Let’s not trade our rights like Esau!

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OPINION

By Walter Akena

As Uganda prepares for the 2026 general elections, a familiar pattern is beginning to emerge.

Campaign rallies are growing louder, candidates are crisscrossing constituencies, and political posters are being plastered on every available surface. Yet, amid this frenzy, a sobering biblical story from Genesis 25:19-34 comes to mind—that of Esau and Jacob.

In the story, Esau, the elder of the two sons of Isaac, came home one day from hunting, exhausted and hungry.

His younger brother Jacob had prepared a pot of stew. Esau, driven by hunger, asked for some. Jacob seized the opportunity and asked Esau to trade his birthright for the meal.

Esau agreed. In a moment of desperation, he exchanged a lifetime of inheritance and blessing for a fleeting moment of satisfaction. He later regretted it, but it was too late.

This story mirrors what often happens in Uganda during elections. Many voters, like Esau, are giving up their power and voice for temporary gains—money, food, or alcohol. In doing so, they trade away the very foundation of their future.

In a democratic society, voters are supposed to be in charge. They are the ones who give leaders the authority to govern on their behalf. Leaders, in return, are expected to serve the people who elected them, while remaining accountable to them.

However, this relationship is often turned upside down when votes are bought and sold. The voter, who should be the master, becomes a beggar, while the elected leader assumes the role of a boss.

Visit any campaign rally today, and you will notice how many voters are no longer interested in a candidate’s vision, competence, or policy ideas.

Instead, the most common question you’ll hear is, “How are you leaving us?”—a coded way of asking for money or handouts. Issues like health care, roads, education, and clean water are rarely discussed.

When a voter accepts money or a bribe from a candidate, they lose the moral authority to demand better services. A vote, in its true sense, is a social contract.

It empowers leaders to represent citizens, make laws, plan budgets, and monitor service delivery.

In return, citizens have the right to question, critique, and hold those leaders accountable. But when votes are traded for money, the contract is broken before it even begins.

Professor PLO Lumumba, a prominent Kenyan legal scholar, once remarked that “the tragedy in Africa is that we are given a blank cheque and we go out to buy a Tuk-Tuk and expect it to perform like a Mercedes-Benz.” He further said that “we elect hyenas to take care of our goats and are shocked when the goats are eaten.”

These analogies speak directly to our current situation. Elections give us the opportunity to choose the most capable people to manage our public affairs. Yet time and again, we waste that opportunity on candidates who lack the vision, competence, and character to lead.

The saddest part is that what voters receive in exchange is often painfully small. A candidate may distribute fifty thousand shillings to be shared among hundreds of people.

A single voter may end up with only two hundred shillings—less than the cost of a packet of salt. Others may receive cheap alcohol that does more harm than good.

After the election, the same voters suffer the consequences of their choices—bad roads, dilapidated health centres, schools without desks, and dry water sources.

Worse still, when money becomes the determining factor in who gets elected, the entire political system is corrupted.

Candidates who spend large amounts to win elections often feel entitled to recover their money, usually through embezzlement or misappropriation of public resources. Service delivery is neglected, and public trust in government continues to erode.

This trend must be reversed, and urgently. First, Ugandan voters need to realise the power of their vote. It is not a commodity to be sold but a voice with which to demand for services.

Citizens must begin evaluating candidates based on their character, track record, and ideas, not on what they give out during campaigns.

Second, Parliament must pass and enforce a robust law on campaign financing. Vote buying and all forms of electoral bribery should be clearly outlawed and punished. The Electoral Commission and anti-corruption agencies must be empowered to monitor campaign spending and investigate cases of voter inducement. Third, civic education must be intensified, especially in rural areas where vote buying is rampant. Citizens need to understand that elections are about the future—about who will make policies that affect children’s education, access to health care, job creation, and national development.

As we prepare to vote again, let us not repeat the mistakes of the past. Like Esau, we may feel momentarily hungry or desperate, but we must not let that desperation blind us to the long-term consequences of selling our rights. Let us choose leaders who are capable, honest, and ready to serve. Let us cast our votes based on substance, not money.

The writer is a Research Officer at the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)