Tag Archives: countries

Immigrants and refugees in Uganda’s political economy

Radio Munansi English program February 3, 2013

This is Eric Kashambuzi communicating from New York.

Greetings: Fellow Ugandans at home and abroad, friends and well wishers. Welcome to the program. We look forward to your active participation.

In our discussion on population growth in Uganda, we observed that in preparing the 2010 State of population vital information on people entering and leaving Uganda was scarce and therefore not analyzed in terms of migrant and refugee contribution to Uganda’s population growth and impact on land, business, jobs, social services and environmental degradation etc. Migrants and refugees have been part of Uganda’s political economy since the early 1920s and the early 1960s respectively.

Let us begin with migration.

A combination of push factors in neighboring countries especially in Rwanda and Burundi and pull factors in Uganda led to huge labor migration into Uganda.

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Without justice and equality there won’t be lasting peace in the Gt. Lakes region

We want to thank the international community including African Union and the United Nations as well as some governments for the efforts to end the invasion of DRC by M23. While this effort is appreciated, it must be recognized that it won’t by itself bring about lasting peace and security for all unless the root cause of the conflict which is Nilotic Tutsi domination of Bantu people is recognized and solved so that the two ethnic groups live together in peace and security.

Batutsi have deceptively presented themselves to the world since the 1994 Rwanda genocide as victims in a hostile environment and must defend themselves by eliminating ‘enemies’ and occupying more territory under the pretext of correcting the wrongs of a colonial system of borders that robbed them of land, not realizing or ignoring that they too took land from somewhere else such as 5 thousand square kilometers that Rwanda and Burundi gained from then Tanganyika in 1923.

In my attempt to identify the root cause of the problem, I have touched on sensitive areas previously regarded as taboo that have made some people uncomfortable and forced them to hit back hard without supporting evidence.

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“It is better to reform than to have a political revolution” – lessons for Uganda

During the debate leading up to the Reform Act of 1832, Thomas B. Macaulay a Whig member of British Parliament made a memorable observation: “It is better to reform than to have a political revolution”. The successful 1830 revolution in France sounded a warning about what could happen in England if the middle class and industrial leaders’ demands for participation in the political process were not addressed. The Whigs who won the 1830 general elections “realized that concessions to reform were superior to revolution”. An election reform bill was introduced and became the Reform Act in 1832. The law gave explicit recognition to the changes that accompanied the Industrial Revolution including creation of the working class. The Reform Act of 1832 together with repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 saved Britain from the 1848 revolutions that swept across Europe. The working class demands that were not accommodated in the Reform Act were taken care of in the second half of the 19th century.

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Countries that neglect food and nutrition security are bound to decline

From time immemorial leaders, researchers, advisers and parents have worried about the dangers of food shortages at household, national and international levels. Food is therefore not only the most basic of basic human needs but also a national security issue. Steps including the British Corn Laws, agricultural subsidies in developed countries, the common agricultural policy of the European Union and the introduction of food storage and famine crops like cassava/manioc in developing countries have been implemented to ensure food availability at all times. The danger of population growth exceeding food supplies was expressed in ‘An Essay on the Principle of Population’ by Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus a British economist and Anglican pastor published in 1798. It has remained a standard essay to this day in 2010 even when the world has enough food.

Governments in developed and developing countries are putting more emphasis not only on the amount and frequency of food eaten by their citizens but on the quality as well. In some developed countries the challenge of obesity is being addressed because it is seen as a constraint to human development and national security.

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World Bank needs balanced approach to Uganda’s development efforts

On May 6, 2010 Sylvia Juuko reported in the New Vision (Uganda) that the World Bank effective July this year will focus its assistance on the oil sector, urban development and governance. While these are no doubt important areas one wonders what criteria were used in selecting them over rural development and agriculture – which is Uganda’s economic mainstay and the World Bank’s recent announcement that it would direct more resources to agriculture which had been neglected – unemployment, nutrition, health, education, school feeding program, industrialization and environment.

Kundhavi Kadiresan, World Bank representative, reported that Uganda is one of the largest recipients of soft loans from the World Bank, noting that Uganda’s portfolio of International Development Assistance (IDA) financed operations stood at $1.3 billion. Instead of reporting dollar figures, it would have been more helpful if Kadiresan had presented outcomes of these investments and the extent to which they have helped to reduce poverty. It is known that much of World Bank resources go to pay high salaries, allowances and travel costs of foreign advisers and consultants who then deposit the money in their home bank accounts.

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International assistance as development, bribe or punishment

In this article I am referring to multilateral-to-government and bilateral or government-to-government development assistance. I have spoken and written that when development assistance is given, received and used strictly for development purposes it produces tangible outcomes that improve human quality and accelerate growth and development.

For example, assistance that was given to Uganda between October 1962 when the country became independent and December 1970 before Obote’s regime was overthrown in a military coup in January 1971 was put to good use in institutional and infrastructural capacity development.

Unlike in the past when health services were concentrated in towns, under Obote I regime, quality hospitals, clinics and staff houses were concentrated in rural areas. Doctors, nurses and midwives were trained, paid well and retained in Uganda. Because there was no need for moonlighting and corruption to make ends meet, patients received good services. Private health services were subsidized to reduce charges. Primary health care received a boost in immunization, safe drinking water, sanitation, general hygiene, housing and food and nutrition security.

In the area of education, quality schools and teachers houses on school premises were constructed again mostly in rural areas, teachers were trained, well paid and sufficient instructional materials provided.

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The desire to recapture Tutsi power in Rwanda led to genocide and more

I know some Bahutu (Hutu) and Bairu (Iru) in diaspora who supported Tutsi return to Rwanda, by force if necessary, because they had been rejected in neighboring countries – witness their expulsion from Uganda in 1982 – and Rwanda government did not want them because there was no room for more people. Habyarimana government described Rwanda as a country unsustainably overpopulated and recommended that Tutsi should stay where they had been given asylum.

In recognition of Tutsi suffering in exile, the international community put pressure on Rwanda government to negotiate a settlement with the Tutsi-dominated Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) for a government of national unity and the return of Rwandan refugees. The RPF had a different idea – the restoration of their supremacy over Bahutu as they had done until 1959 when Bahutu ‘Social Revolution’ through Batutsi out of power and out of the country.

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