In response to one of Andrew Mwenda’s recent tweets, the Hear Me Out presenter Daniel Omara asserted that Uganda is not a piece of property that should be subject to inheritance by members of a specific family.
On Thursday, May 26, after the election results in the Omoro sub-county were pronounced, the founder of the Independent news magazine tweeted, “Jacob Oulanyah’s son Andrew has just won the by-election for Omoro, to succeed his father. Oulanyah never planned this! Museveni doesn’t have to plan for Muhoozi Kainerugaba to succeed him. The hand of destiny, the desire for the familiar, can just create such a situation.”
According to Daniel Omara, ‘a desire for the familiar’ is possible at a district or Sub- County level because the families are most familiar with each other and in this case, Andrew Ojok won by the legacy of his father, something that isn't applicable at a national level.
“Desire for the familiar in case of Presidency is a whole other ball game Mr. Mwenda, respectfully. You can hand over a district to someone’s son because in Uganda we are still highly of a traditional society where the chiefs can agree for a position to be passed down to Oulanyah’s son because of his father’s legacy,” said Daniel.
“But at a national level, when you say that Sevo doesn't have to plan for Muhoozi to succeed him but it's the ‘hand of destiny’ in other words that it's his fate. I don't think countries are supposed to be inherited. North Korea is a very good example, the Kim Jongs have destroyed that place. And if you pass something to someone who didn't earn it, it's likely to be more problematic,” he added.
Omara noted that Muhoozi has every right to stand for Presidency as a Ugandan citizen but “isn't owed the country/ seat because of who his father is”.
“Uganda is not hereditary and that's a scary message I've seen being peddled a lot on social media. Uganda is not part of someone’s inheritance. I saw the cartoons with a big shoe, Bobi wine, and Muhoozi plotting to get into it. But at the end of the day, Uganda is not a hand-me-down. It's not a piece of cloth, a pair of shoes, it's not jewelry, or a hat to pass on through generations. No, that's not how things work Mr. Mwenda, respectfully.”
He insisted that it's wrong to have a kingdom ideology for the Presidency position because Uganda does not belong to any particular family and doing that undermines democracy together with its processes.
“We don't belong to any particular family. There’s a reason why the motto is ‘For God And My Country’. We all own it, but in the end, we know who is on top (God). Muhoozi is allowed to run for the Presidency, I can't stop him from doing that. And if he’s going to, let him. But it should be up to the people to vote or not vote for him but this is no one's inheritance,” he stressed.
The Late Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah was replaced by his son Andrew Ojok Oulanyah who won by-elections on the NRM ticket on May 26, 2022. He is the new representative of the Omoro Sub-county in the Omoro district.
Hear Me Out is hosted by Daniel Omara every Saturday from 10am to Midday on RX Radio.
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