Over the weekend, Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago mobilized people in his home area to go to his resident and request for food from him as a sign that government had failed to fulfil its promise to reach all families within Kampala and Wakiso districts.
Whereas it is true that the food distribution drive had not yet reached his particular area, the activities had been going on for long in many other areas of Kampala such as Kawempe, Makindye and Central as the drive was being rolled out to other parts of the country.
The Lord Mayor in an attempt to politicize the matter had also questioned why it was Ministers who were heading the distribution drives and not Kampala Mayors and Councilors. Note that on Saturday morning a Kampala councilor had been arrested for stealing and hiding relief food items in her home.
The decision to have Ministers head the drive appears to have rubbed the mayor the wrong way. He thus invited people to go to his home so as he could address them on how they were being sidelined. The decision led to breaking of social distancing protocols for the people and could easily lead to communal spread of the virus.
This is a deliberate attempt by the Mayor to undermine government efforts in this fight. He has also mobilized other councilors to claim that it is government that is sending people to the politicians’ homes to demand to be fed by them so as to bankrupt them.
This is not only typical of Lukwago and his city hall stooges like Ronald Muhinda on Facebook, but it also marks a low in his usually pathetic and petty political drama. Lukwago is faced with a challenge that he cannot simply dramatize to milk politically.
He needs to offer a sense of leadership that he is not capable or accustomed to. Endangering his own voters is ill advised and he should instead use his capacity and play the role that he was entrusted with. Let him distribute washing soap and toiletries to people in the markets and use his audience to educate the masses, this is not a time for political posturing.
