Dear youths, let’s have a structured dialogue about corruption with President Museveni

By Gerald Baganzi

Over the past few weeks, social media or the internet has been awash with messages calling for Ugandan youth to pour out on the streets and march to Parliament in a bid to show their utmost dissatisfaction with the state of affairs at the Parliament of Uganda or House Speaker Rt Anita Annet Among.

This stems from a recent online exhibition in which a group of online activists purported to show that there was excessiveness in expenditure and allocation of funds at Parliament. They exhibited very many uncertified documents as evidence to which many gullible Ugandans fell prey. It is indeed true, that many government institutions led by unpatriotic Ugandans have misused taxpayers’ money but this calls for thorough investigations. It would be a very bad precedent if someone is charged with corruption or abuse of office just because some other people are fighting proxy wars.

Parliament is an independent institution with a budget just like other institutions or ministries in this government. It’s very myopic of someone when you see money allocated to Parliament as money that would have constructed a road or school somewhere. There is a budgeting process in which monies are allocated. That’s why you saw recently the President ordering the arrest of individuals involved in budget fraud.

If indeed, Ugandans are concerned about poor infrastructure, health care, etc, how about we start with the monies allocated to the relevant ministries or institutions such as Works, UNRA, Health etc? We should ask ourselves, are these institutions doing what is required of them after Parliament allocates them money, are all monies allocated to different ministries and institutions being put to the right use? Parliament in this case only serves as a messenger, why then are we shooting the messenger?

When you criticize Members of Parliament for foreign travel, there is money in the Parliamentary Commission budget strictly for that, do you mean that money should be diverted to construct classrooms or roads? We can’t be that shallow in our thinking.

It’s very important that as young people we think of the future of our country as we express our dissatisfaction. The methods used determine what type of country we shall live in once we get hold of power.

I, therefore, request HE President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Tibuhaburwa, to please avail our time as young people, just like you listened to the traders. Create some time with the young, let them be heard. The solution is in dialogue.

If young people have overwhelming evidence against the corrupt, noting the fact that they have lost faith in the IGG, please make time and listen to them. I would be glad if you did a regional tour strictly engaging the young people. Let them be given an audience.

And to you fellow Bazzukulu, if indeed you want to march against corruption, let us do this in an organized manner, let’s involve all relevant authorities. Otherwise don’t be used to destabilize the peace that we have in the country today, it would take such a long time to restore peace and stability once it’s lost. Let’s exhaust all other avenues before resorting to going to the streets.

Yours truly, Gerald Baganzi | baganzig@gmail.com (Tel: 0705975408)