Last week, the Uganda media, collectively fell for a fabricated story on the purported electoral reform bills, they claimed government had presented to parliament, and basing on falsehoods, generated a frenzied debate laced with toxic language and insults. It appears, the media was fed by a mendacious opposition now on ropes, hoping to derail debate, like they did, during Constitutional amendment in 2017.

As each general election draws closer, the Democratic Party (DP) leadership under the feeble, although ever buoyant and boastful, Norbert Mao, has presented itself as a political platform that accommodates progressive ideas upon which a new national political consensus can be built to replace the National Resistance Movement (NRM). Mao, has lately taken to advising NRM, and publicly claimed that the ‘Luwero Consensus’ which brought NRM to power in 1986, has ‘irretrievably’ collapsed.

The on-going controversies, surrounding the operations, commercial viability, net-worth, indebtedness, of the once state owned Uganda Telecommunications Limited (Utl), and the legal powers of its government appointed Administrator, stinks. The trails so far, appear to point towards the old adage of swimming with the sharks, or perhaps, even sadly, a war between jackals and hounds, in insider dealings to undercut each other. Ugandans must remain and maintain high alert and guard to stop being short-changed by public officials as has happened in the past.

The ongoing whirlwind swirling in the local media about the purported irregular printing and dumping of extra money by unauthorised persons on to the Uganda economy is nothing more than false echoes pumped by an ignorant and insidious media, especially taking advantage of the uncontrollable rise of social media. Uganda is not a failed banana republic where currencies can be printed and dumped without strict adherence to international standards, protocols and verifiable traceability.