By Hakim Kyeswa
It is rare to find a political figure in Uganda who commands respect simply by the weight of his integrity. Moses Byaruhanga is one such patriot. I have followed his career closely, and in a landscape where public service is often synonymous with self-enrichment, Byaruhanga has remained untainted by the filth of corruption. His recent piece, “We needed Balaam and Nameere long ago,” is not just a critique; it is a testament to his unwavering commitment to this country.
As a citizen who queues at a dilapidated health center and watches women trek miles for a single jerrycan of water, I share Byaruhanga’s frustration. He speaks from the polished corridors of State House; I speak from the dusty trenches of the village. But our diagnosis of the disease is exactly the same: the rot is deeply entrenched in our local governments.
Byaruhanga rightly champions the courage of Ministers Balaam Barugahara and Justine Nameere. However, from a citizen’s perspective, Balaam and Nameere are the much-needed floodlights exposing a graveyard of broken promises, while Byaruhanga himself has been a quiet lighthouse of patriotism for years.
The 1997 Local Government Act was supposed to be our emancipation. It was meant to give power to the people by empowering local councils and district service commissions. Instead, as Byaruhanga notes, the district service commissions have turned into lucrative marketplaces. Jobs are sold to the highest bidder, often sidelining qualified teachers and nurses. When a district service commission sells a job, it is not just a bureaucratic offense—it is a direct sentence of suffering upon the rural taxpayer who relies on that nurse or teacher.
The most infuriating revelation in Byaruhanga’s piece is the staggering amount of unspent funds. Sh301 billion in FY 2023/24 and sh357 billion in FY 2024/25! As a taxpayer, I find this mathematical reality perverse. Our local leaders are returning money meant for water, roads, and primary healthcare to the Treasury. How do you return money for the Parish Development Model (PDM)—the sh100 million allocated per parish—when our youth are wallowing in poverty?
This is not a lack of funds; it is a catastrophic failure of leadership. It is a conspiracy of incompetence and, quite frankly, sabotage. The Ministry of Health’s IT system tracking medicine distribution—mentioned by Byaruhanga—is a commendable innovation. But what good is a digital tracking system when the district health officer is busy covering up for phantom health workers who collect salaries for doing absolutely nothing?
If we are to truly honor the work of Balaam and Nameere, we must move beyond merely applauding them. We must recognize that exposing the corruption is only step one. Step two must be punitive and structural. The district chairpersons and chief administrative officers returning unspent funds must not only be dismissed in the public interest; they must be audited and prosecuted for causing financial loss to the country.
Byaruhanga asks why local leaders are silent while district service commissions sell jobs. They are silent because they are beneficiaries of the very system Balaam and Nameere are fighting.
Now that the elections are behind us, the real work of governance and accountability begins. We, the voters, must maintain eternal vigilance. We must demand to see the PDM lists, ask about the unspent billions, and scrutinize the district road maintenance budgets. We need a country where returning unspent billions is a guaranteed political death sentence.
I salute Moses Byaruhanga for being a true patriot who continues to speak truth to power without fear or favor, and without ever soiling his hands. Your voice, sir, is a guiding light. Keep shining. Until we all embrace this level of patriotism, Balaam and Nameere will remain voices in the wilderness, exposing a leaking roof while the citizens inside the house drown.
The writer is the NRM Publicity Secretary, Mukono District.
