OPPOSITION MOCKS THE COUNTRY AS DARKNESS CONTINUES
The so called ‘leader’ of the opposition, a misleader more likely by any standards, has yesterday mocked Ugandans suffering from renewed day and night long power-cuts and sweeping rationing of electricity by insisting that members of parliament should not ‘yield to blackmail’ while accusing the government to be in league with the independent power producers to steal money from the public coffers, a ludicrous allegation without any merit and lending credence to suggestions that the opposition’s motives were far from ‘honourable’, a title they claim for themselves.
Observers of the political scene in Uganda attribute this latest of shenanigans and gimmicks by the opposition as a continuation of their ‘walk to work’ scenario, this time in parliament though where they enjoy immunity, and talk of treasonous behaviour are already emerging amongst the hot heads in the government camp, a phrase they would be well advised not to throw into the ring in such a casual fashion.
Nevertheless, the prospect of a prolonged standoff in parliament has now also triggered calls that the NRM’s Chief Whip in parliament needs to rally his ‘troops’ and have funding approved so that the situation for the national economy is not sliding from bad to worse, already shaken by a recent interest rate hike to stem inflation, a traders’ strike and unprecedented high fuel prices coupled with a continuously weak shilling.
Meanwhile were ‘off the cuff’ comments made by President Museveni about the economic situation and the low value of the shilling also greeted with a degree of disbelief if not outright dismay, with observers close to the ruling party trying to explain the comments away by blaming ‘poor briefings’, and it can only be hoped that the advice and knowledge of true economists will be absorbed and acted upon by the State House bureaucracy and fences mended with the business community, before they lose confidence or worse, begin to divest and head to ‘safer’ East African shores.
Watch this space.
