By Ndawula Ronald
Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend and he told me how Hajji Nasser Ntege Sebaggala the former flamboyant and maverick Mayor of Kampala was the first Ugandan to bring an automatic transmission car on the Kampala streets!
I had no facts to dispute this and knowing the Mayor as a very adventurous, shrewd and who loved pomp and style I accepted the conversation in totality.
Personally in the early 21st century I used to drive a delivery truck for fulfillment solutions a Dulles – Virginia based company in USA which had manually operated gear box.
When my young co- workers realized I was engaging gears manually they always came out to see how I was doing it and I became a “Hero” of sorts because no one at the workshop could manage the feat!
To me, deep inside I knew it didn’t require a genius to drive “stick shift” vehicles (as they were called in USA) but having come from Africa where automatic gear boxes were a new phenomenon, i knew we both had different experiences not wisdom.
I even remember Ugandan mechanics discouraged their bosses from owning automatic transmission vehicles insinuating that the gear boxes are bad yet it was ignorance of the technics involved in repairing them.
Now that the number of automatic transmission gear boxes has overtaken stick shift ones and heavy trucks have been introduced where you just have to press a button and you align the steering then off you go.
It’s comparatively easy to master a vehicle with automatic transmission as work of balancing acceleration and engaging is automatically handled by the vehicle gear box.
When I was growing up during Amin’s regime I had a feeling that it was very difficult to manage countries and by then some people were happy that Amin chased the Indian merchants and all businesses were easily left to Africans.
When Mugabe of Zimbabwe confiscated the farms for white farmers he was a hero in some circles of South Africa and beyond and the new African beneficiaries chorused no change despite the declining economic data as a result of poor farm management and maladministration.
I have come to realize anyone can guess his way in Africa and manage because Okello Lutwa, Amin, Obote guessed their way to the top.
In Europe, British Prime Minister Lisa Truss who holds the trophy for the shortest term of office of 50 days resigned to my surprise and I realized that the Europeans put much emphasis on potential of a leader and even your party can’t save you and has no room for an incompetent leader.
Just sending government Emails using personal accounts can make a full Prime Minister loose leadership mandate!
Now that automatic auto pilot engines for robotic self-drive cars are being developed driving is going to be alot easier and the requirements to learn to drive will be gone apart from the electronic and mechanical systems of the radar and robot.
When it comes to automatic management most African countries are already there in self-drive and I believe Uganda and several African countries are in self-drive mode and I don’t really think someone is in total control of government functions apart from sharing the loot.
Following the death of Jakana Nadduli I was disturbed to see the Oldman’s family flogged, arrested in drones and soon released with no charge!
I can’t believe this is work of President Museveni or he sanctioned this embarrassing activity.
If not him then who did it?
Then when the Hon. IGG prepares prayers to pray for the 48 trillion budget to keep it safe from the thieves then I know she’s overwhelmed and has surrendered to the almighty.
She should also be very careful for her prayers if and when they get answered, her very bosses and colleagues will be sent straight to hell, therefore, requests to the Almighty should be censored by the speaker and Prime Minister lest they cause havoc in Uganda.
Whoever orchestrated the Busiika murders am wondering whether he’s in police itself and had ideas of how this will work out!
How come, instead of beefing security at these stations to keep law and order, protect people and their property as enshrined in the constitution someone decides to close hundreds of police stations after a single attack on a station.
I didn’t expect this cowardly approach from a man who has ruled Uganda for about 40 years on a security card.
Recently, when rustlers attacked Karamoja someone promised hell to the rustlers and security and budget supplementary were expeditiously passed.
I would like to ask whether in a self-driving mode, Uganda cows are more important than people.
The person who ordered the arrest of ailing jakana which resulted in his eventual death and there after went to torture Nadduli’s family to find a way of connecting him to Busiika murders and thefts does not mean well to the life of our leader who’s frail and doesn’t deserve this multiple torture.
Suspecting Kakooza Mutale a stauch NRM to be training rebels , deployment of helicopters and armed squads in Matembe farm, kakooza Mutale at his age, clocking 80, who I even think can’t work in another government because of his human rights record, is poor intelligence at best, corruption and witch-hunt.
If someone in a corrupt Uganda government is not behind these attacks then serious analysis and intelligence should be sought not satirical accusations and torment of helpless NRM old men in Luwero in their retirement days.
My idea is, those purposeful police stations were put in those locations for security of the people, let government withdraw from Somalia, operation shujaa, and and karamoja operations and revert, to the constitutional duty of protecting Ugandans.
The cowardly act of closing them and withdrawal is a sign of disarray, failure and win for those in charge of these heinous operations and it’s like no one is in charge of Uganda.
Ndawula Ronald, the author is the former Chairperson of Luwero district
