IPOD is killing multi-party politics in Uganda

 

 

This is disastrous for the country. The second IPOD summit that took place on May 20, adopted a recommendation to increase funding for political parties from the current sh10b to sh35b in the next financial year 2019/20. Sh35b is a substantial amount of public funds.

 

One wonders why should parties be funded out of the public purse when there are so many other pressing concerns, such as education and healthcare that are still underfunded? But the real issue lies in how these funds are proposed to be utilised. 

 

This summit recommended that all parties in Parliament get an equal share for running offices and the amount going to the Leader of Opposition be allocated 40% equally. Really?

 

How can a party with one MP and most likely no structures get the same amount of money as NRM or FDC to run party offices? We all know that some parties with representation in Parliament don't even have a functional party headquarters. Also, how can a party with one MP in Parliament like Justice Forum commonly known as JEMA share equally with other big Opposition parties, 40% of the funds allocated to Leader of Opposition in Parliament? Mind you these are public funds that should attract public scrutiny and stringent public accountability.

 

In Uganda, most politicians are elected on the strength of individual merit other than that of their party. So, if these recommendations by IPOD Summit are to stand, why shouldn't strong politicians in their parliamentary constituencies form their own political parties and partake of these funds? 

 

A political party even with representation in Parliament that cannot raise funds to run its offices is not worth being called a political party. Let such parties be phased out and we remain with a few opposition parties that can help deepen democracy.

 

Political parties or politicians should not be exempted from the necessity of having to raise funds, otherwise, they become more unrepresentative and more detached from the day-to-day political realities.

 

For instance, in the US one of the criteria when seeking party nomination is ability to raise funds. In Uganda, we need to stay away from politicians who come to office with nothing as they will try to enrich themselves in a short time hence breeding corruption.

 

For God's sake, even religious institutions raise their own funds from their followers and remain informed of the issues affecting them and so why can't political parties do the same?

 

Parties getting taxpayer cash would, to varying degrees, be seen as public property.  Let IPOD know that "where public money goes, demands for regulation follow''. And what if suspicions of nepotism arose?

 

 

 

What if it was suspected that a party leader was using "public money" to put his friends and family on the party pay role? Would the state then be asked to intervene in a party's internal appointments?

 

 

 

Why should Ugandans entrust someone with the Office of President who cannot raise nomination fees in the range of UGX 20 -- 30 Million?  Also, everything has a price and when you decide to enter elective politics, there is a price to pay and nobody should expect a refund from the public purse that is already constrained. For instance, why should Ugandan taxpayers be bothered with paying taxes that are used to refund part or all the money used by politicians who lose elections? I think IPOD is abusing the very values it was set up to promote.

 

 

 

Furthermore, is IPOD aware that when you unnecessarily lower nomination fees, you end up with so many candidates for each elective office that makes it very expensive to print ballot papers by the Electoral Commission? And of course, this cost would be passed on to the taxpayers. In 2016 Presidential Election, the Electoral Commission would have printed a ballot paper with more than 30 Presidential Candidates if the nomination fees were less than 5 Million and there was no requirement of collecting a certain number of signatures from some districts of Uganda. There is also evidence to show that politicians that access political offices when they are poor end up being the most corrupt.

 

 

 

Today its political parties that are clamoring for state funding, tomorrow it might be religious institutions including the mushrooming born-again churches and who knows what will come next?