Government should listen to the protestors’ demands The past two years have seen our streets filled up with police officers trying to stop opposition leaders from exercising their democratic rights. This same period has seen Kampala traders close their shops in protest of the Pre-import Verification of Conformity (PVoC) fees; teachers striking over failure by the government to increase their pay, and many more strikes. I believe it would not be strange to see the youth taking to the streets in protest against the rampant unemployment! The question that the government needs to be asking is why Uganda has become a place for strikes, bigotry, prejudice and hatred. In light of all this, the government needs to rethink its policy of teargasing the masses into submission because when the tear gas runs out, these very concerns will still remain. The Ugandan public is not asking for gold or silver from the State, but simply their basic rights and more accountability. They want their government to protect them, provide basic health service, fight corruption, organise free and fair elections. They also want to be able to voice out their dissatisfaction without expecting a knock on their doors in the middle of the night. If government had the nerve to tackle these concerns, then the opposition could easily be disarmed. But what makes some individuals think that it’s only them who have a vision for this country, that they are more Ugandan than others? To the contrary, I think there are individuals both in government and the opposition who are keen to see this country gain its rightful place in history. In essence there are individuals, both in the government and the opposition, who want this country to move forward, but simply take different trajectories. True security will come from creating independent institutions of government like the police, Judiciary, army, Parliament as well as creating an independent Electoral Commission, among others. The government should make a genuine attempt to fight corruption and patronage, create employment for the youth and improve service delivery. Failure to address these concerns would be a cynical attempt by those in power to build this nation. Allan Sekadde Kiwala is an accountant.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 21:40:41 +0000
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