President Yoweri Museveni has said that Uganda’s political opposition is incapable of offering anything to Ugandans, describing them as “ideologically immature”.
The President took a jab at his political challengers terming them as intolerant, a characteristic he has often used against them. He accused some of the politicians in the opposition of serving the interests of foreigners.
“This opposition of Uganda is incapable. They are ideologically immature and some work for foreigners. They don’t have anything to offer to the people,” President Museveni told Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee which met him at State House on Wednesday to pick his thoughts on the contentious Age Limit Bill.
He scorned opposition Members of Parliament for exhibiting hostility during the tabling of the Age Limit Bill in September which was characterized by verbal exchange, commotion and resulted into a brawl in the House.
Museveni said that such behavior was only justified by the fact that the Opposition had nothing constructive to offer.
“The intolerance is because the opposition are ideologically bankrupt and have nothing to offer,” he remarked.
“They are desperate because the NRM government has revamped the economy and generated revenue and we are able to deliver to the population. They now think that the only way to get rid of this government is to do away with particular players,” he noted.
As opposed to the popular sentiment that President Museveni abuses incumbency to consolidate himself in power, he said that this instead places a bigger burden on him as the voters’ expectations are higher.
“Incumbency in a way is a disadvantage. You get blamed all the time,” he said.
But he also cited examples of leaders like Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia, Kamuzu Banda in Malawi who despite their incumbency, lost elections because they were unpopular.
The Opposition, particularly the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) have repeatedly accused President Museveni of using state machinery to rig elections they consider to have won.
They further say he has used his majority in Parliament to deliberately introduce harsh laws such as the Public Order Management Act (POMA) to shrink their space and suppress dissent.