Laughter, insults for Ugandan politician who launched rickety bridge

Protazio Begumisa, a Ugandan politician and also the president of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), took to X to share a photo of himself and a few other people standing atop a rickety wooden bridge which straddles a narrow stream.

The bridge, which he claimed to have recently repaired, has all the hallmarks of political incompetence - it's a thin ramshackle of twigs and countable logs hanging loosely over the body of water.

Appearing to be proud of his achievements, Begumisa wrote, "People in Ndorwa East can now use the Rubira bridge which I recently repaired."

Ndorwa East is a Ugandan constituency where Begumisa tried to vie for a parliamentary seat under the ruling National Resistance Movement party (NRM) in 2021. He lost.

After sharing the grainy photo, it immediately attracted thousands of reactions and 'likes' from people from not just Uganda - but across Africa as well.

Many people who interacted with the tweet lampooned the politician for the evidently poor attempt at alleviating the woes of the people of his constituency while also comparing him to any other African politician in any given country.

Reacting to the tweet, one user said, "The funny thing is, this could be anywhere in Africa. I didn't even know this was Uganda. This could be Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia or Senegal. African politicians are all the same!"

On his part, Ugandan cartoonist and columnist Jim Spire Ssentongo said, "Congratulations! Kindly add a billboard indicating the name of the company that constructed it, the engineer, and the generous sponsor. What a marvellous job!"

Another user shared their sentiments, saying, "The audacity to even call this a bridge! It won't even take a flood to sweep this wooden thing away! Just a slight drizzle and your constituents will be washed down the river. Shame!"

Still comparing the effort to any other African political chicanery, user Lola Okurunrin said, "A politician will do something bizarre in his country in Africa and you will think it’s a politician from your own country also in Africa. They think alike, they act alike. If not for the forest, you’d think it’s Surulere. Tell me how this is not Nigeria?"

Unbothered by the negative reactions, the politician insisted that he did what he could have done given that he was not even the area's elected leader - he, however, reminded followers of his intentions to vie again in 2026.

"Fortunately, the local bridge is still on. But even if it goes, I will repair it again until those responsible do something better for my people," he said. 

"I'm ready to serve my people of Ndorwa East in Parliament let come 2026..."

After the 2021 elections, Begumisa lost the seat to his closest challenger by just 136 votes. After he moved to court to challenge the victory, the Kabale High Court threw out the petition.