The stuff Hon. Alengot is made of

Proscovia Alengot leaving Parliament after the business of the day.

What you need to know:

As fellow 19-year-olds start university and look forward to a day job, Proscovia Alengot, the MP for Usuk County, juggles between her journalism classes, attending Parliamentary business and visiting her constituency.

For a freshman Member of Parliament barely out of her teens, Proscovia Oromait Alengot is learning the ways of her trade pretty fast. Hardly a month after she was elected as the Usuk County MP in Katakwi District, Eastern Uganda, Hon Alengot is already skilled in the sly form of elusiveness that politicians are supposed to know by heart.

It is probably the reason why to this date, a sense of mystery still surrounds the MP. She has eluded interviews from more journalists, through a persistent postponing and cancelling and rescheduling of appointments indefinitely, and simply declaring herself unavailable. On one incident, she picked up the phone and in the midst of playful banter in the background, she matter-of-factly said she was attending a prayer service.

In just the space of three months she has had to cope with the transformation from being a simple ordinary girl waiting to join university, to being the subject of flashing cameras and mammoth-size political rallies, a wacky world where shrewd slyness is the rule of thumb and creed of survival. That is all without forgetting that she had to mourn the loss of her father in between.

Today, as ordinary 19-year-old girls world-over invest their energies into starting university education and launching an initial bid at a career, Proscovia Oromait Alengot, now Hon Alengot, spends her time switching between university lectures, and the high offices of the country’s legislative arm of government. Hers is a life in defiance of commonality.

How she came to be
The star of Hon Alengot rose out of the wilderness of obscurity after the death of her father, Michael Oromait. He succumbed to hypertension on the morning of Saturday July 21, this year.

Different theories abound as to how she came to be chosen as the ruling party’s (NRM) flag bearer in the runoff election, even when her father did not hold the seat on the party’s ticket. Some argue that Alengot was fronted and talked into the idea by the ambitious district Woman Member of Parliament, and, Minister for Education, Maj. (Rtd) Jessica Alupo.

Other sources however, quoted by The Observer newspaper, said it is Alengot herself that nurtured the desire to succeed her father. The newspaper quoted family members as saying that Alengot took an interest in the requirements for one to become an MP, as soon as her dad passed on.

And to many onlookers, the 19-year-old’s candidature seemed like a joke at first. Few even gave her a chance, using her obvious inexperience to wave her off as a pretender in the contest. But she had some powerful backers. President Yoweri Museveni pitched camp in the constituency to rally support on her behalf. She enjoyed photo-ops with the big man, appearing dressed in oversized traditional busuti (dresses) alongside the president on campaigns. In the end, she won and she won with a bang. She garnered 54.2 per cent of the vote.

Reaction from experts
It is after the election results were announced that for many, the reality sank in – Uganda now had a teenage Member of Parliament on her hands. And critics were quick to spread their opinions of disagreement in all manner of forums, especially online. “I pity my country Uganda and what has become of it. This little gal knows neither politics nor the problems affecting her people. She should be at school chasing a career,” commented a one Tabbyusa.

Others, however, offered their support. “What are you talking about? That is what we want Uganda to be. If she can pay taxes and serve in the military, why not become serve her country?” a one Jackson quipped.

The views from experts in political science and psychology, however, agreed on the fact that her age cannot have a hindrance to the potential of a good politician.
Robert Tabaro, a lecturer of Political Science and Public Administration at Kyambogo University, says anybody at the age of 19 is old enough to legislate at a national level, if they have an interest in politics. It is when the person in question is “pushed” into the act as compared to choosing to take part on their own volition, that they would be unable to deliver.

Mr Tabaro says that if Alengot was simply lured into the act by the forces surrounding her, then her tenure in Parliament will likely bear no fruit for the constituents who voted her in, which would fail her pursuit of another term.

Paul Nyende, a psychology lecturer at Makerere University, says that at 19, an individual has attained enough maturity to take part in legislation. However, their childhood experiences and knowledge base will determine how well they perform.

An individual who has harboured leadership ambitions and has been exposed to positions of leadership at home and at school, would fit the role just fine, Mr Nyende says. It would also depend on the influence of one’s parentage, say if their parents encouraged them to rise and take up leadership positions.

Mr Nyende ensures to note that the radical change from a private life into the full limelight, has the potential to wear down a 19-year-old with stress related issues. Hon Alengot would thus need someone to manage her life and offer support and advice.

Protective circle
And as of today, Alengot seems to have a protective circle around her, especially personified in Maj. (Rtd) Alupo. Wherever the young MP has appeared in public, Alupo has not been far off. It is this protective circle that is understood to be shielding her away from journalists, on top of prepping her with just what words to say whenever in public, but most importantly, what not to say.

Alengot is today a first-year Mass Communication student at Uganda Christian University in Mukono District, 23km and a 5--minute drive away from Kampala. Sources from the university describe the young MP as a proud, reserved girl who limits her interaction and socialising to two friends from high school. She cites urgent constituency and Parliamentary matters when students seek her time, among other engagements like appointments with her clothes’ designer and the saloon.

She attends only morning classes although she is punctual whenever she does. She sits at the back of the classroom and rarely is usually queit throughout the lectuers. She is chauffeur-driven to school and does not have meals at the University Dining Hall, where most first year students have their afternoon meals from.

She dresses with a sense of official importance, in formal wear that ensures to go below the knees. The Observer, quoting a former teacher, reported that she won a beauty pageant in high school two years ago. The paper also reported that there is a controversy over her real age, as some official documents put her age as high as 21.

Alengot attended Soroti-Based Madera Girls Primary School, Kigulu Girls Primary School, Iganga Girls School, PMM Girls School and St Kalemba Secondary School in Kayunga. She spent a considerable part of her childhood living in Jinja District where her father’s main home was. This is about 200km away from the constituency she now represents.
Many challenges will face any Member of Parliament in their first term. But the odds are much more piled against Ms Alengot because there is more interest in her performance than in ordinary MPs.

Every submission on the floor, every Point of Order, every Point of Information, every word she says in and out of the precincts of Parliament will be latched upon by journalists seeking to create an image of what contributions she can make. It will be worse if she doesn’t say a thing – because that will vindicate the critics who say she has nothing to offer. The tabloid press that is on a surge in Kampala will be snooping around for sleaze and potential romantic partners.

Usuk constituency, and Uganda as a whole, now wait to hear what contributions she will make to the country’s development. There will be interest in what concrete proposals she will offer, say in the formulation of the Pension Bill or even the Domestic Relations Bill for a girl who has neither been married or been employed before.

Proscovia Oromait Alengot’s life could as well feel like an adventure right now. But politics is not just an experience of excitement. She will need guts, wits and the spirit of a fighter if this story is to conclude in a happy ending.