Post Debate Analysis

The venue 

Victoria Hall at the Serena in Kampala was chosen and a guest list of about one thousand people was selected. On the whole this went well but could have been worse had the proverbial net been cast a little wider on the lake. Across the road from the venue, crowds of enthusiastic late comers were seen gathering and cheering for their candidates with a touch of drama which is usually the back drop upon which campaigns in the rural parts of the country often take place. At some point, it was evident that certain aspects of 'culture' had been left at the door as Alan Kasujja was forced to take up the task of defending his co-host Nancy Kacungira against a barrage of agitations that was rising from the crowd. 

The hosts 

The choice of hosts was interesting. The first-Alan Kasujja a former radio personality who cut his teeth on a local station (Capital FM) the other Nancy Kacungira currently working on KTN (a station that has quite a large audience in Kenya and that was set up in the late nineties to provide an alternative to the media-government-led giants like KBC). 

Interesting because they are both currently working outside the country and carrying the flag...whether they want to or not. They are de facto ambassadors of culture and national thinking. If anything goes wrong back in their yards, they are bound to asked for some commentary. So we do understand the frustrations they expressed when they asked some of the questions and when they received some of the responses. 

The second idea that I think these host represented was that of a coach who seems to want to beat his student and who has to deal with the idea of being misunderstood by the same in order to transfer a useful skill to the understudy. In that sense the hosts were supposed to be coaches and to be as hard as possible on the candidates in order to give them a feel of the global stage and its cut throat attitudes and practices. 

We have managed to find our list of journalists on the local scene who we know can give the candidates a run for their money. Maybe there should be three sets of debates. One hosted by local journalist, the other by not so local journalists and then finally one by heavy hitters who can make them squirm. 

The candidates 

The case can be made about the choice of candidates with many being viewed as merely plants by higher powers. But if those were the initial intentions of those above to give an illusion of a democratic process, the result was devastatingly bad. These plants quickly decided to milk this thing for all it is worth demanding body guards and cash payments and jumping on planes to extend their influence. 

The experts decided that this really was a debate to select the candidate that would be most fit to stand in opposition to the presidency. And yes even if the chair was empty, this was the position for the debate only. The chair even at a time of elections is still being used to fund large chunks of the campaign and the house of state is still centre stage in the organization of state machinery to facilitate the elections process. 

The questions 

The first was really a standard question. It was the leaders pitch. The forum for democratic change and it's candidate stood out and took advantage of the idea that they had similar debates in the choice of front runner and so he really was in his space. Mr. Mabirizi started off well making full use of his age and the idea that he amongst all the candidates the least tainted. Mrs. Kyalya used the stage to the maximum making a distinction between herself and the men and presenting a historical case of a nation which in her view has a fault in its systems. 

At some point those present were asked to direct questions to the other candidates. Maybe this was designed to allow for some more confrontation between the guests. And it did result on some interesting responses.

The crowd

The one thousand person crowd started off well but soon there were deteriorations in its demeanor. Maybe they simply wished to express disappointment in the the types of questions and the appearance of bias. Maybe what we missed most from the crowd was a census from them to give us an idea how they viewed the debate. 

The missing 

The chair was empty but some errors in response from the former prime minister made it look like he was really just a representative of his former boss. This emerged when he failed to ask anything from the others who shared a stage with him and then went on to look rather condescendingly at them. In a sense he was saying publicly what his former boss had said privately (in part by not showing up). 

In addition to this, it became clear that unless a change In the constitution took place, the one who would win this election...if he came from one of the seven would simply be too powerful and extend or even worsen the state of politics in the country. 

In addition to this it was rather interesting that at the time of his absence that the president was busy in Kizza Besigye backyard of Bushenyi campaigning as his Doctor was debating. 

The organizers 

The man who stole the show at least at the start was the retried judge James Ogoola who over the years, like a U.S president has had a fair measure of grey over his head. We did not see too much in terms of input from the overall group of religious leaders who formed the heart of this debate but we did see the judge and did hear his poetry. 

The candidates (General Biraro-of the farmers party) viewed the event as the only level ground they had in the whole election process and rightly so. It was in the interest of the candidates therefore to make the most of the public space and to take advantage of the publicity. Maybe the organizers need to make sure that the debate finds its way into the election process so that future presidents are forced to participate. 

The president and his crew on the other hand had the advantage of watching from a distance in one of lodges, using this as a learning opportunity and gathering material for use in his future operations. The difference between a strategist and a tactician is really about the length of time within which they must execute their plans and the ability to use and judge current circumstances. 

The coverage 

NBS has benefitted greatly from a mass exodus of some of NTVs most experienced hosts. Some of these have also joined the group from WBS. Maybe the state of play at the media houses is also a reflection of the election process and the importance many of us attach to the work place and the bottom line. NBS chose to have a group of hosts to cover the event and took full advantage of location and crews across key spots in the country. Much like the coverage of the NRM primaries (which was also brilliantly covered). For the primaries they had coverage across the city with some very experienced journalists trading places in the studio as in the field mixing both humor and analysis. At some point it was frightening to watch the dance between the view points wondering if those who had stayed in the office, really should have been on site. Overall coverage for NBS was therefore a marathon of sorts reminiscent of the recent MTN race which had three distinct groups, 10KM, 21KM and then the whopping 42KM. The journalists clearly chose the full marathon and were present for the full exhausting day for most of the stations. 

The comforts 

At the end of the day perhaps the best thing to watch about the debates was the point at which the candidates settled down and began to express themselves as career people. 

It was great to hear Dr. Besigye speak not as a candidate necessarily but as a doctor. Yes the hippocratic oath was obvious as he spoke and I did feel like he should have spoken at length about health for one and possibly education. The exhaustion of being in the proverbial battle field was probably much too excessive to the point where we all forgot to see him as the doctor. In hindsight maybe controversial trip to the hospital now makes a little more sense. Since his detractors are attempting to take steal his thunder (and the change message) he should begin to think of his campaign in terms of health and present himself as the candidate who can heal the nation. 

Mrs. Kyalya on the other hand made full use of of her credentials in the social space and chose to market herself as a social scientist. 

Mr. Mbabazi gave us a glimpse into his background in intelligence work when he attempted to explain with humor the difference between a safe house and a 'safe' house. Some of his training in law also came to the surface but overall his experience in government became both an asset and a liability. 

Dr. Bwanika should have made a lot more use of his experience in Agriculture which in a sense he did when he responded to the question regarding Agriculture and it's role in the economy. 

Pastor Mabirizi attempted to read his youth manifesto but was prevented from doing so. He may have come up ahead of the rest of the crew as quite a number of ads begin to emerge post debate with the request and demand that we read the youth manifesto.