Isiagi who has basically been an observer in the NRM regime, is disgusted by corruption, which he prefers to call a culture because he reasons, nobody seems to be committed enough to fight it.
At 98, Mzee Silvanus Isiagi is possibly one of the few remaining reflections of Uganda’s first and second parliaments, the Legislative Council (Legco) and the National Assembly respectively, where he was the representative for Bukedea.
Isiagi played a major role in deciding the national flag, the anthem and the coat of arms. Confined on a mat (he cannot sit in a chair or couch), at his home at Kwari-Kawar in Kachumbala, he was visited by Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among who also hails from Bukedea.
Isiagi, though ailing possibly due to advanced age, is still vibrant and a radiant source of knowledge, wisdom and insight, and continues to guide leaders to serve the nation.
Tragedy! Introduction on Friday, Wedding on Saturday, Burial on Monday!!!
He subscribed to the one of the oldest political party the Uganda National Congress (UNC) which, in the years preceding independence, split into the UNC and the Uganda People’s Union (UPU), whereupon Mzee Milton Obote embraced the UNC while the UPU took base in Western Uganda.
Tactfully, Mzee Obote rushed to the Western region to seek alignment with the UPU, whereupon the merger gave birth to the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC). After independence, Isiagi was appointed Deputy Minister for Regional Administration, a portfolio he occupied up to 1979 when Idi Amin toppled Obote’s government.
A directive from the new government asked all former ministers to stay in Kampala and report for work, and after one week, Amin summoned all of them for a meeting. Not sure of their safety, some immediately fled the country, but Isiagi returned home.
In the Obote II regime, he was again assigned a cabinet portfolio, and again witnessed another coup headed by Tito Okello Lutwa.
Isiagi who has basically been an observer in the NRM regime, is disgusted by corruption, which he prefers to call a culture because he reasons, nobody seems to be committed enough to fight it.
“Many Ugandans are poor because of corruption”, he avers, adding that anyone with commitment to end the evil would simply arrest and jail convicts with orders to refund stolen money in double.