As I think about what is going on in Uganda with this social media and Mobile Money taxes, I am reminded of Nathan’s parable to David after the latter’s wicked acts in 2 Samuel 12.

Nathan speaks of the rich man who was exceedingly rich, and the poor man who had nothing but one little lamb that he raised together with his children.

But then, as always, the rich man had an extra mouth to feed (read personal guest), and although he had enough to feed his guest, he instead grabbed the one lamb belonging to the poor man, slaughtered it for his guest. He did not touch his many animals.

The Over-The-Top tax will pinch the poor man hardest. After all, all taxes are more felt by those who have less than those who have more.

Think of this: the government is ever increasing the allowances and salaries of MPs. The government has money to entrench a life presidency. They can afford to buy choppers from Russia which break down in a day. They can afford to buy enough equipment for the police to stamp on dissenting voices.

But when hospitals need mattresses and water, there is none. When doctors want the necessary tools in hospitals, they will be threatened with the importation of Cuban doctors. When teachers desire a pay rise to cope up with inflation and rising cost of living, they are told to quit or get to work. I just went to buy painkillers from a nearby pharmacy, and the prices of tablets are unbearable.

The few people in power are holding the whole nation as a ransom for their greed. But now that they want to increase the size of their pockets, they reach out for the small lamb.

They seek to kill even the one small lamb the poor have. They do not see how the ever-rising fuel prices strangle citizens. They have no clue perhaps how the dollar rates that have no speed governor are increasingly making the Ugandan shilling a nuisance.

In all this, the rich man is not disturbed, and his livestock is safe, untaxed, untouched. But the poor man must part with his small lamb, for, after all, the poor man has no voice. There is no king in the land who cares for their pain.

And there are those who suggest that the tax is to push off those who waste time on social media. But that is nonsensical. As I began my small construction company, Facebook and WhatsApp were the easiest and most cost-effective way to advertise my services. And often, the people who saw my services were not necessarily those who called me for work. They were sons of people who wanted to build or friends of such.

In other words, advertising targets more than those who will personally buy, but those who can also reach those who can buy. Facebook made sure your word goes out.

But it is this base that the government wants to cut off. And it assumes this is good for trade, especially for local startup businesses that can hardly afford official websites.

Then some people argue that those who could afford internet can afford the tax. But this is a Marie Antoinette naïve argument that if one cannot afford bread, they should buy a cake. The case is made by those who have no idea about my struggles to afford internet, which I pay tax for, using Mobile Money on which I pay tax. It is those who are wealthy who can give such an opinion.

For the rich, saving UGX 200 a day is nothing significant. But for a person who will not afford to see a doctor at a cost they can afford in a functional hospital which most likely requires more money for transport in this fuel-hiked economy, UGX 6000 a month may mean that they can buy some Panadol to keep on them in case a mild headache abruptly starts.

For the rich man to make such an argument reveals how out of touch with reality they can be.

I think it is quite dangerous for leaders who do not share the pain of the masses to make laws on their behalf. When a government does not think for its people, it sinks them deeper in pain and poverty.

This is just an opinion of someone who just finished paying his tax, with no high hopes. I am sure of this: the money collected will go into the pocket of someone I do not know, who will never provide accountability to me but will possibly use my cash to suppress my opinion.

We need Prophet Nathan to expose the greed of leaders whose god is their stomach.