BRINGING APT, ACCOUNTABLE, INCLUSIVE AND FOCUSED LEADERSHIP TO MBARARA MUNICIPALITY AS WE TRANSFORM MBARARA INTO AN ICONIC REGIONAL CITY. In the wake of political mystery, uncertainty, jeopardy, mishap and misconception, circumstance has dictated that politics be called a dirty game and well, it would seem preordained that a youthful guy as myself would naturally not want to ponder in this field that many have deemed dirty. Dear comrades, what then has in my magnanimous being set me across preposterous lines to have my hand in this political arena? Born in Mbarara Municipality, Kamukuzi division, kakyeeka cell, I have for the last two decades been witness as Mbarara Municipality was, has and is going through a multitude of changes on the social, political and economic schema; through the positive and negative changes; through its highs and lows right from the shrinking of greater Mbarara to the expansion of the municipality to Ruti township. In this land of milk and honey, I have witnessed the growth of very luxurious homes on Boma hill, Nkokonjeru, Kiyanja, and Kamukuzi to mention but a few. I have seen people who can afford to pay heavy medical bills at Mayanja memorial hospital and Mbarara community hospital or even fly out for medical attention and I have seen children whose parents can manage expensive schools or even tuition for medicine at Mbarara university of science and technology. Indeed I have seen families rise to prowess, build strong economic empires and attain such a prestigious societal acclamation. With a growing chain of government and private schools/learning institutions, a growing chain of shopping centers, arcades, supermarkets and stores, a multitude of petrol stations, an efficient banking system with a steady chain of banking units, a number of health centers and pharmacies, a fairly growing road network, an aggressively growing business community and a properly coordinated and peaceful social framework, one would want to believe beyond reasonable doubt that Mbarara Municipality is sheltered in gold and painted with silver. But as it is said, “A rogue does not laugh in the same way that an honest man does; a hypocrite does not shed the tears of a man of good faith. All falsehood is a mask; and however well made the mask may be, with a little attention we may always succeed in distinguishing it from the true face." In this brothers and sisters, I have for over the years witnessed gigantic challenges and incongruities going on in the face of our citizens in this hypothetical golden enclosure; indeed, not all that glitters is gold! I have witnessed the troubles of helpless kids in the slums of Kajogo, Byafura, kanshanyarazi, Nyamityoobora and deep down in Kiswahili whose families have crumbled in their face; the long barefoot walks such kids endure each day to that UPE School in Kyamugoolani and that group of students braving the rain with a cluster of soggy books in their hands walking kilometers to make it to that charity school “Mbarara parents” in the swampy area of kakyeeka, with an aching desire to gain an education. I have witnessed people die in long queues at Mbarara referral hospital from the wee hours of the night till dusk so they can be able to see a doctor; women sharing beds in labor wards; people lying on floors and pavements in surgical and emergency wards; patients dying cause of inability to purchase medicine or simply because there is no ambulance to handle emergencies; medical personnel braving awful accommodation facilities and the tears of that poor family that can’t pay mortuary fees. I have witnessed the fear of that local business woman in the Mbarara Central Market whose child’s completion of school is on the line because she is not certain if the market will still stand for a fortnight before it falls in the hands of opportunists; the misery of that poor man pushing a bicycle full of bananas back home in the evening cause he has found no buyers; that milk man pouring spoilt milk in river Rwizi because the diary system cannot do with his supply and the tears of a kiosk owner whose kiosk has been destroyed by council officers without anything like a resettlement plan. I have been witness to the worries of the youth whose efforts in NAADS have failed simply because they can’t afford a bribe; degree holders living on empty stomachs due to the hefty lack of jobs; the youth boarding that Swift Safaris bus to try their lack in the city and the youth returning home with heavy black polythene bags dubbed “Kampala Enemye” after a failed attempt in the city. Mbarara municipality has seen both bad and good and of late it’s better than it was then but we cannot settle for the least when all indicators show that we have the power, the potential and the ability to get to the best. It is time for us to get off the stands and take to the arena to engage these gladiators that have for so long troubled our society and put them to the ground, for that’s where they belong. In this regard, “BRINGING APT, ACCOUNTABLE, INCLUSIVE AND FOCUSED LEADERSHIP TO MBARARA MUNICIPALITY AS WE TRANSFORM MBARARA INTO AN ICONIC REGIONAL CITY” is not a political endeavor that seeks to rubbish what has already been done by other leaders over the years, but rather a solid acknowledgement of what has been done and a unified turn of events, a voice, a promise, a cause and a decision that we can no longer settle for less when we are deemed for greatness and capable of achieving the best. This motivation of leadership is one of a sort that kills the “I” and proudly strengthens the “we”; kills the “my” in our lives and reaffirms the “our”, fostering an all for one and one for all ideology and indeed, our lives can never be the same again. Brothers and sisters, as we affirm our commitment to this cause, if one will tell us that atleast all is not bad; we shall have to look them in the eyes and say “well, not all is well”! If one will look us in the face and say what can the youth do to this, we shall look them in the face and say “take to the steering wheel”; if one will ask us why this time, then let’s be brave enough and say “we are tired of watching and doing nothing” and if one day they ask us if the current leaders have done nothing, then let’s remember to let them know that they should have done better. As many of us do/will believe in this change factor, some out there will not want to believe in it but I reckon that change will in the end catch up with them and when that time comes, we shall not be boastful of what we’ve achieved but together with them, we shall sit at the table of men and celebrate for what an Iconic legacy we together have had the audacity to influence. Remember, they came as leaders and they left as losers, today we have come as leaders and we shall leave as redeemers, builders and societal transformers and if that will be written in the books of history, then let it be the clear cut difference between us and them. God bless us all!
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 11:34:18 +0000
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