Prime
Do our MPs have character, quality of mind to think for Uganda?
Tom Magumba
The speed of business under President Museveni new government, intertwined as it is with global factors, dictates that not many Ugandans will know all the development variables in his manifesto. Therefore, the elected members of Parliament who represent us need to get comfortable with operating in an environment where change is constant and rapid decisions are required. We will need sharp critical thinkers who can size up situations through prompt decision-making.
The circumstances of the January 2021 presidential and parliamentary elections were unique. The stress of the Covid-19 pandemic, anger and excitement. Until now, we have so much to do and so little time to think thus the tendency to let our hearts rule our heads. We lost patience long ago and this underlines the structure of our thinking. In so doing, we placed Uganda in the hands of a new set of politicians many coming from a generation programmed to go left before going right. In the previous parliaments, you may have seen many prefer to fight where reason failed.
Not many legislators got out of the left to the right side of things. I say this in the context of their ability to reshape character, clarity of vision and quality of thinking for the country. What knowledge and experience are they bringing to the national platform? Are they educated enough beyond the academic test they were subjected to by the Electoral Commission?
When we know better, we do better. The fact that a person went to school does not mean that they are educated. School teaches us how to remember while education teaches the ability to imagine. Solutions to the problems of Uganda today do not lie in how well you can recall information, but in imagining tomorrow.
Education is what you teach yourself. Ability of the human spirit to experience the environment and question it to its depth, find solutions to embrace and use them to make meaning to the people you lead.
Now that worries me because it does not build a country. We want MPs who will understand the difference between good and better for Uganda not a choice between good and bad. This is where their character and quality of thinking will be exposed.
It will be individuals in the House to shape the narrative that will change Uganda. Make informed choices that we voters can be grateful for.
I hope that they will legislate not for personal survival because that is the very reason why many outgoing MPs were shown the exit. They did not pass the test of meaning to the electorates. Watch out for the early warning signals that will show you that you voted a nuisance MP - the craving for a big car and the fight for positions on the committees. These are the rallying point of self-comfort that have always distracted your MPs.
They do not spend time reading on the free ipads, thus, inviting the oppression of lack of knowledge. They do not challenge their minds to use your data for knowledge to legislate for the country.
This write up is inspired by a reading from a book Deep Work by Cal Newport (2016), he says that our brains construct our world view based on what we pay attention to. Who you are, what you think, feel and do, what you love — is the sum total of what you focus on.
Mr Tom Magumba is thought leader/futurist
