In a political scene already marked by contradictions, a recent moment has stirred both discomfort and deep reflection across Uganda’s intellectual and political circles, the highly educated and widely respected political historian, Dr. Tanga Odoi, nominated General Moses Ali without stepping out of his car.
Intellectually a man who has lectured, critiqued, and studied the roots of state formation and democratic evolution in Africa couldn’t endorse a visibly un well aged general. It reflects the tragic irony that in Uganda, education no longer equates to wisdom, integrity, or courage in leadership.
Dr. Tanga Odoi, once the face of academic independence and political insight, has now found himself at the center of a broader national question, What has happened to Uganda’s intellectual class? Once regarded as the conscience of the nation, scholars and professors now often appear co-opted, silenced, or complicit in sustaining a political order that thrives on inertia rather than innovation.
The nomination of General Moses Ali a man whose political relevance peaked decades ago by an academic of Odoi’s stature reveals a troubling inversion, instead of education shaping leadership, leadership now manipulates education, that’s why Administrators of public Universities are fighting students who are standing up for what is right, Knowledge has been demoted from a tool of transformation to an instrument of preservation.
At the moment when he started “I, Dr. Tanga Odoi, on behalf of the commission, do hereby nominate Gen. Moses Ali for Adjumani West Constituency in Adjumani District. Congratulations,” you would visibly notice his face was ashamed indicating that our country faced the crisis of leadership authenticity. For many Ugandans, especially the youth, it sends the message that education is no longer a ladder to national transformation, but a mask behind which opportunism hides.
At its core, this episode exposes the widening gap between intellectual attainment and moral courage. Degrees, titles, and publications are increasingly detached from the political actions they were once meant to inform. The historian’s decision to back a visibly outdated candidate does not reflect knowledge or progressive leadership it reflects surrender.
Uganda’s political structure is becoming a theatre in which credentials are used to legitimize the illegitimate. While young, brilliant, reform-minded Ugandans are kept at the margins, the stage remains dominated by figures who have outlived not only their vision but their relevance. This is not just about General Moses Ali it is about a political culture that values loyalty over merit, symbolism over substance, and seniority over service.
The message is devastatingly clear. In today’s Uganda, intellectuals are no longer the torchbearers of truth, I won’t mention names , surely many have crossed your mind, they are increasingly the defenders of decay.
But this moment is not without value. It serves as a mirror to all of you Ugandans especially Youths, reflecting what happens when the learned choose survival over service. And it is a warning to the younger generation that education alone is not enough what matters is how that education is applied, who it serves, and whether it dares to challenge systems of entrenched mediocrity.
If Uganda’s future leaders particularly you who are being trained in universities today are to rise above this shameful cycle, you must couple your learning with boldness, clarity of purpose, and ethical commitment. Silence and complicity are no longer academic neutrality.
The nomination of General Moses Ali by Dr. Tanga Odoi may be a footnote in this electoral season, but its implications are far-reaching. It speaks to the bankruptcy of intellectual courage in Uganda’s corridors of influence. Until education is once again paired with integrity, and leadership with vision, the country will continue to recycle the past while its brightest minds become chauffeurs of stagnation.
History will not remember who rode in which car, how many night clubs you attended but it will remember who steered the country and who sat back and let it be driven into irrelevance, atrocities and Stateless!
The author is a Social Development specialist and CEO Bridge Your Mind Centre.
Email; bwani.jose@gmail.com
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