Our lunch time at School was at Sengas just inside Helejusah restaurant in Bugujju village just neighboring UCU on the right. I remember Mafi, Snoop and Douglas the other two law School mates were perhaps Ndugu Eliab and yours truly, once in a while, Karamagi Andrew would come along and appreciate why we loved the eating place. The other eat out was a home away from home, very generous portions of food and a free glass of water,who does that in Mukono(read Kampala)?
Our lunch was always full of banter and discussion about national issues and we would put chairman on the hot seat as he would become the government spokesman trying to explain why the government is doing things the way it is. Chairman has always unashamedly been NRM in an environment where the ruling party is not exactly popular in Institutions of higher Learning. I associate Ndugu Eliab with Articles 38 of the Republic of Uganda Constitution and here’s my unpacking of the Civic duties
Article 38 of the Uganda Constitution talks about Civic Rights and Activities. Here are the key points
- Right to Participate: Every Ugandan citizen has the right to participate in the affairs of government, either individually or through their representatives, in accordance with the law.
- Individual and Representative Participation: This right emphasizes citizens’ involvement in governance, aligning with principles found in international human rights documents like Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- Citizen Duty: It’s also implied that citizens have a duty to contribute to national development and work towards societal betterment.
Eliab has always believed in engagement as a way of sharing ideas and building the nation through dialogue , going back to Articles 38 (1), Every Ugandan Citizen has the right to participate in the affairs of government, individually or through his or her representatives in accordance with the law.
I’m a munyakigezi by association and sometimes the festive season would get me in Kabale, one of those seasons was the inauguration of the National Youth Platform a youth Civic organization whose patron was the late General Aronda Nyakairima.
Eliab has always upheld the Rwangisiriza party values. The core values of Uganda’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) are: patriotism, Pan-Africanism, democracy, and socio-economic transformation and through the various debates we had with him on the hot seat,he clearly espoused these values.
Ndugu Eliab from Kamuganguzi sought to represent his people of Ndorwa West constituency through the National Resistance Movement ticket and participated in the party primaries and the people spoke as he trounced the District party chairman who for some reason has been nominated to run as an independent!, never mind the irony as it’s his constitutional right to seek office to represent his people . Today has been the nomination of Chairman Eliab and in him,I trust to represent the voices of the people of Ndorwa West. The concept of people power is not poetic,if the members of the National Resistance Movement sent the incumbent to Taiwan and there was no formal complaint to the established Tribunal, my only advice to Chairman is to consolidate on the votes of people who might have given the incumbent and decisively defeat the district Chairperson of the NRM Party. To the people of Ndorwa West, this is your son whom you have raised,he now seeks to represent you in parliament, give him the chance
Dear Eliab,we used to put you on the hot seat at lunch, may you move to the August House on January 15th.
Yours truly, Mwene
Mwene 