Kampala. Organisers of Uganda’s inaugural presidential debate yesterday insisted the absence of President Museveni did not take the glow off the event but revealed they have re-initiated talks to convince him to attend the final round of the debate - a week before the election.
Mr Museveni last Friday snubbed Uganda’s first ever presidential debate on grounds that he was held up by a tight campaign schedule in western Uganda but later dismissed the debate as an idea copied from the Western world he did not understand.
But yesterday, The Elders Forum Uganda (TEFU) and the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU) -the organisers of the debate- said Mr Museveni’s scathing criticism of the debate was testimony that it was a success and had, therefore, attracted his attention.
“There is no question that his [Museveni] presence is very important. His absence meant that we did not hear from all the eight horses’ mouths. [But] do not dwell too much on one candidate. The debate was about all the candidates. The success of the debate speaks for itself, its value and utility all speak for themselves,” Justice Ogoola said.
To ensure the issue of candidates blaming the busy campaign schedule to withdraw does not arise for the second round, there will be specific conversations with representatives of all the candidates about the scheduling of the debate to fit in the campaign time-table.
But Justice Ogoola could not be drawn into the details of the stage at which discussions with Mr Museveni over attending the second round of debate have reached.
Mr Museveni’s pulling out of the Friday face-off marked the second time he has withdrawn from presidential debates after declining to participate in the 1996 debate with Dr Paul Ssemogerere.
With the quality of the moderation coming under intense criticism on social media, Justice Ogoola could not say whether they would stick with the team of the BBC’s Allan Kasujja and Nancy Kacungira from the KTN-but promised that it was a matter under review.
The second round of the debate will focus on peace and security, foreign relations, East African integration, the Great Lakes region and terrorism.
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