----- Original Message -----
<[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 3:48 AM
Subject: Re: Wapakabulo's ghost still haunting


> Amos,
>
> If you read the late Wapa's letter to Museveni on the 3rd term published
in
> Wednesday's The Monitor, this akaroho theory seems ever so plausible.
>
> Omule
>
> ----- Original Message -----
<[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: April 7, 2004 6:38 PM
> Subject: Re: Wapakabulo's ghost still haunting
>
>
> >
> >   Members,
> >   Could this Wapa easily have been a victim of the Tutsi "weed' commonly
> > known as "akaroho" or "slow poisoning?"
> >   When you read this, you can not fail to suspect thus. Just wondering!!
> >
> >   Amos
> >
> >   ----- Original Message -----
> >   To: <[log in to unmask]>
> >   Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 12:53 PM
> >   Subject: Wapakabulo's ghost still haunting
> >
> >   > Wapa: In the eyes of a Devil's Advocate
> >   > April 7, 2004
> >   >
> >   > No Ugandan politician has been mourned across our country's tribal
and
> >   > political lines, and in East Africa, in recent times like 2nd Deputy
> > Prime
> >   > Minister James Wapakhabulo.
> >   >
> >   > It would seem that everything - especially the praises - that could
be
> > said
> >   > of Wapa has been aired. Wapa emerges as a remarkable man, who lived
a
> >   > remarkable life.
> >   >
> >   >
> >   > Mr Wapakhabulo (RIP)
> >   >
> >   > However nature defies such orderliness, and we lie about politics
and
> > men
> >   > like Wapa who lived in a troubled era when we don't recognise the
> >   > contradictions of their life and times.
> >   >
> >   > To many Wapa was a great patriot, democrat, and consummate political
> >   > operator. That might be so, but yet he failed to come into his own
as
> an
> >   > independent political leader, and largely spent the last 18 years as
a
> >   > minion of the Movement.
> >   >
> >   > To others Wapa's wild nights out on the town betrayed an
unforgivable
> > social
> >   > recklessness unsuited to someone of his standing. Yet, in spite of
> that
> >   > failing, Wapa was still much loved.
> >   >
> >   > Nothing helps to reveal the Wapa mystic, that impressive quality
that
> > seemed
> >   > impossible to put a finger on, like his last days. Several weeks
> before
> > he
> >   > died, Wapa wrote to the Medical Board requesting that it authorise
his
> >   > treatment abroad. Because he is a minister, the Board in turn
required
> >   > clearance from the highest authority in President's Office before it
> > could
> >   > act. That authority was denied.
> >   >
> >   > Political wags speculate that it might have been "punishment" for
his
> > letter
> >   > criticising the "third term project", which could make President
> Yoweri
> >   > Museveni eligible to run for a fifth term in State House come 2006.
> >   >
> >   > Whatever the truth, this is what led Wapa's relatives to claim that
> the
> >   > government "neglected" him while he was sick. mbarrassed by the
> prospect
> >   > that the government wasn't going to fly him to a hospital abroad,
> > Movement
> >   > leaders reportedly led by Environment minister Kahinda Otafiire,
> > privately
> >   > raised money for his treatment abroad. At this point the Wapa mystic
> > that
> >   > endeared him to many showed itself.
> >   >
> >   > It's alleged he thanked his friends, but said he couldn't take the
> > private
> >   > collection. He apparently said that if the Movement that he had
served
> > so
> >   > wholeheartedly thought his life was not worth a dime from the
official
> >   > kitty, then he would gladly die painfully at home (Uganda). And so
it
> > was.
> >   >
> >   > The real Wapa then was a complicated and conflicted figure.
> >   >
> >   > The generous view was that his "wild" ways were how he escaped from
> > these
> >   > contradictions. In a country where, it would seem, most husbands,
> wives,
> > and
> >   > partners cheat and lie to each other, Wapa's social failings made
him
> a
> >   > lovable anti-hero. To many people, he was probably a mirror of
> > themselves.
> >   >
> >   > But that of itself wouldn't be enough. Wapa did something else.
Unlike
> > other
> >   > political leaders, he wasn't hypocritical. He didn't go around
> lecturing
> > the
> >   > country about how to be good husbands and wives by day, while
breaking
> > the
> >   > Ten Commandments by night.
> >   >
> >   > If the life Wapa lived at night was a refuge from the torment of his
> day
> >   > political job, what then were these political trials?
> >   > Wapa's gift for the garb and charm was evident early when he was
> > minister of
> >   > Co-operatives and then Housing and Urban Development. But it was
when
> he
> > was
> >   > Chairman of the Constituent Assembly between 1994 that he
definitively
> > swept
> >   > the country off its feet.
> >   >
> >   > In a constitution-making process environment poisoned by the
> bitterness
> >   > between the Movementists and multipartyists, Wapa deployed two tools
> > that
> >   > had never been fully exploited. He was clinically intelligent - and
> thus
> > got
> >   > the political antagonists to accept his rulings and decisions as
fair,
> >   > because no one seemed to be able to quickly come up with a better
> idea.
> >   >
> >   > Secondly, he harnessed wit and humour to resolve political impasse.
> When
> > the
> >   > CA seemed on the verge of breaking down, and possibly plunging the
> > country
> >   > into crisis the next day, he would bring the roof down with a well
> > chosen
> >   > wise crack, and tempers would mellow.
> >   >
> >   > Wapa seemed to surpass everyone as a people manager. As the CA ended
> > Wapa
> >   > was rated several scales above Museveni - the first Movement leader
to
> > be so
> >   > regarded. Outside the corridors of the CA and Parliament, however,
> > Wapa's
> >   > Achilles' heel was all too evident. He suffered electoral
humiliation
> in
> >   > Mbale Municipality in 1993.
> >   >
> >   > His political support didn't all come from his own hand. Rather, a
> large
> >   > chunk came from the industry of his wife Angelina, who is much loved
> in
> > the
> >   > constituency. For while Wapa played the CA, Parliament, and the
media
> > like a
> >   > grandmaster, he seemed not to have an equal gift for the common
touch.
> > That,
> >   > in turn, came from his inconsistent passion for guts and blood
> politics.
> >   >
> >   > Thus after his election as Speaker following the 1996 polls, Wapa
> > accepted
> >   > to be "elected" National Political Commissar (NPC). He left a job
that
> > had
> >   > best showcased his abilities, and took one that could only cast him
as
> a
> >   > partisan warrior, thus undermining his bi-partisan appeal. As NPC
Wapa
> > was
> >   > distracted sorting out Uganda's mess, and trying to heal wounded
egos
> > and
> >   > injured pride following Uganda's disastrous clash with Rwanda in
> eastern
> >   > Congo.
> >   >
> >   > He became more removed from domestic politics, and missed an
> opportunity
> > to
> >   > leverage the NPCship to consolidate his national stature.
> >   >
> >   > Thus by 2001, a man who was once considered president-in-waiting,
was
> > paying
> >   > the price for his lack of appetite for the big political fight. Maj.
> > Kakooza
> >   > Mutale, who was heading the pro-Museveni militia Kalangala Action
Plan
> > that
> >   > acted as shock troops for the president's campaign by beating up his
> > rivals
> >   > and their supporters in the elections, was disrupting Wapa's rallies
> in
> >   > Mbale and supporting his opponents.
> >   >
> >   > The belief was that he was carrying out the orders of someone from
> State
> >   > House, who knew Wapa would never climb into the trenches to fight
for
> > his
> >   > turf. If Wapa could be defeated in Mbale, his stature as potential
> > president
> >   > would fizzle.
> >   >
> >   > Things were to get worse. Away from the limelight, several political
> > defeats
> >   > were inflicted on him. While he was the minister, his voice was
> > marginalised
> >   > as foreign affairs came increasingly under State House and the
> > Chieftaincy
> >   > of Military Intelligence.
> >   >
> >   > His friends and relatives speak of occasions when he would be
informed
> > that
> >   > he had to be on a foreign trip that the president was making only
> hours
> >   > before. But he would be judged "unfit" to travel on the presidential
> > jet.
> >   > Wapa would thus have to hop commercial flights chasing after the
> >   > presidential entourage.
> >   >
> >   > Sections of the media were dissuaded from running "positive" stories
> on
> >   > Wapa. However the same media were encouraged to give prominence,
> >   > particularly to close blown up photos, showing the tell tale signs
of
> > Wapa's
> >   > advancing sickness.
> >   >
> >   > Yet, I suspect Wapa himself would despise us if we let pity prevent
us
> > from
> >   > an honest assessment of his place in our country's history. His
charm
> > and
> >   > wit, in the end only helped to sugarcoat the entrenchment of the
> > one-party
> >   > state in the 1995 constitution. For all his intelligence, and the
> >   > possibility he had of using his national standing to expand
democracy,
> >   > Wapa's courage failed him.
> >   >
> >   > If people like Wapa had taken a bolder pro-democracy stand in the
> > mid-1990s,
> >   > they would have made a difference. He like others, left it too late.
> > Unlike
> >   > other Museveni bossom-buddies - like former NPC, First Deputy
premier
> > and
> >   > minister of Internal Affairs Eriya Kategaya - who are trying to undo
> the
> >   > authoritarian knots they helped to tie, Wapa will never get a second
> > chance.
> >   >
> >   > For lessons he taught us in remaining serene as one swam these
choppy
> >   > troubled waters that he did, Wapa will be missed. And also for the
> >   > inspirational leadership he still managed to offer in the critical
> years
> >   > between 1994 and 1998. But most of all, because he was Wapa, I mourn
> for
> > the
> >   > truly great man he would have been, but never became.
> >   >
> >   > Email: [log in to unmask]
> >   >
> >   >
> >   >
> >   >
> >   > © 2004 The Monitor Publications
> >   >
> >
> >
> >
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ------
> >   >
> >   >
> >
> >
>
>

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