By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
Some people have argued that democracy is not necessarily a prerequisite for society to achieve development. I am not one of those because I believe that development brought about by democracy is more rewarding and sustainable while that without is like smokescreen. Through a democratic election in 2006 people in Kampala overwhelmingly voted Al Hajji Nasser Ntege Sebaggala as their Mayor for a period of five years. Although most of the elites including myself were supporting Sebaggala’s opponent, Peter Ssematimba, because we believed that he would make a better mayor because of his education and exposure, Sebaggala won because his supporters, the urban uneducated poor overwhelmingly gave him the votes. I was skeptical from the beginning about Sebaggala’s promises of making the city better but all the same I gave him my benefit of doubt.
In his last year serving as the mayor of this dusty, muddy city, Sebaggala has occupied that seat with nothing much to show in terms of achievements. The city has become more disorganized with less service delivery than he found it. In fact one can argue that, possibly, the city may have been better without him because he almost adds no value apart from drawing a salary, allowances and being driven in a state of the art vehicles with personalized number plates written on “MAYOR”.
When he recently froze KCC accounts, an action that led to a strike by KCC workers over unpaid salaries, hardly did any thing change in terms of service delivery to city residents. The garbage went uncollected like had been the case before and the state of roads remained in a sorry condition like when the accounts were active. Sebaggala has always complained about inadequate funds that KCC receives from the central government as the reason why he may not deliver the services. He says that government sends him only 15 Billion shilling for roads every year. Although it may be true that this money is not enough to fix the roads in the city as the mayor agues, it is not too little to fix most potholes on some of the major roads in the city. It is very annoying that KCC only fixes the road when it has completely become impassable.
Both Sebaggala and former President Idi Amin share many commonalities but the most outstanding are two - minimum formal education levels and untamable egos. Both have big dreams and luck is on their side most of the time as they tell blatant lies to the people they lead without any recourse. The difference between the two men is that Sebaggala was elected while Amin captured power by force. As one English commentator once said “One wonders how a buffoon like Idi Amin managed to rule Uganda for eight years superintending over some of the best brains in Africa”. The same question can be asked today about how people like Sebaggala with his level of understanding can be able to become mayor of Kampala for all this time with all capable persons around. He is not ashamed because he recently announced that he will be seeking another term in office as mayor!
Idi Amin, at one time thought that his army was too powerful to militarily defeat the armed forces of Israel and possibly capture and occupy the famous Golan Heights. In the same vein, Sebaggala recently made public an artist’s impression of the building he wants to put up in Kampala with fifty floors. The building, he says, shall become the tallest in East and Central Africa. This is not to talk about the three hundred buses he promised to bring to the city when he had just assumed the office of the mayor. One wonders whether the mayor has any sense of guilt. He does not have the word sorry in his vocabulary nor can he know when to shut up. I am sure ten years or so from now, Sebaggala shall be asked about the fifty floor tall building he promised to build this year, he shall have either forgotten or he shall have an excuse why the building shall have not been built. And I can confidently bet on this issue that just like he has reneged on most of his promises Sebaggala shall not put up this building.
The problems of Kampala may not necessarily be solved by the mayor alone, but as the current head of KCC, he solely takes the blame for making Kampala a living hell for us the residents and especially for the people that voted him into office. So did we get the best out of democracy by having Sebaggala as our mayor? One may ask; was the election of Sebaggala as the mayor a breach of democracy or the reverse is true? What will happen to the city when Sebaggala is elected mayor again for another five years? Is it about time for the people of Kampala to put democracy on hold especially for the election of Mayor for the good of the city? Kampala is bleeding the way Uganda was bleeding under Idi Amin and Sebaggala is not about to relent on his dream of occupying that sweet office, doing nothing. God Bless Kampala.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
UGANDA SHOULD LEARN FROM CHINA ON ROAD DEVELOPMENT
By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
Last month I was in china attending the 2nd international convention on Rural Roads. It was held in Jinan city, Shandong Province in the eastern part of the gigantic country. The convention brought together participants from almost all countries in the world including Uganda. We went on a guided tour of Shandong province to learn more about China’s performance in terms of rural road construction and maintenance. Participants especially from Africa and other poor Asian countries were amazed that what is referred to rural roads in china are actually first class urban roads in the developing countries. The hallmark of Chinese development hinges on the fact. The Chinese are meticulous and can never leave anything to chance. They have taken extra care to plan for years to come. The roads are well designed in accordance with the setting of an area. Human settlement is also adequately catered for. People do not settle anywhere like in the case of Uganda. As a result the Chinese people although many, optimally utilize their spaces which leaves them with large tracts of land for both current and future use. The places designated for settlement are supplied with amenities like water and electricity. Most free sp[ace is used for modern agriculture which is done on a large scale. We were told that Shandong province alone has up to 3 million kilometers of bituminized roads. This is incomparable to Uganda’s only 4, 000 kilometers of tarmac.
The government of China has made infrastructure development especially roads as one of the quickest means to achieve human development. Their transport system, though still with a few challenges has greatly improved during the last decade thanks to their planning skills. The Chinese government is expecting an urban boom as millions of young people leave rural areas into urban areas in search of better services. In fact it is expected that in the next fifteen years, more than 90 percent of Chinese people will be living in urban areas. This is putting the government on pressure as they plan for this “exodus”. Both the Chinese central and provincial governments are working hand in hand with a shared vision of having well planned cities for the future generations. They both recognize the importance of planning in the development of their society. Old and poorly planned structures in urban areas are razed down almost on a daily basis to pave way for modern buildings and highways. As would be expected, some people normally resist to be resettled. In such case4s government uses force to evict them. Indeed during the time of our visit, the China Daily, the largest best selling English newspaper in China, had a front page photograph of a poor man’s home that had resisted eviction. He went on a strike vowing never to leave his house. He said he would rather be killed. He had brought enough food supplies to last some time. Tractors were used to dig deep trenches around his three storied house while he remained holed inside. It was the only hose still standing in the whole neighborhood. The China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) which is an equivalent of Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), is fully in charge of the Chinese national roads.
Something special I witnessed in china is that local especially provincial and national leaders are highly respected by all citizens. The citizens believe that every action these leaders do is for the common good. People in china have a very high sense of nationalism and patriotism. It is unthinkable that a leader let alone government can initiate an idea that will not benefit the people. It was therefore not surprising that the Chinese government considers the 2010 Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo as a criminal and a traitor that should be hanged because he criticized the Chinese way of doing things.
** The writer is a Human Rights Defender
Last month I was in china attending the 2nd international convention on Rural Roads. It was held in Jinan city, Shandong Province in the eastern part of the gigantic country. The convention brought together participants from almost all countries in the world including Uganda. We went on a guided tour of Shandong province to learn more about China’s performance in terms of rural road construction and maintenance. Participants especially from Africa and other poor Asian countries were amazed that what is referred to rural roads in china are actually first class urban roads in the developing countries. The hallmark of Chinese development hinges on the fact. The Chinese are meticulous and can never leave anything to chance. They have taken extra care to plan for years to come. The roads are well designed in accordance with the setting of an area. Human settlement is also adequately catered for. People do not settle anywhere like in the case of Uganda. As a result the Chinese people although many, optimally utilize their spaces which leaves them with large tracts of land for both current and future use. The places designated for settlement are supplied with amenities like water and electricity. Most free sp[ace is used for modern agriculture which is done on a large scale. We were told that Shandong province alone has up to 3 million kilometers of bituminized roads. This is incomparable to Uganda’s only 4, 000 kilometers of tarmac.
The government of China has made infrastructure development especially roads as one of the quickest means to achieve human development. Their transport system, though still with a few challenges has greatly improved during the last decade thanks to their planning skills. The Chinese government is expecting an urban boom as millions of young people leave rural areas into urban areas in search of better services. In fact it is expected that in the next fifteen years, more than 90 percent of Chinese people will be living in urban areas. This is putting the government on pressure as they plan for this “exodus”. Both the Chinese central and provincial governments are working hand in hand with a shared vision of having well planned cities for the future generations. They both recognize the importance of planning in the development of their society. Old and poorly planned structures in urban areas are razed down almost on a daily basis to pave way for modern buildings and highways. As would be expected, some people normally resist to be resettled. In such case4s government uses force to evict them. Indeed during the time of our visit, the China Daily, the largest best selling English newspaper in China, had a front page photograph of a poor man’s home that had resisted eviction. He went on a strike vowing never to leave his house. He said he would rather be killed. He had brought enough food supplies to last some time. Tractors were used to dig deep trenches around his three storied house while he remained holed inside. It was the only hose still standing in the whole neighborhood. The China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) which is an equivalent of Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), is fully in charge of the Chinese national roads.
Something special I witnessed in china is that local especially provincial and national leaders are highly respected by all citizens. The citizens believe that every action these leaders do is for the common good. People in china have a very high sense of nationalism and patriotism. It is unthinkable that a leader let alone government can initiate an idea that will not benefit the people. It was therefore not surprising that the Chinese government considers the 2010 Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo as a criminal and a traitor that should be hanged because he criticized the Chinese way of doing things.
** The writer is a Human Rights Defender
WHAT IS AFRICA’S PROBLEM? IS IT LACK OF DEMOCRACY OR IT IS MORE THAN THAT
By Mutabazi Sam Stewart
Developed countries in America and Europe have for some time now impressed it upon themselves to convince the world that democracy is the most important ingredient in any nation’s search for economic development. USA, the largest economy in the world since the end of the Second World War in 1945 strongly advocates for freedom and liberalism as the best options for countries to achieve sustainable macro economic performance. These western have found fertile ground to propagate the notion of democracy in Africa more than anywhere else. For the last forty years, no continent has vigorously sought to tap into the benefits of democracy and freedom enhancement in the world than Africa. To the contrary however, at the same time, there is no other continent on planet earth that is further from benefiting from the benefits that are supposedly to be realized when a nation takes the path of democracy. It seems, the more the West emphasizes democracy in Africa, the further Africa drifts away from development. Some scholars have in fact had the audacity to pronounce that democracy may possibly be holding Africa from attaining development. They argue that piecemeal /mediocre democracy that is prevailing in most parts of Africa today is contrarily confusing both the leaders and the masses on the continent.
Something of particular interest about this whole discussion has been the debate about the interests of western governments in Africa’s development. The important question that is often posed has been whether the developed world is genuinely interested in seeing Africa developed as they claim. Aren’t Africans naïve to keep in their laid back position awaiting the West to develop the African continent? Will this development that is championed by the West in Africa sustainable? Isn’t western democracy an import to Africa that is being used to hoodwink Africa and keep its people confused? Is democracy more important that development or does one lead to the other and if so which one comes first? Would we rather have freedom to do what we please and keep wallowing in abject poverty/ all these questions do not have ready answers yet unless they are rightly answered especially by African leaders, the continent may remain in its backward form in the next one thousand years.
It is strange that African leaders are still divided individually and collectively on the mission and vision of their countries and continent respectively. Although a few of them including our own Yoweri Museveni have come out to point out the major hindrances of development in Africa, they are yet to agree in a uniform fashion on the major bottleneck they need to address to overcome poverty and underdevelopment that make Africa a laughing stock of the world. African leaders and indeed scholars interested in African affairs are yet to agree for instance on one major challenge or problem, which if addressed would offset the continent take off towards development.
In my view I think that lack of democracy is not one of the major problems in Africa as some scholars would want us to believe. Neither is it because of continuous intervention and meddling by the West. As espoused by people like Andrew Mwenda of Independent Magazine. Africa’s problem to me remains lack of independent, well groomed and good intentioned statesmen and leaders who have unwavering love (patriotism) for their countries. A patriotic leader that dedicates more of his or her time to thinking how to better the lives of their people rather than how to retain power would be the greatest asset of the country they lead. Unfortunately the democracy that the west has imposed or rather exported to Africa is lacking identifying and nurturing such leaders let alone appreciating and supporting them. The confusion which Africa was in more than forty years at independence has not only worsened, the current situation threatens to become chronic and incurable hence keeping Africa in a perpetual condition of backwardness and underdevelopment.
Experience has already shown that democracy does not necessarily lead to economic development neither in the short or long term. Conclusive evidence also shows that the West has a different agenda for Africa in their quest to convince the continent that democracy is a good thing to embrace. Africa has wasted a long time because we don’t know our allies, their intentions. In fact we do not know our most pressing needs which makes it almost impossible to provide solutions to our problems.
Democracy may not be good for Africa and the promoters of the same may not necessarily be interested in our development. Unfortunately our leaders have not yet formed decisive opinion on how they can deal with this scenario and therefore Africa doesn’t know what it exactly wants and therein lies Africa’s problem. We cannot cure the disease unless we diagnose the sickness.
Developed countries in America and Europe have for some time now impressed it upon themselves to convince the world that democracy is the most important ingredient in any nation’s search for economic development. USA, the largest economy in the world since the end of the Second World War in 1945 strongly advocates for freedom and liberalism as the best options for countries to achieve sustainable macro economic performance. These western have found fertile ground to propagate the notion of democracy in Africa more than anywhere else. For the last forty years, no continent has vigorously sought to tap into the benefits of democracy and freedom enhancement in the world than Africa. To the contrary however, at the same time, there is no other continent on planet earth that is further from benefiting from the benefits that are supposedly to be realized when a nation takes the path of democracy. It seems, the more the West emphasizes democracy in Africa, the further Africa drifts away from development. Some scholars have in fact had the audacity to pronounce that democracy may possibly be holding Africa from attaining development. They argue that piecemeal /mediocre democracy that is prevailing in most parts of Africa today is contrarily confusing both the leaders and the masses on the continent.
Something of particular interest about this whole discussion has been the debate about the interests of western governments in Africa’s development. The important question that is often posed has been whether the developed world is genuinely interested in seeing Africa developed as they claim. Aren’t Africans naïve to keep in their laid back position awaiting the West to develop the African continent? Will this development that is championed by the West in Africa sustainable? Isn’t western democracy an import to Africa that is being used to hoodwink Africa and keep its people confused? Is democracy more important that development or does one lead to the other and if so which one comes first? Would we rather have freedom to do what we please and keep wallowing in abject poverty/ all these questions do not have ready answers yet unless they are rightly answered especially by African leaders, the continent may remain in its backward form in the next one thousand years.
It is strange that African leaders are still divided individually and collectively on the mission and vision of their countries and continent respectively. Although a few of them including our own Yoweri Museveni have come out to point out the major hindrances of development in Africa, they are yet to agree in a uniform fashion on the major bottleneck they need to address to overcome poverty and underdevelopment that make Africa a laughing stock of the world. African leaders and indeed scholars interested in African affairs are yet to agree for instance on one major challenge or problem, which if addressed would offset the continent take off towards development.
In my view I think that lack of democracy is not one of the major problems in Africa as some scholars would want us to believe. Neither is it because of continuous intervention and meddling by the West. As espoused by people like Andrew Mwenda of Independent Magazine. Africa’s problem to me remains lack of independent, well groomed and good intentioned statesmen and leaders who have unwavering love (patriotism) for their countries. A patriotic leader that dedicates more of his or her time to thinking how to better the lives of their people rather than how to retain power would be the greatest asset of the country they lead. Unfortunately the democracy that the west has imposed or rather exported to Africa is lacking identifying and nurturing such leaders let alone appreciating and supporting them. The confusion which Africa was in more than forty years at independence has not only worsened, the current situation threatens to become chronic and incurable hence keeping Africa in a perpetual condition of backwardness and underdevelopment.
Experience has already shown that democracy does not necessarily lead to economic development neither in the short or long term. Conclusive evidence also shows that the West has a different agenda for Africa in their quest to convince the continent that democracy is a good thing to embrace. Africa has wasted a long time because we don’t know our allies, their intentions. In fact we do not know our most pressing needs which makes it almost impossible to provide solutions to our problems.
Democracy may not be good for Africa and the promoters of the same may not necessarily be interested in our development. Unfortunately our leaders have not yet formed decisive opinion on how they can deal with this scenario and therefore Africa doesn’t know what it exactly wants and therein lies Africa’s problem. We cannot cure the disease unless we diagnose the sickness.
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