By Odrek Rwabwogo
I am saddened to hear of the loss of Mzee Gen. Mose Ali. At the beginning of 2016, I had a team going through the country, teaching the values and principles of the Movement, and we were then in Adjumani. Our effort was to bring the newcomers into the Movement with better knowledge and understanding, while ending suspicions and bigotry between the old and the new.
I met with the late Gen. Ali and engaged him. Intelligent, wiser through experience and hopeful about the unity and growth of Uganda, I liked him.When we drove behind him, through a cloud of dust, to a small country trading centre, the people almost lifted his car with ululations and joy.
A large and heavyset man at the time, when he sat in his car, you would notice the compression of the back tyres.Watching Gen. Ali with his people, you noticed all the elders fully rooting for him, while a few young people watched him uncomfortably or were outrightly opposed to him.
Ali shaped, in many ways, the political culture in our country: staying longer, playing the long game and surviving long enough to leave an impact.From 1968, when he joined the army, through his first appointment as Minister for Provincial Administration in 1973, to becoming Finance Minister in 1975, replacing Emmanuel Wakhweya’
Ali consistently remained a significant player in our public life. Wakhweya and Edward Rugumayo had gone into exile.Even in 1982, when both Ali and the then-rebel leader, Yoweri Museveni of the NRA, chose Gaddafi as a source of support, each for their cause, Ali did not reject working with the NRM as Col. Toko and other groups did.
He would bring his Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF) into government by 1989.We were shocked, as high school students, when we heard on the radio that, on April 7, 1990, he had been arrested on allegations of treason for possessing two guns and 26 rounds of ammunition!
We thought, as young people then, how would one not expect an army officer to possess this kind of equipment in his house?Ali was vindicated when he was pardoned, the case was later dropped and he rejoined government.
That he would rise through the ranks to the position of Deputy Prime Minister over the last two decades and hold several other positions was a sign of his flexibility, adaptability and the Movement’s forgiveness of political opponents. It was also a testament to his ability to forge ahead in spite of our differences. Gen. Ali teaches us, in life and death, the value of patience, unyielding commitment to country in spite of differences, and the art of survival in a changing political terrain.
I condole with his family, the people of West Nile and Adjumani, and all those he impacted in life.
Politics should be about service to the people and leaders learning how to work together, even under intense suspicion or stereotypes, and forging a way forward to keep the country growing. May Ali rest in peace. -URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
