The evil of shirking responsibility

Ugandans who do evil are rightly condemned. Other Ugandans who know those who do evil and have responsibility to act in the national interest but do nothing are equally guilty.

We only recently finished a week of remembering Uganda Martyrs where believers staked their lives for their beliefs and were burnt to death without ever having feared or shirked their responsibility to God.

In 1981, the incumbent leader of Uganda bravely led a group of freedom fighters to wage war against government’s that were committing horrible acts of barbarism and unwonten murder, not different from the same phenomena President Museveni is presiding over.

Thousands of Ugandans followed him in the bush or supported his cause which was the cause of Uganda. Many of them died in pursuit of that noble cause. To sacrifice one’s life or freedom in defence of the others or national interest is the ultimate goal of patriotism.

Several years ago, it became common for the NRM leadership, cadres and supporters to attempt and popularise the term patriotism. It was short-lived because in the context of real patriotism, the campaign was shallow, a sham and most people saw it for what it was as intended to popularise – the monolithic characteristics of the NRM organism.

In contrast, there are thousands of Ugandan heroes who have performed acts of heroism and rightly deserve to be called patriots but who are ashamed of the current brand of leadership that forgets them and would rather send their names and deeds into oblivion.

Sometime ago, in the context of another subject, this columnist recalled the four wise monkeys and described them under the following headings, ‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and touch no evil’.

There have been many wrongs committed against the people of Uganda, legal departmental and administrative commissions of inquiry and internal probes have been appointed and facilitated with millions of Shillings.

They have subsequently done a thorough job of investigating and published their findings and recommendations. Many of these reports naming individuals who committed crimes and their photographs appearing in the media generally litter the archives of Uganda’s forgotten history.

Nevertheless, to awaken Ugandans to this inertia is futile. I will enumerate several examples. Recently President Museveni, in anger and frustration, announced that the executive director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Dr Andrew Seguya, and others be investigated as suspects in crimes against the State.

No Ugandan can blame the President for this bold decision of nationalism. On the other hand, how many Ugandans remember the findings and recommendations of the statutory commissions set up in 2011 by then minister of Tourism, Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire?

Brig Stephen Kwiringira and I, among others, were members of that commission. Testimonies and witnesses came from the minister himself, World Bank, tourism operators. During the course of investigations, we urgently reported to the police that Seguya, then acting executive director, was continuing to do wrong even as we worked in UWA house next door to his office and recommended his arrest.

Gen Otafiire testified that Dr Seguya had been appointed in error because he was not qualified for the post. The recommendations were shelved. In 2014, Dr Seguya was suspended allegedly for smuggling ivory out of the country. Mysteriously, he later reappeared in his office without any explanation. Few Ugandans envy President Museveni for the acute embarrassment all this has caused.

Recently, a judge fined a litigant Shs10 million for contempt of court simply because the litigant indicated that he did not agree with the judge’s ruling and intended to appeal. Another judge who read the orders penalising the litigant was reduced to tears, weeping for the sorry state of justice in Uganda.

Thirdly, it is not only in government institutions that evidence of shirking from ones duty is prevalent. For more than a year now, the affairs of a well-known club have been in shambles.

The current tip of the iceberg of iniquity has been the discovery of an officer of the club who forged a letter in connivance with another. But the discovery has been ignored and the governing bodies continue employing the same in the same post, thereby shirking their responsibility to the club.

To many Ugandans, most authorities in the country, including the high and mighty, struggle very hard to find excuses for not doing what is expected of them, instead of courageously using the powers given to them to do what they are obliged to do.

Prof Kanyeihamba is a retired Supreme Court judge. [email protected]