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A country where it’s okay to be sectarian but criminal to speak out against it
Author: Gawaya Tegulle. PHOTO/NMG
What you need to know:
‘‘They wield a big stick against those who stand up and challenge the status quo"
One of the biggest problems with Ugandans is that many people are too lazy to think; too lazy to connect dots around them and draw conclusions, make accurate diagnoses and come up with the right prescriptions. And that will be our greatest undoing.
When, for nearly four decades, the entire concept of merit as a prerequisite of appointment to public offices has been thrown out the window; with ethnicity and political allegiance as the key criteria, and citizens are not willing to challenge this, you are looking at a nation in trouble.
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When winning a government tender – be it from the central or local government – is only possible if the ethnicity and political allegiance boxes tick, and where the powers that be not only encourage this, but also actively follow it up to ensure that due process is sacrificed at the altar of political correctness and ethics make way for ethnicity, you are looking at a nation in trouble.
When ethnicity and political allegiance become sufficient protection against all form of criminality; with people walking or driving around with swagger, growing in arrogance and impunity just because they know they are untouchable, you are looking at a nation in trouble.
When, as a result, wealth distribution in the society can clearly be seen and defined along ethnicity and political leaning; to the effect that if there is any big real estate project or exquisite building in prime places or this or that industry and its success can only be explained in light of ethnicity and political leaning, you are looking at a nation enjoying temporary success.
When, in a country there are one or two ethnicities that are dominating public jobs, tenders and the economy; then we need a cultural anthropologist to study the trends and certify that all the other ethnicities are spectacularly daft and incapable of doing anything useful or praiseworthy. A political anthropologist could similarly draw a safe conclusion that people who do not support the ruling party are generally stupid, incapable of passing job interviews and incapable of performance.
Ethnicity and political allegiance as a determinant of wealth distribution and access to opportunity is one of the biggest elephants in the room; the one thing that has been firmly entrenched and mainstreamed by the NRM government.
It would be interesting if this nation were to commission an audit of every appointment and promotion in the public service, in the police and in the army; as well as the award of government tenders for works, procurements and disposals, just to check what exactly informed or explained the decision-making process.
It would be particularly soupy and delicious if the results of job interviews were to be looked at again, to see who performed how; and whether indeed the best-performing candidate is the one that ended up with the job. From all indications, therefore, the problem with sectarianism in Uganda is not practicing it; no. The problem is pointing it out and speaking out against it. That is when the prosecuting authorities and the police – who were napping all along or sipping a beer and nodding in serious approval as those who have institutionalised sectarianism continue defying the law – spring into action.
There is a small, predatory elite that controls just about everything in the country. These are certain that they are the owners of Uganda and they have the final say on everything. They constantly dangle a carrot [of opportunity] to those who are willing to throw conscience aside and lick their boots. And they wield a big stick – usually disguised as prosecution – against those who stand up and challenge the status quo.
No wonder they want to win elections at all costs because they have no other way of subsistence, except by being in positions of authority where they can corruptly exploit strategic opportunities to private advantage (at expense of public good) and freely scoop easy money from the public purse. If you subjected them to honest, hard work, where they have to sweat out every coin they make and where they can properly explain their income, they’d simply die. If this continues, we’ll soon be undone; it is just a matter of time.
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Mr Tegulle is an advocate of the High Court of Uganda [email protected]
