He walked into office. He sat down. He talked development.
Yesterday, Rt. Hon. 2nd Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Gen (Rtd) Moses Ali, received a delegation from Sinai Municipality in Italy. The visitors were led by Mayor Maria Barbara Pusceddu.
They discussed development issues. He thanked them for funding clean and safe water projects in Adjumani District. The meeting happened in his office. Photos show handshakes. Staff took notes. Business as usual.
Except it isn’t. Because Gen. Moses Ali is 86 years old. And last week, he won another term as Member of Parliament for Adjumani West.
The Internet Had Other Plans
Before the Italian delegation had left Kampala, Ugandans online were already writing the obituary of the meeting.
“Show us the video were Moses Ali was discussing,” one posted. “Shame on Ugandan govt. I can’t imagine what the visitors were thinking. U gave a very bad impression.”
Another: “Any video of Moses Ali discussing development issues.”
Another: “Please stop embarrassing us, Moses Ali can barely talk, you can tell the meeting went terrible but the look of disgust on the Italian ladies face.”
Another: “All their facial reactions say one thing; Ugandans are really a bunch of f- -ls”
No one in that Twitter thread was in the room. But they had already decided how the Italians felt. They had already decided the old man couldn’t speak. They had already decided Uganda was embarrassed.
Meanwhile, the actual Italians were talking boreholes.
Adjumani Voted. The Internet Voted Differently
Here is the fact that breaks the timeline: Gen. Moses Ali just won Again.
At 86, he secured another five years as MP for Adjumani West. That is not State House appointment. That is ballot boxes. That is old men on bicycles and women in gardens walking to polling stations and choosing his name.
His constituents know his age. They know his walk. They know the viral videos that trend every time he stands to speak. They saw them. And they still sent him back.
That should end the debate. But in Kampala, the debate starts after the election.
What the Mob Videos Miss
The internet loves a clip. A 6-second video of an old man being helped up stairs becomes “proof” he can’t work. A pause before answering becomes “evidence” he can’t talk.
What the clips don’t show is the 4-hour meeting that followed. They don’t show the files he signs at 7AM. They don’t show the phone calls to Adjumani CAO about road funds. They don’t show the fact that as Deputy Leader of Government Business, he coordinates the entire Cabinet’s Parliament schedule.
You don’t do that job by being carried. You do it by knowing where every bill is, which minister is late, and what the Speaker will allow.
The mob sees a man. Adjumani sees a system.
The Water He Was Talking About
Sinai Municipality is not in Kampala for tourism. They came because of water. Adjumani hosts over 200,000 refugees. Boreholes break. Pumps fail. Children walk 5km for a jerrycan.
Mayor Pusceddu’s team has been funding water points in Ofua, Dzaipi, and Pakele. Moses Ali was thanking them. He was also asking for more. That is what MPs from border districts do: they beg, they lobby, they host mayors from small Italian towns because Kampala’s budget will not reach.
If he “can barely talk”, the Italians would not come back. But they do. Because water does not care about Twitter threads.
86 and Still on the Ballot
Uganda is young. 78% of us are under 35. So when an 86-year-old wins, it feels like a glitch. The online assumption is that voters were bribed, confused, or forced.
That ignores one truth: Adjumani West is not Twitter. In Adjumani West, Moses Ali is the man who tarmacked the Atiak road. He is the man who calls the Minister when the health centre has no drugs. He is the man whose home phone number is on village walls.
You can mock his gait. You cannot mock his phone book.
Health challenges hit him. They hit the whole world. But the constituency saw him in 2021, saw him in 2023, saw him in 2025, and said “again”.
Who Is Embarrassed?
This comment “Ugandans are really a bunch of f- – ls” says more about the writer than the country.
Italy has 94-year-old senators. The US had an 82-year-old president. France’s oldest MP was 97. Old is not the insult. Useless is.
Gen. Moses Ali met Italians this morning and secured goodwill for water. The trolls met their keyboards and secured likes.
One group will be remembered in Ofua when the tap runs. The other will be forgotten when the thread scrolls up.
His voters expect much from him. That is why they voted. The internet expects a video. That is why it’s angry.
At 86, he’s still choosing which crowd to answer.
