP of Kamuli District since 1989.

"Kadaga was the last man standing of a crop of politicians that included former vice presidents Specioza Kazibwe, Professor Gilbert Bukenya, former prime minster Cosmas Adyebo and a motley crew of ministers like Victoria Sekitoleko, Francis Babu and Aggrey Awori who maximized on the NRM’s initial political machinations...

It is arguable that while in their individual rights they may have climbed through the original party structures and enjoyed some success, it is probable that they would not have risen to prominence as quickly.

And the trend has continued. Of all the MPs that were in the last house only three in ten managed to make it back to the house. Individuals in the constituency do not have to pledge allegiance to the party structures there to present themselves as would be the case before.

The trend is particular pronounced in the ruling NRM where in some constituencies dozens can show up to try and win the party flag.

Initially, as stated above it was a way to build a political base, for which it has proven extremely successful. Today it continues to renew the party at every poll. As an example the only ministers from the original cabinet in 1986 there remains only Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, who is ex –officio. Kahinda Otafire, who has only just returned to the house after an electoral loss in 2016 and General Moses Ali.

"One of the better legacies of the NRM will be that they flung open the doors to political office like no one before them. The party has remained coherent despite the regular bloodletting and it is not expected that Kadaga’s exit will change that...

That being said high profile politicians like Kadaga and Kazibwe before her have shown, especially young women, that politics is a field in, which they too can aspire to and perform in.

That may not be a stated legacy of the Kadaga two decades in the Speaker’s office but it is one that will reverberate down history.

Her ouster while not a hard departure from the past, is a useful marker of when the Movement made a final break from the old parties and now runs largely on its own steam, with leaders who have been nothing but movement or even have known no other party in their life time.

Me thinks it also marks another interesting milestone in the NRM project that will be revealed in the fullness of time.