Museveni also promised to pay rent arrears for Obote's house in Lira that the UPDF has occupied for 14 years and wrecked.
The Obote family in exile has rejected the gestures, calling them a witch's offerings and blaming President Museveni for the "uniformed men" who murdered Obote's father, the late Mzee Opeto.
Since Obote's parents are both dead, the money was given to the brother Obadiah Akaki. While Obote's family abroad and Uganda Peoples Congress pooh pooh the offer as a cynical political bribe because Museveni's political troubles are mounting, and he wants to renew himself by having the "Obote thing" rub off on him, Obote's enemies think he was such a bad ruler, he doesn't deserve it.
This however is missing the big picture. Though I too is cynical, it is important to recognise that Obote's family are not the first relatives of a controversial ex-ruler to benefit from presidential largesse. Idi Amin's wife Medina Amin, got some money from the government and the state helped restore to her property which had been grabbed after she fled with her husband in 1979. Her rent is paid for by the state, and the government takes care of many of Amin's children.
Museveni also sorted out exiled former president Godfrey Binaisa's people. Not to mention that Binaisa personally got a fat cheque from Kampala to help him pay his debts and return home. He cheated Museveni by cashing it and staying in America denouncing the president.
And Museveni has taken care of the family of first National Resistance Movement chairman and former president Yusuf Lule, except the outspoken and maverick MP Wasswa Lule.
The family of first president and king of Buganda, Freddie Mutesa, has also been sorted out by Kaguta. In the case of Buganda, not only have many royals eaten out of Museveni's hands, but he even gave Kabaka Ronnie Kabaka a kingdom, diminished though it might be.
We can see that the Obote family got the presidential envelope last. And apparently they got the least.
The Akokoro event was therefore not isolated, and Museveni is quite methodical. We are, to sum it, watching the "Art of the Presidential Envelope" in progress. A level of expertise is needed in handing out the stuffed envelope. Museveni's practice gives us some insight into how grandmasters play the game.
1. This is not Museveni's money. It's from presidential donations, voted by Parliament every year. In short, it is for politics; for the President to buy goodwill, and therefore votes. These are the fruits of incumbency. Therefore the presidential envelope must be given publicly.
2. The fact that the envelope is given publicly, determines another key element in this game - how much is given. If the Obote family had been given Shs 500m, there would have been riots in some parts of the country. And if they had been offered Shs 1m, Museveni would have looked ridiculous and it could easily have been rejected. Shs 10m is neither too much, nor too little. The challenge for any president is to find the perfect "sweet and sour" point. As a by the way, when Museveni wants to give big money, he does it quietly. Some people have received Shs 100m Entandikwa from the big man, and there hasn't been a squeak about it.
3. Next, there is the issue of "how" to give it. There are five approaches here:
(i) There is the "hands on" stroke. Here the President gives the money himself. This Museveni usually reserves for emotional moments and the simple folk, who can only appreciate that the money is from him when he hands it to them himself. We saw this last year during his "long march" in Luwero when he was retracing the steps of his rebel National Resistance Army. When he met old women that used to know him in Luwero, for example, he handed out the money as the old fellows knelt by the roadside (this is what we presidential watchers call the "Museveni Roadside Fix").
(ii) Another favourite time when Museveni gives the money himself is when he is hopping about with traditional dancers. We call this "buko" in my Jap language (in English "blowing"). This is the "Kaguta Musical Flip". This is a big vote sweeper, because it presents the President as a man of culture, and helps him wrap himself in the tradition of past generous chiefs.
Interestingly, the Museveni Roadside Fix and Kaguta Musical Flip are the most slippery acts of presidential alm giving. You will have noticed that it is rarely more than Shs 200,000. If it is too much, it can cause division among the people during the sharing and break up a traditional dance troupe. And it could be worse. Since every member of the troupe gets a cut of the money, if it's a lot and each one ends up taking away a lot, they could be attacked by thieves.
The trick is to hand out enough for everyone to get "little enough" and, most importantly, to keep them anticipating the President's next visit.
(iii) Then there is the "hands off" approach. Here the president doesn't actually hand over the money himself. At most he just places his hands on the brown envelope like some high priest, and an aide, minister, or a sidekick passes it on. In the case of the Obote family, for example, the brown bag was being handled by Jovina Akaki, minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities. Because one other person passes on the envelope or bag, we call this the "Museveni Plus One Stroke".
This is deliberate. It is a posture assumed when Museveni is aware that there are some of his supporters out there who might have reservations. The president's body language is supposed to indicate that he is not sinking too low, and isn't grovelling.
(iv) This leaves two other approaches to consider. The president sometimes appears at rallies, or visits people and he is asked to help. Sometimes he turns to an aide and tells him or her in the hearing of everybody, to make an appointment for a group leader to see him, or instructs the official to give the person money. This can turn out to be frustrating. Presidential security might never let you into President's Office or State House to collect your goods. Or it might take over a year for you to get the money (or the bridge or road for that matter). Because of this uncertainty, we call this the "Yoweri Cliff Hanger".
(v) And the one that everyone should dread. Here the president turns not to an aide in State House, but to a minister who is sitting near him, say minister of Finance Gerald Sendaula, and tells him to "look into it". Like when he told Sendaula that all Co-operative Bank depositors should be paid their money, or that all pensioners must be paid their arrears over the next two years.
In all probability, this money will never come. When Museveni does that, you know that he has supplied you air. Which is the reason we presidential watchers call that move the "Rwakitura Empty Bagger".
©2000Charles Onyango-Obbo & Worldwide EP. All rights reserved.