By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
MITOOMA
Like fireflies drawn to the flame, some youths are risking their future for short-lived political favors, says Mitooma District Woman MP Juliet Agasha Bashiisha, who has warned of a worrying trend where young Ugandans are paid to hurl insults on social media in the name of political loyalty.
Speaking on the Sunday broadcast of Manya Ebirikufa Omu Ihanga Ryawe on Radio West, the legislator sounded the alarm over what she termed as “digital violence”, a rising wave of online abuse allegedly fueled by politicians eyeing the 2026 general elections and NRM primaries.
“To the youth, stop allowing yourselves to be used to insult other candidates on social media in exchange for Shs100,000 and data bundles under the pretense of being ‘hard-hitting.’ Such actions will only block your opportunities,” Agasha said in a stern warning to young social media users.
According to the MP, some political actors, knowingly or unknowingly are turning youth into online mercenaries, deploying them to malign opponents, including senior government officials.
“Some of them are paid to abuse even the ministers, and the president,” Agasha added. “Before you abuse someone, ask yourself: Won’t I need them tomorrow? Am I not ruining my own future?”
She called on the youth to embrace respect, civility, and foresight, cautioning that digital footprints of abuse could tarnish reputations and jeopardize future job prospects and community standing.
Agasha also had a message for NRM supporters and aspirants, urging them to vote wisely, particularly in grassroots positions like LC1, which she said form the backbone of governance and social harmony.
“To the LC1 chairpersons who are vying for @NRMOnline offices, I urge you to start from your own households. Pay close attention to what is happening in your homes and also take interest in resolving personal disputes with your neighbors,” she said, highlighting growing domestic violence and social discord in communities.
Amidst her optimism about NRM’s strength, especially in Northern Uganda, dissenting voices like Buhweju County MP Francis Mwijukye painted a different picture.
“Hon. Agasha says FDC is weakening in Northern Uganda, but when I visited there recently, all I saw was poverty. People are still living in huts,” Mwijukye countered during the same radio program.
As Uganda inches closer to the 2026 polls, cases of political smear campaigns are reported almost everyday, many times fueled by incumbents and aspiring politicians who bribe the youth majority on the internet to abuse their opponents in different WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms like Tik Tok, Facebook and X. However, the remarks by MP Juliet Agasha Bashiisha serve as both a political pulse check and a moral wake-up call to youth navigating the complex interplay of loyalty, identity, and ambition in the digital age.
