Opposition scrutinises NRM, but who scrutinises opposition?

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OPINION

By Ben Ssebuguzi

For better and effective governance of our country, in 2005, President Yoweri Museveni and ruling party, National Resistance Movement (NRM) opened the floodgates of political parties as a measure to align our country to modern oversight and accountability models.

Definitely, the new political dispensation at that time led to emerging of opposition parties such as Democratic Party, Uganda People’s Congress and lately National Unity Platform (NUP), among others, which are supposed to act as independent bodies that scrutinise the ruling party, NRM in order to ensure accountability, preventing corruption and maintaining public trust in government and the private sector.

Unfortunately, many times we have seen opposition parties failing to offer alternative policies and fighting corruption, among others. Instead, it is government-backed institutions such as IGG, the Investors Protection unit, Office of the National Chairman, and civil society organisations such as AGORA, hence leaving opposition parties abdicating their duties.

However, the fundamental question is, if opposition SCRUTINIZES the ruling party, NRM, then who is supposed to scrutinise opposition in order to reduce complacency like we are seeing today?

1. Welz wrote: Voters will not only evaluate the actions of government parties but also the actions of opposition parties.

Many times, we have seen public outrage against opposition parties and their wasteful expenditures. One-time Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi of NUP was accused on social media platforms, X formerly Twitter, for withdrawing funds from parliament to carry out a certain activity in Kenya, but failed to refund the money, which left many people questioning the integrity of many opposition leaders. We have also seen the opulence of leaders who drive fuel guzzlers, and organising fancy weddings, failing on their critical role of building their parties through ideological orientation and promoting internal democracy, among others. Hence, leaving parties of our country politically malnourished.

Recently, we witnessed the unveiling of new NUP offices in Busoga for the Eastern region. They even bragged about snubbing security during the construction, leaving out the disregard of processes like advertising bids for this project. The principle of open government must be born in opposition since they are always the government in waiting, but they go ahead to brag with ignorance.

In light of the above, this means that opposition leaders in NUP don't understand why the NRM government started an agency mandated to promote transparency, known as Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA), in order to foster maximum competition and transparency, which leads to better pricing and greater value for taxpayers' money. The reluctance by the opposition to promote the spirit of open government has led to their decomposition and many becoming quasi-political institutions, hence starving the political development of Uganda.

The most ugly revelations in NUP were witnessed recently when their President, Hon Kyagulanyi Robert, failed to solve an impasse with his former leader of opposition, Hon. Mpuuga, to the extent of bogging down the leading opposition party. This party wrangling means that they lack internal cohesion and democratic leadership. It also means that opposition lacks constructive management of internal conflicts, hence leading to poor opposition performance during elections, as they are always fragmented.

Recently, some opposition parties were represented during the NRM National Conference, while some opposition parties, NUP, which is the biggest and is supposed to set the political tone, didn't send a representative to Kololo. This is a bad vice of poor interparty relationships. One scholar termed opposition as a true friendship.

Another scholar said that Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends, even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious. The unfortunate part is that the opposition is teaching confrontational politics of hatred. With poor interparty relations, there is no value addition on interaction, cooperation and dialogue, which stifles political stability in Uganda.

Political critics argue that the strength and effectiveness, and quality of democracy largely depend on opposition parties' efficiency, relevance and ability to build credibility. This shows that they are ready to govern.

In conclusion, opposition parties are under the watchful eye of the people in their role they play in promoting Accountability by governments. When there is poor service delivery and poor quality of democracy in a nation, it is mainly because of lukewarm opposition. The opposition is supposed to scrutinise government decisions, policies and actions and play oversight roles in order to defend the interests of citizens. Negating of opposition roles leads the public to judge them harshly during elections.

The writer is the head of Research Office of the National Chairman