A few months ago, General Sejusa, the national army’s representative in Parliament, said that there were plans to impose President Museveni’s son, Brig. Muhoozi Kainerugaba as the next head of state. Tempers flared, big words were thrown around, tables were turned searching for him until he made his location known; London. Not Alaska, just London. Besides the sticky issue of treason charges, he also stands to lose his seat in Parliament. The parliamentary rules committee, the one hearing his stay/leave parliament case, needs to hear from the horse’s mouth to guide their decision. The horse in this case, dear reader, is General Sejusa himself. The one holed up in London. The committee is considering whether to use Skype or to travel to London. Skype is this thing that you put on your phone or computer and it allows you to talk to and see someone else far away using the internet.
This columnist is all for digitisation. Down with long queues and rude people at the end of those queues; Hooray to services that allow us to skip the queues and do the same things using our phones. The columnist’s bias for the Skype option should be clear by now. If it isn’t, here is one more line to clear the murky waters. The columnist is a big proponent for the Skype option.
However, here are a few things to consider if we are to go down the joyous digital road. Is it legally binding? Does the General have to be calm and collected, in a conference room, with Mozart playing in the background to start the Skype session? Time differences considered is it permissible for him to take the call while say in a club (For you who cannot picture the General in a club, think of it as a very exclusive one with a choir singing the music). For the team in Uganda, will Skype allow them to wear ill-fitting suits? Are there instances where Skype says “Image not accepted. Please dress better”? Will Skype recognise the accents? Or will we need Google Translate? What happens if a goat darts across the room during the Skype session (even this columnist can’t picture under what circumstances this would happen)? Do they stop? Do they soldier on? (Pun? What pun?) Or do they feed it?