Age limit debate: When you choose to cover yourself in the morning

What happened from then on was the strengthening of NRM to become a formidable political force fused with the State and the government. The most important aspect of this process of NRM’s fortification, was presiding over the weakening of Uganda and Ugandans.
Political parties went into limbo while the Movement system was rolled out countrywide. Politicians were cajoled and bought from the opposition parties to form an ‘all-inclusive’ government. The notion of preferring cadres who were cognisant of and well mentored in the ‘correct line,’ staffing the Judiciary, public service, police and army became popular.
Government restructured and sold most enterprises to foreign investors to dominate the economy.

Many indigenous-owned businesses collapsed.
It presided over the running down of the social safety net as health and education was haphazardly left to cost-sharing. Cooperative societies that were the backbone of agriculture and by extension rural livelihood, faded away leaving farmers to the exploitation of middlemen.
By the time NRM opened up the political space for competition from 1996, it was an insurmountable behemoth.

There was no formidable competition to deal with. Whoever rises up to challenge NRM is dealing with a multitude of hurdles, in the Judiciary, police, army, and most importantly, an Electoral Commission handpicked by the NRM party chairman.
On the other hand, the people who are charged with voting a government in power are so weak economically.

The troubles in the agricultural sector under the NRM, including crop and animal diseases plus natural disasters, have left many distressed.
In Uganda today, we are at a point where many of us form an opinion or take a decision basing on the availability or threat we may encounter in getting the next meal. It is more about convenience than conviction.
Now President Museveni has said Parliament, where his party NRM has a majority, will decide the issue of lifting the age limit. Yet for all intents and purposes, this move benefits him alone because come 2021, he will be 77 years old and ineligible.
It is not like we have been very prudent in voting in leaders in that Parliament.

As Octavia E Butler, an American science fiction writer, counsels, ‘choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool is to be led by all the opportunists who control the fool. To be led by a thief is to give up your most precious treasures to be stolen. To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies. To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery.’
These processes took place right before our eyes as we pretended to be either apolitical or hoped that things would sort themselves out some day without breaking a sweat.

In summary, we have an electorate weakened over a period of three decades with a Parliament padded with all manner of people - without scruples. You have many people whose whole life depends on the perpetuation of President Museveni plus the system he has put in place.
Then we have a soldier President who wields a lot of power and controls the country’s finances, but is trapped by Article 102(b,) barring him from standing in 2021.

So those claiming to be mobilising to stop the lifting of the age limit on the floor of Parliament are gearing up for an event that will deal with a process that has culminated from a protracted effort that has taken decades.
They are behaving like the one who spends a full night being bitten by mosquitos and enduring the cold. Then at the break of dawn, they put the blankets, sheets and mosquito nets in place to enable a comfortable sleep.
It is the same way the door of the stable is closed ‘securely’ after the horse has bolted.
This matter is already settled.

Nicholas Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issues. [email protected]
Twitter:@nsengoba