MK Bid And Engineer Byanyima’s Misguided Venom

UNAIDS boss, Engineer Winnie Byanyima doesn’t want Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba to vie for power, asserting that the First Son is inexperienced, rendering him unable to manage the affairs of the country.

But, with due respect, Byanyima is being just dishonest, implying Gen Muhoozi is fit to run for the president and fit as well for holding the big office in the land.

We covered Dr. Kiiza Besigye’s spouse’s misgivings in an earlier story titled, ‘Byanyima to Muhoozi: President isn’t an Idler’s Job’, pledging to revert to this intriguing conversation with a rejoinder in support of Muhoozi’s bid.

Before anything else, it cannot be asserted that Byanyima isn’t aware that her assertions were just a fallacy in view of the fact that not only is she highly educated but also highly exposed.

For the record, Byanyima was the first Ugandan female ever to successfully pursue a degree in aeronautical engineering, proceeding on to earn a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the prestigious Manchester University, attesting to her brain power.

Experience and Eligibility

She represented Mbarara in parliament for several years before she was seconded by the government of Uganda to become the head of Oxfam International, going on thereafter to lead UNAIDS,  a position she holds to date, proving her local and international exposure. 

Judging from her past lawmaker’s job and the fact that she is highly educated, Byanyima is expected to know better than to irresponsibly allege about how Gen Muhoozi isn’t suitable for the office of the president which is at variance, moreover, with the 1995 Uganda Constitution and the laws under it both of which grant to the First Son the right to vie for that office. 

Let it be clearly clarified for everybody’s interest that there is no clause anywhere in the Constitution that states that experience, though desirable, can on its own be applied to lock out any qualified Ugandan from running for the office of the president. 

Diverse Paths to Candidacy

Come to think of it, where it to be so, people like John Katumba Oyee, Bobi Wine Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, Maureen Faith Kyalya, my friend, Joseph Kabuleeta, Entebbe’s Pastor Fred Mwesigye, and such people wouldn’t have themselves previously got an opportunity of standing for power in the first place. 

That the above group stood for the office of the president young as they were at that time, is more than proof enough that even Ugandans without experience, though admittedly desirable, can stand for the office of the president.

The issue of inexperience purportedly on the part of Muhoozi, helps to amplify Byanyima’s intellectual dishonesty. Muhoozi has held many of the highest offices in the military, exposing him to the necessary experience, rendering him to be able to handle the affairs of this country.

Apart from those above-mentioned high military offices, Muhoozi is serving currently as the special presidential advisor in charge of special military operations, garnering further experience capable of making him able to handle the affairs of this country.

From Security Detail to Command

Going back to Muhoozi’s illustrious military career, he has among others, previously been entrusted with the huge responsibility of heading the elite military outfit in charge of minding the security of the president and other key government personalities, going on to successfully handle that sensitive docket without any major incident occurring to the Head of State or those big personalities whose security he had been entrusted with.

After that, Muhoozi would serve as the commander of the land forces, turning him into the third most highly ranked military officer’s only subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief himself and the army commander, speaking to the level of experience he has been exposed to and which he has been able to amass over the course of his military service. 

If it’s to be believed that Muhoozi is inexperienced, then Byanyima herself was worse off since by the time she was elected an MP, she had hardly garnered any experience apart from maybe that she had acquired while fighting in the bush with the rebels of Muhoozi’s father, Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

Irrespective of her low levels of experience, Eng Byanyima remarkably did exceptionally well during her stint as a lawmaker, going into history as one of the best female lawmakers of her own generation. 

Yet had the issue of inexperience been used in the first place to deny Byanyima an opportunity to serve her country in the office of an MP, the country would have indeed greatly lost her insightful and remarkable leadership.  

From Father to Daughter

In the same vein, motherland Uganda would have lost the legislation prowess of Engineer Winnie Byanyima’s own father, Mwalimu Boniface Byanyima (may God bless his soul) had Mzee Apollo Milton Obote (may God bless his soul) maliciously used the excuse of inexperience to kick him out of the race leading into parliament.

For the record, the conditions set by the 1995 Uganda Constitution for one to stand for president, he or she must be a Ugandan citizen, aged 18 years, in possession of a senior six certificate, backed by 200,000 registered voters, bearing proof of registration as a voter and payment of registration fees set by the election umpire.

If Byanyima were to truly accuse Muhoozi of anything, frankly speaking, that would be in relation to Muhoozi being in excess of more than what the Constitution sets for him as a presidential candidate, rendering the charge itself to be stupid and frivolous from the word go.

For the record, not only is Gen Muhoozi a Ugandan of the statutory age of 18, but he is currently 51 years old, demonstrating that he is more than triple the age set by the Constitution for anyone desirous of running for power.

Beyond the Basics

In addition to that, not only does the presidential hopeful boast of an S6 certificate, but also a degree qualification. That is even without mentioning the numerous military qualifications Gen Muhoozi has over the years been able to successfully attain from, notably, the foremost Sand Hurst Royal Military Academy in England.

As for the rest of the conditions such as requiring him to secure  200,000 signatures of voters backing his bid, paying something as little as twenty million shillings, and possession of a national ID and a voter’s card, I can confidently assert that Muhoozi can easily take care of all of them.

On a serious note, those who want Muhoozi not to become president can only stop him by standing alongside him and decisively defeating him other than wishing him away by using falsehoods.

Standing for president is a right available to anyone in the Constitution of the country, rendering those like Byanyima dictating against his right to stand for power to look like false defenders of the Constitution plus human rights.

Bloodlines And Ballots

That Muhoozi is a son of the president by the accident of birth and blood relations cannot by itself alone bar him from standing for the president since that’s not what the Constitution of the country dictates.

Come on Muhoozi stay firm and try your luck at the big seat just as the Byanyimas, who have since incidentally hinted about running for the president, are free to join you in the race and then leave it to the race itself to sort out the best and the pretenders for the big office.

I rest my case. Next time we shall explore how the race would look like were Bobi Wine Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu and Gen Kainerugaba Muhoozi were left alone to tussle it out for the president. Till then, best of luck to you all dear readers.