People Power, Battle the Mighty General

used in our cars-small amounts can cause the engine to misfire and sputter, and greater amounts can stop the engine from running at all- nonviolent movements can also have contaminants that make them inefficient or even destroy them.”

- Violence as a contaminant. Opposition violence toward the government or its supporters authorized or not, can be a serious contaminant to the success of a nonviolent struggle. A single act of violence may provide government with a convenient rationale for brutal retaliation against whatever target or targets within the opposition movement it purports to hold directly or indirectly responsible. Opposition violence may also have unintended effect of undermining public confidence and participation in a movement whose very existence is premised upon achieving its objectives through nonviolent strategy and tactics.

- Appearance of disunity as a contaminant. The strength of a “People’s Movement” requires the active participation of “the people.” And oppressed people are attracted to movements for change when they perceive these movements reflecting the aspirations of the people and when they view the leadership as being capable of guiding the movement to victory. Rational people will not risk their lives and livelihoods by joining a political movement to oppose a tyrant if that movement lacks a clear purpose and strategy for achieving victory. Disunity between and among coalition members within a democratic movement can result in a loss of trust and confidence in the movement’s ability to achieve political reforms. Organizational infighting sometimes is the work of government agents who infiltrate the organization.

One of the most effective ways to promote and maintain unity within a movement is to keep the objectives of the struggle to the bare minimum. It must also be apparent to all that achieving these objectives will benefit all members of society, including many that now support the opponent. Disunity is bad because it leads to stagnation and backsliding of the liberation process.

Disunity has been a characteristic of the Ugandan opposition.

The character of the opposition before and during election cam35