An MP’s picture on a public slate
Jun 09, 2005
Despite the inconveniences involved, travelling by public transport can be very educative to politicians. More often than not, one will hear serious political debates from fellow passengers in a mixture of native language and English.
Despite the inconveniences involved, travelling by public transport can be very educative to politicians. More often than not, one will hear serious political debates from fellow passengers in a mixture of native language and English.
One of the big lessons I have learnt through travelling by taxi is that many Ugandans despise the current 7th Parliament. They think the majority of MPs are corrupt and mere sycophants of the Government. For example, when I was travelling from Jinja to Namutumba on May 27, one male passenger started a provocative debate on MPs and corruption.
Speaking in Lusoga, he asked two questions which could be translated as follows: “Why is it even the clergymen in parliament and the born-again MPs did not hesitate to grab sh5m each from the NRM to go and campaign for a third term for President Museveni? Why did they not question the source of the money?
The rest of the passengers broke into hilarious laughter, after one of them had responded that “MPs of these days are hungrier than hyenasâ€!
After we passed Bulanga Trading Centre, the same passenger asked more intriguing questions. “Who will President Museveni be campaigning against in the coming referendum on multi-party politics? Since he is the chairman of the NRM, which wants Uganda to return to multipartyism, how will he fight the Movement system of governance, which he himself created in the 1995 Constitution, and which he urged Ugandans to retain in the referendum of 2000?
One young woman dressed in blue jeans, who sounded like a university political science student, provided what I thought was a crude answer. “President Museveni†she said, “is a very clever man. From 1961, he has been changing from one political party to another. From DP to UPC, to UPM and NRM. He has also been forming different guerilla groups; from FRONASA to PRA, to NRA and so on. His major interest is to form political and fighting groups, which he can control and retain power. So during the July referendum, he will use his new NRM supporters to crush his old Movement supporters. And after winning, there will be great rejoicing and partying and drinking champagne in State House Nakaseroâ€!
Again the other passengers broke into prolonged laughter, followed by strong criticism of the slow pace the Museveni Movement government had exhibited in the rehabilitation of the Jinja -Bugiri road. At this juncture, I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the referendum business had been abandoned.
However, one elderly teacher who boarded the minibus at Nawangisa spilled the beans. He excitedly shouted out my name and caused the other passengers to turn on me about the referendum.
“How about the sh5m you obtained for the third term, honourable MP? Why don’t you pay all our fares today? How about the sh12m, which you are expected to get for the referendum campaigns? How much will you give to Kagoma people? On whose side will you be? The new Museveni of NRM or the old Museveni of the Movement system?
I declined to answer any of those questions, because I would have provoked more bitter statements. But as I was getting out of the minibus at Namutumba, the same vocal passenger who had started the conversation advised me to warn other MPs about the coming March 2006 elections.
“Your willingness to waste public resources on the referendum and to manipulate the Constitution for the sake of one individual will be equally rewarded. We shall throw many of you out of parliament,†he shouted.
When I went to bed that night, I remembered William Shakespeare’s word in his play Julius Ceasar “Beware the Ides of Marchâ€.
The writer is the MP for Kagoma
One of the big lessons I have learnt through travelling by taxi is that many Ugandans despise the current 7th Parliament. They think the majority of MPs are corrupt and mere sycophants of the Government. For example, when I was travelling from Jinja to Namutumba on May 27, one male passenger started a provocative debate on MPs and corruption.
Speaking in Lusoga, he asked two questions which could be translated as follows: “Why is it even the clergymen in parliament and the born-again MPs did not hesitate to grab sh5m each from the NRM to go and campaign for a third term for President Museveni? Why did they not question the source of the money?
The rest of the passengers broke into hilarious laughter, after one of them had responded that “MPs of these days are hungrier than hyenasâ€!
After we passed Bulanga Trading Centre, the same passenger asked more intriguing questions. “Who will President Museveni be campaigning against in the coming referendum on multi-party politics? Since he is the chairman of the NRM, which wants Uganda to return to multipartyism, how will he fight the Movement system of governance, which he himself created in the 1995 Constitution, and which he urged Ugandans to retain in the referendum of 2000?
One young woman dressed in blue jeans, who sounded like a university political science student, provided what I thought was a crude answer. “President Museveni†she said, “is a very clever man. From 1961, he has been changing from one political party to another. From DP to UPC, to UPM and NRM. He has also been forming different guerilla groups; from FRONASA to PRA, to NRA and so on. His major interest is to form political and fighting groups, which he can control and retain power. So during the July referendum, he will use his new NRM supporters to crush his old Movement supporters. And after winning, there will be great rejoicing and partying and drinking champagne in State House Nakaseroâ€!
Again the other passengers broke into prolonged laughter, followed by strong criticism of the slow pace the Museveni Movement government had exhibited in the rehabilitation of the Jinja -Bugiri road. At this juncture, I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the referendum business had been abandoned.
However, one elderly teacher who boarded the minibus at Nawangisa spilled the beans. He excitedly shouted out my name and caused the other passengers to turn on me about the referendum.
“How about the sh5m you obtained for the third term, honourable MP? Why don’t you pay all our fares today? How about the sh12m, which you are expected to get for the referendum campaigns? How much will you give to Kagoma people? On whose side will you be? The new Museveni of NRM or the old Museveni of the Movement system?
I declined to answer any of those questions, because I would have provoked more bitter statements. But as I was getting out of the minibus at Namutumba, the same vocal passenger who had started the conversation advised me to warn other MPs about the coming March 2006 elections.
“Your willingness to waste public resources on the referendum and to manipulate the Constitution for the sake of one individual will be equally rewarded. We shall throw many of you out of parliament,†he shouted.
When I went to bed that night, I remembered William Shakespeare’s word in his play Julius Ceasar “Beware the Ides of Marchâ€.
The writer is the MP for Kagoma