The leadership of NRM government has mustered the art of using sound bites, attractive titles and high flying concepts like poverty eradication, universal primary education, modernization of agriculture, monetary discipline, individual merit, economic metamorphosis, entandikwa and bona bagagawale, etc. These expressions raised the hopes of Ugandans who believed they would soon emerge out of medieval conditions of poor housing, poor feeding and poor dressing, etc. Government representatives have talked with confidence that Uganda will exceed the targets set in the MDGs by 2015. They even began to talk about joining the club of Asian tigers and dragons. The World Bank and IMF who used Uganda to test structural adjustment programs went along with government obsession with economic growth, per capita income and macroeconomic stability leaving the rest such as social and ecological conditions to the operation of market forces.
As a member of the inner group of NRM leadership, and using the same flattery approach, Major General (rtd) Jim Muhwezi, Member of Parliament (MP) for Rujumbura constituency in south west Uganda recently issued a statement to the effect that poverty eradication – not even reduction – is all that he does in his constituency. I responded that poverty in that constituency has actually increased during his term as MP. Someone whom I believe thought I was de-campaigning Jim Muhwezi challenged me to elaborate. And I concurred.
The definition of poverty varies in time and space. There are those who talk about relative poverty (X is poorer than Y because the former lives in a house without a swimming pool). There is also absolute poverty which is the focus of this article.
Absolute poverty means that an individual or household cannot afford minimum standards for housing, eating, dressing and healthcare. “Neediness causes malnutrition and poor health. It also produces feelings of frustration, hopelessness, and a loss of dignity and self-respect. In some cases, the poverty-stricken become angry with society and turn to violence”(The World Book Encyclopedia 1984).
Apart from reading about human conditions in Rujumbura, I have conducted research in the area for many years. I do not use a questionnaire distributed to the elite. Rather I listen patiently to people’s stories from all walks of life. While in Rujumbura, I walk most of the time so that I have an opportunity to interact with as many people as possible along the way. I visit market and other public places, converse with street vendors and visit homes. I have therefore accumulated knowledge over the years and experienced the nature of poverty first hand.
The extent of poverty in Rujumbura can be seen, felt and appreciated on December 24 and 25, at visiting and meal times and when people go to sleep. Let me start with December 24.
In Rujumbura, like everywhere else in Uganda, December 24 is the day when households buy meat for a big meal on December 25 – Christmas day. Every December 24 when I am in Rujumbura, I visit places where meat is sold. I have noticed a big difference in the amount of meat they buy and the preferred cuts. And I am going to be blunt. There has been a consistent decrease in the amount of beef purchased and the preferred cuts by households. You find that a household with six people that used to buy say three kilograms has reduced it to one kilogram. An increasing number in the low income bracket that used to buy quality meat are now buying cheaper quality such as hoofs, cow head etc which they even book in advance because the demand has exceed supply. In the past, hoofs were purchased for dogs! I have witnessed others buy pieces of cow hide to serve as meat on Christmas Day. With each successive Christmas there is surplus meat or fewer cows are slaughtered in some places because there are fewer buyers or they buy less than before. This is a very clear indication that poverty has increased.
On Christmas days I also observe the standard of dress at services in rural churches. In the past at least women and children would wear new clothes. Many would have shoes. As time has passed, many are wearing used clothes some of them suitable for winter wear in temperate climates and many of them come barefoot. Others simply do not attend service because they do not have presentable dresses. When time comes for church collections that is when you see ‘naked’ poverty. An increasing number is bringing one or two eggs, three or four passion fruits and a pineapple, a head of cabbage or one sugar cane instead of cash. I have seen or heard about these things not in one church but in many and the situation is getting worse. That is why politicians who make generous donations to churches have a better chance of getting elected or re-elected because they boost church resources.
Whenever I go home, friends and relatives come to visit me and my family. Earlier, they used to come during the day and bring something such as a bunch of banana, beans or millet flour as is the tradition. Increasingly, visitors especially women have been visiting in the evenings and bringing a handful of onions, a pineapple and the like. Others bring nothing. Some apologize, others don’t say a thing. I learnt that evening visits are due to lack of decent clothes. Evening darkness conceals the quality of their attire.
Stories about diet convey sad messages as well. Families that used to eat at least two meals a day of potatoes, or bananas or millet with beans and vegetables plus millet porridge are now reduced to eating one meal a day of mostly cassava or maize meal with or without vegetables. This poor diet has resulted in severe under-nutrition which is adversely affecting the health of adults and their productivity and retarding the physical and mental development of children.
In order to raise cash, households are increasingly selling nutritious food stuffs like beans, fruits and vegetables, millet, potatoes and bananas, eggs, chickens, pigs, etc. Because of a decrease in pasture as more land has been sold the herding of goats which used to be a major source of protein has been severely reduced or terminated in some families.
Regarding the standard of housing, it is true that most houses are roofed with corrugated iron sheets. However, this is not necessarily a reflection of increased incomes. Rather it signifies a drastic decline in thatch materials that used to be obtained free from wetlands and other vegetative cover on hill slopes. The de-vegetation that has occurred since Amin’s ‘economic war’ that called for clearing of all available space to increase economic growth resulted in the disappearance of thatch materials such as papyrus. Therefore households that do not have cash crops such as coffee are selling their meager assets like land and/or livestock to purchase corrugated iron sheets. Due to limitations of adequate funds households are building smaller houses than before and this has resulted in overcrowding and an increase in related communicable diseases.
Finally Rujumbura has experienced increased theft and insecurity largely because of high levels of unemployment and under-employment especially among the youth. In order to make ends meet, they have resorted to stealing almost everything under the sun. Domestic workers are stealing from their employers. Tree, banana and coffee plantations and gardens are being invaded by thieves. For example coffee shrubs with ripe coffee beans are being uprooted or branches broken off. Grain stores have not been spared either.
This invasion is increasingly taking place with violence. The increasing insecurity is forcing households to store their grains and other properties in residential houses attracting mice and other pests that are detrimental to people’s health. Insecurity, combined with drunkenness and domestic violence due to absolute mass poverty have made Rujumbura less safe than before. Some households are constructing fences, owning security dogs and hiring watchmen so they can sleep at night. This is not a picture of a constituency that has experienced poverty reduction.
Rather, the record of facts about poverty and related illnesses above has betrayed Jim Muhwezi’s statement that he has devoted his entire time as MP to eradicate poverty in his Rujumbura constituency.