On the challenge of extending term of 10th Parliament

Before the dust has even settled on the July 26 judgment of the Court of Appeal, operatives of the NRM regime have already put out feelers and sent indications that some callous, greedy and shameless MPs plan to revive a matter which patriots and Ugandans of goodwill thought had been settled forever.
According to a front page story published in the Saturday Vision of August 4, Deputy Attorney General Mwesigwa Rukutana is reported to have said that the NRM government has not given up on efforts to extend the term of office of the current Parliament from five to seven years and if done, the term of office of Sabalwanyi will also be extended to seven years.
The incredible story titled, “Govt in new push for seven-year term” did not take keen observers of Uganda’s political landscape by surprise. It’s consistent with the disgraceful record of a corrupt, dishonest and decadent regime which has taken Ugandans for a ride for more than 30 years!
The weird arguments advanced by selfish and mediocre politicians for extending the term of office of Parliament defy logic and common sense which is regrettably no longer common in Uganda, especially among the political class who are driven by the love of money and extravagant lifestyle at Ugandan taxpayers’ expense! It is offensive and a tragedy of monumental proportions.
Rukutana is quoted saying, “we are just harmonising our presidential and parliamentary term with the region because it had been found out that five years is not sufficient for any meaningful development. You spend all the time in electioneering.”
Rukutana’s boss advanced similar argument in a disingenuous opinion dispatched from South Africa and published in the Daily Monitor of July 31 titled, “Constitution should facilitate Uganda’s modernisation and integration of Africa” which frankly speaking leaves a lot to be desired.
With all due respect, for anybody to argue that the seven-year term is a trend in our region is a blatant and shameless lie! One would expect Rukutana to know better.
The unanimous decision of the five judges of the Court of Appeal speaks volumes. The judges spoke so loudly, eloquently and clearly that only a deaf and dumb person would dare to reopen debate on this matter.
The judges argued that extension of the tenure of MPs from five to seven years is unconstitutional because MPs were elected in 2016 under a five-year social contract with the electorate.
The parties to the social contract cannot unilaterally decide to amend or change the duration of the contract and expect the senior partner to simply concur. As the judges correctly argued, the action of the MPs is a gross violation of principles of good governance.
In addition to what the judges observed, in my opinion, what NRM MPs are scheming to do, namely extend the term of Parliament, is an abuse of the numerical strength of their political party in Parliament. It is shameful and an insult to the dignity, integrity and intelligence of Ugandan taxpayers who toil and sweat day and night to fund MPs’ arrogant, extravagant and reckless lifestyle. Too many Ugandan MPs are greedy and ungrateful and they must stop taking wananchi for granted. MPs are servants of the people of Uganda, not masters of wananchi, for goodness sake!
Truth be told, Ugandans are fed up with Parliament which abdicated its constitutional role to the Executive branch of government long ago! The wananchi feel that our country would be better off without a toothless and spineless Parliament which is now more or less a rubber stamp. The sooner Parliament is disbanded the better so that Uganda may once again be ruled by decree as another general did in ages past. The money saved can be put to good use.
MPs should save Ugandans from avoidable and unnecessary headache and stress. The current term of office for MPs is a matter which the vast majority of Ugandan citizens are contented with. Ugandans do not want to hear of attempts by a tiny minority to arrogantly amend the term of Parliament for selfish gain.