Which way for project Uganda?

There is so much pessimism, even resignation, in Uganda today. Interlocutors I have spoken to in recent times paint a most gloomy and bleak picture of both the present and future ahead. Project Uganda is in a very bad place by many indicators.

Over the past few weeks, in this column, I took excurses through the intractable terrain of what it means to run an efficient government and effective state apparatus. Building a sound bureaucratic machinery necessary for providing critical public goods and service is a tough job. And on this, Uganda’s current rulers have failed spectacularly.

Yet, this is not the topmost worrisome aspect of our current condition. Arguably, the key problem lies not in the bureaucratic capacity of the state, rather it is in the political viability of the state and nation called Uganda where we must pause and reflect deeply.

Perceptive observers of our politics, the better brains than I, who I have spoken to in the recent past are adamant we are too close to a cliff. In some ways we will need to be reborn after a period of severe turmoil. The tragedy of it is that we have been there before in a very disastrous manner after which at some point we thought we had turned the corner on the path to a viable and desirable polity.

The current rulers came with so much promise, and the country was fired up with optimism. Up to a certain point, the ruling group delivered or at least showed that they were working hard to live up to their promises.

Strangely, up to now when a lot has evidently gone wrong or things are just working, many within the ruling core, especially the ruler-in-chief himself, strongly believe they are firmly on course, doing great and taking Uganda to the promised. One might accuse them of being delusional, but they remain unfazed in their chutzpah!

The ruler-in-chief has such a strong conviction he is on a kind of divine mission, which unless fulfilled he cannot relinquish power or even contemplate retiring in the near future.

If one thinks carefully about the social and political disaster that is lurking and likely to unfold anytime, it becomes secondary to focus on the endemic problem of an incompetent government and a state woefully unable to serve the public.

A government that functions and serves the public is essentially a technical matter that can be fixed through a tough process but one that is doable. Western donors have spent precious time and resources on ‘capacity building’ so the government of Uganda can be efficient. The problem though is that this approach puts the carte before the horse.

The technical fix of creating a functional government cannot stick and stay if the political and social foundation is shaky or at odds with that technical undertaking. The starting point has to be how to get the right political system and social ethos upon which a sound bureaucratic government can be mounted.

Today, we have a patently broken political system and a social environment that has little regard for values and ethics. The politics of the day has eroded critical institutions that would supervise and ensure that overall governmental apparatus runs in the right direction.

Take the example of two accountability institutions that are supposed to place a check on executive authority and keep bureaucrats in line – the government ombudsman (IGG) and the national legislature through its oversight units like the public accountability committee.

These two, and many others, which are essentially political bodies or headed by political appointees but supposed to operate independently, are now nearly inconsequential when it comes to doing their work. They represent no more than a façade beneath which lies the patronage juggernaut for the rulers. Rather than help strengthen the bureaucratic standing of government, they are active players in aiding filth and decay. In the current system and environment, individuals in parliament or those working in the Inspectorate of Government or indeed any other governmental body are likely to do the opposite of their remit – take whatever available opportunity to partake in extortion and personal aggrandisement.

There is a chance Uganda could reinvent through small tweaks and incremental changes both in the immediate and midterm, but even for the most optimistic Ugandan, it is difficult to candidly see a turnaround anytime in the future under the current political environment and set of rulers.

Today’s political system will have to be swept away, one way or another, in a thorough and far-reaching structural revolution, only then shall we reimagine a new political system and social ethos upon which a governing apparatus will be foisted.

There is no formula to this, but short of a total end to today’s politics of deceit and narrow elite interests, of patriotism in name but personal profit in practice, where a small cabal fleece the national interest for personal benefit, it is difficult to see much hope ahead. Or, maybe there is. Only time can tell.

moses.khisa@gmail.com