Organisers of the second televised presidential debate remain uncertain about the appearance of President Museveni despite several negotiations with the incumbent’s team ahead of the debate due tomorrow.
“They have in fact told us point blank that the President is extremely interested, is willing to come but there is one or two little details that his staff are working on, mainly on the scheduling and that if they can juggle the schedule they will juggle him into this debate,” Justice James Ogoola, the chairperson of the Elders Forum, said at a media briefing yesterday.
At the inaugural debate, President Museveni, who is ruling NRM flag bearer kept the organisers guessing his participation until the last minute when his private secretary wrote to say he would not make it.
He later, at a media briefing at his country home, referred to debates as “speech competitions that should be left to high school students.”
NRM campaign taskforce deputy spokesperson Mary Mutesi told Daily Monitor last week that Mr Museveni would be making last-minute pitches to voters before campaigns close on February 16.
All of Mr Museveni’s opponents including FDC flag bearer Kizza Besigye, Abed Bwanika (People’s Development Party), Benon Biraaro (Farmers Party of Uganda) Amama Mbabazi, Maureen Kyalya , Joseph Mabirizi, and Prof Venansius Baryamureeba, all Independent candidates, attended the inaugural debate that was hosted at the Kampala Serena Conference Hall.
“What I can say is that I am not in the mind of any one of these candidates, I don’t even have the authority to speak for them on issues of this kind whether they will come or not. What I know is that every signal that we the organisers have, has been green and what is remaining is for the drivers to engage every necessary gear and take off,” Justice Ogoola said.
Meanwhile, the debate organisers have replaced Allan Kasujja of the British Broadcasting Corporation and Kenya Television Network’s Nancy Kacungira who moderated the first debate, with Makerere University’s head of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Dr Suzie N. Muwanga, Senior Voice of America (VoA) editor and host of the flagship Straight Talk Africa programme, Dr Shaka Ssali, and Dr Joel Serunkuma Kibazo, the director of communications and external relations at the African Development Bank.
The debate will specifically focus on foreign policy, peace and security both within Uganda and the region, regional integration, international trade and investment.
Source:Daily Monitor:Presidential debate: Museveni attendance hangs in balance
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