Monthly Archives: January 2009

Twenty three years of NRM government.




The
purpose of economic growth is to improve human quality of all individuals in a
country through adequate nutrition, functional education, adequate healthcare
including hygiene, safe water and sanitation, shelter and clothing. Economic
growth should also take place in such a manner that the environment is sustainable.

The
reports we receive are about rosy statistics on economic growth, not on income
distribution between classes and regions; export earnings, not on how they have
undermined domestic food consumption; tax collection, not on how the revenue
has impacted human condition; inflation control, not on how it has undermined
investment and job creation through high interest rates; on poverty reduction
without elaborating on the methodology used (S. Mallaby, 2004).

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Food security for all




The
United Nations Secretary-General made concluding remarks to the High-Level
meeting in Madrid Spain January 27, 2009.

“Thank
you, Prime Minister Zapatero, and the Government and people of Spain, for calling us to Madrid to focus on the shocking problem of
ever-increasing world hunger and the fragility of our food security systems.

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United Nations tackles food prices and insecurity




The joint meeting of Executive Boards of UNDP/UNFPA; UNICEF and
WFP met in New
York City on January
23, 2009 to discuss unstable food prices and the linkage to food and
nutrition security.

The Executive Director of UNICEF made a presentation
pointing out the impact of fluctuating food prices on the world’s most
vulnerable groups, noting that when food prices increase, many families
decrease the quantity and quality of the food consumed, withdraw children from
school to save school fees, delay medical attention to save expenses, or sell
assets or borrow to get medical attention with long-term accumulated
vulnerability for the poor with women and children suffering the most.

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Why Uganda has moved from hope to despair



Uganda’s
post-independence history has been marked by alternating phases of
hope and despair. The 1960s represented a period of hope as the
country transitioned from colonial rule to independence. Apart from
some political hiccups in the second-half, Ugandans enjoyed better
quality education, healthcare, nutrition, housing, transport,
clothing, jobs and improved opportunities for all. There was hope for
better democracy and national unity.

The
decade of the 1970s pushed Uganda into a political, economic, social
and environmental depression caused in part by the Cold War conflicts
between the forces of Capitalism and Communism and Amin’s
inappropriate policies after the overthrow in 1971 of a civilian
government with external involvement.

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Uganda still trapped in medieval human conditions



When
the NRM government assumed power in 1986, it was determined to end
the inhuman conditions in Uganda. The president addressed this
challenge with passion and eloquence. He argued convincingly that
Uganda was still pre-industrial and backward and the society was
dominated by peasants. He maintained that Uganda had not yet
undergone a metamorphosis from a feudal to a middle class economy and
society. He reported that in the last 500 years, European societies
had transitioned from peasant, feudal to middle class and skilled
working class societies. Africa, on the other hand, was still stuck
with quasi-feudal, peasant characteristics and foreign ideas.

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The role of history in understanding the present



History
is essentially the study of the human past which helps us to
understand the present it has created. It involves a careful
compilation, reading and analysis of surviving primary and secondary
texts, artifacts (studied by archaeologists) and oral conversations
in an effort to reconstruct past events and processes. In short, the
historian’s job is to ask questions about what happened, who was
involved, when and where an event occurred, why did it happen and
what were the results, how should human groups relate to one another
and how should benefits and responsibilities be distributed among
different stakeholders? Many past events still exert immense
influences in many parts of the world and create parameters within
which we live and interact today.

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PLE results out

Concern for poor performance in Uganda’s primary schools has been written about and discussed in different forums including at the United Nations. The problem has been recognized but little, if at all, corrective action has been taken. Three principal constraints have been identified – school lunches, teachers’ incentives and rigorous inspections.

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Unintended dispossession of Ugandans

For individuals to survive they must have either property or skills and live in an enabling environment. They must also be well fed, well educated, well housed, well clothed and healthy to use their properties and skills effectively and efficiently. Because of space limitations, we shall focus on property and skills. 
More than 90 percent of Ugandans similar to medieval Europe (if we define urban to be an area where there are no agricultural activities) depend on land for their livelihood.
As population grows – excess of births over deaths and in-migrants over out-migrants (unlike other countries, Uganda largely resettles refugees instead of keeping them in camps until they are ready to return home) – there will be more demand for land which is no longer readily available.

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Limitations of primary export-oriented economic growth

At its 63rd session the United Nations General Assembly held on September 22, 2008 a special high-level meeting devoted exclusively to Africa’s development needs. It featured the participation of 29 heads of state and government, along with representatives of African, developing and donor countries, bilateral and multilateral agencies and business and civil society organizations. The following is an excerpt from President Museveni’s address.

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