Kim Jong Un: should sons and daughters of former presidents be allowed to rule?

By Kabuga Daniel Mulindwa

North Korea is in the spotlight after the death of the country’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-il. North Korea should be of interest to us for two reasons: it seems to exist outside the western tradition—operating under a communist ideology and eschewing elections. The latter settled succession debates after the death of Kim Jong II. Botswana and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are similar to North Korea because in both countries, the sons of former presidents are at the helm of political office.

Kim Jong Un, the new president of North Korea.

All this brings to mind a question; should sons and daughters of former presidents be allowed to rule? Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the first born son of Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been in the eye of the storm since the recent succession debates for Uganda’s presidency started. When President Yoweri Museveni transformed the Presidential Guard Brigade into an elite branch of the Ugandan Army naming it the Special Forces Group, Ugandans became suspicious that he was doing it to prepare his son to succeed him.

A younger Kim Jong Un sitting next to his father. 

A lot of opinion disapproving President Museveni has been voiced in the Ugandan media. Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu, a former army commander in the government and now a top Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) politician wondered, “Is it for national security or is it for personal political survival? That is what we have to keep watching.”

Subsequently, journalists questioned Muhoozi about his father’s intention to groom him for the top office. Muhoozi flatly denied it, “His Excellency President Yoweri Museveni is not grooming me for the presidency,” he said, adding, “avenues to become President in Uganda are clearly laid down in Uganda’s constitution. If any Ugandan citizen meets these criteria and wins elections, he or she will automatically assume that office.”

 Yes! That’s how it should be but will it?

We should remember that Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Bonaparte, Idi Amin, Joseph Stalin, Milton Obote and many other world leaders had special armies. Saddam Hussein and Mobutu Sese Seko had their sons in their elite armies. Mobutu’s son actually commanded his Special Presidential Division. But the elite armies generally failed to install the first sons as presidents. But there are some sons of presidents who took the army route and became presidents. Joseph Kabila and Ian Khama are immediate examples.

Will Muhoozi emulate Ian Khama or be as lucky as Kim Jong Un?

Ian Khama is the current President of Botswana having assumed power only two years ago. Muhoozi and Khama share a few things in common. Both are sons of Presidents; Ian Khama is the first son of the much revered Seretse Khama (RIP) the first President of Botswana and Muhoozi is the son of Uganda’s current President Yoweri Museveni.  Ian Khama attended Sand Hurst and served in his country’s army rising to the position of army commander. Muhoozi has done all that except becoming army commander. Instead, he commands the Special Forces Group. The eccentric difference between the two men is that Khama is unmarried and has no girl friend at fifty seven (the Khama brand could end with him). Probably he’s so busy with important national issues like Uganda’s UPC President Olara Otunnu to have time for ‘trivial’ matters like women (the women reading this are not trivial).

Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, standing with his parents.

Muhoozi’s situation may be more difficult than Khama’s or Kim Jong Un. Imagine a situation where President Museveni tries to push his own son ahead of ‘the queue’ by-passing the veteran members who’ve been waiting patiently in line to reach the teller. Before other Ugandans like Besigye would make an alarm, those in the queue would be the first to call the Saracen Askari at the bank’s door to keep this guy in the line— behind them. It happened in Kenya when old Baba Daniel Arap Moi tried to bring in Uhuru Kenyatta, son of former president Jomo Kenyatta to succeed him as president of Kenya. The old KANU politicians could not hear of it.  Moi and Uhuru’s plan was thwarted although Uhuru has worked his way up the ladder and is currently the Minister of Finance.

Ian Khama, president of Botswana.

Even the military option makes Muhoozi’s succession uncertain. With the current democratic wave, it may be difficult for any individual to rule by military means let alone being handpicked and imposed on the system. Serious lobbying, networking and consensus building must take place at least within the NRM party. Neither money nor guns are sufficient. Uganda has become too dynamic for parochial political approaches.

Muhoozi has been accused of being inept but such accusations have not been elucidated. Otherwise he should be given chance to meet the voters. He could contest after retiring from the army and, he doesn’t have to contest for President in 2016. This could be after the successor of his father. The odds against him are many if he attempts to be president now; his chances for victory are very slim. Having a god-father may not be sufficient for anybody to win the top office and be sustained there.

Politics demands boundless energy, resolute character, being astute and eloquent. Thabo Mbeki the former South African President came to the limelight because he was a son to Govan Mbeki, a freedom fighter and a member of Nelson Mandela’s inner circle. But most importantly he possessed political acumen and was an intellectual. The ANC big men spotted talent in him and nurtured and supported him. Off the African continent, the world reminisces sons and daughters of former top politicians who performed exceptionally as presidents or prime ministers. John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States whose great ability history acknowledges his sonship to the second president of that country notwithstanding.

Rwandan president Paul Kagame at the graduation ceremony of his son (right) from Westpoint Military academy, USA.

Benazir Bhutto, erstwhile lady prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996 was the daughter of former Prime Minister Zulfikir Ali Bhutto from 1971 to 1977. But years before becoming prime minister, she had been elected as the first Asian female to serve as President of the Oxford Union. I don’t think she was elected to the post just because she was the daughter of a prime minister. Indira Ghandi a former prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984 was the only child of former prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru. Indira Ghandi won the elections to become India’s prime minister two years after the death of her father. She remained a maze to India’s senior political leaders in the dominant Congress Party who had doubted her ability. Notice that each of these ladies made a comeback to the top office after the death of their fathers; a sign of endurance, resilience and intelligence.

That aside, India and Pakistan at that time had some of the most turbulent, hostile and erratic politics in Asia. Meddling in politics was akin to climbing a slippery mountain with stones and broken glasses on a rainy day. No wonder the two ladies died in brutal assassinations but not after they had proven to the world that the children of former prime ministers have what it takes to lead.

It is also necessary to remember that the world’s notorious dictators— Pol Pot, Slobodan Milosevic, Augusto Pinochet, Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Wazabanga Ngimbendo (the only cock), Badel Bokasa, Josef Stalin, Samuel Doe etc were not sons of former prime ministers or presidents. The problem seems to be the way leaders assume power or whether there are checks and balances in the political systems that determine the way they govern.

Talent and ability are a scarce resource. No prejudice should hinder us from getting them even though they may abide in the presidents quarters. Instead of shrugging our shoulders in rejection, individuals like Muhoozi should be allowed to face democratic processes. If the Julianas (voters) testify, ‘guno munnyo gwenyini,’ (they are worthy), then they should lead. What I regard as evil is when talented men are left on the sidelines and less able ones are invited to enjoy the spoils of power.

Kabuga Daniel Mulindwa is a postgraduate student of MA in Journalism and Communication at Makerere University