He added: “Unfortunately, our legislators are quite enjoying their emoluments as if everything is okay. That is so disappointing. We rarely accepted that to happen during our reign. I pray to the Honourable Leader of the Opposition to wake up and do something.”
Former Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo has criticised current Members of Parliament for what he described as their silence over rising fuel prices, escalating commodity costs and the growing economic hardships facing Ugandans.
Ssekikubo said legislators, including the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LOP), should speak out and hold the government accountable for the rising cost of living instead of appearing comfortable while ordinary citizens struggle to make ends meet.
He said MPs during his time in Parliament regularly raised concerns about issues affecting citizens and challenged the government to take action, a practice he believes has weakened among current legislators.
“No wonder the government decided not to hold public celebrations for the country’s 64th Independence Day. One wonders how Ugandans from different parts of the country would travel to Kololo for the celebrations amid the current high fuel prices,” Ssekikubo said.
He added: “Unfortunately, our legislators are quite enjoying their emoluments as if everything is okay. That is so disappointing. We rarely accepted that to happen during our reign. I pray to the Honourable Leader of the Opposition to wake up and do something.”
Ssekikubo made the remarks on Friday while attending the burial of Ladislas Ggita Kiwutta, an 82-year-old retired educationist who was laid to rest at his home in Buziranjovu Village, Nakisunga Sub-county, Mukono District.
Ggita praised for investing in education
During the burial, Ssekikubo also praised the deceased for raising and educating his children while instilling in them values that had earned them respect in their communities.
He said the large turnout of mourners demonstrated the positive impact Ggita had made through his children and grandchildren, many of whom had attracted people who had not known him personally.
“We are glad for the number of mourners who have turned up for our grandfather’s burial. A big number of you hardly knew him personally, but you are here because of his children or grandchildren. That is a reason for celebrating him,” he said.
The burial Mass was led by Rev. Fr. Everest Kateregga, who praised Ggita for his commitment to the Catholic Church and urged young people to emulate the works, ethic and values of respected senior citizens.
Fr. Kateregga challenged the youth to work hard and preserve the legacies of their parents and grandparents rather than focus on dividing and selling inherited property.
“It is unfortunate that in some families, as people gather to lay their parents to rest, their children are busy warming up to share their property instead of working to add value to it and carry on their legacy,” he said.
He pointed to Ggita’s land, which he said had been preserved alongside its trees and other valuable property, as an example of responsible stewardship.
“I pray that his heir will not come up with the idea of dividing his land, selling it and going to town to enjoy easy cash,” Fr. Kateregga said.
Children celebrate father’s legacy
One of Ggita’s children, Deo Kasiriivu, a teacher at Seeta High School’s Mbalala Campus and the winner of the 2016 CBS Radio Entanda ya Buganda quiz competition, praised his father for working tirelessly to educate his children and prepare them for life.
Kasiriivu said his father demonstrated love not only towards his children but also towards his grandchildren, not only those from his family but also from the community.
“Daddy has been a parent. He did not only show love to us as his children but also to his grandchildren,” he said.
Another son, Lawrence Ssekajja Kubenja, a teacher at Godmark High School Mukono and first runner-up in the 2005 CBS Radio Entanda ya Buganda competition, described his father as a practical man who believed in taking action rather than relying on other people.
Ssekajja said his father made a lasting contribution to the community after recognising that children in Buziranjovu had to walk long distances to access education.
He said Ggita personally established St Joseph’s Buziranjovu Catholic Primary School, initially constructing grass-thatched classrooms to bring education closer to children in the village.
“After noticing that our village had no school, which required us and other children in the village to walk long distances to school even when we were still toddlers, he personally constructed St Joseph’s Buziranjovu Catholic Primary School, with its first classrooms grass-thatched, keeping in mind that education was not in buildings,” Ssekajja said.
The school was subsequently upgraded with permanent structures, expanding its value and usefulness to the surrounding community.
Ggita was remembered as an educationist and community-minded parent whose legacy extended beyond his family to the children who benefited from the school he established.