By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
On the eve of the New Year in 1991, President Yoweri Museveni addressed the nation on television and radio where he announced his government’s decision to fully liberalize the economy. The New Year 2002 therefore saw a complete shift from a market largely driven by the state to one that is controlled by private individuals and groups. The Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) were to follow later with a full backing of International Monitory Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Privatization of all state enterprises was started in earnest and massive retrenchment was effected. As was expected, many people, especially those who were affected by job cuts reacted angrily to the decisions by government but those who were aware of globalization and its impact welcomed a liberal economy with open hands because they agued that development attained through state control and socialism was not sustainable in the long run.
Some of the people who were laid off during that period later went into private business and thrived while others, especially those who were used to the soft life provided by Civil Service found the new life hard to live. Some of these retreated to villages where they started a new life of subsistence agriculture while others continued to loiter around Kampala and accepted to live a not-so-dignified lifestyle contrary to one they had been accustomed to. In short, liberalization of the economy brought with it a mixture of fortunes for some people and challenges to others.
The first category of people who fully appreciate liberalization are those in government because it meant less work, less expenses and less commitment to improve the welfare of citizens as the case would be if they were still operating under a socialist or mixed economy. There is no doubt that the economy has grown considerably especially in terms of per capita consumption of goods and services. The other area where there has been marked improvement has been the housing and the automobiles sectors. The price of land within and around Kampala has jumped from an average of five million for an acre in 1992 to over 50 million shillings in 2007. The land in upcountry towns is steadily appreciating in value as well.
However in its quest to create a middle class of wealthy Ugandans, President Museveni’s government has left majority of people, mainly the peasants in extreme poverty. Universal Primary Education (UPE) which is the largest venture in terms of resources this government has undertaken since 1986 is not likely to bring in tangible results in the short run. Investment in physical social infrastructure such as roads, electricity and railways has not been given due attention. As such, the development by the private sector, especially in housing, has in an unprecedented manner, overtaken the social sector. For instance Kampala today boasts of some of the most beautiful houses comparable to those in developed countries, while the roads within the city are deplorable, to say the least.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been quite impressive, but without corresponding recruitment rates. Unemployment is threatening the well-being of the economy and the security of people especially educated. Many investments which are being licensed employ up to only 50 persons who are in most cases semi-illiterate too. Universities today bring on the job market up to 10,000 fresh graduates every year. Majority of these are unemployed for the first two to three years and those who can afford often go into private businesses. These businesses often do not survive beyond one year because of low capital invested, lack of managerial competence and unsustainability problems because the business is used as a source of income for the family even before it becomes profitable.
Privatization and liberalization are the best economic practices in the world today because they promote innovativeness, competition and offer better services and goods. But they are certainly not the best option for poor countries such as Uganda especially when they are not backed up by deliberate government support through strategic intervention mechanisms and systems.
Uganda’s entrepreneurial capacity is still lacking. And it will take a very long time to develop it up to required standards. If the current government sincerely believes in developing the country, it must spend its resources strategically in order to uplift the economy. Government being the largest spender must spend on priority areas which can act as a key starter. Bonabagagawale (wealth for all) programme is not likely to have a positive impact because; individuals will get to little money to start up businesses given the fact that the programme is going to be rolled out throughout the country at once.
Government must as a matter of urgency create a conducive national employment policy but at the same time massively invest in graduates who can potentially kick start the economy through meaningful entrepreneurial development and sustenance. Before this however, more resources must be committed to the development and maintenance of physical social infrastructure, namely roads, railways, water and electricity because these are the real driving force of the economy. The notion which has been over emphasized that people should be job creators and not job seekers doesn’t add up to much unless government does its role of helping them to create jobs.
The writer is a Human Rights Activist
Contact mutasamste@yahoo.com
Tel: 0772-882547
Thursday, February 14, 2008
ONE OF THESE DAYS KAMPALA WILL GROUND TO A HALT
By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
Many cities in Africa face the problem of over crowding but Kampala’s traffic jam is undoubtedly getting out of hand. The situation is likely to get even worse because our planners and engineers are either sleeping or they think that the problem will solve itself in the long run. The most crowded city in terms of vehicles and human traffic in Africa is Lagos, the former capital city of Nigeria, with a vehicle population of over three million. Lagos is however more than ten times the size of Kampala.
In 1992 Uganda had 120,000 vehicles. In 2004, the number of registered vehicles had jumped to 465,574. By the end of last year the total number of registered vehicles was almost reaching 600,000. Of these 80% are based in Kampala and the surrounding areas. In March 2006, a total of 2,555 vehicles were registered, the highest that year. The average vehicles being licensed currently is about 2,300 every month and 100 every day. The reason why we have a lot of traffic jams is not because we have too many vehicles but because our roads are very narrow. They are like village foot paths. Where as importation of cars continue to rise, our roads almost remain unchanged. This is in addition to the fact that the roads are full of potholes.
Construction of new buildings without parking within the city centre continues unabated. Kampala’s Central Business District (CBD) which is about one Kilometer in radius, hosts up to 50,000 cars on a busy day. All these have to compete for parking space, human traffic, roadside traders, together with their merchandise, garbage and offloading trailers. Kampala has the narrowest roads you can find. One can ague that they were constructed a long time ago when cars were few. But even the new roads being constructed nowadays are not any different in size. The much hyped northern bypass, Wakaliga and Ggaba roads are so narrow, one may wonder what was going on in the mind of those who constructed them.
All the roads which bring in and take out traffic from the city are small that if, God forbid, Kampala caught fire, many of us would die in the inferno because we would all be fighting to get out using the available narrow roads. During morning and evening hours, all the roads that lead into and out of the suburbs have jams. Ntinda, Nakulabye, Gayaza, Bwaise, Nateete, Kabalagala, Makindye, Nakawa, Bugolobi, Namuwongo are all annoyingly jammed. Gone are the days when most people would shun to reside along Entebbe road because of the incessant traffic jams. Today, every area around the city has its fair share of traffic jams.
It takes an average of thirty minutes for one to get out of Kampala through all the major routes such as Bombo road, Masaka road, Ggaba road, Entebbe road and Jinja road. Perhaps the clearest show of incompetence and negligence on the part of our planners can be witnessed on two of our most important roads – Jinja and Entebbe roads. Because of their proximity to Kampala, in addition to being host to important installations namely power generation and an international airport, Jinja and Entebbe respectively experience a lot of traffic along their highways. The roads leading to these two towns are narrow as well. One would expect the two roads to have multiple lanes of up to six cars heading in each direction. Currently both roads have only one lane. No wonder there are too many accidents reported on both roads.
On Entebbe road, at the new Airport Road Hotel (Bwebajja), the proprietor has been allowed to construct a structure right next to the road. The same has happened on Jinja road where all the trading centres namely, Kireka, Bweyogerere, Seeta, Mukono etc are all built within the reserve of the highway. In the not so distant future, there will be traffic jam from Kampala up to Jinja and vice versa as the two towns continue to expand towards one another. The same will happen along the route of Entebbe.
One of the greatest achievements the Mayor of Kampala Al Hajji Nasser Ntege Ssebagala would have recorded during his term of office was if he had successfully relocated upcountry buses from accessing the city centre. Sebaggala’s idea of establishing bus terminals in the outskirts of the city where they could pick and drop passengers going and coming from upcountry was the best thing that was going to happen to Kampala in a very long time. He was however blocked by myopic and greedy politicians who were more interested in cashing in from their businesses in the short term. The politicians agued that Kikubo market which is the business hub of fast moving merchandise would collapse and that passengers would be inconvenienced in moving long distances to where the buses were to be relocated. How shallow their thinking was! The consequence of this has been a heightened human and motor vehicle traffic jams and almost total collapse of traffic movement around Baganda Bus Park and Nakivubo area. Passing through this area on any day, whether driving a personal car or walking tests one’s patience to the limit.
If the hotel which was to be constructed at former Shimon premises, together with Hilton hotel at former UBC premises had materialized, we would have had up to ten hotels within the vicinity of less than a kilometer from each other. The other hotels around this area are: Sheraton, Serena, Golf Course hotel at Garden City, Grand Imperial, Imperial Royal, Speke Hotel, Hotel Africana and a new hotel under construction near Centenary Park. I do not know why investors can not realize that most people prefer hotels which are far off from the hustle and bustle of the city. They prefer areas which are in a quiet setting. Common Wealth Resort (formerly Speke Resort) Munyonyo reaps big for hosting many international visitors because it is a distance away from the city centre. It seems Ugandans generally like squeezed places.
The problem of traffic jams require rapid expansion of transport infrastructure and radical thinking to meet the challenges at hand. Traditional thinking of constructing one lane carriage within the vicinity of the city need to be re-examined and new directions established to provide effective and sustainable transport system for current and future generations.
The writer is a Human Rights Activist
Contact mutasamste@yahoo.com
Tel: 0772-882547
Many cities in Africa face the problem of over crowding but Kampala’s traffic jam is undoubtedly getting out of hand. The situation is likely to get even worse because our planners and engineers are either sleeping or they think that the problem will solve itself in the long run. The most crowded city in terms of vehicles and human traffic in Africa is Lagos, the former capital city of Nigeria, with a vehicle population of over three million. Lagos is however more than ten times the size of Kampala.
In 1992 Uganda had 120,000 vehicles. In 2004, the number of registered vehicles had jumped to 465,574. By the end of last year the total number of registered vehicles was almost reaching 600,000. Of these 80% are based in Kampala and the surrounding areas. In March 2006, a total of 2,555 vehicles were registered, the highest that year. The average vehicles being licensed currently is about 2,300 every month and 100 every day. The reason why we have a lot of traffic jams is not because we have too many vehicles but because our roads are very narrow. They are like village foot paths. Where as importation of cars continue to rise, our roads almost remain unchanged. This is in addition to the fact that the roads are full of potholes.
Construction of new buildings without parking within the city centre continues unabated. Kampala’s Central Business District (CBD) which is about one Kilometer in radius, hosts up to 50,000 cars on a busy day. All these have to compete for parking space, human traffic, roadside traders, together with their merchandise, garbage and offloading trailers. Kampala has the narrowest roads you can find. One can ague that they were constructed a long time ago when cars were few. But even the new roads being constructed nowadays are not any different in size. The much hyped northern bypass, Wakaliga and Ggaba roads are so narrow, one may wonder what was going on in the mind of those who constructed them.
All the roads which bring in and take out traffic from the city are small that if, God forbid, Kampala caught fire, many of us would die in the inferno because we would all be fighting to get out using the available narrow roads. During morning and evening hours, all the roads that lead into and out of the suburbs have jams. Ntinda, Nakulabye, Gayaza, Bwaise, Nateete, Kabalagala, Makindye, Nakawa, Bugolobi, Namuwongo are all annoyingly jammed. Gone are the days when most people would shun to reside along Entebbe road because of the incessant traffic jams. Today, every area around the city has its fair share of traffic jams.
It takes an average of thirty minutes for one to get out of Kampala through all the major routes such as Bombo road, Masaka road, Ggaba road, Entebbe road and Jinja road. Perhaps the clearest show of incompetence and negligence on the part of our planners can be witnessed on two of our most important roads – Jinja and Entebbe roads. Because of their proximity to Kampala, in addition to being host to important installations namely power generation and an international airport, Jinja and Entebbe respectively experience a lot of traffic along their highways. The roads leading to these two towns are narrow as well. One would expect the two roads to have multiple lanes of up to six cars heading in each direction. Currently both roads have only one lane. No wonder there are too many accidents reported on both roads.
On Entebbe road, at the new Airport Road Hotel (Bwebajja), the proprietor has been allowed to construct a structure right next to the road. The same has happened on Jinja road where all the trading centres namely, Kireka, Bweyogerere, Seeta, Mukono etc are all built within the reserve of the highway. In the not so distant future, there will be traffic jam from Kampala up to Jinja and vice versa as the two towns continue to expand towards one another. The same will happen along the route of Entebbe.
One of the greatest achievements the Mayor of Kampala Al Hajji Nasser Ntege Ssebagala would have recorded during his term of office was if he had successfully relocated upcountry buses from accessing the city centre. Sebaggala’s idea of establishing bus terminals in the outskirts of the city where they could pick and drop passengers going and coming from upcountry was the best thing that was going to happen to Kampala in a very long time. He was however blocked by myopic and greedy politicians who were more interested in cashing in from their businesses in the short term. The politicians agued that Kikubo market which is the business hub of fast moving merchandise would collapse and that passengers would be inconvenienced in moving long distances to where the buses were to be relocated. How shallow their thinking was! The consequence of this has been a heightened human and motor vehicle traffic jams and almost total collapse of traffic movement around Baganda Bus Park and Nakivubo area. Passing through this area on any day, whether driving a personal car or walking tests one’s patience to the limit.
If the hotel which was to be constructed at former Shimon premises, together with Hilton hotel at former UBC premises had materialized, we would have had up to ten hotels within the vicinity of less than a kilometer from each other. The other hotels around this area are: Sheraton, Serena, Golf Course hotel at Garden City, Grand Imperial, Imperial Royal, Speke Hotel, Hotel Africana and a new hotel under construction near Centenary Park. I do not know why investors can not realize that most people prefer hotels which are far off from the hustle and bustle of the city. They prefer areas which are in a quiet setting. Common Wealth Resort (formerly Speke Resort) Munyonyo reaps big for hosting many international visitors because it is a distance away from the city centre. It seems Ugandans generally like squeezed places.
The problem of traffic jams require rapid expansion of transport infrastructure and radical thinking to meet the challenges at hand. Traditional thinking of constructing one lane carriage within the vicinity of the city need to be re-examined and new directions established to provide effective and sustainable transport system for current and future generations.
The writer is a Human Rights Activist
Contact mutasamste@yahoo.com
Tel: 0772-882547
STREET CHILDREN: JANET MUSEVENI’S LULLABY WILL KEEP THEM THERE
By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
First Lady Janet Museveni who also represents the people of Ruhaama County in Parliament was recently quoted in the media as having said that she is ashamed whenever she drives on Kampala streets and witnesses breast feeding mothers and street children. She said she thinks the reason why God put her into politics is to use this new found office to help these people. Janet sounded as though she had all of a sudden noticed the problem of street children. As if, all along they had not been there or that the problem had only gotten worse recently. Whether she meant what she said is up to her to decide in her heart. Whether she will succeed in taking off children from the streets is nothing but gamble, a preconceived failure.
All urban centers especially in developing countries have high numbers of street children but Uganda’s case has gone beyond imaginable proportions. Street children in Uganda are a manifestation of a failed system of political governance that would ordinarily direct resources to rural areas such that the children who would otherwise be attracted to stay on the streets in urban areas can comfortably eke a living in rural areas. Although life on the streets is difficult for these children, it is even harder for them in rural areas where they are not even sure of getting rotten bread and food left-over refuse that is readily available in many of Kampala’s uncollected garbage.
The condition of people living on the streets is not a choice these people make; it is rather a forced option that has been dictated upon them by the prevailing circumstances. Young girls for instance, who can not afford to look after their babies but at the same time can not fathom carrying out an abortion have only one option, to put such children on the street, at the mercy of the public and God. The common answer most researchers have received while asking street children as to why they choose to stay on the street rather than their homes has been that because there is neither food nor peace at home. There is no food at home because there is no money to buy it. At the same time there can’t be peace at home when there is no money. Parents quarrel and fight all night and the people who bear the consequences are the children. In some cases parents forcefully send their children to the streets while in other cases the children choose by themselves to run away hoping to get “peace” away from home.
Up until this point there have been many NGOs working with street children. There are more than fifty NGOs in Kampala and its environs alone. Various charities have used tremendous efforts in trying to work out a solution of eradicating the problem of street children. Their efforts have however been out rightly defeated. Pastor Robert Kayanja of miracle Centre Cathedral for instance, established a children’s home in Kapeeka Luweero in late 1990s to rehabilitate street children. The project started with a lot of vigour and vibrancy. Using his double Decker buses, his team would move around Kampala streets luring children with gifts and presents to jump on to the bus and take the opportunity of being taken to school, having better meals and clothing etc. the project registered tremendous success in its early years. Many children were indeed rehabilitated and some of them went on to become important people. Soon however, Kayanja realized that the project was not sustainable. It was like pouring water in a bottomless pit. The more the buses collected children the more new ones would pour on to the streets. Kayanja’s efforts were soon over stretched beyond measure and currently the project is in limbo.
Individual efforts like that of Kayanja are very important and welcome in dealing with the issue. However government’s deliberate policies of providing a conducive atmosphere for individual homes to develop would be more effective in stemming out the problem of street children. Janet is aware that the family is the fundamental unit of any society. What therefore happens at the family level will ultimately have an impact on the macro level of the entire country. Unless the issues of economic empowerment are squarely addressed in their entirety, the numbers of people living on the streets especially in Kampala is going to keep on increasing and Janet will keep talking.
Once in a while, KCC and government round up these children and put them on trucks to take them to Kampiringisa National Rehabilitation Centre (KNRC). One such operation was carried out in May 2002 spearheaded by the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development (MGLSD). Kampiringisa itself has been run down with dwindling budget allocations from the central government. At the same time, the rate at which the trucks were ferrying children there was higher than what the facilities could accommodate. As we talk now, KCC and MGLSD have decided to “look the other way” on the issue of street children as if it is no longer their concern. To make matters worse, street children in Kampala who had hitherto been from Kampala and its neighbouring areas have now been joined by children from Karamoja together with their mothers!
It is easy for Janet to talk and arouse people’s feelings hoping that something fundamental is going to happen soon that shall forever change for the better the lives of people living on the streets. It will take much more than mere talking to find a lasting solution to the problem of street children. In more specific terms Janet should direct her talk to the leader of the current government, who also happens to be her husband to reorient the government programmes from the current trend of emphasizing creation of middle class to a more realistic and meaningful approach of delivering services to those who need them most – the wanainchi and their children.
The writer is a Human Rights Activist
Contact mutasamste@yahoo.com
Tel: 0772-882547
First Lady Janet Museveni who also represents the people of Ruhaama County in Parliament was recently quoted in the media as having said that she is ashamed whenever she drives on Kampala streets and witnesses breast feeding mothers and street children. She said she thinks the reason why God put her into politics is to use this new found office to help these people. Janet sounded as though she had all of a sudden noticed the problem of street children. As if, all along they had not been there or that the problem had only gotten worse recently. Whether she meant what she said is up to her to decide in her heart. Whether she will succeed in taking off children from the streets is nothing but gamble, a preconceived failure.
All urban centers especially in developing countries have high numbers of street children but Uganda’s case has gone beyond imaginable proportions. Street children in Uganda are a manifestation of a failed system of political governance that would ordinarily direct resources to rural areas such that the children who would otherwise be attracted to stay on the streets in urban areas can comfortably eke a living in rural areas. Although life on the streets is difficult for these children, it is even harder for them in rural areas where they are not even sure of getting rotten bread and food left-over refuse that is readily available in many of Kampala’s uncollected garbage.
The condition of people living on the streets is not a choice these people make; it is rather a forced option that has been dictated upon them by the prevailing circumstances. Young girls for instance, who can not afford to look after their babies but at the same time can not fathom carrying out an abortion have only one option, to put such children on the street, at the mercy of the public and God. The common answer most researchers have received while asking street children as to why they choose to stay on the street rather than their homes has been that because there is neither food nor peace at home. There is no food at home because there is no money to buy it. At the same time there can’t be peace at home when there is no money. Parents quarrel and fight all night and the people who bear the consequences are the children. In some cases parents forcefully send their children to the streets while in other cases the children choose by themselves to run away hoping to get “peace” away from home.
Up until this point there have been many NGOs working with street children. There are more than fifty NGOs in Kampala and its environs alone. Various charities have used tremendous efforts in trying to work out a solution of eradicating the problem of street children. Their efforts have however been out rightly defeated. Pastor Robert Kayanja of miracle Centre Cathedral for instance, established a children’s home in Kapeeka Luweero in late 1990s to rehabilitate street children. The project started with a lot of vigour and vibrancy. Using his double Decker buses, his team would move around Kampala streets luring children with gifts and presents to jump on to the bus and take the opportunity of being taken to school, having better meals and clothing etc. the project registered tremendous success in its early years. Many children were indeed rehabilitated and some of them went on to become important people. Soon however, Kayanja realized that the project was not sustainable. It was like pouring water in a bottomless pit. The more the buses collected children the more new ones would pour on to the streets. Kayanja’s efforts were soon over stretched beyond measure and currently the project is in limbo.
Individual efforts like that of Kayanja are very important and welcome in dealing with the issue. However government’s deliberate policies of providing a conducive atmosphere for individual homes to develop would be more effective in stemming out the problem of street children. Janet is aware that the family is the fundamental unit of any society. What therefore happens at the family level will ultimately have an impact on the macro level of the entire country. Unless the issues of economic empowerment are squarely addressed in their entirety, the numbers of people living on the streets especially in Kampala is going to keep on increasing and Janet will keep talking.
Once in a while, KCC and government round up these children and put them on trucks to take them to Kampiringisa National Rehabilitation Centre (KNRC). One such operation was carried out in May 2002 spearheaded by the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development (MGLSD). Kampiringisa itself has been run down with dwindling budget allocations from the central government. At the same time, the rate at which the trucks were ferrying children there was higher than what the facilities could accommodate. As we talk now, KCC and MGLSD have decided to “look the other way” on the issue of street children as if it is no longer their concern. To make matters worse, street children in Kampala who had hitherto been from Kampala and its neighbouring areas have now been joined by children from Karamoja together with their mothers!
It is easy for Janet to talk and arouse people’s feelings hoping that something fundamental is going to happen soon that shall forever change for the better the lives of people living on the streets. It will take much more than mere talking to find a lasting solution to the problem of street children. In more specific terms Janet should direct her talk to the leader of the current government, who also happens to be her husband to reorient the government programmes from the current trend of emphasizing creation of middle class to a more realistic and meaningful approach of delivering services to those who need them most – the wanainchi and their children.
The writer is a Human Rights Activist
Contact mutasamste@yahoo.com
Tel: 0772-882547
NEW INSTITUTIONS, POLICY DOCUMENTS ARE STAGNATING UGANDA’S DEVELOPMENT
By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
Any country’s development is determined by many indicators, most important of which is human development. Human (personal) development usually remains low when investment in infrastructure and social services is minimal. Development is a broad term that encompasses issues such as per capita income, infrastructure, employment levels, health and education of the population among others. There is no specific development model that is agreeable to everyone. Every country must employ what they perceive as the best means to achieve development. However there is a strong and positive casual link between the quality of administration of government on one hand and economic performance on the other.
To any critical analyst, the means the government of Uganda has chosen to use to achieve development serve contrary purposes. Formation and creation of new institutions, departments, districts and other organs has been the hallmark of the present government. For instance a new institution in the name of Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) was formed recently leaving many of us to wonder whether this new institution will deliver meaningfully than its mother ministry (Works and Transport). I cannot talk about creation of new districts because this is a disaster in waiting for not only the planners of this country but future political leaders as well.
New institutions rarely bring new innovations. They only concentrate on developing documents and making reports that are hardly ever implemented. PMA, PEAP and Bonabagagawale are some of the huge documents that have been developed to guide the development process but have had little effect on the same. The development agenda has been blurred by too much and unnecessary paper work which is not only hard to implement but sometimes ends up confusing the would-be implementers and the people for whom the services are intended. Enough policy papers have been produced without corresponding efforts in making tangible implementation. The public has been fleeced by institutions through innumerable documents that hardly translate into development. Most times policy documents are overtaken by events and time, only for institutions to come up with revised editions and new policies altogether. PEAP for example which is regarded as the most comprehensive document by government aimed at eradicating poverty in the country, has since inception, remained a mere document. It has been revised more than two times. The other example is that of Ministry of health with more than 50 policy papers and programmes and unnecessarily many administrative staff at its headquarters who spend much of the time in workshops within the country and abroad.
According to the current (2007) UNDP Human Development Report, the priorities in public spending for the government of Uganda still leave a lot to be desired. In 2004, 2.8% of GDP was spent on health compared to 2.3% on the military and defence services excluding police and other security agencies.
Although government continues to blow its own trumpet on how it is doing well on education because of the introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) everything is not fine as it would want us to believe. A bigger chunk of UPE funds come from donors, let alone the fact that the quality of education especially in UPE schools continues to deteriorate due to large numbers of pupils per class. Between 2002-2005, government spent 5.2% of the country’s GDP on education. During the same period, our eastern neighbour Kenya, which had not introduced UPE then spent 6.7% on education. Rwanda has been for the last five years spending approximately 20% of its budget on infrastructure development especially roads, hospitals and schools. Apart from the money that was recently spent on beautifying Kampala city in preparation for CHOGM, the rest remains on paper (Greater Kampala Master Plan) without any definite programme on when actual implementation shall take place.
In spite of the fact that the three most important sectors (education, health and agriculture) are still under funded, even the little money that is allocated is never optimally utilised. The ministry of agriculture remains one of the most redundant ministries in the Uganda. Arguably, it receives the largest share of the government budget (over 10%). Of this 80% is spent on wages and salaries, cars, workshops and travel abroad. The reminder is allocated to county and sub county extension workers in purchase of motorcycles and fuel to monitor rural farmers’ performance and to provide the so called outreach services. I can authoritatively state that the government and the people of Uganda can comfortably live without the ministry of agriculture given its below average performance over the years.
Uganda’s poor performance in infrastructure development and sustenance can be explained by the adoption by government of inappropriate strategy of creating innumerable entities which are not viable. The notion that infrastructure development has now shifted from being a government responsibility to a responsibility of the private sector is a big mistake which is likely to lead to disproportionate development in different sectors of the economy. Where as for instance, the communication sector in Uganda today compares favourably with that in developed countries, the energy and transport sectors remain largely under developed. It is high time government wakes up to the fact that it takes more than talking and writing policies to develop a country. Policy papers can only serve as a guide towards achieving bigger goals. However important they may be, irrespective of what is written on them they will always remain what they have been - papers
The writer is a Human Rights Activist
Contact: mutasamste@yahoo.com
0772-882547
Any country’s development is determined by many indicators, most important of which is human development. Human (personal) development usually remains low when investment in infrastructure and social services is minimal. Development is a broad term that encompasses issues such as per capita income, infrastructure, employment levels, health and education of the population among others. There is no specific development model that is agreeable to everyone. Every country must employ what they perceive as the best means to achieve development. However there is a strong and positive casual link between the quality of administration of government on one hand and economic performance on the other.
To any critical analyst, the means the government of Uganda has chosen to use to achieve development serve contrary purposes. Formation and creation of new institutions, departments, districts and other organs has been the hallmark of the present government. For instance a new institution in the name of Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) was formed recently leaving many of us to wonder whether this new institution will deliver meaningfully than its mother ministry (Works and Transport). I cannot talk about creation of new districts because this is a disaster in waiting for not only the planners of this country but future political leaders as well.
New institutions rarely bring new innovations. They only concentrate on developing documents and making reports that are hardly ever implemented. PMA, PEAP and Bonabagagawale are some of the huge documents that have been developed to guide the development process but have had little effect on the same. The development agenda has been blurred by too much and unnecessary paper work which is not only hard to implement but sometimes ends up confusing the would-be implementers and the people for whom the services are intended. Enough policy papers have been produced without corresponding efforts in making tangible implementation. The public has been fleeced by institutions through innumerable documents that hardly translate into development. Most times policy documents are overtaken by events and time, only for institutions to come up with revised editions and new policies altogether. PEAP for example which is regarded as the most comprehensive document by government aimed at eradicating poverty in the country, has since inception, remained a mere document. It has been revised more than two times. The other example is that of Ministry of health with more than 50 policy papers and programmes and unnecessarily many administrative staff at its headquarters who spend much of the time in workshops within the country and abroad.
According to the current (2007) UNDP Human Development Report, the priorities in public spending for the government of Uganda still leave a lot to be desired. In 2004, 2.8% of GDP was spent on health compared to 2.3% on the military and defence services excluding police and other security agencies.
Although government continues to blow its own trumpet on how it is doing well on education because of the introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) everything is not fine as it would want us to believe. A bigger chunk of UPE funds come from donors, let alone the fact that the quality of education especially in UPE schools continues to deteriorate due to large numbers of pupils per class. Between 2002-2005, government spent 5.2% of the country’s GDP on education. During the same period, our eastern neighbour Kenya, which had not introduced UPE then spent 6.7% on education. Rwanda has been for the last five years spending approximately 20% of its budget on infrastructure development especially roads, hospitals and schools. Apart from the money that was recently spent on beautifying Kampala city in preparation for CHOGM, the rest remains on paper (Greater Kampala Master Plan) without any definite programme on when actual implementation shall take place.
In spite of the fact that the three most important sectors (education, health and agriculture) are still under funded, even the little money that is allocated is never optimally utilised. The ministry of agriculture remains one of the most redundant ministries in the Uganda. Arguably, it receives the largest share of the government budget (over 10%). Of this 80% is spent on wages and salaries, cars, workshops and travel abroad. The reminder is allocated to county and sub county extension workers in purchase of motorcycles and fuel to monitor rural farmers’ performance and to provide the so called outreach services. I can authoritatively state that the government and the people of Uganda can comfortably live without the ministry of agriculture given its below average performance over the years.
Uganda’s poor performance in infrastructure development and sustenance can be explained by the adoption by government of inappropriate strategy of creating innumerable entities which are not viable. The notion that infrastructure development has now shifted from being a government responsibility to a responsibility of the private sector is a big mistake which is likely to lead to disproportionate development in different sectors of the economy. Where as for instance, the communication sector in Uganda today compares favourably with that in developed countries, the energy and transport sectors remain largely under developed. It is high time government wakes up to the fact that it takes more than talking and writing policies to develop a country. Policy papers can only serve as a guide towards achieving bigger goals. However important they may be, irrespective of what is written on them they will always remain what they have been - papers
The writer is a Human Rights Activist
Contact: mutasamste@yahoo.com
0772-882547
JUSTICE FOR THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTH IN UGANDA
THE PATH THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTH TREAD TO GET JUSTICE IN UGANDA’S COURTS OF LAW
By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
Two years ago, Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), a local human rights watchdog visited Luzira and other government prisons to acquaint themselves with the conditions of incarceration centres in the country and to gauge the performance of Uganda prisons standards vis-à-vis the Standard Minimum Rules (SMR) for the treatment of prisoners (United Nations Treaties and guidelines). The revelations were stunning in as much as there had been improvements recorded over time. One of the most shocking revelations was that some prisoners had spent over three years on remand having never been produced in any court of law.
According to the findings 61% of 19,000 prisoners held in all government prisons countrywide were on remand in 2005. Over 90% of all prisoners have no knowledge on legal procedures while 67% of prisoners receive no legal advice throughout their trial. 70% of offenders are illiterate and are not aware of bail provisions. A large number of inmates cannot afford to pay bail funds which are in most cases exorbitant and thus are forced to return to prison as they await trial, which often comes at a snails pace.
Mind boggling as this may be the practice seems to be normal according to prison officials given the fact that the current scenario presents an improved picture of what was happening in the past where some prisoners were spending more than five years without trial. They said the delivery of justice and the conditions of prison facilities are continually improving.
Readers must note that the official gazetted maximum time for one to be presented to a competent court after arrest is 48 hours while the mandatory remand period is 360 days for capital offences and 120 days for petty offences. One can however ague that 48 hours is too short a time for the resource constrained justice system in Uganda to adhere to. But how can one justify a system that would stretch such a mandatory and constitutional provision to an obnoxious three years? I don’t know how many hours are in three years but they must be in millions. As if that is not enough, almost half of the people who are normally kept on remand for more than a year end up being released at their first appearance in court either due to lack of sufficient evidence or because they are found not guilty.
Because of staying long in prison which in most cases leads to poverty of the accused and members of their immediate families, coupled with ignorance of the law, hardly anyone has ever sued government for wrongful incarceration and denial of freedom of movement while they were in prison. The culprits normally celebrate their new found joy having lived in a prison environment for a very long time. The cycle of law enforcement agencies arresting and sending innocent people to prison keeps rotating because nobody challenges the status quo.
I don’t know how other people feel but there is nothing I abhor like injustice. I hate injustice with all my might, mind and energy. It makes me sick. Being accused falsely and staying in prison without being convicted nor sentenced is the second highest price one can pay, the highest being death itself. It is the worst form of injustice.
Now, parallel to this treatment offered to the poor and the wretched of the earth, there is a kind of justice that is given to the affluent and the mighty. They know the Law and have better connections to those in power. I am talking about people like those who were involved in the misappropriation of the now famous Global and GAVI funds. Despite the fact that there is incontrovertible evidence that money was stolen, the accused persons were arrested, brought before courts of law with in the prescribed mandatory period and charged. After a day or two they applied for bail which was granted without any hustle. The next are trivialities that will keep the public expecting the courts pronouncements on whether the accused are guilty or other wise, a judgement that is likely to take longer than the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Despite an assurance by the courts that the trial of the accused would be done expeditiously, so far there have been more than four adjournments with very flimsy excuses offered by both the courts and lawyers of the accused. This is termed as delaying tactics to weaken the case. The longer the case takes to adjudicate, the harder it becomes to present credible evidence to convict the accused. Lest I am accused of subjudice, (biasing courts of Law) I leave the reader to complete my thought about the ongoing trial of GAVI and global funds
Cases carefully investigated by police lead to expeditious trials. Expeditious trials are cost effective on the part of government and the accused. They make justice meaningful and not a mockery. They are assuring to the complainant, the accused and the public at large. To the poor and illiterate people on remand in prisons, justice delayed is justice denied. But to the rich, famous and well connected individuals, justice delayed is sweet delayed victory that awaits public outcry and anger to subside. It is a predetermined “not guilty verdict” that is known both to the accused and the court but waiting to be delivered at a distant date. It is a ridicule of justice in the real sense of international law and adjudication of judicial matters that negates the fundamental principal of “every one is equal before the Law”. It seems Raymond Chandler was right after all when he said “The law isn't justice. It's a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be.”
The writer is a Human Rights Activist
Contact mutasamste@yahoo.com
Tel: 0772-882547
By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
Two years ago, Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), a local human rights watchdog visited Luzira and other government prisons to acquaint themselves with the conditions of incarceration centres in the country and to gauge the performance of Uganda prisons standards vis-à-vis the Standard Minimum Rules (SMR) for the treatment of prisoners (United Nations Treaties and guidelines). The revelations were stunning in as much as there had been improvements recorded over time. One of the most shocking revelations was that some prisoners had spent over three years on remand having never been produced in any court of law.
According to the findings 61% of 19,000 prisoners held in all government prisons countrywide were on remand in 2005. Over 90% of all prisoners have no knowledge on legal procedures while 67% of prisoners receive no legal advice throughout their trial. 70% of offenders are illiterate and are not aware of bail provisions. A large number of inmates cannot afford to pay bail funds which are in most cases exorbitant and thus are forced to return to prison as they await trial, which often comes at a snails pace.
Mind boggling as this may be the practice seems to be normal according to prison officials given the fact that the current scenario presents an improved picture of what was happening in the past where some prisoners were spending more than five years without trial. They said the delivery of justice and the conditions of prison facilities are continually improving.
Readers must note that the official gazetted maximum time for one to be presented to a competent court after arrest is 48 hours while the mandatory remand period is 360 days for capital offences and 120 days for petty offences. One can however ague that 48 hours is too short a time for the resource constrained justice system in Uganda to adhere to. But how can one justify a system that would stretch such a mandatory and constitutional provision to an obnoxious three years? I don’t know how many hours are in three years but they must be in millions. As if that is not enough, almost half of the people who are normally kept on remand for more than a year end up being released at their first appearance in court either due to lack of sufficient evidence or because they are found not guilty.
Because of staying long in prison which in most cases leads to poverty of the accused and members of their immediate families, coupled with ignorance of the law, hardly anyone has ever sued government for wrongful incarceration and denial of freedom of movement while they were in prison. The culprits normally celebrate their new found joy having lived in a prison environment for a very long time. The cycle of law enforcement agencies arresting and sending innocent people to prison keeps rotating because nobody challenges the status quo.
I don’t know how other people feel but there is nothing I abhor like injustice. I hate injustice with all my might, mind and energy. It makes me sick. Being accused falsely and staying in prison without being convicted nor sentenced is the second highest price one can pay, the highest being death itself. It is the worst form of injustice.
Now, parallel to this treatment offered to the poor and the wretched of the earth, there is a kind of justice that is given to the affluent and the mighty. They know the Law and have better connections to those in power. I am talking about people like those who were involved in the misappropriation of the now famous Global and GAVI funds. Despite the fact that there is incontrovertible evidence that money was stolen, the accused persons were arrested, brought before courts of law with in the prescribed mandatory period and charged. After a day or two they applied for bail which was granted without any hustle. The next are trivialities that will keep the public expecting the courts pronouncements on whether the accused are guilty or other wise, a judgement that is likely to take longer than the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Despite an assurance by the courts that the trial of the accused would be done expeditiously, so far there have been more than four adjournments with very flimsy excuses offered by both the courts and lawyers of the accused. This is termed as delaying tactics to weaken the case. The longer the case takes to adjudicate, the harder it becomes to present credible evidence to convict the accused. Lest I am accused of subjudice, (biasing courts of Law) I leave the reader to complete my thought about the ongoing trial of GAVI and global funds
Cases carefully investigated by police lead to expeditious trials. Expeditious trials are cost effective on the part of government and the accused. They make justice meaningful and not a mockery. They are assuring to the complainant, the accused and the public at large. To the poor and illiterate people on remand in prisons, justice delayed is justice denied. But to the rich, famous and well connected individuals, justice delayed is sweet delayed victory that awaits public outcry and anger to subside. It is a predetermined “not guilty verdict” that is known both to the accused and the court but waiting to be delivered at a distant date. It is a ridicule of justice in the real sense of international law and adjudication of judicial matters that negates the fundamental principal of “every one is equal before the Law”. It seems Raymond Chandler was right after all when he said “The law isn't justice. It's a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be.”
The writer is a Human Rights Activist
Contact mutasamste@yahoo.com
Tel: 0772-882547
MEDIA HAS DIFFERENT AGENDA FOR NORTHERN UGANDA
By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
The Sunrise of 16th-23rd November 2007 had three pieces with titles “Ayena a danger to reconciliation” by Alpha Katz; “Stop rewarding rebels” by Onek Lazarus and “LRA treated like real Lords” by Mukiibi Sserunjogi. The three articles were the same in content with a general view that the LRA must never be forgiven because of the atrocities they committed in northern Uganda.
Until I read the above mentioned articles, I believed that journalists, especially those in Uganda are conversant with common knowledge that the media has a lot of influence on attaining peace in northern Uganda. I was further convinced that every journalist/media house is working towards achieving total peace in that part of the country. I now know that either the three authors were not aware of the consequences of what they wrote or they do not care altogether whether peace returns to the north or not. Dwight Eisenhower once wrote, "I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than are governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it." The message that has been repeated severally has been that people in the north are tired of war and anything; I repeat anything that can bring an end to their suffering would be a welcome relief to the people affected and the whole country at large. I share the same sentiment.
The semblance of peace that has come to northern Uganda in the last one year or so has made some people to think that Kony (LRA) has been completely decimated to the point of complete military incapacity to make any more attacks and incursions on the people and their property, something that is farfetched. This view is mainly being propagated by people who have been less affected by the war. They have never experienced the hallowing encounter that the people of northern Uganda have dealt with for more than two decades. I do not wholly blame some pessimists though because they can not fathom a scenario where Kony and his henchmen can be forgiven let alone reward them materially given the unimaginable atrocities they committed. It is hard to believe but it has to be done for the sake of peace.
It is important for people to know that Kony has the means and capacity to cause more havoc when peace fails because he has little to lose, yet on the other hand the affected people and the government have everything to lose. Only two LRA rebels are capable of causing mayhem in a whole village. There is a saying in one of the local languages that “A powerful person can kill your father and later take your mother as his wife”. The LRA can therefore be equated to the strong man because it has terrorized northern Uganda for a very long time.
The LRA does not have any credibility nor does it have the moral instinct to discern the importance of peace. Most of us should be grateful that they accepted to talk peace with government in the first place. People like Alpha Katz must swallow their pride and rally all Ugandans to the side of peace and reconciliation rather than agitating for harsh punishment for LRA which may lead to bloodshed and instability once more. The LRA has never and can never spare anyone’s life. The evidence of this is the rumour that Kony may have actually killed his second in command Vincent Otti. If this is true, then who would be safe when peace talks collapse? I am personally convinced that when the worst of the worst comes to bear, Kony can kill himself if that is what it would take to show to Ugandans and the current regime that he is heartless. He does not value life.
Northern Uganda has so far tested the benefits of the peace. This lull of peace, truth be told, has been due to the on going negotiations in Juba. It would be reckless for anybody to agitate and call for the reversal of this winning formula in support of the military option which did not bring peace in twenty years. The opportunity cost of not forgiving LRA is too high to pay. We cannot trust government’s pronouncements that ‘with or without peace talks peace will return to northern Uganda’. The negotiation process may take long but its benefits that will accrue are worth the waiting. Reconciliation and forgiveness to an adversary is a hard thing to do but war with its attendant effects is even a harder option.
The scars of the victims of the war will take long to heal but if peace is given chance, the rebels will not have an excuse of inflicting more pain on to new and old victims. Peace does not have a price but the price of war is too high to measure, more so if such a war has taken too long a time, displaced too many a people, uprooted and distorted to many a culture and caused untold suffering and hopelessness.
This is not to suggest that Ugandans should not recount the experiences that people in the north underwent during war. Truth must be told if the region is to have long lasting peace and for reconciliation and co-existence to occur. This must however be done with a lot of humility and humbleness so as to arouse the minimum resentment and arrogance on both sides. The fact that the LRA has been asking for forgiveness for the atrocities they committed is a good starting point. It is morally wrong to refuse to forgive someone who has asked in a sincere manner to be forgiven because then the one who is asking to be forgiven may resort to other means or may become adamant. Whether the LRA is sincere in apologizing for their crimes remains to be seen. This will specifically depend on whether the current peace obtaining in the region will last without any new attacks.
Let me end with a quotation from Louis Lecoin ; "If it were proved to me that in making war, my ideal had a chance of being realized, I would still say 'no' to war. For one does not create a human society on mounds of corpses." The LRA rebellion has created more than mounds of corpses and its time journalists and the media gave peace a chance
***The writer is a freelance human rights activist
The Sunrise of 16th-23rd November 2007 had three pieces with titles “Ayena a danger to reconciliation” by Alpha Katz; “Stop rewarding rebels” by Onek Lazarus and “LRA treated like real Lords” by Mukiibi Sserunjogi. The three articles were the same in content with a general view that the LRA must never be forgiven because of the atrocities they committed in northern Uganda.
Until I read the above mentioned articles, I believed that journalists, especially those in Uganda are conversant with common knowledge that the media has a lot of influence on attaining peace in northern Uganda. I was further convinced that every journalist/media house is working towards achieving total peace in that part of the country. I now know that either the three authors were not aware of the consequences of what they wrote or they do not care altogether whether peace returns to the north or not. Dwight Eisenhower once wrote, "I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than are governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it." The message that has been repeated severally has been that people in the north are tired of war and anything; I repeat anything that can bring an end to their suffering would be a welcome relief to the people affected and the whole country at large. I share the same sentiment.
The semblance of peace that has come to northern Uganda in the last one year or so has made some people to think that Kony (LRA) has been completely decimated to the point of complete military incapacity to make any more attacks and incursions on the people and their property, something that is farfetched. This view is mainly being propagated by people who have been less affected by the war. They have never experienced the hallowing encounter that the people of northern Uganda have dealt with for more than two decades. I do not wholly blame some pessimists though because they can not fathom a scenario where Kony and his henchmen can be forgiven let alone reward them materially given the unimaginable atrocities they committed. It is hard to believe but it has to be done for the sake of peace.
It is important for people to know that Kony has the means and capacity to cause more havoc when peace fails because he has little to lose, yet on the other hand the affected people and the government have everything to lose. Only two LRA rebels are capable of causing mayhem in a whole village. There is a saying in one of the local languages that “A powerful person can kill your father and later take your mother as his wife”. The LRA can therefore be equated to the strong man because it has terrorized northern Uganda for a very long time.
The LRA does not have any credibility nor does it have the moral instinct to discern the importance of peace. Most of us should be grateful that they accepted to talk peace with government in the first place. People like Alpha Katz must swallow their pride and rally all Ugandans to the side of peace and reconciliation rather than agitating for harsh punishment for LRA which may lead to bloodshed and instability once more. The LRA has never and can never spare anyone’s life. The evidence of this is the rumour that Kony may have actually killed his second in command Vincent Otti. If this is true, then who would be safe when peace talks collapse? I am personally convinced that when the worst of the worst comes to bear, Kony can kill himself if that is what it would take to show to Ugandans and the current regime that he is heartless. He does not value life.
Northern Uganda has so far tested the benefits of the peace. This lull of peace, truth be told, has been due to the on going negotiations in Juba. It would be reckless for anybody to agitate and call for the reversal of this winning formula in support of the military option which did not bring peace in twenty years. The opportunity cost of not forgiving LRA is too high to pay. We cannot trust government’s pronouncements that ‘with or without peace talks peace will return to northern Uganda’. The negotiation process may take long but its benefits that will accrue are worth the waiting. Reconciliation and forgiveness to an adversary is a hard thing to do but war with its attendant effects is even a harder option.
The scars of the victims of the war will take long to heal but if peace is given chance, the rebels will not have an excuse of inflicting more pain on to new and old victims. Peace does not have a price but the price of war is too high to measure, more so if such a war has taken too long a time, displaced too many a people, uprooted and distorted to many a culture and caused untold suffering and hopelessness.
This is not to suggest that Ugandans should not recount the experiences that people in the north underwent during war. Truth must be told if the region is to have long lasting peace and for reconciliation and co-existence to occur. This must however be done with a lot of humility and humbleness so as to arouse the minimum resentment and arrogance on both sides. The fact that the LRA has been asking for forgiveness for the atrocities they committed is a good starting point. It is morally wrong to refuse to forgive someone who has asked in a sincere manner to be forgiven because then the one who is asking to be forgiven may resort to other means or may become adamant. Whether the LRA is sincere in apologizing for their crimes remains to be seen. This will specifically depend on whether the current peace obtaining in the region will last without any new attacks.
Let me end with a quotation from Louis Lecoin ; "If it were proved to me that in making war, my ideal had a chance of being realized, I would still say 'no' to war. For one does not create a human society on mounds of corpses." The LRA rebellion has created more than mounds of corpses and its time journalists and the media gave peace a chance
***The writer is a freelance human rights activist
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)