Bafflement does not even begin to capture the audacity of the obese expenditure of the Eleventh Parliament. A few images have come to define this cult of parliament. One; in December 2022, social media buzzed with pictures of a luxurious vehicle allegedly belonging to the speaker, several members of parliament (MPs) stood on the steps of parliament fawning over the majestic machine.
The optics were poor. If the MPs could swoon over the speaker’s luxury, how would they ever stand independently to question the speaker’s extravagance?
Two; in November 2022, a picture showing the executive team of the Uganda Parliamentary Press Association (UPPA) hands clasped and hands bowed in grateful veneration before the speaker who stood benevolently before them receiving their adoration. The speaker had just donated Shs 50 million to UPPA. The journalists’ grovelling body language sang of the hungry watchdogs grateful for a juicy bone.
Thus, we find ourselves facing what we have long suspected about the efficacy of this cultish parliament. Parliament today is an express train on designer wheels chugging relentlessly through public expenditure. It is simply appalling that a coterie of elected leaders dip their grubby fingers willy-nilly into public funds.
Several defenders of the speaker’s parliament have accused the exhibition drivers of a hate campaign against the speaker. Others have argued that the speaker did not do anything illegal. How so utterly convenient! Even worse, the communications spokesperson of parliament has implored us to applaud the speaker for investing ‘her loot’ in the community.
The audacity is truly a thing of bodacious beauty. Now we can boast like kids on the playground, “My MP is better than yours – mine is a sympathetic looter!”
With each online exhibition, shamelessness amongst our leaders grows. Our leaders stay largely silent, impassive in the face of unprecedented public criticism. They sit high above on their privileged perches looking down with robust condescension at the quisling citizens who dare to call them out.
Free of the inhibitions of shame, they continue – unapologetic and undeterred. Rubbing salt into the pulsating wound of the inflammed public, some leaders spare time to lift up holy hands and worship. Shall we fault them for worshipping their God? Shall we fault them for tweeting bible verses yet staying stoically silent about the corruption allegations?
No, foras we uphold the freedom of worship in this pearl of Africa. As they worship freely, we also ask freely – where is the shame of our leaders?
The speaker has yet to address the grave allegations against her. The ruling party, in which the speaker is a top honcho, is similarly soundless. The president is as silent as a grave – some say it is tactical – storing away ammunition against Parliament. Those who perceive the yellow of the ruling party as the wilting yellow of things surely but slowly drooping and decaying, are unruffled.
There is a method to the yellow madness. The madness cannot be expected to ‘unalive’ itself. The silence of shamelessness remains loud and defiant.
In an online article, “Why shame helps humans survive”, from the Big Think website, scientists argue that shame is needed for a group to maintain its cohesion. Those who violate the norms get punished and are pushed out of the group. Thus, shame is a mechanism for making the right decision.
Therafa, the lack of shame is a threat to public order because it disregards the rules on which societies are built, leading to abuse of power, notes the Conversation in a piece titled, “Why public ‘shaming’ is a necessary part of democracy.” The article acknowledges that while shame can be toxic, in public life, shame is a necessary counterbalance. Citizens use shame as a tool for accountability to check the excesses of power.
Dear reader, what should politicians do when shamed? “Politicians ought to be open to accepting that moments of shame are opportunities to learn. When someone in whom public trust is placed fails to react appropriately to shame, they become unfit to lead and ought to go or be removed.” Bambi.
In 2018, Richard Todwong, a senior ruling party official, decried the raving corruption across government, “If we don’t restrain [ourselves], if we don’t control our greed on how we use public resources; how we steal with impunity, then Ugandans will push us out of power and that will be another transition.” Todwong reiterated, “Corruption, nepotism and greed are things that are making Ugandans more disgusted at the leadership of our party in government.”
Like a broken record, Todwong, in his 2023 end-of-year address, decried the alarming insatiability of corruption, “…Everyone is shouting but corruption is only increasing. We need to examine why inspite of all the agencies we have in place, corruption is increasing in this country…We have the IGG, State House Anti-Corruption Unit, State House Health Monitoring Unit, Anti-Corruption Court, DPP, Parliamentary accountability committees, CID, whistleblowers and many others the animal called corruption has failed to go.”
This year, Todwong will likely stew in more despair – like the hapless citizens unequally yoked to their shameless leaders. Dear, reader, despair not, as the online exhibitions display the bold shamelessness of our leaders, they are a clear step forward in bringing back shame! We must pursue how to bring back shame. Kyaba too much!
The writer is a tayaad muzzukulu.
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