Uganda's contradictions

Uganda is steadily earning the title of a country full of contradictions. It is in Uganda where you will find a minister of Ethics and Integrity being dragged to court for failing to honour his debt obligations. Then you wonder which ethics and integrity he is ministering.

Meanwhile, this minister will also demand to be called honourable. He will, without an iota of shame, make the loudest noise on how Ugandans should exhibit decent behaviour by dressing decently. The minister of ethics will go ahead to tell Ugandans on who they should be with in bed.

Not long ago his predecessor was forced to return money he had stolen from a public broadcaster after the Auditor General raised some queries. The then minister of Ethics denied he had stolen the money claiming he had only borrowed it without the consent of the broadcaster. The man remained minister of ethics until he was dropped in a reshuffle.

Now the country has signed a law that prohibits a man/woman having sex with another man/woman. A lot has been said about the anti-gay law in Uganda. From the pro-gay rights lobbyists to the anti-gay fanatics, everyone seems to have an opinion. Human rights activists have challenged this law arguing it is discriminative. Religious leaders who you would ordinarily expect to preach inclusiveness have rallied behind the law. Anyone who attempts to invoke the human rights argument has been labelled gay even when they are straight.

Then there is a group of these Uganda haters –the so called elites. Because of their bias against the ruling government they will fail to separate Uganda the country and the ruling National Resistance Movement party the current government/regime. These elites will talk ill of the Uganda because they hate the current government.

They will happily and quickly apportion blame to Uganda government at any slightest mistake made. In their hate talk about Uganda they will do it with passion as if nothing good ever happens in their country. It seems their eyes see only the bad side of Uganda government.

While these fellows may be right in their cynicism many times they have been blinded by hate. They rarely give credit where it is due.

Lastly, but not the least, Ugandans living next to highways have developed a dangerous habit. They wait for accident to happen so they can steal from victims first before helping them. How sad!