Mr Nicholas Sengoba
Tomorrow, October 9, Uganda will be celebrating 62 years of independence from British colonial rule which began in 1894. The run up to 1962 featured boycotts, riots, rustication of native leaders, negotiations and all manner of jostling, between the British imperial powers and the local leaders.
The aspiration was to deliver a peaceful country that ruled itself on its own terms and sat on the high table of the global scene as a viable state from the African continent. It would be a country that brought pride to its prospered citizens and put them at the fore in all facets of economic, social and political life. This would stir a spirit of patriotism that would help spur growth and progress.
That and much more was the source of the jubilation and euphoria that engulfed Uganda on the night of October 9, 1962. That day the British Union Jack was lowered for the last time by Sergeant Major Sidney Small of Birmingham, England.
A new Ugandan black, yellow and red flag with a crane in forward motion in its centre was hoisted for the first time by a Ugandan soldier of the Uganda Rifles. To this day controversy rages on, as to who that soldier was. Was it Sgt.
Kanuti Akorimo who received a heroes’ medal in 2003 from President Yoweri Museveni for this historic act? Or was it Sgt. Terencio Okello Lawelo who according to the Observer newspaper of October 11, 2021, was locked up at Makindye Barracks along with other soldiers for 11 years from 1989 to 2001 for allegedly trying to overthrow the NRM government?
That failure to attend to a small but significant detail; to get even simple and straight forward things, perfect and right has depicted a lackadaisical approach to things of value to a country.
That has followed us all these 62 years; 38 of which have been under the NRM government of Yoweri Museveni. That has affected how far we have worked towards the goal of collective independence of the country. Uganda today is a creature of the British who for ease and convenience put together several independent nation states like Lango, Ankole, Busoga, Toro, Buganda, Acholi, Alur etc to form Uganda. They proceeded to effectively use the tactic of divide and rule; one nation against another to frustrate state-wide unity and cohesion. This delivered a deceptive, weak republic.
Thus from Independence whoever came to power was like a tribal chief who had been sent to hunt and gather for his mates back home. Almost all of them speak out against tribalism and sectarian tendencies. But in reality, national resources including jobs and the proceeds from the collective national kitty have tended to gravitate towards a cabal of the relatives, friends and sycophants of the ruler in power. The easiest mechanism to ensure a smooth passage of these resources is through favouritism and corruption. Also the monopoly and domination of possession, command and control of the instruments of coercion. It has created a feeling of the whole country versus the ruling tribe or clan which people look at as ‘their country.’ It is a country where the majority think that tax payment and patriotism is rewarding the ruling cabal to continue perpetuation and subjugation of the rest.
It is now estimated from reports by the IGG that about Shs25 billion is ‘stolen’ from the government every day. This translates into close to Shs10 trillion annually. This is a country where intern doctors and other health workers are not deployed for lack of financial resources which are less than what is stolen in a week. Where children study under trees and drop out of school because of hunger. Where security officers are known to hire out their weapons to criminals to supplement their income.
The superior economic resources are the soft power that helps those in authority to dominate and subjugate the rest of the population. It creates a power relation where the majority are needy and have to be meek and humble to activate their right to national resources. The gun on the other hand comes in handy to threaten plus eliminate the strong headed Opposition. It protects plus perpetuates those in power. That in summary is what you have as the 62-year-old independent State of Uganda. You have individuals with wealth while institutions of State, which make up the social safety net like schools, hospitals, the court system, transport systems etc have almost ground to a halt.Independent Uganda can now almost manage nothing without borrowing and aid.
It includes food in places like perennially drought-stricken places like Karamoja. Almost everything that keeps society moving both in the public and private sector is fully or partially funded by donors also known by the euphemism ‘development partners.’ Some of the donors are the colonialists whose shackles Ugandans thought they had broken free, from back in 1962. Every road or building project has donor money to support it. In some cases some donors like the Chinese fold their shirt sleeves and actually do the construction.
This is despite the number engineers and other skilled labour we have produced from our increasing number of universities since independence and those that have attained more training in prestigious institutions abroad. When the world was under the threat of Covid-19, Uganda, like most African countries, shamelessly demanded that the developed world should stop being selfish and share vaccines (they had invested heavily in formulating,) with us. We have developed a sense of entitlement as recipients of aid and have not shown any signs of being weaned from it.Even in the private sector it is the same story.
When the government suspended the donor funding from the Democratic Governance Fund (DGF) in 2021 many NGOs folded leaving many unemployed and desperate. The donor funds the way with fight for our rights and we are hopeless without them. With all our abundant natural resources, fertile soils and an energetic skilled young population, Uganda is recorded as one of the poorest highly indebted countries in the world. Almost one third of our GDP goes towards debt repayment. Yet on the ground it is hard to see tangible results from the magnitude of the debt.
Most production is now in the hands of foreigners i.e. the Asians; something which independence in 1962 had sought to correct. In fact, now the President and his officials spend more time attracting and supporting foreign investors who repatriate most of their profits back to their home countries. Meanwhile the indigenous Ugandan struggles within the economy. The young are employees earning slave labour wages in tough conditions.
Many are leaving in droves for blue collar work in Europe and the Middle East. This speaks a lot about what our leaders think about us and our abilities to manage on our own. It is a sign that they know that the independence and self-rule we talk about is empty and deceptive.
