One of our most biggest challenges currently as a country is the monetisation of our politics and this is the new trend that has been promoted by both the NRM establishment and the opposition its self.
When I talk about monetisation of politics, I mean the selfish and unlawful acts of politicians and other contenders of offices of authority, using money and other valuable materials or resources, to bribe voters into electing them into different offices or hindering other suitable contenders of those position.
This is exactly what is happening in our political environment today. Our current regime doesn’t give people with inadequate resources or incomes an opportunity to take up leadership and other positions as it was when this system had just took up the driving seat of this country.
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It is also very crucial to note that they also came with nothing. They looted their way into power. This trend came into limelight around 2006 when Museveni was seeking his third electoral term into office. After the 2006 election, the then Human Rights Watch Coordinator of East Africa Jemera Rone said that there were many serious irregularities in that election, and one of them was voters bribery as shared by some people who had participated in that election. They (Human Rights Watch) even recommended a judicial review for that election. This was just one recommendation from the many observers who shared similar views.
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This has been growing every after five (5) years, to an extent that it is no-longer a secret in the public domain, as it was in the early years.
Look at the leading opposition party (NUP) right now and how the candidates get their party cards or tickets, it is like real broad day business in Kikubo or Nakasero Market. It’s the highest bidder who takes it all, with no shame at all. That is why when they get into Parliament, they totally become unruly, simply because they don’t see you as their leaders, they look at you as their business partners.
Even the members of Parliament who got into office with just a senior six (6) certificate, were shameless enough to pass a law, inform of an electoral reform, which makes it mandatory for every contender of a seat in Parliament, to pay two million shillings (UGX 2,000,000), if they are to appear on the ballot paper. The Presidential candidates are now paying twenty million (UGX 20,000,000).
Was it because they (MP’s) could afford it or they just wanted to increase our country’s revenue? The answer is a big no. They are just selfish people, who are very sure that among their best opponents, it is only a few who can afford that money, if not none.
At the moment, we are even still waiting for a report that provides the accountability of the surplus UGX 79 Billion that remained after the 2021 election, which is even alleged that it was shared between the top electoral commission officials and that the IGG was also given UGX 240 Million to seat on that report. Our leaders, why are you still milking poorly fed cows?
In our next article, we will be dwelling more on what this implicates to our economic growth and other development charts.
