Why Besigye’s People’s Front for Transition is old wine in a new bottle

Two weeks ago, a section of opposition politicians launched a new political pressure group named the “People’s Front for Transition” (PFT) with a vanguard aim of removing the current government in power.

The four-time presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye was chosen to lead the group. During the launch few groups subscribed to this front and these included some members from the Democratic Party (DP) block, the Conservative party, People’s Progressive Party, and JEEMA however the current political party leading the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) together with the DP group loyal to party President Norbert Mao were not present and the two have decisively hesitated to join the front.

However, according to political analysts who spoke during a weekly virtual talk show hosted by Alliance for Election Campaign Finance Monitoring (ACFIM), the front has come in time when Ugandans are fed up with pressure groups that come up with fire but don’t even stand to celebrate their 2nd or 1st  birthdays.

In Uganda’s political history, pressure groups or political coalitions are not a new phenomenon because ever since Uganda attained independence in 1962, pressure groups and coalitions have come up however only a few have yielded some good results.

In 1962 there was Kabaka Yeeka political party and Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) although their goal came to pass, the coalition collapsed badly and one side (Kabaka Yeek) was viciously affected

In 2001 a new pressure group Reform Agenda was formed, after the restoration of multi-party politics in 2005, it metamorphosed into Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) under the leadership of Dr. Besigye. The promises brought by this pressure group which late turned into a political party left no one down, Ugandans had a lot of expectations however it did not succeed in removing President Yoweri Museveni’s government.

In 2011, another pressure group (For God and my country) (4GC) was formed still under the stewardship of Dr. Besigye, however, it went silent till it was no more. From there we had a Peoples government still by Dr. Besigye however it was overshadowed by  People Power which was lead by the new face in the political limelight (Robert kyagulanyi a.k.a Bobi Wine who leveraged on his fame as an artist)

People Power also followed the same footsteps of the Reform Agenda when it later also emerged into a political party (NUP). People Power had the same promises as to the former and indeed it did not deliver like the former.

All these political formations and pressure groups come with well-intended plans, however, they have failed to succeed at achieving what they set out to do. That’s why Ugandans are questioning how different the PFT is from the previous formations.

According to Henry Muguzi, Executive Director ACFIM, many times politicians seem to think they can think for the majority. “Majority of the pressure groups formed are based on individuals’ targets. I doubt whether the new formation was indeed the people’s front. This is because the proponents of the formation simply announced and never made any consultations with Ugandans and other key stakeholders. Should we be talking transition now or talking about other things?”

Ruth Namara, a pro-democracy activist also a pollical analyst said since some political players did join it such as NUP, and DP  there is a high level of mistrust involved as it has always been in the previous coalitions.

“Since the elections are done, leaders need to focus on serving the citizens that voted for them other than forming coalitions. Instead of duplicating efforts, actors should come together to rally resources to achieve their common agenda.”

Felix Kafuuma, a political finance expert also added that PFT will also suffer the same disease other groups or coalitions have suffered. “PFT is not an exception because it is the same old familiar faces that have been in the political arena whose candles are burning out fronting the coalition. Ugandans want to see new faces and different ideas, the old actors can still be part of the cause but work behind scenes.”

The disunity in the opposition has always been a great challenge to form a strong and solid coalition or a pressure group yet Ugandans are ready for a united opposition.