POLINSENSITIVITY
This, by no means is waging of war of words with the
Institution of Government called Uganda’s Parliament. This is a transmission of
chronic hurt, the widely perceived feeling that the Parliament of Uganda is
insensitive, ineffective and overly extravagant without proper justifications.
There are several instances where the Parliament of Uganda
has failed Uganda and Ugandans. Some of the failures stem from the political history
of Uganda; The low level of civic engagement, and the political environment in
which it must act compounds the problems. However, the privileges and the extravagance
with which these privileges are expended, leaves the public in utter awe. In
essence, this Parliament appears to have abandoned its traditional roles as the
primary arbitrator of how economic benefits and resources should be distributed
in society.
The glaring inequalities in Ugandan society today, and the
rampant breakdown of social infrastructure – healthcare, school system, income
disparities etc, show how detached and unconcerned this Parliament is.
Ugandans now feel that Parliament is fused permanently with
the Executive branch of government, legislates for the person of the President,
and its overall agenda is increasingly becoming diabolically opposed to the common
aspirations of the ordinary citizen. It has reneged on its duties to reduce socioeconomic
disparities, and ameliorate the impacts of it.
The Parliament is an extension of society but acts as if it
is alien, such that society owes them and must pay, transport, and bury them
like Oligarchs. In normal societies,
Parliament would be concerned with mortality and work to reduce it. In Uganda,
Parliament prepares for death and events it! Is this a conscious gathering or
simply an aggregation of ordinary people on end-of-life mode?
The level of disenchantment is reaching a high crescendo and
Ugandans are now debating whether there is relevance for Parliament at all given
the cost of its sustenance and return of value.
Since 1992, Uganda accepted to liberalize its economy. Neoliberalism
commands that economies open up the markets to allow for private sector players
– or market forces, other than government, to arbitrate how the economy and
resources are distributed. The more robust these private sector players are,
the more government finds opportunity to withdraw its public role. Minimal government role in service delivery
suffices well for advanced economies. Not Uganda’s. We are suffering more from
failed policies of liberal markets than benefiting because we lack competent
institutions to allow for its self-regulation.
What we now see is that government has prematurely withdrawn
from its primary role of financing and delivering requisite social services.
The commitment to deliver services has also died. More public resources –
money, is now available for political expedience, and lavished with contempt to
the most insignificant sector of the economy, and to the most treacherous ends.
Where is the conscience of this Parliament that is unable to
realize that Ugandans are suffering? You are a Parliament spending billions on least
valuable international trips, expending millions on meaningless medals,
spending trillions in buying cars (when that money could be used to kick-start
the mass production of locally made energy saving Kiira eV Vehicles); and plan
to spend millions on burials.
People now fight to death, sell off their properties, land,
household goods; forge academic papers, etc to go to Parliament. These people do
not add any value to Parliament, or enhance quality of legislation. They go
there to get rich. Parliament is the place nowadays where people die for, just to
get rich quick. Little wonder that there is even a lucrative funeral budget
already earmarked. Such, is the tragedy of our nation.
The foregoing reality is that the Parliament of Uganda must
do a self-reflection. What it does not want to do is to start comparing its
privileges with that of other Parliaments, say in Kenya or the UK. That kind of
thing is what Ugandans like to do. These countries have varying sizes of the economy
that are robust enough and works for its people. In Uganda, MPs should actually
be unpaid volunteers because nothing works.
End.
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