By Amb Henry Mayega
There has been a lot of hyping that the newly bought, or was it formed, NUP party would dominate the youth vote both in the youth elections and the general elections next year. That soothing but faulty assertion also attracted EU envoys by way of them visiting the NUP headquarters recently where they had the audacity of even discussing Uganda’s demographics in light of youth participation in the upcoming national polls! Hilarious isn’t it! Now back to the assumption that NUP will dominate the youth; that is more of a wish and an assumption than the reality and this message has been made loud and clear recently.
The recently concluded youth polls have told it all that the NRM led by President Yoweri Museveni is as popular as ever despite some who would want to wish that away including the indolent opposition and the ever intrusive EU envoys. Essentially, it means the defeat of the NUP and the entire opposition at the hands of NRM youth is a forecaster of what awaits those groups in the 2021 general elections; it’s going to be a turning point for our country because the liars, bootlickers, agents of colonialism – call them sub-imperialists, as well as skeptics, will be badly disproved.
First, the NRM won the nationwide elections recently by 79%. That showed how that mass party is popular amongst Ugandans including but not limited to the youth. Relatedly, the same party won both the older persons and PWDs by 87% and 85% respectively. Interestingly, the much-billed NUP afforded well below 1% in each of those categories of electorates. For beginners, the hard truth is: Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s finest president, has had most of the youth in the country born during his time, and scores and scores of opportunities have been afforded the youth including but not limited to the massification of access to education via UPE, USE, loan scheme for university students, 1.5 points for the girl child, eradication of health conditions like polio that had crippled many in the past, youth livelihood-schemes/youth fund from which they can borrow, etc and no one should assume that those people do not read the past and compare it with the present.
Bobi Wine himself is a beneficiary of Yoweri Museveni administration’s righting of past wrongs; whereas artists in the past like Byron Kawadwa were the target of, for instance, the Idi Amin regime (he was killed), Bobi has made a fortune out of music, yet he foolishly has been discouraging potential investors from coming here!
Interestingly, the NRM youth won in the backyards of opposition apparatchiks putting several on notice; the Mpugas, and Wines of this world had theirs badly threatened.
The New Vision of September 3, 2020, in its article “Parish youth polls hotly contested, NRM wins in Mpuga’s backyard,” reported provisional results showing the party was again “tipped to dominate the youth structures.” Mpuga has been oscillating between DP and NUP; and now, the NRM bundled both out of dominating the youth councils in Masaka.
But all these things happening now are a plus to the Yoweri Kaguta Museveni administration because of their symbolism in as far as the growth of our democracy is concerned; our checkered past had the gun as the prime determinant of our political destiny; political arguments would always translate into war and war into death and despoliation. That is now well behind us although, as the State has said, there are some with a cognitive deficit especially amongst the NUP upstarts of today, who still loath peace, security and stability and would prefer recourse to war. They will be most welcome in that field; the State has said that they were training some youth goons and trying to smuggle guns into the country, shoot people, and claim it was the handwork of government.
The majority of the youth prefer a peaceful environment devoid of ghetto behaviorism; fortunately, the resounding victory by NRM over the vanquished NUP is a clear writing on the wall, a message that has been sent to all and sundry that the youth in this country cannot be taken for granted by the Kamwokya and Magere upstarts.
Ambassador Henry Mayega is Deputy Head of Mission
Uganda Embassy, Beijing, China
