It is rare to read an opinion about politics in Uganda in our media whose premise is our reality. Largely because of the hegemonic influence of Western ideas, most commentators begin with an abstract theory of politics based largely on a context other than our own. Any explanation of our reality is based on formal analogies about other countries. In the process, they ignore the actual interplay of our politics in the analysis.

Two months ago, two former prime ministers of Buganda Kingdom (Dan Muliika and Mulwanyamuli Ssemogerere) announced their support for the opposition in the forthcoming elections. Given President Yoweri Museveni’s battles with Mengo over land and federo lately, this was a big public relations coup for our embattled opposition. But it was also a statement of how far the opposition has failed to construct a different politics from that of the NRM and other governments in Africa.