OPPOSITION IN UGANDA MUST BE IN THE EVE OF ITS COLLAPSE- OPINION

By; Godwine Muwanguzi

“Uganda’s opposition is losing a political stand of what I would call anti-nationalism; what is good for them is illogical for the country, what is logical is unethical, what is right is not healthy, and what is appropriate is invalid in our political context…”

There have been several questions blowing into our heads about the political stand of the opposition in this crippled country, however, these questions have not been answered yet. Over the past years, Uganda’s political surge of change has reckoned on the opposition, who have always buried their faith in putting a climax on the regime of pseudo liberators. This has finally become a usual lyric in the ears of the outraged Ugandans, year in year out. It is an immutable fact that many opposition leaders have lost ground either ethically or logically, and to the political intellects, this is so archaic in a country where politicians are believed to have attained some sort of education.

In Uganda, it’s not news that opposition will force water out of the rock with millions of unstoppable crowds but still lose in the general elections, we have seen this happen again and again. And we have heard some leaders within the opposition blame others for the poor strategies, and now we are mute that even those who laid it upon others have not made it through.

Withstanding the fact that Uganda is hungry for change after several years of inequality and injustice, the common man has lost confidence in the opposition. This is a bare truth that we don’t need to unfold, it is a friendly match between the government and opposition, and the pitch, which is the common man, is to face the consequences. Meanwhile, our nation is at the dinner table being eaten by our politicians.

I am disappointed in our opposition political systems, a few years ago, any opposition was meant to direct the government in a better way through rational, logical and valid reasoning, but for now, the opposition is only meant to assail any ideas that are against their ideologies even though for the pyrolysis of the country. This is so absurd, in this era, we have seen criticism that had never existed in our political history, and this has come along with dehumanization.

The youths being the biggest wave of change in the struggle, they have disregarded those who have been in politics before, and they have directed bullets of insults on the bare flesh of political truer. Imagine, someone, being insulted on social media for having a different political perception about a specific candidate. It is well known that politics is about the competition of ideas, but how many times have we listened to people with better ideas for the sake of our country? A few months ago, I was exacting some bewildered youths about the kind of change Uganda deserves, change that preserves the ethics and cultures of our nation, and this never ended well with me as I was battered to the extreme.

This must be attributed to the opposition leaders, and I don’t apologise for saying that hygiene of thoughts, ideas and discipline has become so meaningless to them. They raise their voices high enough not for the country’s sake but for individual change’s sake, and some are strugglers of international attention. I have been amused at different occasions when our opposition leaders restate that we have been denied freedom of expression even when they can freely abuse others, not that I am against change, but I am trying to unfold the hidden truth that we have always ignored. When a concerned citizen cautions the competence of certain leaders he or she is considered an enemy of progress, but when he speaks well of the opposition is treated as a hero. This is schizophrenia that has eaten up Ugandan opposition as they have lost the political manuscript-they never look at things the way they are, rather they judge things the way they think they are, and this is wrong.

In my opinion, the opposition should redefine their roles in the struggle for change. They should preach and practice peace for the good of the country even when they can’t make it through politically, this is what we call nationalism. Being the hope of the people, there must be total hygiene of ethics in the political system not thinking that their ideologies are the best, besides, they should mend their speeches and emulate symptoms of the educated not acting like hooligans, and above all, there must be maximum respect for the constitution and all the laws that govern the country including the will of the majority. If this can be done, then opposition awaits its reincarnation.

By Godwine Muwanguzi (Literature student & Writer)

godwinemuwanguzi2007@gmail.com