By Mr. Faruk Kirunda, Deputy Presidential Press Secretary
May 12, 2023 (last Friday) marked two remarkable years since President Yoweri Museveni was sworn for a new term of office after clinching victory four months earlier on January 14. Every five years, Ugandans have the liberty to review the President’s leadership and decide whether they are renewing the “contract” or not. Consistently, since 1996, they have ticked him off.
Uganda placed all their trust in Museveni as a person, which is why he took a double oath (Oath of Allegiance to the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda and Oath of Service).And, so far, he has stuck by the Oaths-Uganda is still under Constitutional order and the President is fully engaged in fulfilling the Manifesto pledges he made, aimed at transforming the lives of the people, additional to keeping them safe and secure, happy in their motherland.
Since Uganda operates (in) a democratic dispensation, Ugandans also elected other leaders at various levels from the village, parish, Sub County, urban authorities (towns and cities), all the way to Parliament. This depth and breadth of leadership structures is phenomenal in the whole world, which is why in some circles, you hear complaints about Uganda being “overgoverned”. However, the purpose of broad-based leadership is to ensure that the citizen’s voice is fully represented and their interests are secured.
A President-or Chief Executive-cannot be in many places at the same time. In any case, he or she cannot run a Government singlehandedly. That’s why the Constitution enjoins the head-of-state to choose and appoint other persons to assist him in managing the country and serving to fulfill his pledges to the populace; these include ministers, Permanent Secretaries (PSs), Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) and others in the local governments. These are qualified and otherwise deserving appointees. However, the pace of implementation of the manifesto does not reflect their qualifications and loyalty to the Mission.
Apart from lacking patriotism to an extent of throwing their professionalism to the wind, these technocrats celebrate mediocrity, counting how many mansions and guzzlers they own, playing politics while claiming to be neutral or independent of Government. Such hypocrites and parasites feeding on the system while giving nothing or very little in return. They engage in politicking to cover their incompetence and betrayal of the terms of their service. Suggest to them about increasing their allowances and perks, there they are so responsive! Everything is about themselves; they think they are more educated and deserving than everyone else, and therefore make a claim to the national cake over and above their service. How much do they contribute to the production capacity of the country? Such actors have hampered Uganda’s transformation severely. They are the new front from which Ugandans need to be liberated. If we relied on them for the sustenance of the nation, it would not function.
While yet grappling with insiders totally obstructive to the transformation agenda, across the floor, we have opposition members who are failing even in the role of doing checks and balances on Government. How much better would they fare while in charge of Government?
The author is the Deputy Presidential Press Secretary to H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
