Uganda's Young Democrats
Had 'No Role' in NARC Landslide
THE EASTAFRICAN
AS DEBATE raged in Kampala over the role played by the Uganda Young Democrats (UYD) in the election that saw President Mwai Kibaki ascend to power in Kenya, a senior official in the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) cast doubt on UYD claims that they were instrumental in dislodging Kanu from power.
NARC director of elections Alex Mureithi told The EastAfrican last week that the party did not engage UYD members in its campaigns.
"DP had its Young Democrats wing which was merged with similar organs from other parties that make up NARC," said Mureithi. "We did not have any agreement with the Democratic Party of Uganda."
The furore comes after a welcome ceremony at the Malaba border crossing two weeks ago, where UYD officials claimed to have gone to welcome back home the "task force" that worked with NARC during the Kenyan polls.
Initially, the UYD, which constitutes the militant wing of Uganda's Democratic Party, said they were in Kenya to share experiences with their NARC counterparts.
UYD officials have been saying that retired president Moi was so concerned about their presence in Kenya that he asked Kampala to recall them.
The claims have drawn predictable anger from Ugandan officials but they have been met with scepticism outside DP circles.
However, the MP for Makindye East in Kampala, who is also the general secretary of UYD, Michael Mabikke, insisted that the UYD had indeed been in Kenya and actively participated in the campaigns on the side NARC.
But nobody in the UYD could give a single contact of people they claimed to have worked with in the now ruling NARC. "The list is long, I cannot give you all their names," Mr Mabikke told The EastAfrican on the telephone.
Mr Mureithi said that it was possible that some Young Democrats in Kenya might have shared experiences with their Ugandan friends, but not officially.
"I suppose one could have introduced himself as a Young Democrat from Uganda to the Kenyans," he said. "We got support from Young Democrats from as far as Texas... you could see their campaigns on the Internet but we did not have any agreement with the Democratic Party of Uganda."
Though during the height of the electioneering period in Kenya in December, Uganda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement warning the UYD activists to "desist from the affairs of another country," questions are being raised whether the UYD played any role in Kenyan politics.
They claim that they had contacts within President Mwai Kibaki's Democratic Party of Kenya (DP).
Ofwono Opondo, the information officer at the Movement secretariat, told The EastAfrican that UYD's politics was cheap. "If they have failed to make a mark in Uganda, how can they claim to have played a role in the election of NARC into office?" asked Mr Opondo. "I do not think they did anything in Kenya. They just want to use the claim to hoodwink people in Uganda."
He said Ugandans should judge UYD according to their performance in Uganda, not Kenya where they cannot be evaluated. "It is very hard to operate in another country, however good you may be," said Mr Opondo.
Other sources in the Movement, said that if it were true that UYD participated in the Kenyan election in whichever capacity apart from being observers, it amounted to interference in the affairs of another country and it could cause trouble for Uganda.
Mr Mabbike says that a group of his members went to Kenya in order to help NARC win the election in the country, which had only known Kanu leadership since independence in 1963.
He said the UYD was also in Kenya in an effort to learn new skills from NARC, which it could use to defeat the Movement in the 2006 presidential election.
Another UYD official, who did not want to be named, said that it was the UYD Makerere University branch, that had gone to Kenya. According to him, Mbidde Mukasa, who left for Japan immediately the Kenyan election was over, led the group.
He also could not give the contacts of the group, neither could UYD officials produce passports of those who had gone to Kenya. "That is impossible for security reasons. These people did not get the blessing of the government so they can be arrested," said the official.
However, those who doubt the participation of UYD in the Kenyan elections say that the group has nothing to show that they were in Kenya.
"Putting on NARC T-shirts does not qualify them; anybody could buy them across the border in Kenya," said one observer. "If it is true UYD participated in the Kenyan election, this would be the first time that a political party in a neighbouring country was participating actively in the elections of another country."
In Uganda's 2001 presidential election, the government accused the opposition Reform Agenda of getting funds from a neighbouring country.
At the height of Kenya's presidential and parliamentary campaigns, Uganda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had received information that some Ugandans were involving themselves in the ongoing electoral process in Kenya. The statement said that the UYD had particularly been mentioned.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to remind all Ugandans that elections outside Uganda are a matter outside the jurisdiction of the Republic of Uganda," said the statement.
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