By Hope Hellen Apio
The reaction to Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda’s defeat should worry anyone who still believes in representative democracy, not because voters are wrong to demand accountability, but because the standards by which that accountability is now measured are dangerously misplaced.
Ssemujju’s competence as a legislator is not in dispute. He understood the law, mastered procedure, scrutinised budgets, exposed executive excesses, and defended constitutionalism with rare consistency. These are not decorative talents; they are the core duties of a member of parliament. Parliament exists to legislate, represent, and provide oversight not to replace local governments, contractors, or social welfare systems. On these fundamentals, Ssemujju performed exceptionally.
The deeper fear exposed by his loss is that many citizens have lost sight of what an MP is actually elected to do. Increasingly, voters expect legislators to behave like charity distributors, emergency responders, and personal problem-solvers handing out cash, paying school fees, fixing drainage with private money, or showing up daily to perform tasks that belong to technocrats and local authorities. When an MP focuses on national issues, legislation, and oversight as the Constitution demands, he is accused of being “absent” or “out of touch.”
This is a dangerous misunderstanding.
An MP who spends most of his time firefighting local problems with personal resources may appear visible, but he often does so at the expense of the national interest. Roads, drainage, garbage collection, and service delivery are executed by the government through ministries and local governments. The MP’s power lies in influencing policy, allocating budgets, and holding those implementing agencies accountable. Ssemujju did exactly that often to the discomfort of those in power.
What has happened in urban constituencies like Kira is not merely political fatigue; it is role confusion. Visibility has been elevated above effectiveness. Proximity has been mistaken for impact. Theatrics have begun to outweigh substance. In such an environment, an MP who reads bills, challenges ministers, and thinks long-term is punished for not performing short-term populism.
That should alarm us.
If legislators are reduced to handout machines, Parliament will be weakened. Oversight will suffer. Laws will be passed with less scrutiny. Executive power will grow less restrained. Ironically, the same voters who demand “practical representation” will later complain about corruption, bad laws, and unaccountable governance, precisely the problems that strong legislators like Ssemujju exist to confront
Ssemujju Nganda’s defeat is, therefore, not proof of his failure; it is evidence of a shifting and troubling political culture. One that undervalues intellect, courage, and institutional strength in favour of immediacy and personal gain. One that punishes those who take the hard, often invisible work of legislation seriously.
Democracy does not only require voters to choose; it requires voters to understand what they are choosing for. When competence is rejected because it does not come with envelopes and constant physical presence, the loss is not just the candidate’s it is the nation’s.
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