Mr Nicholas Sengoba
You should have been here way back in 1989 and the years there about. It is the time Uganda on the recommendation of the Western drivers of the global economy; the IMF and the World bank sold privatisation, sectoral and structural adjustment as a condition for aid.
Uganda took it up, especially the privatisation bit, with gusto. As is the wont, what the President said became the gospel truth. It was loudly told over the hills with dramatic embellishments.
That is how it came to pass that public companies were ‘dens of thieves’, havens of dead wood and the abode of nepotisim and tribalism; with bosses hiring their girlfriends, clanmates, relatives, friends and in-laws. They had to be sold very quickly. They were draining the economy. After all government had no business doing business for it was a bad businessman. That the private sector would spur limitless growth leading to greater efficiency, revenue collection and a significant drop in borrowing.
This was key to self-reliance and growing an independent, inter-graded and self-sustaining economy which was one of the key issues in the 10 point program. Government would save a lot of money for use in other pressing areas like service delivery in health, education, housing and infrastructural development. So out of the window went all those parastatals including Coffee Marketing Board (CMB), Produce Marketing Board, Uganda Commercial Bank, Uganda Airlines, Uganda Railways, etc.
It is worth noting that beyond the rhetoric something very significant happened. Most of the privatised entities had a lot of property, including houses and vehicles which many in the NRM sold to themselves for a song. There was also more in Mombasa for CMB and in London. Vehicles, too, and whatever was of value went this way.
Many of the privatised entities were also quietly taken over by people in government either directly or through proxies. Privatisation then seemed like personalisation. I recall the late John Nagenda and his charm Eriya Kategaya benefited from one such industry.
When they found out that they had landed on a dud, they dropped it like a hot potato and declined to pay for it.In other instance the government would finance those very entities even buying back shares. In reality when those in power found that what they had ‘grabbed’ was more complicated and taxing than they imagined, they went through the back door and made the tax payer refund and take care of their losses.
To date, no comprehensive accountability has ever been made for the sale of those national assets which were dismissed as liabilities by some of those who benefited from the sales. Then along the way government started the trend of forming public companies called authorities and agencies. These would help to streamline and regulate government activities in the economy. The likes of Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) came to life. It carried out many of the roles that the defunct CMB used to perform.
Again it was to create greater efficiency especially where the private sector had not been very strong, save money, grow the economy, increase exports, plus revenue collection while reducing corruption and bureaucracy. These were almost the very things that were said when Uganda was privatising.
Again the President pronounced himself on this new trend and the praise singers parroted him even louder. But what is important to note is that most of the ills the government has tried to cure whenever it shifts in its chair simply remain. Some even get worse. You still have nepotism and tribalism in the recruitment process like you had in the dens of thieves. Corruption has gone to epidemic proportions. The ombudsman’s office says about Shs10 trillion goes to the pockets of the corrupt, every financial year.
This is about one third of the revenue collected in that period. The government has not stopped borrowing. In fact it increased its appetite for loans and foreign aid. Infrastructure has not greatly improved if you compare with the amounts borrowed and revenue collected over the years. You can see this in the numerous roads with potholes, collapse of rail and domestic air transport, dilapidated schools and hospitals etc. much as new roads and dams have been built at exorbitant cost.
Now slowly government is reviving ‘important drivers of the economy.’ Uganda Airlines came back with a bang and with some of the very old habits lack government interference and alleged misuse of funds, which privatisation tried to cure.
The government has put Umeme the power distributor which replaced Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) on notice. Come 2027 the government will handle those matters.
The President has ‘regretted’ listening to advice that led to the selling of UCB the largest indigenous bank back then for what many called a pittance. His brother Gen. Caleb Akandwanaho, a.k.a. Salim Saleh, was caught up in that controversial sale. Now we have changed to ‘rationalisation’ and merging government bodies.
The President says it intends to save the country from duplication of services, corruption and inefficiency. The idea came on the back of a study conducted by Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) which is headed by Salim Saleh. It hopes to save the country a whole trillion shillings per year in expenses and do all the other things that privatisation and re-entry of the government into the economy have always promised.
To sell the idea, we are now told by the parrots, that UCDA is corrupt and that coffee is not really that big a thing for the economy as is Madhivani or Metha the sugar barons. The problem for the new policy for government is that it has a very lousy record when it comes to promises that come with its high-sounding changes. It even appears very controversial at times.
When privatising it was claimed government had no business doing business and was a bad businessman. What has changed since then that will make ministries do better than all else? Things tend to remain the same or get worse. The people with interest in the now lucrative coffee production are alive to what has happened to crops like vanilla, cotton, sugar cane, tea and in the fishing industry after the government came up with policies for improvement. Things tend to favour those in power or their cronies who include a lot of foreign investors.
They create monopolies that benefit from bail outs and other exemptions that disadvantage locals and eventually kick them out of business. These bad habits that don’t change are what are spoiling the aroma of the coffee.
Mr Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issues
Twitter/X: @nsengoba
