Just how long would NRM government survive without money to dish out?

President Museveni recently made interesting remarks at State House Entebbe when he welcomed members of the Inter Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD), a forum of political parties represented in Parliament.

“I urged leaders of the Opposition political parties, together with their supporters, to work with the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government to eradicate electoral violence and the monetisation of politics to give democracy and stability a chance to flourish in Uganda,” he said.

Mr Museveni added that if you want democracy and stability, do not tolerate electoral violence and money. Electoral violence, he said, is a big shame and must not be tolerated. “I was working on stopping electoral violence myself. But if I get support we shall eradicate it.”

There is a strong perception that monetisation of politics in Uganda was created, supported and promoted by the ruling party over the last 30 years. The President’s remarks, therefore, forms the impression that the NRM government disowns the position of monetisation of politics and instead points a finger at the Opposition parties.

Many people would say that since the Opposition parties do not have the luxury of controlling government machinery, including resources, then it should be the ruling party to stop the monetisation of politics.

According to Makerere University political science don Mwambutsya Ndebesa, “historically people expect the election season to be a season of making money and most voters are poor, therefore prone to fall for cash handouts from the political elite”.

In 2011 presidential elections, NRM political budget was an estimated Shs65b for parliamentary and local council elections. Leading Opposition party Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) budget was Shs23b, Democratic Party (DP) Shs9b and Uganda Federal Alliance (UFA) Shs4b.

But former Leader of Opposition in Parliament Wafula Oguttu says NRM spent more than Shs1 trillion in the 2011 general election, more than what the Agriculture sector has ever received in any National Budget.
And going by the current trend where Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu’s popularity keeps growing, it is highly likely that NRM will intensify its hand-outs campaign in the next two years to try and neutralise the People Power movement.

According to outspoken cleric Fr Gaetano Batanyenda, who is also the chairman of local NGO Kick Corruption out of Kigezi, “President Museveni’s signature feature of financial donations to different sections of the population will not contribute to the development of the country, [it is] wasting taxpayer’s money which should be used to support government health facilities, schools and increasing civil servant’s salaries for better service delivery”.
Although the President’s comments may have been made in good faith, ironically NRM seems to have endorsed the position that without dishing out money, no democracy or stability can flourish.

It is almost as though it was predetermined and agreed that Ugandan’s must languish in poverty and control of the country’s resources will be to solely promote NRM interests.
In the Bible, 1 Timothy 6:10 the love of money is described as the root of all evil. In Uganda, suspicions are that minus State resources, the NRM party will be weakened and outcompeted.

Ms Victoria Nyeko is a media commentator.
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Twitter:@VictoriaNyeko