Last week, the Uganda media, collectively fell for a fabricated story on the purported electoral reform bills, they claimed government had presented to parliament, and basing on falsehoods, generated a frenzied debate laced with toxic language and insults. It appears, the media was fed by a mendacious opposition now on ropes, hoping to derail debate, like they did, during Constitutional amendment in 2017.
The English saying that desperate times calls for desperate measures, seem to aptly apply to the combine group of opposition quislings, especially looking at this week’s twin events by Robert Kyagulanyi a.k.a. Bobi Wine, and Kizza Besigye, both from Wakiso suburbs. Kyagulanyi launched his presidential bid, and a team of “national coordinators,” for the ‘people power’ movement, a political patchwork.
As each general election draws closer, the Democratic Party (DP) leadership under the feeble, although ever buoyant and boastful, Norbert Mao, has presented itself as a political platform that accommodates progressive ideas upon which a new national political consensus can be built to replace the National Resistance Movement (NRM). Mao, has lately taken to advising NRM, and publicly claimed that the ‘Luwero Consensus’ which brought NRM to power in 1986, has ‘irretrievably’ collapsed.
A rough breeze is ruffling across the Atlantic between allies, United States, and United Kingdom, because UK’s former Ambassador, Sir Kim Darroch, described President Donald J Trump’s leadership in a leaked diplomatic cable, as incomprehensible, inane, divisive, insecure and likely to end in disgrace, yet this cable is supposedly the most secure.
The on-going controversies, surrounding the operations, commercial viability, net-worth, indebtedness, of the once state owned Uganda Telecommunications Limited (Utl), and the legal powers of its government appointed Administrator, stinks. The trails so far, appear to point towards the old adage of swimming with the sharks, or perhaps, even sadly, a war between jackals and hounds, in insider dealings to undercut each other. Ugandans must remain and maintain high alert and guard to stop being short-changed by public officials as has happened in the past.
The false political hype, by the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party, for a lean, transparent, accountable and clean government, is increasingly being debunked as a hollow drive by an angry bunch motivated more by impatience, envy, hate, personal vendetta, pretentious integrity. This week’s bust of FDC over fraudulent accountability to one of its many donors, the Netherlands Institute of Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) for a little penny, Eighteen million Uganda shilling (US4500 dollars), should really, really be embarrassing.
The ongoing whirlwind swirling in the local media about the purported irregular printing and dumping of extra money by unauthorised persons on to the Uganda economy is nothing more than false echoes pumped by an ignorant and insidious media, especially taking advantage of the uncontrollable rise of social media. Uganda is not a failed banana republic where currencies can be printed and dumped without strict adherence to international standards, protocols and verifiable traceability.
Information flickering on several media platforms that the Western Europe ‘donor’ driven Democratic Governance Facility (DGF), and a host of NGOs and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) they create, fund and lend support to, are entrapped in a major corruption scandal, should actually be stale news. After all, the same DGF facilitates IPOD, yet, FDC that sings transparency, receives facilitation from them and boycotts IPOD activities without fearing any sanctions.
oday Uganda commemorates Heroes Day being held in Kasanje town council, Wakiso district, which is historically synonymous with the National Resistance Army (NRA) liberation struggle that saw the NRA/M take over power in 1986. It is the place, as base camp where the then government soldiers, the UNLA and Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) functionaries led by Gombolola chiefs Edward Kabira and Night Kulabako used to torment people as they relished power.
Professor Apolo Robin Nsibambi 78, the time keeper has kept his time, and in keeping with many African traditions, almost all obituaries so far, have only spoken well about his life. But Nsibambi who died last Friday, peacefully at his home, like all human beings had the other side, and at the risk of enlisting wraths, I modestly venture into shedding some light on parts of what few will dare publicly say today.
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