Mao for President!

Last week Norbert Mao, Chairman of Gulu District was elected the President of one of Uganda’s political parties, the Democratic Party (DP). It means that he is now officially in the race for President of Uganda. National elections will be held in 2011. His election to DP President is a big deal. It’s a big deal to have a northerner head the party, which has its base in central Uganda. It’s a big deal for Gulu, because Mao is the son of Gulu. THE son of Gulu. And it’s a big deal for Uganda, because Uganda may have finally found a contender to give the sitting President a run for his money.

I remember when I first met Mao. I’m sure everyone remembers when they first met him – even with his slight frame he’s larger than life. It was in New York City about five years ago. He was passing through, as many Ugandan leaders do, on his way to some really important international conference about some really important international issue. He came to Quaker House with Olara Otunnu’s brother, to meet the Northern Uganda Working Group. The NUWG was my policy baby – an advocacy coalition of 25 international NGOs trying to get some attention on the conflict in northern Uganda. Mao came in with a grace and a smile as if he’d known us forever and it was perfectly commonplace for him to pitstop at Quaker House. He sunk into the famous Quaker House sofa and began to talk.

Mao can talk, as people say. I cherish this memory, because I had no idea what to expect and if you aren’t expecting his preacher-cum-prosecutor schtick, you are really blown away. For 40 minutes he spoke and a Cheshire cat-like grin never left his face. He stated the facts of the conflict more clearly than I had ever heard them stated. He skewered the international community and the Government of Uganda for their inaction. I’ll never forget his description of the UN as “an impenetrable fortress.” It was a perfect description that I still use. He provocatively dangled statements like “if the government of Uganda does not assist us, we shall secede. We shall even go to the bush if we have to.”His grin did not diminish as he spoke these harsh words (another Mao trademark), even as my colleagues and I shifted nervously in our seats. Were we suddenly in the midst of a revolutionary? Was historically, proudly pacifist Quaker House suddenly hosting a rebellion? Beads of sweat formed on my brown as I thought about that irony. At the meeting in Quaker House Mao told us he would run for President. And after 40 minutes he had my vote.

Of course now having the chance to get to know Mao over the years, I know that in this first meeting he was equal parts gravely serious and excessively provocative. The revolution he laid out was going to happen, but through a very calculated, patient, systemic (and for the relief of Quakers) non-violent way. His style frustrates some (especially INGOs and opposition government officials). He’s not afraid to contradict himself to win an argument and does so frequently. He’s difficult to pin down for a meeting, but if you get him you feel like you’ve won the lottery.

I have had the privilege to go as far as to hope that Mao is my friend. Once, on a very bad day when Gulu was getting the better of me, I ran into him at a restaurant. My distress must have been visible, because he leapt from his seat where he was keeping court and sat with me for over an hour. I kept glancing up at the increasingly perturbed queue forming behind him and making excuses for him to return to his business. But he didn’t flinch. His trademark Cheshire grin gave way to a gentle countenance that appreciated my frustration and affirmed my relevance in Gulu. He was far from condescending when he compared my frustrations to his own. (It is beyond an obvious understatement that the inertia of my current employer was no match for contemplating the challenges of running a country.) He simply ended by saying, “Don’t go Jessica. Not yet. We need you in Gulu for a little bit longer.”

I’ll never forget that. He’s in an incredibly high stakes game of Ugandan politics and yet had time to talk me off the ledge. His bombastic and dogged nature is what has given him success. Indeed, these are essential ingredients for running for President. You can say what you want about Mao, but I have seen his concern for individuals, from villager to even an ex-pat, and I have never heard anyone refute his genuine concern for Uganda. His candidacy, whether successful or not, represents the promise of the future of this country.