The Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Thomas Tayebwa, has said that the current times are the worst for anyone to be a politician in Uganda, wondering whether it is even worth it for anyone to be in involved in Uganda’s politics given the hatred and intrigue in society.
“When they saw the name Tayebwa, they concluded it was Deputy Speaker. It is been painful because of the way such videos go viral and the negativity of our politics in this country, people easily jump on it. I think this is the worst time to be a politician in Uganda and I don’t know if it is even worth it. Because really, the kind of society we have managed to build, the hatred spreading, it is really painful,” said Tayebwa.
The Deputy Speaker made the remarks in a media interview at Parliament, where he was responding to a viral video made by one Esther Ruhunde, who accused Tayebwa of stealing her family land, torturing and later imprisoning her husband following a land wrangle, only for the lad’s allegations to turn out to be false, but rather a case of mistaken identity.
“When I saw that video which was sent to me by my wife, it was a shocker because I never own land around Entebbe. I have never met anybody who has said help me on this case. I want to appreciate the public who managed to give me the contacts of the lady who was complaining and even her lawyer, and I managed to get in touch with her lawyer who arranged a meeting today only for her to discover that when she had her matter, and they found the title in the names of an infant called Tayebwa, she knew that was my son and she decided to go out and plead,” said Tayebwa.
The Deputy Speaker also revealed that he held a meeting with the aggrieved lady who really sounded desperate, and was forced to go to social media after seeking help from numerous offices but they couldn’t get a decision that they hoped.
The Deputy Speaker further confirmed that Ruhunde’s husband is indeed in prison where he is serving a term of six months for failure to pay legal fine to a tune of Shs40M after losing out on a court case.
“When she apologized to me, I have wholeheartedly forgiven her because when you see her, she is sickly, she is really desperate, clutching on anything that could help her address the issue of her husband being in prison. What is painful is how social media is being used to destroy people’s names and likes, from nowhere, someone makes a video and it goes viral and I don’t think she can make any video of apology that can reinstate the damage this has caused my name,” he added.