Uganda’s MPs still debate fire is better than water

By Derrick T

It’s really embarrassing how some MPs we elected do debate on critical issues concerning the state. Many castigated the now normalized exercise duty amendment as retrogressive, oppressive and a hiccup to liberalizing the banking sector but guess what, they offered no tentative tax source to back up their knee-jack arguments.

If the government you oppose managed to brainstorm that bill, how you challenge it as a shadow cabinet ought to be at an intellectual level with alternatives—like reintroducing tax on your enormous allowances. In a country with the lowest tax to GDP ratio (14.2%) in the region, it was pretty obvious new taxes were to be shunned by the state (and more are in offing). You’re facilitated to debate maturely but surprisingly you do the opposite, even our bar arguments are better than your inane sessions.

Merely rebuking those taxes should be for ordinary citizens who know not that our public debt is currently 38% of our GDP and is rising if we don’t find money to pay it. At least you’d have proposed tax on bleaching cosmetics and sports betting revenues as a replacemen. But you chose the streets for civil disobedience, endangering youths some of whom are still incarcerated while you’re free.

Intriguingly we never saw you playing those theatrical stunts in parliament when that bill came up. One wonders what your aim was!
We the voters deserve more than cheap politics. We deserve respect of our intelligence, who doesn’t know how you acquired that tundra? Saying no to tax is akin to denying the government revenue to run the country. Better still, agitate for transparency in government expenditure but blatantly opposing any tax motion without offering alternatives is just being a dishonest leader.

This is likened the primary schools’ debate of fire is better than water, village life is better than town life.

Additional reporting by The Drone Media.