Ssegirinya Should Leave The Mp Slot For Latif

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba,UK
Muhammad Ssegirinya
Muhammad Ssegirinya

I have watched the NBS’s Barometer program of last night where four NUP members: Latif Ssengendo Ssebagala, Brother Muhammad Ssegirinya, Hon. Kasibante Moses and Hon.Beti Nambooze, were among those hosted. In Kawempe North alone, three NUP members have declared their intention to stand for MP-- It's almost the same story elsewhere in and around Kampala such that we are at a point where it's difficult to understand what NUP really wants anymore, apart from fighting to retain or get political positions, or slandering already those they found in opposition. Few are talking about change or removing Museveni anymore—its all about getting ‘bread’ for themselves and their families. I read once that in WW2 Soviet soldiers urinated on their bread to make it softer. I do not know if that also reduced the carb content of the bread nor do I know if it tasted better than Stalin. NUP,too, is urinating on the struggle big time.

None of the MPs hosted talked about how they would ,personally, change things for the better in Uganda. Besides legislation, MPs are supposed to lobby on behalf of their constituents in parliament, but how many issues that are majorly affecting Ugandans ever get changed by the intervention of your MP on your behalf?

In the 10 years I have been talking to people through Ugandans At Heart forum, the major issue is health or lack thereof. I have seen no change yet a hell of a lot of people complain about it. That is something I would find worthy of causing a major revolt. Yet year in, year out people just let it slide. People suffer daily. There’s nothing that scares diasporas from returning home like Uganda’s poor hospitals and doctors, or lack of. A lot of Ugandans don’t trust doctors anymore. The government is charging shs.240,000 for Covid-19 tests, and no MP is even protesting against it.

Voting is like praying, you get a yes or a no answer. There are things that I would want any president or MP to lobby for: clean water, local security, good roads, no taxes on houses or rentals, building more regional markets and cooperatives, protecting local farmers and farming, no to demolishing people’s houses, e.t.c

Like it or not, the unfortunate fact is that MPs are always measured by their failures. Latif mentioned that he was among the pioneers of Islamic Banking, and would like to see it through, and we are grateful, but what exactly has he done to change the lives of people in Kawempe to warrant them to vote him again?

As a good Muslim, Latif should apologise to the people of Kampala who thought that he was coming for mayor before changing his mind, not that I’m complaining. He should also apologise for his failures in Kawempe. The difficulty in admitting failure largely comes from the unrealistic expectation that politicians should get it right all the time. There's some actually very interesting research that leaders who express vulnerability and are more open to being fallible, tend to be more highly regarded.

The history of Ssegirinya’s rhetoric is well established, and it speaks for itself, but I don’t think he is an honest man. He attacked Latif for jumping on Amama Mbabazi in 2016 before switching to Besigye, but he was also cuddling Besigye in 2016 before jumping on to Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine. While I personally value truth and honesty, what I've come to learn, which I find hard to understand but it's just a reality, is that Ssegirinya doesn't value those things.

Ssegirinya mentioned Kyagulanyi’s name over ten times as if he was selling some major policy to Kawempe people. He wants people to make a decision to vote him based on much more emotion than what he’s gonna to do for them. Logical people will look for facts and information and data and make their decisions accordingly. Now the problem comes when you try to talk logic to an emotional person because it just won't wear... you're talking different languages.

‘I told my daughter to do MDD because Kyagulanyi did it. I don’t want her to do medicine’, Ssegirinya said.

‘If I hadn’t got the NUP card, I would still do everything possible to see that Kyagulanyi wins and I become minister of Disaster preparedness’.

Ssegirinya is fundamentally flawed as a contender for MP. He may as well join Kyagulanyi’s mobilisation team and leave the MP slot to others. There's nothing in Latif's bone and face to show that he's too old to continue being an MP--he is just 52 years old. Ssegirinya looks to be in his mid 40s.