Don’t cry. The NRM govt is performing as expected

As you may already know, God is my ‘kyali’. Because of our friendship, I do not want Him to suffer disrepute.
I censure fake prophets and despotic rulers who lie that God gave them power. God is not a thug.
To reciprocate, God silences fake angels who lie that they are my guardians. I and God are like that. We slave for each other. He is my God; I am His dog.

In that spirit, long before Covid-19, but especially during the pandemic, seeing that our people were particularly vulnerable, I warned them against expecting miracles to fall like snacks from a pop-corn machine. If you look, you can also see that virtually all the money believers paid for the 2020 miracles was ‘poteya’. 
The people who got windfalls that vaguely resembled miracles were those who stole food and money meant to address pandemic-related deprivation and health-care challenges.

So, poteya; the pastors did not deliver the miracles; the NRM government delivered very few goods and services. None of them will refund the money. And in the crazy January 2021 general election, many pastors overtly supported Mr Museveni and other NRM candidates.
However, the vote showed that in central Uganda, where our pastors most ostentatiously display their followers and their wealth, implying their influence, Museveni got very few votes, and the NRM parliamentary candidates were generally defeated, the NRM ‘victory’ nationwide notwithstanding.

So, understandably, after the story of Shs105b for MP cars came out, our usual ‘apostles’ on Impact FM and Dream TV spent hours last Sunday morning castigating the MPs for hauling away Shs200m each, when the government was begging and borrowing to get enough money to buy vaccines. They lamented that, in spite of such cynicism, Ugandans would come out and vote for the same MPs in 2026. Our ‘apostles’ also castigated the government for getting the cash timing wrong, adding yet another reason for its loss of trust among the public.

Well, not strangers to opulence themselves against a backdrop of mass poverty, our ‘apostles’ have given us another reason for not taking them seriously. Why? 
The NRM enjoys a huge majority in Parliament. But public trust has almost no meaning in the NRM value system. The regime surrendered its morality to the President, and in turn the President’s 36 years in power have blunted his conscience.
It is naïve to think – it is almost unthinkable – that the car cash was released without President Museveni’s wink, or even design.

The timing was perfect for him. It must have been obvious to him that a public that has always resented MP car bonanzas and other big cash handouts would be doubly outraged if the money was released at a time when Uganda feels more like a huge failed fishing village than a decent modern State faced with a deadly virus. But the money would divert public attention away from Executive incompetence and corruption to the greed of the MPs.

Anyhow, although the NRM record should have indicated even to 16 year-olds that the party’s leadership was virtually incapable of reversing its ways, only in February our ‘apostles’ had gleefully celebrated the NRM victory, confirming that they were not inspired by the higher wisdom attributed to God. Their wisdom was exactly identical with that of many voters, who returned known enemies of their well-being to Parliament.
Even if their churches are opened this weekend, a mismanaged health challenge will ensure that they remain unsafe for worship for some time; just like the night-clubs.

Mr Tacca is a novelist, socio-political commentator.
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