John Nagenda, the senior presidential adviser has told journalists in an interview that the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party must identify someone to take over from President Museveni to avert a possible power struggle after him.
“In the event that Mr. Museveni was to die while in office or depart the political scene without naming a successor, it would create a power vacuum,” said Mr. Nagenda in an interview at his Muyenga home in Kampala.
He said that if Museveni and the NRM party do not anoint a successor and power struggle happens after he has left the office, the scenario would reverse the gains that the country has made ever since the NRM shot its way to power in 1986.
The NRM party is President Museveni’s ruling party.
“We have got to find somebody, the state has got to find someone who will succeed President Museveni,” said the presidential adviser.
According to history, said Mr. Nagenda, countries that have had strong leaders such as President Museveni always degenerate into anarchy and lawlessness when their leaders happen to leave power without settling the issue of succession.
“Uganda has been in a comparatively wonderful state because of what has happened with the NRM party. Would it not be a terrible thing to take the risk of going back to what and how things were? Because that is exactly what usually happens when you have a very powerful leader and he is gone. Things go back to where they were,” explained Mr. Nagenda.
“And to me, for all the good things that have happened, which I approve of, going back there would be irresponsible,” he added.
When Mr. Nagenda was asked about his say upon Uganda’s current issue of lifting the presidential age limit, he said that those who are pushing on the lifting of the Presidential age limit are the corrupt people.
“It is true that there are those who have good reasons for desiring to see Mr. Museveni stay on, those who are pushing for the amendment of the Constitution are mostly corrupt people who have abused their positions to amass wealth,” he said.
Ugandan citizens and parliamentarians have been in raging debates for the past weeks to date, over allegations that the NRM members are scheming to amend Article 102 (b) of the country’s Constitution to have the age limit clause plucked out.
The party members are doing this to pave way for President Museveni to come back and run for presidency for another term.
Article 102 (b) of Uganda’s Constitution forbids a person below the age of 35 and above the age of 75 to run for presidency.
Museveni who is currently 73 and will be 77 in 2021 when Uganda will hold general elections again, will as per the Constitution be ineligible to run for presidency again.
However, the NRM party members are seeing to it that the Constitution will be amended, to have President Museveni back in 2021.
Reporter: Shamilah Namuddu
