Africa-Press – Uganda. Two prominent Ugandan scholars, Prof Rogers Barigayonwe and Yusuf Serunkuma, have offered a frank critique of the country’s political and socio-economic condition, warning of a leadership vacuum, escalating campaign costs, deteriorating public services, and a fractured opposition that risks entrenching the status quo.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Prof Barigayonwe expressed concern over the unwillingness of ageing leaders to hand over power, arguing that their prolonged presence has entrenched a culture of inertia.
“It is unfortunate to see that these people in their 80s don’t have any plans to exit the scene,” he said.
He linked this resistance to broader stagnation in society, observing: “The bad politics in Uganda has brought about the bad culture.”
He also raised alarm over the soaring cost of political competition.
“Recently, an NRM MP told us he had already spent over a billion and party primaries haven’t even started,” Barigayonwe remarked.
Questioning the sources of such funding, he said: “We have known Norbert Mao for being broke but now he has money. From where?”
The professor further argued that the prolonged rule of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) could have left Uganda with a legacy similar to the “oil curse” faced by some resource-rich nations.
“We have what we call an oil curse… NRM has been good for some time but it has caused a curse to the nation,” he said, pointing to long-term distortions in democratic processes.
Dr. Yusuf Serunkuma turned the lens on public service delivery and what he described as a growing disconnect between Uganda’s political establishment and the lived realities of ordinary citizens.
“You go to Mulago and there is no medicine and the establishment doesn’t seem to care. That’s the space the ordinary wanainchi operates,” he said, referring to the national referral hospital.
Quoting lawyer and public intellectual Dr. David Mpanga, Serunkuma stressed the need for a governance culture rooted in empathy.
“If we don’t have a central nervous system that feels each other’s pain, we won’t have the humanity we are looking for,” he said, adding that hostility and inequality in social life erode citizens’ capacity for collective care.
“Being humane is something that is learned. If you operate in a space of hate and pain, there is no humanity there.”
On opposition politics, Serunkuma offered a bleak assessment, arguing that attempts to mobilise within President Museveni’s political landscape often result in fragmentation and defeat.
“The more you organize under President Museveni, the weaker you become. The more united you are, the weaker you become,” he stated, inverting the logic of solidarity in Uganda’s current political climate.
He predicted continued instability in the opposition, referencing recent splits and power struggles.
“The predicament that befell FDC will surely find PFF, wherever it’s going. The problem that befell NUP—the split between the Mpuuga and Kyagulanyi camps—will finally find the Democratic Front,” he said, suggesting that personality clashes and structural weaknesses will continue to haunt opposition groups.
Turning to the upcoming elections, Serunkuma was blunt in his prognosis: “Mbarara is exciting. I think all of them put together, you see Museveni’s victory already in the bank,” implying that the opposition’s organisational limitations remain a decisive advantage for the ruling party.
Together, the scholars’ reflections present a sobering picture of Uganda’s democratic trajectory.
Their remarks call for institutional reforms, greater political transparency, and deeper public empathy—changes they argue are necessary to rebuild a sense of common purpose and democratic renewal amid a climate of disillusionment.
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