Photo: Gahinga, Sabyinyo, Bisoke, Mikeno and Karisimbi viewed from the Second Hut on Mount Muhabura. © Ezra Sebahire
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The Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), which was launched on Wednesday May 22, 2019, is like Ibirunga, the eight volcanic mountains in Africa’s Western Rift Valley. These magnificent volcanos – Muhabura, Gahinga, Sabyinyo, Bisoke, Karisimbi, Mikeno, Nyamuragira, and Nyiragongo – offer overlooked beauty and underestimated power, all in one.
Many Ugandans wax poetic about our country’s gifts of nature but mention the volcanos as an appendage to the usual tour circuit through the old national parks and other well-trodden paths. The volcanos carry on their business in near silence, their presence taken for granted by even those, like my dear friend Ezra Sebahire, who live in their shadows. When my wife and I visited Sebahire at his beautiful home in Bufumbira, Kigyezi, he was amused by our excitement at being so close to the great Muhabura, the towering guide that has kept watch over the Great Lakes Region for well over ten thousand years.
Likewise, Ugandan journalists and political commentators, generally ignore the ANT. They present Uganda’s political “opposition” as one uniform group composed of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), and the National Unity Platform (NUP). Even the Democratic Party (DP) and the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC), which are now appendages of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), enjoy frequent mention by journalists who still refer to them as part of “the opposition.”
The failure to consider each party’s unique history, culture, values, policies, leadership style and fidelity to its stated vision and goals does a disservice to the citizens, and to the struggle for democracy.
The few who mention the ANT, present it as “Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu’s party”, revealing an understandable imprisonment in our long history of personalised and patriarchal politics. You see, UPC belongs to the Obote family. NRM belongs to the Museveni family. Even the FDC was identified with Kizza Besigye until he wisely freed the party from his shadow.
The fallacy that ANT is Muntu’s party is perpetuated by those who have not kept abreast of the party’s journey since its formation four years ago. ANT does not have a party president. It is led by a National Coordinator, a position to which Mugisha Muntu was elected at the founding of the party. He stepped down from that position when he sought election as the party’s flag bearer for the 2021 presidential “election.
Alice Asianut Alaso became the National Coordinator and remains in that position. She has shown outstanding leadership skills, guiding the financially strapped party with great patience, determination, and unyielding faith. For his part, Mugisha Muntu has remained a very loyal member of the party, with unwavering focus on grassroots structure formation and mobilization. Great work is being done on a shoestring budget, with personal financial sacrifice by the team members who are focused on transforming our country’s political culture.
So why is the ANT ignored by journalists and political commentators? One can hazard some guesses. First, a political party without scandals, drama, and fighting among the leaders deprives the scribes of the opportunity to report the entertaining stuff that the public loves. This is true all over the world.
Second, some of the media houses probably recognise the danger that a focused, disciplined, and transformative political party like ANT poses against the ruling regime. Denying such a party news coverage and publicity slows down its growth and impact.
Third, a party that advocates peaceful change in a militarized atmosphere where violence is glorified, is assumed to lack the potential to capture power. The culture of political violence is too deep rooted to allow many citizens to see that peace and reasoned debate still have a chance even in our troubled land.
What has enabled the ANT to continue with its long-term mission of transformative change even in the face of severe financial limitations? Part of the answer lies in the story of the party’s formation. Like the parents of a well-planned pregnancy, the leaders of ANT maintained a laser-focus on the health of their nascent party. Since its formal launch, the leaders have maintained disciplined application of professionalism to an organization that has set itself the uphill task of transforming the mindset and political culture of our country.
They have recognised that operating in a politically hostile environment demands scrupulous attention to the laws of the land, even where they disagree with the legal obstacles that are frequently placed in the path of legitimate assembly, association, and speech.
They have also respected the fears and reservations of a population that has lived through state intolerance of serious opposition since flag independence nearly 61 years ago. They have shunned quick-fixes and the hunger for unplanned change and transition. They have stuck to the pursuit of a long marathon of national transformation that considers Uganda after President Yoweri Museveni.
In my view, Alice Alaso and Mugisha Muntu are two leaders that Ugandans need to take a very close look at. I have known and interacted with Muntu and Alaso for thirty years, and eighteen years, respectively. I believe that I can write their objective letters of reference for the country’s attention. They are experienced, calm, focused and very honest individuals, with solid leadership and legislative experience. They have a softness and humility shaped by their strong Christian faith, but built on a solid foundation of honesty, fidelity to the rule of law, and a capacity for principled firmness and resolute execution of their duties.
These are leaders that we can count on to steer our country towards a safe shore after decades of turbulence on stormy seas of violence, corruption, pseudo-democracy, and promotion of mediocrity as a means of state control.
Their promise to lead the country in embracing value-based politics, enactment of people-centred policies and programs, and the entrenchment of strong institutions while expunging the culture of personalised power is not the usual political hot air. They have already demonstrated their seriousness during their years as leaders of national organizations, of the FDC, from which they amicably separated in 2018, and of ANT since 2019.
Like Sebahire’s recognition of the beauty of the volcanos in his backyard, Ugandans who care about the future of our country should take a serious look at ANT and its leaders and invest money in that party. This will enable the activists to establish a nationwide voice and transformative vehicle for millions of Ugandans who are good, who seek good and who crave peace and justice for all.
It is not enough to be a silent admirer of ANT and its leaders. Like Sebahire, whose appreciation of Muhabura and her seven sisters turned him into an avid admirer and promoter of those mountains, those who find ANT and its leaders attractive should get actively involved and influence the course and fortunes of the party. That is how you will have a positive impact on our country.
© Muniini K. Mulera