Prime
About financial discipline
Mr Eriah Lule
What you need to know:
December is the time of the year where many get their annual leave commonly referred to as ‘Abasama’, loosely translated as people coming back for summer leave, for those in Europe and America.
Imagine living in a state where you’ve never owned Shs1 million ($266.58), an opportunity knocks that pays exactly or slightly above it, across Ugandan boundaries, what happens next? The kind of exhilaration that comes with such an opportunity to many families is overwhelming.
Paul Coller in his 2007 book, The Bottom Billion, Why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it, notes that , “Most developing countries are heading to success while others are heading to clearly what’s described as a black hole, however, we cannot tell, …the talk is about poverty reduction and other Millenium Development Goals, but not about growth rates”.
This explains Uganda’s 30 percent poverty rate and the country’s unemployment rate, which the Uganda Bureau of Statistics estimates will grow to 4.30 percent by the end of 2023.
It also clarifies the country’s increasing rural-urban migration, rising living expenses, and ineffectual government policies and programs, which leave many with no choice but to look for greener pastures abroad, although to a small fraction these are not the reasons for their huddles overseas.
December is the time of the year where many get their annual leave commonly referred to as ‘Abasama’, loosely translated as people coming back for summer leave, for those in Europe and America.
It’s harvesting season in numerous taverns and entertainment venues across the country. They run on the notion of ‘Big Spenders’, with peer pressure, sleeping in expensive hotels, hiring cars, drinking and eating in cozy places, leaving many relieved of any penny in their pockets. No wonder after the holiday or even before it does, they start selling personal belongings from clothing, cosmetics and gadgets collecting money for the next plane.
Many other reasons cut across, more especially black tax, due to the Ubuntuism of the African culture, over spending on unnecessary things, investing in new fields and misuse of their funds by themselves, families or their trusted circles.
The government praises its collection of $1.2 billion from labour export but doesn’t have a reputable structure of investing the little earned income for many of its migrant citizens, if it does, I challenge a response from the Uganda Investment Authority with results of its impact, or where they have a migrant worker’s NSSF to back them up when things run south.
Does the legislature have the mandate even to create a law that would protect migrant workers as well as create a safe space for the investment of the little profit or its everybody for themselves and God for all of us?
Eriah Lule is the Communication Assistant of Uganda Christian University Alumni Association
