Clad in purple t-shirts with imprints calling for political transition, self- professed children of former National Resistance Army combatants, have launched a pressure group advocating an end to President Museveni's dominance of the ruling NRM.
The group calls itself Youths for National Salvation (YONASA), a name modeled on Museveni's 1970s outfit, Front for National Salvation (FRONASA). It demands early reforms within the NRM and a stop to alleged efforts to prepare First Son Muhoozi Kainerugaba to replace his father as president.
"Museveni is fronting his son to take over after him; is that what our parents fought for?" Moses Kintu, the group's national coordinator, said at a press conference in Wobulenzi, Luweero.
"We feel Muhoozi is not ours...power shouldn't be concentrated within one family. It is not right and fair for Uganda. While he prepared his son, Museveni betrayed the children of other revolutionaries. As young people, we shall not sit back and look on as the nation is being taken in the wrong direction," Kintu added, as he introduced 10 group members before the media on Monday.
Although the 'Muhoozi project' has been talked about for years, it became a major talking point in 2013, when Gen David Sejusa alleged an official plot to eliminate anyone opposed to Muhoozi.
The army and government have persistently denied that there's any such scheme. The group launched in Luweero, the symbolic epicentre of guerilla war that brought Museveni to power in 1986.
"He [Museveni] has sidelined all his comrades but as the owners of the revolution, we will not look on. There are so many combatants in Luweero that have been sidelined and frustrated and up to now have never been compensated for their contribution to the struggle," Kintu said.
Some of the youths at the media launch are children of senior NRM leaders like Hajji Abdul Nadduli, the ruling party's vice chairman for Buganda.
Among documents carried to the press conference was a letter Nadduli wrote to Museveni raising similar complaints against what he called pervading nepotism, tribalism, marginalisation and unfair distribution of resources, which have made it difficult for citizens to benefit from the struggle of their deceased relatives.
The letter was written on July 4, 2014.
In that letter Nadduli reminded Museveni of their 33-year working relationship borne out of a gentleman's agreement reached on February 20, 1981.
The letter invokes the pains of the struggle as well as other tough assignments from Museveni, which Nadduli executed, including persuading Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II to cancel his 2009 trip to Bugerere (Kayunga district) at the height of the riots that had threatened Museveni's hold onto power.
"When it [came] to my demands, I have not gained anything from you [except for] being neglected here and there for reasons I cannot specifically [understand]," Nadduli wrote.
Kintu said his group is compiling evidence of Museveni's unfulfilled promises to the revolutionaries, which would form the core of their anti-Musevenism project.
"When our parents joined the NRA war [1980-86], Museveni promised equal opportunities for all Ugandans. That would mean equal access to jobs, resources and other services, which isn't the case. Instead, our parents and relatives fought for the emancipation of Museveni and his close relatives," Kintu said.
FREE TO GO
Interviewed on May 11, NRM's deputy spokesman Ofwono Opondo said the youths were free to join other political parties where Museveni is not a player.
"Much as it is not true that Museveni is dominating everything in NRM, no one is conscripted to join NRM simply because their parents fought," Opondo said.
Opondo urged the youths not to use their parents' contribution to the bush war to demand endless favours from government. He also refuted suggestions that the war veterans had been ignored.
"Some of the veterans went to the war not knowing that they will ever come back," Opondo said. "The lucky ones that did were recognised because under the NRM structures, we have the elders' league and in government's socio- economic programmes, we have specific programmes for the war zones."
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