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Discrimination has stunted Uganda’s development efforts

Uganda has begun the next fifty years of independence on a sad political, diplomatic and socio-economic note marked by political instability within the NRM and between it and opposition groups, corruption scandals, diplomatic deficit to handle the UN report on alleged Uganda involvement in DRC and deepening and spreading poverty.

Ugandans therefore need to take stock and understand why with all the abundant natural and human resources and generous foreign aid Uganda has continued to perform far below expectation. One of the reasons is discrimination at individual and group levels. The history of communities that were later compressed into Uganda at the start of the 20th century is full of illustrations about how discrimination has stunted individual and group performance and ultimately adversely impacted Uganda’s development.

Bantu speaking people entered what later became Uganda with a wide range of skills including livestock herding of short horn cattle, goats, sheep and poultry keeping, knowledge of manufacturing a wide range of products especially iron and crop cultivation. Later they specialized according to their comparative advantage (manufacturing, herding, crop cultivation, fishing, hunting and gathering wild fruits and vegetables which they traded in local markets). This diversification and exchange enabled households to consume adequate and balanced diets that enabled them to develop immunity against diseases.

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Clarifications regarding London federal conference

Some issues have been raised that call for explanation.

1. A federal government system doesn’t mean elimination of central government. It means sharing power between central (federal) government and local administrations (state, province, region or district, etc). How much power is shared depends on negotiations and adjustments overtime. A federal system is not an event but a process subject to amendments to accommodate the new reality.

2. Under a federal system of government, it doesn’t mean that local administrations can do whatever they want. They will be guided by federal and international norms and standards. For example, individual and collective human rights and fundamental freedoms can’t be abused. The local government can’t use its natural resources irresponsibly but sustainably for present and future generations.

3. A federal government isn’t about creating new kingdoms, strengthening or weakening existing ones.

4. A federal system of government isn’t about creating pure ethnic or tribal units. It is about empowering all people in a particular geographic area to use their talents, resources and traditions to develop themselves. For example when a federal system is finally adopted, it doesn’t mean that people say non-Baganda or non-Banyankole will be chased out of Buganda or former Ankole district. Also in areas where there are minority groups the federal government will ensure that their interests are protected.

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London conference discussed federalism in a tolerant atmosphere

The well publicized London federal conference organized by Uganda Federal Confederates (UFC) took place at the University of East London on October 27, 2012. The attendance could not have been better. A high powered delegation from Uganda joined others at the University including those from the United States of America.

All the four regions of northern, eastern, western and central (Buganda) and all demographic groups of men, women and youth were represented. Different organizations and political parties were also represented. United Democratic Ugandans (UDU) was represented by the Secretary General, Eric Kashambuzi who presented two papers on the Roadmap to Achieving Federalism in Uganda and plans to establish Tutsi Empire in the Great Lakes region.

The debate took place in a tolerant atmosphere under the leadership of the master of ceremony in which participants discussed a wide range of issues related to federalism versus unitarism freely and responsibly, disagreeing where they did in a civil manner. Decorum was exercise as required.

Presentations were followed by pertinent comments, questions and suggestions on the way forward. That the discussions were so engaging can be attested to by the fact that the master of ceremony had to set time limits for presentations and comments so that everyone had a chance to make a contribution. In the end according to my assessment the following observations emerged from the successful conference.

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Uganda should refute allegations of involvement in DRC

Press release

United Democratic Ugandans (UDU) is concerned about allegations that Uganda and Rwanda were supplying weapons to the M23 Congo rebels whose insurrection has resulted in loss of lives and displacement of some 500,000 people from their homes. Uganda shares a common border with DRC. For peace, security, stability and development Uganda should make an effort to maintain good neighborly relations with DRC.

During a mission to DRC including to Kinshasa, North and South Kivu provinces about three years ago there were stories from formal and informal meetings from a wide range of people – Congolese and others – that Uganda and Rwanda had been destabilizing DRC through among other things creating and arming militias and plundering its resources including minerals and timber. There were also stories of a possible loss of Congolese territory in the eastern region that would either declare independence or join Rwanda which has been calling for redrawing African borders demarcated under colonial rule.

It is UDU’s humble view that if Uganda hasn’t been involved in any way with M23, it should refute those allegations for all to see. Threatening to withdraw Uganda troops from Somalia and Central African Republic unless “these malicious allegations are withdrawn” and the international community at the United Nations assures Ugandans that it appreciates the sacrifices being made may give the impression that there is something Uganda is hiding which could damage Uganda’s reputation.

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Federalism is about improving society through power sharing

The October 27, 2012 London conference on federalism in Uganda could not have been organized at a better time. It has given us the opportunity to examine the system under which Uganda has been governed for the last fifty years, the benefits and deficits associated with it and how to proceed in the next fifty years.

One thing should be made clear at the outset: the conference is about federalism which is a system of governance by sharing power between the central and local governments. Following consultations, my understanding is that the conference isn’t about kingdoms. However, fellow Ugandans who still have doubts should seek clarification from the organizers of the conference.

Since the launch of the Republic Constitution in 1967, Uganda has been governed under a unitary or centralized system of government that has concentrated power in the executive branch of government at the expense of legislative and judicial branches and local governments. Presidents in Uganda from Obote I to Museveni have governed like European absolute rulers including the Stuarts of England, the Bourbons of France and the Czars of Russia.

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Why people demand change and rebel when they fail

People demand change of different degrees when existing frameworks don’t work well. Students demand better food because what they are eating isn’t good or is monotonous. Workers demand better working conditions because the existing ones aren’t good. This is a normal thing in all societies. And when leaders refuse to respond or convince the public they face difficulties, sooner or later, some of them revolutionary. Leaders that adjust as enlightened despots in Europe did during the 18th century lasted longer. Those that didn’t like Charles I of England, Louis XVI of France, Nicholas II of Russia and Haile Selassie of Ethiopia were booted out of power and their dynasties destroyed.

Similarly, the people of Uganda after fifty years of independence are demanding change of leadership and a new governance system. NRM leadership and its unitary and tier system of government are not only controversial but also unacceptable. They have made a few families filthy rich and the majority real paupers. All Ugandans are born equal and must be presented with equal opportunity to develop their talents. If they fail to get what they want peacefully, they are likely to resort to other means. This is natural.

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Comments on Uganda’s Jubilee Speech

On October 9, 2012, in a seven page speech delivered from Kololo airstrip, President Museveni who has been in power for more than half of fifty years of Uganda’s independence addressed the nation and the world. The first two pages of the speech were devoted to protocol requirements and listing invited dignitaries within and without Uganda. The third and part of the fourth pages were devoted to the list of ten strategic bottlenecks inherited at independence in 1962. Before making comments on the speech item by item, let me remark on three things.

First, because there was no agreement on the head of state at the time of independence, the Queen of the United Kingdom remained head of state represented in Uganda by the Governor-General. H. E. the late Mutes II became ceremonial president in 1963, not in 1962.

Second, since 1987 Uganda has been the darling of the west and has received generous donations in financial and technical assistance on a regular – not erratic – basis, at times receiving more assistance than the absorptive capacity. Development partners should therefore be congratulated for that generosity, although there isn’t much to show for it.

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Uganda’s Political Economy

First seminar on Radio Uganda Boston

This is Eric Kashambuzi in New York, United States of America.

Fellow Ugandans at home and abroad, friends and well-wishers welcome to this first seminar on Uganda’s political economy. The seminars will be apolitical.

We thank Radio Uganda Boston for launching this new program of seminars on the interaction between political decisions and economic change and vice versa.

This political economy 101 is primarily designed for the general public. However, professionals are welcome to participate and enrich the debates. During the seminars to be conducted once a month initially we shall show how political decisions affect economic change and vice versa.

I will lead the seminars which are intended to be interactive and in response to popular demand.

We therefore encourage all of you to participate and make your voices heard as we seek a new political economy model suitable for Uganda in the next 50 years and beyond.

The governance formula including merits and demerits of military and civilian governments suitable for Uganda will be part of this discussion. Military regimes or regimes led by military leaders have so far proved unsuitable.

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Hope coming out of Uganda’s despair

Major changes including in political, economic and social fields more often than not take place in the wake of crises. The plague or Black Death in Europe contributed to the end of feudalism. The devastation of European economies and societies during the Second World War contributed to the birth of the European Union. In his Zurich speech of 1946, Winston Churchill proposed a “United States of Europe” so that Europeans can “dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom”. Although Europeans supported the creation of a European federation, they resented being rushed or forced into it.

And progress was slow and some disappointments were experienced like when Jean Monnet “the Father of a United Europe” resigned as President of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) because it was not followed by further steps towards integration. Out of this frustration, a committee of experts was formed to study the situation and make suggestions on the way forward.

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Freedom of expression will liberate Uganda

Countries that have progressed have had citizens that fought for their inalienable (natural or God given) rights and freedoms including freedom of speech. They have also taken risks. When you shy away from them chances are that you will remain behind. Some efforts create quick results – negative or positive – others take a long time. Sometime reversals occur. But a start has to be made.

Uganda has just ended fifty years of independence. The overall assessment is that things haven’t happened the way we wanted them. That means we have to revisit what we did and find out what we need to discard, refine or retain as is.

One of the common complaints in Uganda is the system of governance that has concentrated power in the central government and suffocates efforts for regions or districts to decide what they need to do to improve the quality of their lives. The tier system that Uganda has introduced through decentralization is not sufficient because the central government determines what states/provinces or districts should do and the minister of local government is empowered to take decisions that could frustrate local initiatives.

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