Let candidates make realistic promises

Its campaign period again with a crowded entrance this time of 11 candidates aspiring to be president of the Republic of Uganda. And like before, different presidential candidates are addressing rallies, small and big, making promises and pledges to the electorate to win their votes.

This campaign period is unusual though, coming on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic and because of this, the campaigns are intended to be virtual, where candidates are supposed to observe the standard operating procedures, and the Electoral Commission limited the number of attendants during campaigns to 200 people.
However, early as the campaign may be, the different candidates have already made promises and pledges to the electorate, some of which are a tall order.

One of the candidates has promised to build an electric train in one of the sub-regions of the country, just as another has pledged to scrap National Environment Management Authority. These promises are meant to endear the voters to the candidates, to thrust them to State House. Other candidates have promised total free education for primary, secondary and vocational education, just as another has pledged to give each household Shs100,000 to cushion them against the effects of Covid-19 pandemic, among other pledges.

The election period is usually electrifying and both the candidates and voters are eager. Just as the voters are expectant, the candidates ought to be mindful of what is tenable given our resource envelope and what the voters might dismiss as political gimmicks to wow them and then abandon them on the wayside, candidate seek their political aggrandizement at the expense of the population. Already, there have been many unfulfilled pledges in the past, and the population will be comparing and judging the candidates accordingly.

It is, therefore, in the interest of the various candidates to make promises that are tenable and realistic. Voters can see through flamboyant and unrealistic pledges that do not add to great expectations of the populace and the country. While some of these promises are within reach of the country’s resources, they will need a lot of financial discipline on the part of that government to achieve them.
 
This message cascades down to Members of Parliament too, who should emphasise the role of Parliament so that the electorates, do not put undue pressure on their representatives to deliver outside their mandate. This will help to fight graft where MPs are sometimes pushed to influence peddle to get projects running in their constituents yet it’s a government mandate to deliver services across the country.