Information vacuums breed rumours

Speaker Jacob Oulanyah lived large and served his country with such patriotism, passion and dedication.

Yet, whereas he may have wanted his personal life to be private, there is nowhere in the world where the life of a person of his stature is private. Once he took oath, Speaker Oulanyah, forthwith, accepted a public life laden with scrutiny, like his word or action did. Thus, the clumsy way in which his illness was handled by the State spinners is what leaves a bad taste.

As soon as he took office, Speaker Oulanyah, like any one whose presence can’t go unnoticed, was ‘out of action’ much of the time. Until the press was awash with the controversial story of how the taxpayer forked out money to charter a plane to Seattle, US, there was an information vacuum from the state on his health.

When the State spoke, it was Information and National Guidance minister, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi branding protesters against Speaker Oulanyah evacuation to Seattle- yet he was in a position to influence resources for better healthcare home, night dancers who would be arrested for not just peddling lies, but also celebrating his ailment. The State, with no clear flow of information – ingredients for rumour and misinformation – was, as always, on the defensive.

First, Deputy Speaker then, Anita Among, publicly said speaker Oulanyah was responding well to treatment yet, at his demise, health minister, Dr Ruth Aceng contradicted this, saying until his death, speaker Oulanyah hadn’t began treatment because he wasn’t stable enough to. Not to miss out on the drama, the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabbanja, in an attempt to break news of Speaker Oulanyah’s death- which the President had already done- said much but what went viral was her statement that he died in Seattle, United Kingdom. Seattle is in the US. That is the tragedy of our leaders- ‘uncoordinated troop movement’ arising from many centers of (mis) information flow. Many cooks spoil the soup!

Because Speaker Oulanyah lived large, he will also be sent-off in a large way with, as the media put it initially, Shs2.5b to be spent in a day. As the Baganda say, baabasuuziza omunyago (they were forced to drop their loot). The State has since revised the budget to Shs1.8b due to media scrutiny which, says Milly Babalanda, the Presidency minister, doesn’t matter- only burial does. So the Acholi MPs will (share) Shs312m to prepare for Speaker Oulanyah’s burial? What for? Compensation for their loss?

In a country like Uganda, why do patrons pay to attend comedy shows? I haven’t and, for the foreseeable future, will not. Where, elsewhere, people look for comedy to relax and laugh about, in Uganda, comedy looks for you. The question is; where does/ should it find you?

Enter the current spike in prices of essential commodities. In an attempt to explain this away, Baryomunsi was at it again at his fortress- Uganda Media Centre. Whereas he said Uganda was experiencing imported inflation- a problem afflicting even developed countries like the USA.

Granted. Whereas the causes are external, Baryomunsi alleged that this was beyond the ability of policy makers in any one country to handle, conceding that the Uganda government couldn’t do a thing to arrest the inflation.

A family is the smallest unit of a state, learners are taught in SST at P5. In a home, a husband is expected to find a solution to every problem. He should be seen to try and go down fighting until he fails.

Likewise, the government cannot be seen to concede defeat without a try because, it is assumed, the people entrusted with public power are more knowledgeable, intelligent and armed with the tools to see-off any challenge. And it continues biting; the tragedy of our leaders!

Mr  Joel Ogwang is a development journalist