Mayor Ssebaggala throws money down the trash can, ex-President Binaisa talks trash
KAMPALA - I have heard of several cases of waste and public money going down the drain but the latest is quite something. It was reported today that the mayor of Kampala, Nasser Ntege Ssebaggala had spent Shs300 million (about U$185,000), supposedly of public funds, to plaster his face on new garbage cans in the city.
Kampala City Council has a waste-disposal problem on its hands and its efforts to collect and dispose of rubbish in the city are, if you will forgive the pun, rubbish. The usual excuse given is lack of money. So the donation of the trash cans by the advertising firm, Clear Channel, should help the council's efforts, right? Well, until they decide to spend as much on advertising the mayor's face on the cans as the damn things cost!
Why would anyone even want their faces peering out from soon-to-be overflowing trash cans? It is a bit trashy, if you ask me, and the mayor is scrapping the bottom of the barrel on this.
Which brings us to former president Godfrey Binaisa, he he ruled Uganda for about a year at the turn of the 80s, before fleeing abroad to run a very successful legal practice. He was sulking in the news, claiming his allowances, due to him as a former president were delayed and that his five-year-old Mercedes Benz is grounded in the garage over an unpaid bill of slightly more than $10,000.
I think it is ridiculous for us to keep handing out allowances to former leaders, especially those who (a) did little for the country and (b) have worked all their lives and should therefore have pensions or retirement eggs nestled away. The idea, that a guaranteed income after office would keep their hands out of the cookie jar is naive and idealistic.
Presidents are not that highly paid but when and how do they spend their money when all their needs are taken care of while in office? They should be encouraged to save their money for life after state house. I have nothing against Binaisa except when government sticks its hands in my pockets to buy him another walking stick or set of dentures.
ENDS
posted by Daniel Kalinaki | 7:08 pm
3 Comments:
Not that I am in support of Seya, but considering the trash cans were "donated" by an advertising firm, perhaps that was a condition for the donation. You know, pay us to put your portraits on these cans and we give them to you free.
My man, the best part of the entire report revolved around Sebaggala's explanation for the vandalism: asked why he thought some of the posters were being ripped off the bins, 'our man' said he had many admirers and some of them had probably ripped the posters off to put them in their sitting rooms. LOL! I hope one of the admirers is strong enough to rip him out of his seat and nail him to their toilet wall!
Anonymous, why would Clear Channel want to have Seya's face on the bins? I suspect, though, that after a while, Clear Channel will sell advertising space on the bins to the highest bidder. The idea of the bins being free might be rubbish afterall!
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