Big Interview: "We shall do whatever it takes to win Omoro seat" says DP’s Okoler Opio

A couple of days ago, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) endorsed Andrew Ojok Oulanyah, the son of the late Jacob Oulanyah as flag bearer for the Omoro MP seat ahead of the by-elections.

The seat fell vacant following the death of Speaker Oulanyah in March.

Speaking to the Nile Post in an interview, Okoler Opio Lo Amanu, the party spokesperson said they are ready to take on the NRM in Omoro.

Excerpts below:

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 What is DP’s position on the coffee agreement that has since caused a lot of debate among the sector players?

First of all, as DP we know that coffee is the leading cash crop, it is the biggest income generating crop for our country. We cannot allow the management, the processing and its export to be entirely managed by a foreigner. These foreign investors have been given tax incentives, tax holidays. No single Ugandan investor has ever enjoyed that.

I want to believe that even though we want to attract investors to our country, this should not be done at the expense of taxpayers' money. We get a big chunk of land; we give it to this investor. The same investor is the one that had been given the contract to construct Lubowa Hospital up to now the work has not kicked off.

Handing over the power to manage the processing and exporting the coffee to a foreigner would mean handing the coffee growers, the Ugandans into the hands of a foreign investor for slavery.

DP said it is going to lead a caravan intended to sensitise coffee farmers about the implication of the agreement. When is this going to start?

As the Democratic Party we are very much prepared to move around the country emphasising especially the fact that Ugandans being the growers of this coffee, they should abscond giving their coffee to the so called investor and we see how she will manage the processing and marketing of this coffee.

We are prepared and we have alerted a team of lawyers to stand with the coffee grower. Our movement shall basically focus more on Buganda and Bugisu areas because these are the biggest coffee growers in the country. Sensitising Ugandans about how disadvantaged they are going to become if this agreement that has got the force of law is not crashed.

What is your take as a party in the ongoing cattle rustling in Karamojong sub region that has led to the loss of lives?

As Democratic Party we are of the view that as it was in the days of Lord Resistance Army(LRA) where natives mobilised themselves into groups for instance in Teso we had the arrow groups, let the government eat a humble pie and accept that they have failed Ugandans [in Karamoja].

It is the responsibility of governments world over to protect people, their lives, property and protect them securely. Now when a Ugandan dies in the circumstances as is the case in Karamoja sub region and Teso, the government is to blame. They slept on the job. Let them therefore allow the natives to mobilise themselves and offer security that will buttress that which is being given by the UPDF and other security agencies.

The NRM has already endorsed Andrew Ojok Oulanyah, the son of the late Jacob Oulanyah as flag bearer for the Omoro MP seat ahead of the by-election, what is DP up to?

As DP we are so much interested in capturing the Omoro county seat. Omoro has two counties.There is Tochi county and Omoro county. Tochi County is right now represented by a DP Member of Parliament, Peter Okot. There is absolutely no doubt that as DP we would so much wish and we shall do whatever it takes to see that Omoro county is also represented by a DP Member of Parliament.

Recently DP pledged to promote the legacy of Jacob Oulanyah of upholding reconciliation. How far is the initiative?

We strongly believe that a national dialogue is possible in Uganda but one thing should be known that this cannot be done alone, a dialogue means there are other parties that you’re going to engage.

As a country we need that dialogue at least that is the DP’s stand because we have had quite a number of violent changes of power.

What we have done so far is to raise our voice and boldly come out to recommend a national conversation. We shall not stop at that only but we shall also physically engage the key players until such a time when they will realise that indeed a national conversation is inevitable so we shall write to the clergymen and women.

How far is DP's plan to recapture support in Kampala and Buganda region at large, following defections of its members in the run up to the 2021 general election?

Our plans are bigger than capturing Kampala. Actually we are not in politics because we want to capture regions, no, we want to capture state power. That’s what we are working for.

In the event that as we do the activities that are to put us in power Kampala comes back to us, we shall welcome it but it’s not our main target.

We know where we are going even though there are voices that want to narrow us to things like capturing Kampala, capturing Buganda. We are beyond that we are working to have a DP government preside over Uganda.

There has been the issue of poison scare among politicians. Do you think this is real?

Well, I think the poison scare is real because like in any other African society and elsewhere people give poison. The politicians are humans, so you cannot distinguish what society does from the conduct of humans that come from such societies. I am without doubt that poison is in the political arena as it is in any other field.

So politicians should be careful, they should know that the world is not happy with their successes, and therefore they should question everything, they should use logic, they should know that at any point, their enemies are with them, and their enemies can potentially poison them therefore we have to be very careful.