by Hon Mwijukye Francis.
Last week, the opposition in Parliament read it’s alternative budget Framework Paper which contained proposals that the we think can transform our economy & country as a whole.
However in his remarks Hon Kyagulanyi the President of National Unity Platform who was the Chief guest at the function said that all these proposals would have no meaning as long as the NRM is still in power and hasn’t reformed!
Similar statements have been on several occasions expressed by Rt. Col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye, who has consistently argued that our institutions are captives and unable to deliver change for our country. Both state and non state institutions have been put under captivity that they can hardly create any impact on the way things are managed in our country.
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Am happy that Dr Besigye & Bobi Wine are now reading on the same page, this is good for consensus building especially if other Ugandans could buy these ideas.
Ordinarily if you have a system that works, government would have to pick a number of issues from the opposition alternative statements, and these would help to inform policy shifts in government. Unfortunately this is never the case, the institutions in this country either serve one man’s interests, or are there for procedural purposes and at worst are there for the survival of those who run them.
Because institutions serve the master, they have no will but also the confidence to copy any good ideas from the opposition alternative.
Parliament has passed many laws that have been rejected by the executive like the minimum wage law. It has rejected some budget allocations but the executive has remained adamant.
When you have a Parliament that censures a minister and the Executive head keeps mute, it speaks to the impunity and lack of respect to institutions in our country. Sadly, Parliament is the institution through which people’s will is exercised, it’s against such a background that such an alternative budget would be honored, but how can this happen when the entire Parliament is undermined and under attack by the President?
On top of state institutions like Parliament and judiciary, none state players like Political parties, civil society, religious institutions, NGOs, cultural institutions etc have all been dis empowered
Specifically political parties have been strangled and made to remain at the headquarters. This has been done using police & the army. The ruling party hasn’t been spared either, its Museveni who decides what goes on in the party and it has no independence at all.
What Ugandans need to do is to free ourselves and to liberate ourselves from the captivity. Once we liberate ourselves we shall start on the journey of building strong institutions which can serve the country.
Liberating ourselves will be done when we assert our power as citizens, when we demonstrate that we have a stake in our country. Once we demonstrate this, we shall compel Gen Museveni to listen to us
Mwijukye Francis, MP
Buhweju County
