RONALD EGESA: An open letter to the stupid taxpayer in Uganda

By Ronald Leonard Egesa

Dear Stupid Taxpayer,

I bring you greetings from the shores of Lake Nalubaale a.k.a. Victoria. I know that you must have seen the news this week of Hon. Nandala Mafabi vouching for a service award of a billion shillings to Auditor General CPA John Muwanga.

It is alleged that at the end, your very honourable members of parliament agreed to give him kimpuuga (this is new slang for 500). On top of all other statutory benefits, he is also going to walk away with your cool 500 Million.

At the start of the #UgandaParliamentExhibition, I remember mentioning how it was difficult for Nandala Mafabi and the former Speaker to assist me when I fingered the Auditor General for incompetence and petitioned for his removal from office. I let the matter rest then. Like they say, time vindicates anyone with a crystal ball. Here we are with Nandala doing Muwanga’s bidding!

This morning, I dug up my archives and took photos of my petition to the Speaker calling for the removal of CPA John Muwanga from office in 2018. They defeated me then because I was a small citizen coming up against a well-oiled cartel fuelled by what you and I now know better. The good news is that the written word shall never pass away. I documented everything and posterity will surely judge us.

Now, you, fellow taxpayer, we must be the most stupid lot that politicians can use us, abuse us and continue taking our money for pleasure (as we saw in the #UgandaParliamentExhibition) and more of it in the now entrenched handshake/service award culture. We have now reached a point where politicians have become royals and the citizens are the commoners (abakopi) whose only purpose in life is to toil, get money and remit to the treasury that funds the luxury of the royals.

Once in a while, the royals may choose to build you a hospital or school here and there or even invite you for pilawo on a lucky day. The royals have become so arrogant that they will tell off anybody who fingers them because they know that such a person is just a wiseacre who is trying to wake up stupid tax payers. The taxpayers are not just stupid, they are gullible and others are resigned to fate. In order to isolate the wiseacres, you label them bumshafters or homosexuals and agents of foreign interests.

The royals are sure that you stupid taxpayer think that the homosexuals are more dangerous to humankind than the thieves who are eating away the future of your children forcing them to study in stupid UPE/USE schools so that the best they can become is askaris and house-helps of their children that are studying abroad or in local international schools.

There are other stupid taxpayers that think they are better off by also becoming corporate thieves at their workplaces e.g. banks, telecoms and civil service. They are co-opted thieves. I want to remind them that no matter what, there is no honour among thieves.

Fellow stupid taxpayers, imagine how painful it is for me who took time to investigate and expose the incompetence of John Muwanga, see him get rewarded for incompetence. Ironically, one of my findings was that he could not audit some public institutions due to capacity constraints. Couldn’t the 500 Million lessen these capacity constraints or these have now vanished?

Either this country is a joke or we, the taxpayers are a joke ourselves, but for how long? Surely?? Where are the Bishops, Sheikhs and other elders? Why don’t you stand out? Where are the episcopal letters from the Episcopal Conference and other colleges of Bishops? Where is the Uganda Joint Christian Council? Where are Bataka and other elders?

As this country goes down to the dogs, you and I will eat with the dogs and it will be a price for our stupidity. Nobody is safe in a capsizing ship/boat.

Your fellow stupid taxpayer, ERL

The writer, Egesa Ronald Leonard is a political and business strategist