The United Kingdom Member of Parliament (MP) for Stockton South Dr. Paul Williams has urged President Yoweri Museveni to leave power, saying that the Ugandan leader is ‘a barrier’ to development.
Dr. Williams asked the UK International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt to use the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to tell President Museveni that it’s time to go. President Museveni is in United Kingdom for the 25th Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meetings (CHOGM)
According to Dr. Williams, Museveni has been in power since 1986 and one of the good governance pointers includes the President leaving office.
However, Dr. Williams has thrown a spanner in the wheels of this prickly issue, presidential press secretary Don Wanyama taking to social media and saying: “Dr. Paul Williams still possesses a colonial mentality where he thinks Western metropolis should determine what happens in Africa.”
Mr. Wanyama added: “Paul Williams show Ugandans some respect. We know what’s best for us. Have you stopped to ask how long the Queen has been on the throne?”
In his reply Dr. Williams wrote: “Still? I wasn’t even born when there were colonies. Nope – it’s just about good governance and telling millions of Ugandans that the world is with them.”
Immediately after tweeting, Wanyama replied saying, “you might want to know that president Museveni was voted by millions of Ugandans. I guess from your perspective they don’t count. You have no right to stand on imaginary Mt Sinai and issue edicts to us. We might have failed on colonialism but we shall resist neo-colonialism.”
However, Wanyama’s exchanges attracted mix reactions from Ugandans.
Ivan Okuda: If a 3rd world country can’t breathe without foreign aid as we saw with Uganda when donor aid was withdrawn following the anti-gay law debacle, shouldn’t Paul whose tax his government uses to sustain basic social services and development projects here have a say? He should! Everyday! Louder!
Don Wanyama: Oh! What you call foreign aid is actually recovery of what was stolen from us during the exploitation ages. Can Belgium give aid to Congo? C’mmon!
Kevin Martin: Replying to @nyamadon and @PaulWilliamsMP We all believe in change and change is inevitable. We need to have a Constitution not bent to the will of individuals and give chance for the peoples voice to be heard. The economy and country are in dire need of a new direction #CallForChange
