Netters,
When will the Uganda's political debate evolve beyond 'federo'?
I am an avowed federalist, but I'd hate to "be given" federo as a bribe for my vote and/or political support.
Federal thinking and governance ought be divorced from parties, because it can and should exist on its own merit. The danger of identifying it with the party de jour, is that its very existence will be threatened when party X or UPC win a particular election. I'd hate federo to become a political yoyo or football, that is why I earlier called for a somewhat more stable or permanent Constitution.
Even though many times we act like we do not like each other very much, I'd hope that we can all realize that our individual feelings notwithstanding, fate threw us together a century or so ago. We ought have the political maturity to find some general or basic agreements on how we desire to be governed -- irrespective of party / religious allegiancies or ethnic affiliation.
This is a very critical issue because the truth of the matteris that in Uganda's politics of 'eating', for 99% of the time, 99% of us are on the fringes, with only a select few on the gravy-train at any one time. This will always be true regardless of who happens in power, just like it is true everywhere, be it under capitalism, socialism, communism or whatever ism. Reason? Simple. We cannot all be in power, not at once anyway. It has been so for quite a while in the history of humanity. Ancient Greeks perhaps were the exception to this, but their City-States were miniscule compared to Uganda or any other present day state.
If you doubt me, flash back to the last elections: recall the the pictures of citizens clad in tattered clothes that had not seen water and soap since they were picked-out in 'Mivumba', (frankly some of the bodies too!), shoeless feet, but yet carrying huge placard of 'NO CHANGE'. What irony! I doubt many of these 'NO CHANGERS' have since seen their victorious candidates upclose since that time.
I think that if we keep our ambitions reasonable and manageable, e.g. schools, hospitals, citizens of Uganda should not die of jiggers in the 21st Century, etc should at no less than a a given minimum level -- regardless of who happens to be in power, etc etc we come up with a minimal document, a constituttion if you like, that can be respected by all parties. Were this to happen we'd have moved a giant step forward.
Surely it is not too much to expect not to be "given" what is already rightly ours, or is it?
I very much hope that we, Ugandans, will not squander the next fourty years, as we have the last fourty (since Independence!) on debating federo with political parties performing a political-striptease with it to get votes, support etc. Lets get it and then move on!
Life is simply too short to be squandered so wantonly chasing our proverbial tails, lets put some value to it.
What say you?
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