Uganda is now in Intensive Care Unit waiting to die
By M. Suleiman
8th Aug 2011: Ugandan Singer Bobi Wine lamented: “nsasira abana baffe okusikira ekisi ekimaze okutubiratranslated”, literally meaning “sympathy to our children to inherit a complete wreckage of a country”. If Uganda is to be equated to a patient, then one can confidently say it is now in the Intensive Care Unit [ICU] waiting to die.
While it might be possible to resuscitate a human being from the ICU, Uganda has sadly reached what doctors call a permanent vegetative state; only kept alive by artificial machines. Museveni’s swearing in was characterized by chaos. From then to date, the country’s economy has been rolling from one crisis to another; almost every day!
As the weight of the many years of inconsistent, uncoordinated, unpatriotic and shallow economic policies begins to weigh heavily on Museveni’s government, the fatigue has also begun to show on the entire government; from the President all the way down the line.
After the appointment of the new Vice President, the President directed that a new residence be sought for the Vice President. For the past couple of days, the media and the country has also been holding its breath to see where the saga between the KCCA and General Tinyefunza will end after the General refused to vacate the KCCA property.
As if that was not enough, Maj. General Kahinda Otafire, the former Minister of Local Government who directed that Tinyefunza should be given the property in 2008, is now distancing himself from the controversy. The naked truth is that the government has neither the land nor a pool of houses which can house the Vice President, the Coordinator of Intelligence Services, or any newly appointed government official.
When Museveni’s NRM took power, many of his men were housed in government houses. There was also a lot of land that had been reserved around the capital for future expansion. The land and houses were a national assets belonging to the people of Uganda; never to be touched except for the purposes for which they existed.
It was expected of any patriotic and sensible Ugandan to know that it was a taboo to expropriate Uganda’s properties. Not even Idi Amin ever contemplated selling off our national assets. On the contrary, he bought more assets for Uganda within and outside Uganda. Museveni on the other hand, has sold off all our national assets.
But thank God, even before their death, the perpetrators of the treasonous acts [of selling off our assets] are now coming face to face with the fruits of their greed; the greed that led them to sell off government land and houses. I believe Uganda is the only country in the world which does not have government houses around the capital city.
As inflation hit double digits, as the Shilling continued slide, and as prices of food continued to spiral out of control due to many years of Museveni’s maladministration, the response from his government has been appalling. In his own response, Museveni not only expressed his insensitivity but also expressed his ignorance and loss of touch with reality.
As far as Museveni is concerned, he is infallible. It’s other people who make mistakes. For example, he unashamedly blames the opposition for the current economic meltdown that Ugandans are struggling with. The same Museveni who thumped his chest for years about bringing MTN to Uganda is only realising that these same companies have been repatriating their profits to their home countries.
A few days later, the Minister of State for Elderly and Disability Suleiman Madada declared that poverty and unemployment is here to stay and shall even get worse. [See: Daily Monitor of 23rd July 2011]. The same Museveni who masqueraded for years as the best economist in the country now pretends he doesn’t know the systemic problems facing the economy.
This self acclaimed economist could not foresee what the sale of UCB and the closure of indigenous commercial entities like the Greenland group of companies would impact negatively on the economy. And yet common sense tells us that it’s close to impossible for a government to create employment or intervene in an economy which is disproportionately foreign owned.
At the moment, Uganda doesn’t even have an iota of the great thing called unity of purpose; the thing that would have enabled us to quickly rebuild our country. In a country where the President is all institutions of state rolled into one, where the son controls the army, where the wife controls an entire tribe, where the brother jointly owns the economy with foreigners, one must never expect miracles.
Unless Ugandans wake up now and take the Tunisian, Egyptian, or Malawi route, the country will soon go on its knees! END. Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
