By Robert Egwea
The recent pact by 5 Lango MPs (Ben Wacha, Cecilia Ogwal, Charles Angiro Gutomoi, B’Leo Ojok and Rebecca Amuge Otengo) and 3 District Chairmen (Franco Ojur, John Baptist Okello Okello and Alfred Adoli Ogwok) to work with FDC is a move in the right direction because it marks a new beginning for real multiparty politics in Lango, which has been a UPC stronghold since 1962. The people of Lango have never known what multiparty democracy actually means as a result of being coerced into having no party affiliations, or belonging to only one political party.
From now on, the political landscape of Lango will be determined mainly by UPC and FDC. However, if peace continues to hold and the NRM step up mobilisation and pour resources for development in the region, the pre-2011 Lango arena might see three political giants – UPC, FDC and NRM. Independents will also take a small slice of the electorate, but considering the growth of political maturity in Lango, they will have an uphill task to win future elections in the region since independents are now regarded as ‘political prostitutes’ due to their perceived inconsistent positions on crucial issues.
While the FDC are enjoying increased popularity in the north and east, the UPC are losing credibility at an alarming rate, because the UPC now appear to be more of a family club or a “village party” as Celilia Ogwal put it, than a broad-based, forward-looking party. In essence, the UPC is no longer regarded as a winning party, but a liability to Lango. Most importantly, the environment is no longer conducive for UPC’s traditional method of securing political power, namely intimidation of political opponents and use of unconventional tactics such as locking out dynamic members and voting at night.
As for NRMO, they will not find it easy to gain grounds in the region due to historical reasons. Firstly, the NRM is seen as a movement that participated in, or supported armed cattle rustling which crippled the region economically. Secondly, the NRM government is believed to have deliberately lazed in defending Lango at the height of LRA insurgency, and some government troops are also believed to have killed or tortured innocent people in Lango. Thirdly the NRM government is believed to have marginalised the people of Lango for all these years due to the decaying infrastructure & public services in the region coupled with the negligible number of the Langi in key government positions. So in order for the NRMO to get hold of Lango, they must seriously address these main areas of concern.
The FDC stand good chances of becoming the main party in Lango and indeed the whole of northern and eastern Uganda. Their advantage is that they are seen as a party that can capture political power from the NRM. Although the core leaders of FDC were NRM, which is still detested by a good number of people in the regions affected by conflict due to historical reasons outlined above, they are regarded differently because they have openly challenged NRM rule. In other words, the people of Lango can forgive them because they have now reformed. The future of FDC in northern and eastern Uganda is bright, hence the shrewd move by the five MPs and three Chairmen.
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