KNOW YOUR MP: Macho, the man who wants MPs to take a mental test before contesting

POLITICS | PARLIAMENT | MACHO

BUSIA - Busia Municipality MP Geoffrey Macho (Independent) shot to political stardom when he said MPs should take a mental test before contesting for political office.

 This was after MPs criticised Dr Twaha Kagabo (Bukoto South, NUP), for returning shilling 40 million allegedly received from Parliament.

 At the time, Macho wondered how an MP could return the sh40m when their voters in the constituency are wallowing in poverty and lack basic utilities such as clean water, food and electricity.

 A trained teacher, Macho said if a politician cannot decipher how to use simple things such as money to help the people they lead to jump out of poverty, then such a person must be subjected to a mental test before they are cleared to contest for political office.

Macho said in a quote that has since became a catchphrase that: "I propose that the political leadership of this country should begin vetting the mental health of leaders before they are recommended to contest as MPs".

Born in 1973, Macho lost both parents at a tender age, something he says shaped his life as a streetwise politician.

 In this school of hard knocks style, Macho said he vended, almost everything to make ends meet.

 “We used to tie soda bottles around ourselves and move in the town centre shouting ‘soda baridi (cold), soda baridi',” he said.

However, as he struggled through Busia Secondary School, he realised the need to join politics.

 At the time, he joined the camp of former Tororo Municipality MP, Sanjay Tanna.

 “I supported Tanna, who in turn sponsored my diploma studies at Nagongera National Teachers College. I was very active during his campaigns for MP. After he won, he asked to buy me a car, but I requested that he funds my diploma education which he agreed to,” macho said.

 It is through these political connections that Macho managed to meet President Yoweri Museveni.

Museveni’s connection also came with an offer to sponsor Macho for a degree training at Kyambogo University and a job as the private secretary to the Office of Vice-President in charge of youth affairs.

 From the Office of the Vice-President, Macho was appointed as Budaka Resident District Commissioner (RDC).

 It is the RDC job that prepared Macho for parliamentary politics.

 “I was pushed by my people of Busia to stand for the office of MP in 2011. I beat seven candidates and since then, I have never looked back. I identify the needs of my people and work on them accordingly,” he said.

 “I discovered that our biggest problem was divisive politics. So, I closed the multi-party chapter of politics in my constituency and encouraged my people to move together as a family of Busia municipality because our problems are the same,” he added.

 In return, Macho said, voters have trusted him to represent them, even when he contests on an independent ticket.

 He said his major role now is to amplify sensitisation of the population on the importance of the East African Community (EAC), a conglomeration of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Uganda has made a number of trade agreements with Kenya, but my people don’t know about them,” he said.