A review of governance in Uganda: how do we move on from here?

Political parties in Uganda are important platforms for generating ideas from ordinary citizens and developing programs to mitigate them, through legislative, legal, economic and political means. They are all important in upholding good governance in Uganda. However, for the success of the operations, the display of good internal governance practices is key. Political party leaders are servants of members and citizens in general. Any shortfall in the best way they have resolved to serve members and Ugandans implies the collapse of the covenant that binds them to the people they seek to serve. Of course, the consequences are severe, and political party leaders pay dearly, whether in the short or long term.

The country has evolved to a level where development stakeholders take parallel paths, unwilling to compromise and insensitive to the wishes of the people they lead.‎ This is not a new phenomenon. The difference between actions then and now is boldness and a lack of remorse like the gods of life, who control the consequences of their actions.

The country has come a long way to where it is now. The country found itself without strong control systems to guide leadership. The country was at stake, aimlessly, and with a known future. At the time, the country was experiencing the worst levels of economic and political crisis in history, largely self-propagated by the elites of the time. This was a period of time that stretched from the Amin era (1971 to 1979), shortly after his fall (1979 to 1980) and the early 1980s. From the same elites, more organized, the imposition was made. of order and peace in a Uganda that the majority citizens yearned for, celebrated, took pride in and worked hard to support the prosperity of the country. Since 1986, the country has been governed on the basis of ideological sanity, the discipline of men and women in the forces, and elective office, in which citizens compete for the highest office in the country and elect the leaders of their choice, only until they care about the increase in foreigners. interests in governability distorted confidence in the countries themselves products of the struggle: democratic governance and rule of law. Otherwise, the country was liberated from lawlessness, political decay, and a collapsing economy, to one of the fastest developing economies it will ever have in the region. This changed as priorities shifted to investing in security more as a ‘good governance foundation’ rather than improving the quality of life for Ugandans as the best measure of stability. However, looking back from where the country was in the 1980s to, even more so, around 2011, most Ugandans felt great pride, appreciating the instrumental leadership of the National Resistance Movement and Army. Even leaders across the political spectrum were proud and found a great foundation on which to build towards a greater Uganda.

The leadership of the National Resistance Movement is indisputable for offering the leadership with the greatest impact on the development of the country since independence. However, the time has come for us to reflect on ourselves as leaders and determine how much effort and influence we still have over citizens in terms of reducing inequalities, alleviating poverty, eliminating corruption, rescuing collapsing businesses. ​of indigenous Ugandans and recovery of weak institutions. In addition, we must ask ourselves as leaders if, individually, there is any added value for our respective roles in the last 10 years, or if new values ​​and leaders can be found to accelerate the growth and development of the country. And if not, what succession plan do we have for a peaceful transition from less effective leaders to one more visionary and focused on results?

Right now, we see a shift in mandate from a pro-people to a group of ‘government’ groups that are constantly in conflict and stalling development programs and service delivery, or simply determined to undermine central government efforts. to operate effectively all together. . The environment has not only hindered work and development, but has given rise to the worst forms of corruption in terms of nepotism, diversion of public funds and bribery to obtain office or favors, but these elements are almost unstoppable. The current government is toxic and an enemy of democracy. This means that political parties and alternative leadership will no longer exist in Uganda. As a consequence, this erodes the very achievements that Ugandans have died and worked for for over 40 years.

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Still, it is the Ugandans who hold the keys to save the country from the severe recession and the pending destruction of the beautiful country – Uganda. The country’s future is taking the path of its predecessors: the Uganda People’s Congress and the Democratic Party, which in their heyday lost democratic values ​​and crashed to the ground. This will potentially mark the demise of the ruling party, which its leaders are loath to see. Fortunately, the ball is still in the hands of the same leaders, who sacrificed tens of thousands of lives to overthrow ideologically corrupt governments, have all the resources at their disposal so that the worst does not happen to the ruling political party, our people, and achievements of the same mistakes of the oldest political parties and their leaders. Each election should be capable of each of us one or two things, above all the understanding of the wishes of the people and humility in service.

The country must face new challenges with new solutions and drivers for change that Ugandans want to see. We cannot afford to rely on old ideas and rhetoric that have proven useless in the previous 2 decades. It is impossible and experience has shown this dilemma. We have to acknowledge the dilemma and take responsibility for where we want our political parties and our country to be. We cannot continue to resist good change, good proposals and the cries of Ugandans dying from preventable diseases, poverty and hunger simply because they painfully remind political parties and leaders how miserably they have failed. After all, it is the people of Uganda who always suffer from corruption, electoral violence, poverty, inequalities and marginalization. We need to reform our political parties, return them to membership, and reflect the wishes of the citizens, whose membership and vote justify their existence. We need to identify errors and constantly replace the responsible actors. Above all, we may have to reconsider the 10-point program and implement it without deviating. It is still a robust program, requiring no alterations, and challenging to implement. It was well-intentioned and purposeful, born of consensus among patriotic Ugandans. The historical challenges since independence were addressed by the same document: the 10-point programme. In fact, reconsidering the implementation of the same document is a direct remedy to the current socioeconomic and political problems facing the country. It will reduce tensions within political parties and among Ugandans. We don’t have to look any further than your document. The agenda that followed has proved useless for the Ugandans.

Furthermore, it is important that we look beyond ourselves when discussing matters of national interest. The screams of ordinary citizens is what should worry us the most. The biggest mistake today is the use of personal interests to influence national policies instead of participatory democracy and civic roles and actions together. If we follow a parallel line with the people, the citizens of this beautiful country, we risk throwing it into the unsavory past, where leadership and grievances meet violence and death. Surely this is not what we need to see happen, knowing full well what they mean to us as leaders and the people we claim to lead.

We urgently need to address the greed and violent attitudes among us. This policy of elimination is untenable as are the consequences of such barbaric tendencies. After all, the life of the human exterminators of life also comes to an end, either due to revenge or natural death.

It is therefore relevant that political leaders and parties open up to the inevitable change that continues to knock on our doors: changing greed and violent attitudes, restoring the rule of law, responsive leadership, and working for transparent elections and leadership responsible. It is the wish of all Ugandans that political parties and leaders deliver the much-needed change for which almost 1 million people died in vain, pro-people leadership, responsible leadership, consensus leadership, guided by a citizens’ constitution, and a leadership that protects rather than kills or robs Ugandans.