Africa-Press – Uganda. President Museveni has dared General Otafiire to either shut up or resign over the Muhoozi project. By the doctrine of collective cabinet responsibility, ministers are obliged to step down if they fundamentally disagree with the appointing authority.
In 1967, my late cousin Aqbar Adoko-Akaki Nekyon, a master of realpolitik, dramatically resigned from his own cousin Milton Obote’s government. Officially, Nekyon, an economist and capitalist, had disagreed with Obote’s Common Man’s Charter, a socialist policy aimed at curtailing private business in favor of state-controlled enterprises.
Unofficially, it was said that Nekyon, then Minister of Economic Planning, had a personal quarrel with Defence Minister Felix Onama. Reportedly, Nekyon demanded Onama’s dismissal; when Obote refused, Nekyon resigned. Obote famously said, “good riddance.” Four years later, Obote was overthrown in 1971.
Nekyon later joined the Democratic Party before aligning with Museveni in Sweden to plan Obote’s overthrow in 1985–86. I next saw the two cousins together 36 years later, on 24th October 2005: Obote lay in his casket, and Nekyon, as our Oyima clan leader, was the chief mourner.
Fast forward to 2026, and it feels as if South Sudanese politics have reached Uganda. Gen. Otafiire has effectively become the de facto leader of the NRM-in-Opposition (NRM-IO), leaving Gen. Museveni as leader of the NRM-in-Government (NRM-IG).
Why? If he is not making headlines opposing the so-called Muhoozi project, he is criticizing the NRM-IG for detaining Dr. Kizza Besigye for over a year without bail or trial. This is gesture politics—actions primarily aimed at self-publicity.
If, like Nekyon, Gen Otafiire had courage of conviction, he would resign over both the unstoppable Muhoozi project and Dr Besigye’s detention. Such a resignation would send a powerful message to Museveni, the public, and Uganda’s international partners.
The problem, however, is that the opposition to Muhoozi is so divided it cannot agree on a single alternative leader. Ask a cross-section of Ugandans who could replace Museveni, and you typically hear: “I don’t know” or “someone will come up.” This is no accident—it reflects Uganda’s parochial politics of tribe, clan, region, and religion, which have repeatedly brought disaster since independence.
In 1962, the mainly Protestant UPC merged with their religious allies, the Kabaka Yeka (KY), to block the mainly Catholic DP from forming government. No sooner had the British left than UPC and KY turned on each other; Kabaka Mutesa fled to London, where he died three years later.
In 1971, the West Nile tribal clique and other anti-Obote forces seized power violently. By 1975, many coup collaborators were dead or in exile. In 1979, Ugandan refugees in Tanzania formed the predominantly Lango and Acholi Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), which overthrew Idi Amin. In 1985, Acholi soldiers turned on their Lango counterparts and overthrew Obote, paving the way for Museveni and his coalition to take power in 1986.
Museveni disarmed and absorbed these factions into the National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M), which has provided Uganda with relative peace and stability for over 40 years.
I support Gen. Muhoozi not for personal preference but because he represents continuity in peace and stability. The donor community seems to share this view, as ambassadors and high commissioners line up to pay courtesy calls on Gen. Muhoozi Kanirubasa, the president-in-waiting. Unlike the opposition, Gen. Muhoozi will inherit the military, police, security, and intelligence apparatus, along with political networks across Uganda and its borders.
The time for Otafiire and other gesture politicians is over. They must make hard decisions and publicly endorse a single leader to succeed Museveni. Is it Norbert Mao, Gen Mugisha Muntu, Bobi Wine, Jimmy Akena, Dr Kizza Besigye, or Winnie Byanyima? To say “I don’t know” or “someone will come up” is to sleepwalk into disaster.
Coalition governments have never worked in Uganda and will not until we transcend our entrenched divisions of tribe, clan, region, and religion—a process likely 50 years away.
Source: Nilepost News
