Does opposition still have any purpose in our parliament?

MP Betty Nambooze has been in the opposition but without serious impact

A few weeks before the Uganda general elections, that even if the Opposition won the presidency of Uganda, the NRM would impeach their president in the first week since it has the majority in parliament.

Those who had ears to hear probably heard but knowing Ugandans, many may not have taken notice.

Well, elections are now over. Electoral Commission announced the NRM presidential candidate as the winner, and the NRM got the biggest number of members of parliament. This means that having a majority in parliament gives the ruling NRM the capacity to push through any legislations they decide to push through.

So, brace yourselves for the unseen and, the likely. There is no doubt that there must be some politicians who are already thinking of how to retain power in 2021. As for the Opposition, like in the past, they will be having no numbers to stand in the way of the NRM legislative train. As it is therefore, it looks like we are back to business as usual.

Uganda’s politics has become so predictable that one wonders whether we really still need to waste the scarce resources we have been periodically borrowing, and the time we would be using for more useful things, repeating what has come to be a ritual since we started this business of elections. What is different today is the visible anger, the open expression of fear for the known and the unknown, and, the fear from institutionalised violence that we are witnessing these days.

Ugandans seem to have resigned to ‘their fate’. They just don’t seem to care anymore who rules. That is why polling stations are empty of voters. Even those competing for votes, don’t give hope when you speak to them. Candidates are talking of joining competitive politics as a job and not a desire to serve others.

It is strange how some voters have chosen candidates they know do not understand what goes on in ‘parliaments’ at all levels. So why are they joining politics? They are joining for money, for a living.

If that is the case, do we really need politicians, so many politicians? If we really have to, do we need politicians who don’t understand how to build an economy that can transform lives of Ugandans, to be the ones to rule us?

May be we need two governments – one run by economists and another by politicians. If that is acceptable, then, the Ugandans should be allowed to choose which government to pay taxes to. And if politicians stand in our way, shouldn’t that be the time for a Revolution in which the decisive factor is PEOPLE?

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