Vice-President is right about leaders
Apr 28, 2009
The Vice-President, Prof Gilbert Bukenya, has advised that people seeking political leadership without personal income-generating projects should not be allowed to lead. Bukenya was speaking to political, civic and religious leaders in Kibaale district la
The Vice-President, Prof Gilbert Bukenya, has advised that people seeking political leadership without personal income-generating projects should not be allowed to lead. Bukenya was speaking to political, civic and religious leaders in Kibaale district last week.
The Vice-President’s advice should be taken seriously by the electorate because political office has increasingly become a short-cut to prosperity. Many people do not join politics to serve but to feather their nests and that partly explains the alarming level of corruption in the country.
There are cases where political candidates have sold family assets in pursuit of political office. There is no way a person who behaves in such a manner can serve his or her constituency with integrity and conscience.
It would be instructive if Parliament revised the requirements for political office, making service materially less attractive. This would be a litmus test that those interested in political leadership are not in it for personal gain but for the public good.
It is in the same spirit that the vice-chairman of the National Resistance Movement, Al-Hajji Moses Kigongo, has opposed the provision of houses for retiring presidents, vice-presidents and prime ministers which the Emolument Bill 2009 is seeking to establish.
The Bill was established last month and proposes that a retiring president should get a fully-furnished house, sh20m for furniture and sh10m every five years to replace the furniture. Under the Bill, it is proposed that a vice-president should get sh300m while the prime minister should get sh240m for a house. Kigongo is right to assert that for someone to become a leader, he should be able to build himself a house.
Presidents, vice-presidents and prime ministers will continue to change, but this should not be at the expense of the taxpayer. Political leaders must be mindful of the dire social and economic state in which the vast majority of their electorate live and offer solutions rather than aggravate the problem.
The Vice-President’s advice should be taken seriously by the electorate because political office has increasingly become a short-cut to prosperity. Many people do not join politics to serve but to feather their nests and that partly explains the alarming level of corruption in the country.
There are cases where political candidates have sold family assets in pursuit of political office. There is no way a person who behaves in such a manner can serve his or her constituency with integrity and conscience.
It would be instructive if Parliament revised the requirements for political office, making service materially less attractive. This would be a litmus test that those interested in political leadership are not in it for personal gain but for the public good.
It is in the same spirit that the vice-chairman of the National Resistance Movement, Al-Hajji Moses Kigongo, has opposed the provision of houses for retiring presidents, vice-presidents and prime ministers which the Emolument Bill 2009 is seeking to establish.
The Bill was established last month and proposes that a retiring president should get a fully-furnished house, sh20m for furniture and sh10m every five years to replace the furniture. Under the Bill, it is proposed that a vice-president should get sh300m while the prime minister should get sh240m for a house. Kigongo is right to assert that for someone to become a leader, he should be able to build himself a house.
Presidents, vice-presidents and prime ministers will continue to change, but this should not be at the expense of the taxpayer. Political leaders must be mindful of the dire social and economic state in which the vast majority of their electorate live and offer solutions rather than aggravate the problem.