Let's get our broken institutions working
A screengrab of posts on Uganda's military chief, Gen Muhoozi Kaineruga's X platform, with a photo of opposition leader, Robert Kyagulanyi's chief bodyguard, Edward Ssebufu, alias Eddie Mutwe.
What you need to know:
- There should be room for all of us to co-exist despite or in fact because of our differences—politically, culturally, socially, economically and religiously. If these counterbalancing influences need to be regulated, we should rest assured that institutions are in place to do just that.
The abduction of Edward Ssebufu alias Eddie Mutwe that culminated in a belated court appearance on Monday is a stain on the national conscience. That Mr Ssebufu, the head of the security detail of Opposition leader, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu alias Bobi Wine, should have been treated better is a no-brainer. The government should not be in doubt about the fact that the optics in light of Mr Ssebufu’s torture are pretty bad after it opted to pay no heed to the call of compassion and common decency.
The chain of events that have played out since Mr Ssebufu’s abduction on April 22 speak to an institutional malaise that is afflicting Uganda. It is abundantly clear that vibrant institutions are considered necessary to the health of the body politic of any nation. Yet in this case, to mention but two, the Uganda Police Force (UPF) played the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand when confronted with news of Mr Ssebufu’s forced disappearance.
Elsewhere, the courts of judicature barely batted an eyelid when a victim of torture was produced before one of its high courts. The overwhelming body of evidence is suggestive of the fact that, since Uganda lays claim to operating in a democratic dispensation, we need to do better as a country. We can do better, and should do better.
This can, however, only see the light of day when institutions are empowered to provide the necessary checks and balances that stamp out any overreaches. While this cannot happen overnight, it is important that the body politic in Uganda denounces the patronage and clientelism that has gradually come to put the country in what by all measures is a difficult place.
Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves some pretty tough questions if hopes of making anything remotely close to headway are harboured. How did we get to a place where the justice system takes lightly a basic presumption such as the one of innocence?
How did we get to the point where the police seemingly could not care less about protecting and serving Ugandans of all shades? If it is plain to see that the foundations that underpin the body politic of this country are being threatened, we have to stop to think about the consequences. Our past scars show in the starkest terms that this is not a good route to embark on. It is in many respects a road to perdition.
A course correction is long overdue. The rest button has to be pressed. It is vitally important to have in place a Uganda that works for all; not some. There should be room for all of us to co-exist despite or in fact because of our differences—politically, culturally, socially, economically and religiously.
If these counterbalancing influences need to be regulated, we should rest assured that institutions are in place to do just that. Yet this is hardly the case. Going forward, the institutional breakdown described in this leader has to be squarely addressed. Having the institutions in question jam-packed with cadres will only make a bad situation worse. Let us clean this mess.
