Ask them to Account before they promise!



The campaign season is the season for everything: lies and truths! Every candidate is fighting hard to present themselves as the best candidate before the public eye! We have 8 Presidential candidates but one crowd: 35 Million Ugandans, these don't change, they are constant, therefore, it is always the same crowds but different faces appearing to them!

I have keenly followed the campaign trails and have observed interesting issues! In fact, one may mistake the campaigns to be a christian crusade where the type of conversation in a monologue: There is one preacher and the congregants whose contribution or response is saying "Amen!"
The Campaigns literally are supposed to be conversations between the voters and their upcoming leader! Not a an evangelism event of sorts like I see nowadays! The candidate will take the stage, speak all the good things about themselves, and speak all the bad things about the others and then all of a sudden, you here the crowds chanting slogans of Victory! If we continue like this, we have lost it.

The essence of the campaign to me is to first account before you promise! The leaders who sought our mandate 5 years go should first tell us what they have been able to achieve in accordance with their promises and then what they ought to achieve next! I have found this lacking in almost all the campaigns whether party primaries or presidential! The real questions need to be asked by the voter who is the majority decision maker!

Citizens therefore need to realize the power they hold at such a time and thus use it meaningfully! Let us ask the hard questions, let the leaders account for what they promised before they promise us further! This level of accountability is what builds trust and further translates into votes!

The power is in our hands, to determine the right or wrong leaders! We are the Clients, they are the contractors! We hold all the terms for them to work with, let us form our terms clearly and vote for the best contractor for the betterment and benefit of our Uganda!


Michael Aboneka Jr

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why we should worry about the growing inequality in Uganda

by Michael Aboneka   Uganda continues to grapple with worrying inequalities and regional imbalances.  According to World Bank (2022), half of the population was moderately food insecure and the poorest households were unable to buy food products in the desired amounts. This means that half of our population is a hungry one which can do anything for survival.  In 2021 the Ministry of Finance reported that 28% of Ugandans were poor increasing from 18% prior to COVID-19 era with about two thirds of Uganda losing income and the economy and business still staggers while the gap between the poor and rich widens further because the poor and less privileged are affected adversely proving that  Uganda’s growth is not inclusive. Recently; I saw a number of colleagues expressing their disappointment after some young men stole side mirrors of their cars in broad day light in Kampala and they were left helpless; they couldn’t even run after the thieves. The same state of hopelessness is true to maj
Read more

The US Africa-summit: What is in it for Uganda?

  By Michael Aboneka The US Africa summit, the first of its kind for eight years, following the end of the era of Donald Trump and his America first policy, just concluded. With US President, Joe Biden, deliberately playing a different tune from his predecessor Donald Trump. His was indeed a courting ode, with a promise that the US is "All in on Africa's future”. Even more endearing was the declaration that “Africa belongs at the table in every room — in every room where global challenges are being discussed and in every institution where discussions are taking place” that accompanied the promise that US will support African Union joining the G20 group of large economies as a permanent member.  Biden announced $2 billion in humanitarian aid for Africa to address acute food insecurity, with emphasis that Africa has potential to feed itself and the world and a joke that he, like a poor relative, will visit Africa and spend a long time there. The cheery tone and overt support fro
Read more

The Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill 2022 cures no mischief

  By Michael Aboneka Jr Hon. Muhammad Nsereko sought leave of Parliament to table an amendment bill to the Computer Misuse Act in February 2022 and has now tabled the bill on the floor of Parliament. In my view, there is nothing new that the new law is seeking to cure and I am waiting to read the Regulatory impact assessment and the justifications thereof beyond public debates.  From the proposed long title of the bill, objectives and the clause on defects in existing law, it is not clear and specific enough of what mischief the bill intends to cure. The amendment seeks to largely protect the right to privacy, prohibition of unlawful access to data and spreading of false information which are already protected by existing legal frameworks such as the Constitution, Children Act, the Human Rights Enforcement Act 2019, Penal Code Act, Data protection and privacy Act 2019 among others. All these provide layers of protection that the bill seeks to do and by large, the amendment will only du
Read more