Why Bishop Kaggwa’s demand on service delivery is right and fitting
A news story in the Daily Monitor last Tuesday opened thus: “Masaka Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa has given Masaka Municipality authorities a one-week ultimatum to fix all the potholes in the municipality or else he stages a demonstration.”
Oh, man of God!
Masaka, and virtually every town in Uganda, is filthy, chaotic, decayed and run by people with no shame, competence, imagination, or sense of public service. These crazies still get a salary at the end of the month, a most outrageous thing. Taxpayer shillings are used to pay people for no work done, and no value delivered even where a little is done.
These so-called leaders are so unscrupulous that they now even lie to bishops, which leaves me wondering what they say at confession.
March 2016 promise
Bishop Kaggwa has had it. In December 2015, he rallied the faithful to pull together to fix the sorry road leading to his cathedral. Fearing embarrassment, municipal authorities urged the Catholic prelate to dial down. They promised him that they would not only fix the road to the cathedral, but all bad roads in the municipality by March 2016.
That these big leaders had no intention of truly earning their pay became obvious when they told the bishop that the roads would be fixed after the February 2016 elections. What the bejesus have national elections got to do with the nuts and bolts of running a municipality — picking garbage, filling potholes, opening new roads, lighting up streets, creating new public spaces such as parks? Okay, I know, elections mean the entire country slides into a form of paralysis, breath bated, fearing we will strangle each other in an orgy of violence as we quarrel over the results. Even then.
The bishop anyhow fell for the open lie. Unfortunately. Now he is the wiser for it. He is seriously tired of the rubbish, human and non-human. If within a week the municipal authorities will not have got off their backsides to fix the roads, Bishop Kaggwa will lead a demonstration. It is unclear when the ultimatum countdown started, but it is fair to guess it commenced on Sunday, September 25, the day the bishop spoke up. Which means it ends today. We may well have the cleric-led protest march tomorrow or anytime soon.
I like this bishop. I may even drive to Masaka to join in his struggle. I am a little rusty when it comes to this sort of thing. But it’s about time.
Even if the bishop does not march, returning to his 2015 plan of organising his flock and other wananchi to do bulungi bwansi and repair a couple of roads would do as much to draw attention to the muck the people of Masaka Municipality live in. Either way, Bishop Kaggwa has to follow through.
He is the undisputed leader of his diocese. As a high profile religious leader, even non-Catholics will stop and listen (and possibly follow him) if he takes on an obvious public cause. Using that standing to expose the rot in local government leadership and the associated rot in service delivery is a great way to shepherd the people.
Besides, it is a profile that comes with moral heft. The bishop may not realise it, but if he went through with a peaceful and dignified demo he would very well ignite a coherent national demand for better public services and goods. He could provide the respectable leadership that has so far lacked.
‘Must be prepared’
But Bishop Kaggwa has to be prepared to see his name smeared, and he may well get sprayed with tear gas. Exposure of corruption, incompetence and the demand for clean government, once it spreads, threatens those in government leadership and related entrenched interests.
Even if the status quo must go, it never goes quietly. It fights back. And viciously. If in doubt, check in with Pastor Evan Mawarire of #ThisFlag protest movement in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.
Mr Tabaire is the co-founder and director of programmes at African Centre for Media Excellence in Kampala.
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Twitter:@btabaire
