Bobi’s Current Mistakes Remind me of The Fox & the Monkey - Aesop’s Fables

At a great meeting of the Animals, who had gathered to elect a new ruler, the Monkey was asked to dance. This he did so well, with a thousand funny capers and grimaces, that the animals were carried entirely off their feet with enthusiasm, and then and there, elected him their king.

The Fox did not vote for the Monkey and was much disgusted with the Animals for electing such an unworthy ruler.

One day he found a trap with a bit of meat in it. Hurrying to King Monkey, he told him he had found a rich treasure, which he had not touched because it belonged by right to his majesty the Monkey.

The greedy Monkey followed the Fox to the trap. As soon as he saw the meat he grasped eagerly for it, only to find himself held fast in the trap. The Fox stood off and laughed.

"You pretend to be our king," he said, "and cannot even take care of yourself!"

Shortly after that, another election among the Animals was held, and I guess you already know who won.

In the case of NUP and its leader, Kyagulanyi aka Bobi, elections haven’t been held in his party yet – I even wonder whether we shall see a delegates’ conference anytime soon.

All I know is that desperate Ugandans got excited in 2020-21 and got a bad deal in Kyagulanyi as the face of opposition. Let us hope the “animals” in Uganda begin to elect better leaders in future rather than those that act like the Monkey in their character, qualities, and actions.

Fundamentally, Bobi is the monkey who caught the car. He got what he spent his whole life chasing, then realised the chase was much more fun than actually doing the job.

Bobi swept into politics on an incredible landslide of public support in Kyadondo East and later decided to stand for presidency, decimating his rivals in opposition.

In the end, there was only one opposition politician in the entire country who had sufficient power and influence to actually take down Bobi. Who was that politician? Bobi himself.

Never in my life have I seen such an incredible display of self-sabotage. Bobi has done himself more damage than his political opponents could ever have dreamed of, including but not limited to:

1. Posting a photo of his armoured car on social media the day after withdrawing the electoral petition against Museveni. Then later on, Museveni gave a waver tax on it in a letter written on 7th June 2021 to Uganda Revenue Authority.

2. Moving away from the People power movement that embraced different parties to joining Kibalama's NUP.

3. Presiding over a culture of near constant partying, traveling,insults, and rule breaking,

4.Promoting his elder brother, Nyanzi, to a position of authority over other senior leaders because he is his blood, despite fully knowing that it portrays him as nepotistic in the party.

5. Accusing all his MPs of working for Museveni in a BBC interview when asked about the Anti- LGBT Bill. And then later on brazenly lied to them about how much he was forced to answer that way when he came back to Uganda, causing them public embarrassment.

6. The current saga has been the public embarrassment of his deputy president, Mathias Mpuuga, over the shs.500m recommended by the parliamentary Commission to be given to him after serving as LOP for about 2 years.

While speaking at the funeral of ‘’Omutaka we Kiika’’, he said, " For us, we were winning awards and interacting with the Schwarzeneggers, and then I read on social media the corruption scandals involving my fellow leader…."

Lol, that reminds me of a scene in The Simpsons Movie, where President Schwarzenegger (yes, really) is presented with a set of three unthinkable options for a difficult situation. He chooses one at random, stating that “I was elected to LEAD, not to READ.” That’s Bobi - he decided to punish the former leader of the opposition before reading everything about parliamentary laws.

What do all of those incidents have in common? He did it to himself.

Gratuity to Leader Of Opposition

Gratuity is given by the employer to an employee for the services rendered by him. It is usually paid at the time of retirement, but it can be paid before provided certain conditions are met.

Gratuity is merely an older and more formal word than tip - originally meaning “gift” and coming from the Latin word “gratus” meaning thankful. A gratuity is, therefore, a gift given as thanks.

Tip sands for “To Insure Promptness” or prompt service. In the UK we may give a tip to a waiter if we think that waiter has provided exceptional service or if just feeling kind. Some sneaky establishments give you a bill with ‘gratuity included’ on it, but you do not have to pay it (by law). I believe that in the US things are slightly different and a tip is expected - to the degree that they come running after you if you don’t leave one.

LOP equals the leader of govt business in parliament (Prime Minister -PM). The PM is given benefits in perpetuity. The LOP office should have been provided with a retirement package under the previous amended remunerations Act, but it didn’t happen.

The shs.500m to Mpuunga was a one-off for the LOP. The parliamentary commission (PC) made its recommendations to the budget committee and the House. So, I don’t see any illegality on the side of Mpuuga. The PC isn't an illegal body, and all its actions are protected under our constitution.

There’s a massive difference between a bribe and gratuity. A bribe is paying someone to accomplish an otherwise unavailable (and often improper/unethical) outcome. Bribery is a payment made to cause an outcome that would not necessarily have been the outcome otherwise. It was unfair for Kyagulanyi to blatantly call Mpuuga corrupt, moreover, in public. That amounted to character assassination, and it’s really sad. He needs to stop killing people’s political careers that way. Mpuuga is basically being ''punished'' because he's becoming popular in NUP.