Uganda at 62: A sad state of affairs

It is this year that more than 100 Ugandans died from a garbage-slide and we are still figuring out about the garbage issue. It is in this decade that Uganda’s Capital has had the worst flooding, bad roads, poor lighting, high crime rate and mushrooming buildings that leave you wondering whether we have a physical planning department. 

Uganda has registered a tree loss of 917,555 hectares from 2001 to 2020 and is projected to grow if no robust mitigations are put in place.

2024 Uganda experienced one of the most heat waves going up to 38.4 degrees Celsius and this is the effect of climate change. The poverty rate keeps surging as it stands over 30 percent and is higher in rural areas. At 62, it is sad that some Ugandans are dying of hunger and iron sheets are being stolen from the poor. 

We are losing Shs9.144 trillion ($2.5 billion) which is 23percent of our national budget to corruption and yet, we have many institutions “fighting” corruption. 

The mortality rate as of 2022 stands at 233.91 per 1,000 female adults and 325.66 per 1,000 male adults in Uganda which speaks to the quality of life of Ugandans. In 62 years, Uganda has only 47 public general hospitals, 16 regional referral hospitals, 5 national referral hospitals, and 4 specialized national hospitals. 

82 out of the 146 districts in Uganda do not have a public general hospital which means that Ugandans will have to trek kilometres to the nearest public hospital. At 62 years, this is a shame! As of June 2023, our public debt has risen to unprecedented levels reaching Shs96.1 trillion ($25.3 billion) which is 52 percent of GDP. 

Our 2024/2025 Budget is 72.1 trillion of which Shs41.7 trillion (57 percent) will be spent on debt repayment leaving only 30.4 trillion to spend on all priorities. As if that is enough, Uganda intends to service 52 percent of its budget from borrowing. Our public administration bill stands at 7.4 trillion and yet the allocation to the Ministry of Health is Shs2.7 Trillion. At 62 years, this is worrying! 

The Judiciary with only 655 judicial officers and a budget of Shs392 Billion must serve a population of 45 million Ugandans and deal with a case backlog of over 40,000 cases and at the same time respond to the pressing urgent needs of justice. 

The prisons are full to capacity with over 76,000 prisoners beyond the recommended 20,996 which means that the conditions of living of prisoners is below the recommended international standard.

At 62 years, Uganda’s children are dropping out of school because of high school fees which the Ministry of Education has failed to regulate. Do we deserve to celebrate 62 years of independence? We should not be witnessing more failures than success at 62 years of being independent.

Uganda’s human rights record continues to decline. At 62 years, we still have Ugandans in incarceration without trial, situations of gruesome torture, abuse of law and processes and gross violations of Human Rights. Freedoms of expression has been gagged to the extent that almost no Ugandan can even dare have a one person’s demonstration against corruption or a pothole otherwise they will be met with the heavy weight of the State. 

We are simply surviving and not happy on our 62nd birthday, which should worry everyone. As Ugandans, we need to reflect more on the Uganda we want 62 years after independence, and this discussion should involve everyone and not just a few. We all have a stake in making Uganda a better place for us and our posterity! 

Michael Aboneka, Partner: Thomas & Michael Advocates