I am unopposed in NRM, says Mbabazi

Former prime minister Amama Mbabazi (C) is mobbed by his supporters at his home in Kampala recently. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA 

BY KIHEMMBO WILBERT

IN SUMMARY

Criticism. Mbabazi says President Museveni always gives himself credit for all the successes and blames others for all failures

Kampala.

Former prime minister Amama Mbabazi has said he is running unopposed for the NRM presidential flag bearer since nobody else has so far declared interest and said he hopes to persuade President Museveni not to stand against him for 2016 elections.

Mbabazi was speaking in an interview with BBC on Thursday. Mr Mbabazi also scoffed at President Museveni for taking credit for all the NRM achievements and blaming all failures on others.

When the host Alan Kasujja asked whether President Museveni would not be against Mbabazi’s bid against him for the presidency, the former prime minister said he did not know whether the President was interested in standing in 2016 elections.“Well, I don’t know. He didn’t tell me that he wanted to run and actually on the other hand, I told him that I was so far unopposed. He has not declared his intention and I hope I can persuade him to maintain that, not to declare,” Mr Mbabazi told BBC.

Mr Mbabazi was also asked why President Museveni called him for a meeting at State House on Monday.

“Yes, he invited me to State House on Monday this week. I did hold a meeting with him and we discussed a number of things. He asked me why I had declared (intention to stand for president) when the party electoral commission had not declared campaign period. I told him I acted strictly within the law because the party has issued the campaign roadmap. We have dates and election campaigns begin actually this month within the party. The national Electoral Commission has declared and published its roadmap so I don’t see why anyone says it’s not election season, it is,” Mr Mbabazi said.

Asked what chance he has against President Museveni, who undoubtedly remains popular in the NRM and country, Mr Mbabzi was categorical.
“As the English saying goes, the taste of the pudding is in the eating, so let’s see when we get there,” he replied.

“I have absolutely no doubt that if the process is transparent and democratic, the outcome I know,” he added.

He dismissed claims by his critics that he is not offering any fresh ideas because he has been part of the system for the last 30 years and cannot claim to be a fresh pair of eyes than Mr Museveni.

“What we are talking about is consolidating the gains, the achievements we have delivered in the country as a government and looking at the challenges we have, for instance transforming the economy. NRM has done very well in rebuilding the economy of Uganda because the economy was in shambles,” Mr Mbabazi said.

“Now we have a manufacturing sector, we have done a bit of work on infrastructure but we still have challenges of unemployment, challenges of deep-seated corruption in government, we have challenges of incompetence in the performance of institutions,” he added.
However, his host asked him why he did not fix those challenges when he was still in government. Mr Mbabazi said he did not have the authority to do that.

Responding to President Museveni’s remark this week that if there were any failures and weaknesses in the system, it was partly because Mr Mbabazi, as prime minister, failed to supervise the people he was leading in government, Mr Mbabazi said: “I was prime minister for three, four years. We have been in power for 30 years and so you can’t blame all these failures on me.”

“But, of course in Uganda, it is very well known, President Museveni always gives himself credit for all successes and blames others for all failure,” he said.

Mr Mbabazi, however, admitted that having been in government, he accepts responsibility for all the failures but also shares credit for the success under NRM because he has been part of it.

The host asked him to comment on accusations that he is corrupt, which he denied. 
“Actually, I was known as Mr Clean until 2008 when the first allegations came up. That was after we had been in power for 22 years. These allegations were all handled by Parliament, by all institutions of government that carried out investigations and they all turned out to be false,” Mr Mbabazi said.

Museveni-Mbabazi meeting

The Minister for Information and National Guidance, Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi, called the Monitor offices on Thursday to deny a story in the newspaper’s edition of the previous day which indicated that President Museveni had asked Mr Mbabazi about his presidential bid for 2016.