A month after signing a memorandum of understanding with the NRM in August 2022, Norbert Mao was asked on NBS TV’s Frontline show what specifically he would focus on as new minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
“Ensuring a smooth transition,” he said without batting an eyelid.
“How?” the moderator of the show Charles Mwanguhya Mpagi asked.
“You wait and see. I know there is a lot of pessimism but I urge people to give me time. Soon many will eat their words,” Mao said going about the issue in a roundabout way.
Mwanguhya did not press any further but other panelists notably Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the Kira Municipality MP, shook their heads in disbelief.
“Mao is naive,” Ssemujju started. “Just eat your money and improve your life.”
Two years later, there is little to show that Mao has covered any ground in his effort to ensure smooth political transition in Uganda.
He is yet to table any bill to that effect neither does he publicly like to talk about the subject like he used to in the early days.
The last time someone raised the transition issue on Mao’s post, the DP president general replied with two emojis of a “laughing face.”
Suffice to note that Mao’s X handle that used to be dominated by thought provoking posts on a number of issues is now dominated by events of his social life.
“You promised us the transition but you delivered a wedding,” commented a one Salim in response to Mao’s posts about his wedding to his former researcher, Beatrice Kayanja (now Beatrice Mao) in June. Mao did not reply.
Salim’s post was humorous and received several likes. Yet it also exposed Mao’s predicament. He had finally realized that it was safer and more comfortable to go for the low-lying fruits than the complicated issues of political transition.
So, what happened to Mao whose oratory skills would hold a full room in awe? Why doesn’t he speak about the transition anymore?
Some analysts have pointed out two factors that could have led to Mao’s change of stance.
The first is, Mao has been bitten by the “arrivalism bug” which afflicts many of Museveni’s former critics who agree to work with him.
With bodyguards, money, power and influence, Mao seems to have the world at his feet.
Having endured the bitter taste of poverty in his opposition days, Mao doesn’t want to do anything that could upset the current social order. So, to hell with the transition!
Secondly, Mao may be too embarrassed to admit that he was wrong about his judgement of Museveni. He has now confirmed that the president’s word cannot be taken to the bank.
In his private moments in a small corner of his bathroom, Mao perhaps laughs and asks himself: “How naive was I to think that Museveni means what he says?”
Yet he is in a fix.
Like so many people who eventually agree to work with Museveni after spending years criticizing him, they come to realize that eventually their fate lies in the president’s hands.
Once Museveni drops you from cabinet after using you, there are two routes you can take.
First, you can cry wolf, climb atop a mountain and shout that the president is a very dishonest man and a user.
Secondly, you can walk quietly into political oblivion and enjoy the remaining bit of your fortune.
Which route will Mao take?
