Prime
Covid-19: An indiscriminative litmus paper for Parliament
Does the term ‘Parliament’ refer to a country’s law–making body or could there be a new definition in this era? Under normal governance, the Parliament has notable functions of legislation, financial control, providing and exercising control over government programmes, critical assessment of the work of Cabinet and role of Opposition, et cetera.
The existing global challenge of Covid-19 is testing Uganda’s Parliament in all its facets! The presence of this August house is either earning the trust and esteem of the constituencies or not.
The explanation of the terms ‘charity’ and ‘social justice’ should be reflected in the care given to the respective voters.
The quality of Parliamentary debates should focus on the wellness and common good of the citizenry before the representatives themselves.
An unknown author wrote: “If we suspect that man is lying, we should pretend to believe him, for then he becomes bold and assured, lies more vigorously, and is unmasked’’.
Honourable Members of Parliament, it is time to take responsibility, be bold and let your genius convert your fear into power and brilliance for all Ugandans.
Effective representation (service) should be the condition at play in one’s mind if we are to embrace responsible politics.
The first condition of effective representation resides in relative equality, meaning that the weight of elector’s vote should not be underestimated!
What differentiates political leaders is their ‘action logic’. How leaders interpret their surroundings and react when their power and safety is challenged.
Leaders who make an effort to understand their own action logic can improve their ability to lead and represent. But to do that, it is important first to understand what kind of leader you already are!
Many opportunists (self-seekers), who are now the majority of African politicians, have a tendency to focus on personal gains and see the world and other people as opportunities to be exploited. The way they will react to an event depends primarily on whether or not they think they can direct the outcome.
The legendary management guru, Mr Peter Drucker asserts: the world has been training leaders for years and yet the world is still short of leaders! Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” These leadership questions deserve introspection by ambitious political leaders: are you curious enough to lead?
Do you have what it takes to lead? Do you have the tenacity to lead? Do you have the audacity to lead? Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could and Uganda needs this step.
Let me ask our Parliamentarians, why do you aspire for positions of leadership in the political arena?
The shortest route to accumulate wealth in Africa today is through political leadership. This should change and politicians should work for genuinity and common good of the electorate.
When this is changed, political leadership will attract good men and women who are not opportunists. We need to exorcise this demon of corruption for a better Africa of which Uganda is part!
In a nutshell, we shall never change anything in the world without courage! With leadership in disarray, courage is the greatest quality of the mind next to honour.
The moment is now to avoid selfish leadership before and after elections.
Fr Joseph Mukiibi is a priest at Kansanga Catholic Parish in Kampala
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