Writer: Godwin Toko. Photo/Courtesy
On Page 48 of the 1997 edition of his autobiography, Sowing the Mustard Seed: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in Uganda, President Museveni wrote about his flight to exile following the 1971 coup. Narrating his very first meeting with other Ugandan exiles, the President described two previously powerful Obote I ministers, Akena Adoko and Sam Odaka, as “crestfallen” but blamed them for having "been responsible for the tragedy that had befallen Uganda” in the 1971 military coup.
Specifically, he castigated them for being among many ministers and colleagues of Milton Obote who spent their time flattering the overthrown president at the Uganda Club in Kampala by singing to him "Takutendereza" (praise to the Lord). Mr Museveni argued that a group of ministers too busy flattering a president with praises could not effectively execute their mandate, let alone put a nation first by disagreeing with the president in the interest of the country when needed. I agree.
Sadly for Uganda, ministers turning to a religious song to sing praises to a sitting president by replacing the name of God with the president’s was not to be the last time it happened. Last week, this paper reported that Speaker of Parliament Anita Among likened President Museveni to the Christian God in a trinity that so many Christian sects believe in.
Even more tragically, the Speaker called the President's son, a serving military officer barred from participating in any form of partisan politics, “the son” in that trinity and called upon people at a political rally to “vote for them”. In fact, the report in that story was not the first time the head of the 11th Parliament likened the President to a God figure in a trinity. When she made Parliament’s contribution of Shs1 billion to the annual cancer run late last year, she made similar remarks, claiming the President is a God in the trinity.
Speaker of Parliament Anita Among (left) and President Museveni during the opening the Northern Uganda regional sitting in Gulu City on August 29, 2024.
For her latest remarks, the Speaker was criticised by some lone religious voices, especially Pastor Martin Ssempa. Interestingly, the paper reported that several church leaders “stayed clear of discussing the issue, saying they did not want to engage in politics”. In a country where religious leaders are often seen hobnobbing with political leaders and leaving with fat envelopes, as hospitals and schools run without money, that is expected.
So, giving unto Caesar what belongs to him is a convenient excuse that our religious leaders will always run to so as not to spoil a good relationship that pays well from state coffers. Even then, while it is easy to see why some religious people are enraged by the Speaker’s remarks, the people who should be angrier are Ugandans, that is, the Ugandans who mean well for their country and its future.
Leaders, no matter the office they hold or for how long they have held onto them, remain mere humans who may be praised for doing good, but must never be likened to deities beyond humans and therefore reproach. It is for this reason, according to what he wrote, that Mr Museveni was mad at the Obote ministers.
In fact, what makes Ms Among’s remarks even worse than those of Adoko and Odaka is that she is the Speaker of Parliament; the institution supposed to hold the Executive led by the President in check. So far, the President hasn’t come out to publicly criticise the Speaker for her remarks and disavow them, as he did in Dar-es-Salaam. Maybe, he will eventually, most likely he will not.
Yet, just like the Obote ministers who did the praise-singing, a government is often judged by the one at the apex. It will eventually fall upon the President, who knows better, to remember that he is a human, one who leads other humans, and not fall for praise-singing that is made to make him feel like anything else.
The writer, Godwin Toko, is a lawyer with interest in governance.
