Ignorance is bliss: Tales of politicians in their own worlds

Mid this year, some Ugandans were shocked when Parliament and Kampala Capital City Authority sent Members of Parliament to look at the potholes in Kampala. They thought that it should be obvious to them. Actually, it is not, our leaders drive on pavements, how can they tell that the actual roads have potholes!

Why should I fix your hospitals, if I shall be flown to Nairobi or overseas at the slightest health inconvenience? Why should I fix your education system and schools, if my own children do not study here? What do you mean the traffic situation is bad? I drove from my home to the office in five minutes (with six over-speeding lead cars, on the alternative lane to my actual direction). Why should I think about the future of Uganda when I am in my twilight years and I have already built myself a massive retirement home in my village? What’s in it for me?

The President one time said they are stealing, but they are investing in Uganda so that is okay. Well, Mr President, first of all, this was very sad to hear from you. Secondly, stealing money meant for hospitals, to build five star hotels or expensive apartments in Buwate is not investment. It is selfishness and moral degradation of the highest order. And the innocent souls of those that perish because of this negligence, shall haunt those apartments. They shall see no peace. These levels of permissiveness Mr President can only lead to more recklessness and disdain for accountability. The strange bit is that we now hear that some of our politicians have investments in our neighbouring countries. It seems they also know where things are working.

They say leaders are servants, ours are not. Ours must be served. If you have never missed a meeting because the road was blocked for hours for an MP or the president to pass, you are still safe. It is said that an MP who lives in Ntinda could call in and ask that the road be blocked while he or she is in the shower, such that their path is clear by the time they are to move, at the expense of everyone else.

We have heard instances where people have not been paid because Public Servant X, who is supposed to approve their payments, is on vacation. Before your tender is given to you, you must take a tithe, to the god of procurement at some office, cementing my point about our leaders wanting to be served.

The other day the Minister of ICT suggested that instead of opening up Facebook, we should build our own Facebook.

True, a social network is not very hard to build from scratch, but it is only as good as its appeal beyond its borders. Facebook’s appeal, for example from a local business’ perspective, is to advertise your products beyond your borders.

The NRM’s biggest mistake was, in my opinion, hiring politicians and assigning them the responsibility of building a nation. Nation building can only entail, and cannot be done by people who can only see as far as themselves. Yes, the NRM made strides in the right direction after 1986, but then stagnation happened at some point, when politics became lucrative.

Speaking of 1986, if we measure our progress based on 1986, we have undeniably made significant progress in infrastructure, security and national development. However, it begs the question, should 1986 be our standard, because if it is, we risk stagnating even further. In a day and age where nations are working on integrating and mitigating the risks of Artificial Intelligence to their economies, we are still measuring how much coffee we exported in 1986, versus now. This is in itself not bad, but what if instead of exporting the coffee, we were processing it here, and wouldn’t that be something great. As a nation, we need to move from 1986 and think about 2086. Let’s invest more in our strengths, and not set the bar too low, that will make us feel that we have reached.

We may try to virtue-signal to the West, but if we come back and rob from ourselves, we are no better than they are. A nation divided against itself cannot stand.

Duncan Mudulo, [email protected]