DP not amused by Nakiwala’s appointment

Democratic Party (DP) President Norbert Mao has said the inclusion of Florence Nakiwala in the new cabinet does not mean they are in a coalition with President Yoweri Museveni.

Mao said it would be wrong to say that DP was represented in cabinet because Nakiwala, the new Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, joined the president without having a dialogue process with the party administrators.

He said while the inclusion of some members of opposition parties in cabinet represents a spirit of inclusion, DP thinks it depicts tokenism and falls short of any expectation Ugandans have had from the disputed election.

“The direction of the country can be negotiated by dialogue process however we reject tokenism because it simply means trading a few crumbs for a fair share of the loaf of political power,” Mao told the press on Tuesday.

Nakiwala (DP) is the Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, Betty Kamya (UFA) is Minister of Kampala and Betty Amongi (UPC) Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.

Mao said he was surprised Nakiwala accepted to become  in the new cabinet announced on Monday.

“We leave it to her conscience, in case she joins Museveni, then DP isn’t represented. We have bad experience from such relationships. One can’t serve two parties at ago; we shall call for national council meetings to discuss this,” he said.

He however admitted he was informed that Nakiwala was approached by the Catholic Church, who were sent by the president, before the Cabinet reshuffle list was released.

“Apart from the laudable gesture of retiring those who were long overdue for retirement like Henry Kajura and Tarsis Kabwegyere, the cabinet doesn’t represent any change in political path,” he said.