Sour grapes and fitima is driving Chris Obore to write all this. --- gook makanga <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
--------------------------------- Is theft the route to modernisation? By Chris Obore August 2, 2003 When I was young, my maternal grandfather used to strongly talk against stealing. He warned us never to steal anything however tempting the situation was, because stealing pains the owner of the property. He went a head to say that when you steal, the owner will curse you, and that God listens and retribution would follow. I, therefore, grew up fearing theft. I also grew up with the knowledge that since it was an elder speaking, therefore, all older people do not steal. Then on July 21, some disturbing news episode unfolded in Parliament. The MPs on the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee challenged the Police over the purchase of a Shs 144m car for the Inspector General of Police. The committee, chaired by Mr Simon Mayende (Samia Bugwe South) wondered why there is that craze for state-of-the-art vehicles for security chiefs, which they described as extravagant and wasteful. The Police chiefs in turn blasted the MPs for being inconsiderate, yet they (MPs) want pension for working for a few years, and regularly revise their salaries upwards. Mr Julius Odwe, the deputy Police chief made it clear that an IGP is an important person who deserves a state-of-the art machine. What disturbed me was not the Shs 144m price tag, but the fact that some policy makers do not, up till now, understand why there is a craze for posh things in this country. Our inept or pretentious MPs should be given some explanations. Most Ugandans today want posh things because the culture of consumerism has taken root in us. Stealing is no longer an evil, and the 'big people' are the greatest culprits. The philosophy now is that you either eat or you are eaten. This philosophy is a seed that was planted by the politicians and the elite. They have made it grow like a bush fire. It was sheer hypocrisy and pretence for MPs to say that they don't know why there is a craze for posh cars by security chiefs when the ministers with whom they sit and debate in Parliament all drive luxurious cars. Show me a minister who drives a Toyota Corona or Starlet and I will show you ministers who drive top-of-the-range Land Cruisers that are maintained by poor Ugandans. In my wisdom, a poor country like Uganda cannot afford a luxurious lifestyle for its leaders; but the leaders want it. In civilised societies, such vehicles are for the business class, footballers or artists who make hefty bucks in profits. But in Uganda, the posh cars and houses belong to the political class and the upper working class. The question now is; from where do politicians derive profits? The answer is, from the taxpayer and donors. Sincerely, even if one joined politics after making money in business, should he or she enjoy luxury amidst a poverty-stricken electorate? As Odwe told the MPs, the IGP is a very important person. Therefore, all-important persons in Uganda must enjoy at the expense of peasants who live in tatters. I have often interacted with men and women in the Police Force who, because of poverty, wear haggard looks and walk like they have just survived a diarrhoea attack. But regardless of their plight, the IGP has to buy a good car. Politics and leadership in Uganda are now a business, a bad one at that. We have been told that the country is modernising, the middle class is growing, but no one has spelt out how the middle class is to develop. The fact is that a few people have managed to steal from public coffers and live in luxury. There is now a craze as everyone tries to catch up through theft in the name of 'modernising' our country. These days, some people get jobs, work for two years, and are able to build posh houses, buy cars and spend weekends at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Sheraton Hotel or Kiwatule Recreation Centre. When our leaders see these things, they are never ashamed to say that the country is modernising. Thus our leaders praise modernisation through theft. Government vehicles are used to take children to school, carry charcoal for relatives, and frequent bars. Despite standing orders barring government-owned cars from being used beyond working hours, most of them are still used to fetch and drop girlfriends up to midnight. No one seems bothered, but the taxpayer has to pay the costs. What is happening in our country is that leaders have made the ordinary citizens their investment. They borrow money from donors under the pretext of helping uplift the standards of the people but the top class pockets a huge chunk of the money. People are coerced to pay taxes for national development but it is mainly used for personal development. Why would an IGP who presides over a poverty-stricken Police Force want to spend Shs 144m on a car, when some Police posts lack stationery to use in taking statements from suspects? Why would a minister who comes from a constituency that is home to hundreds of Aids orphans want to drive a luxurious car when his people don't have clean water? Like in Animal Farm, where all animals are equal but others are more equal, in Uganda all people are equal but others are very special. Ugandans who are sleeping today will one-day wake up only to discover that they have been mortgaged to investors who gave bribes to big shots in government. When leaders begin to demand expensive cars in a poor environment, it is reason enough to believe that such leaders can kill or sell you in return for state-of-the-art property. My grandfather was wrong to tell me that God pays retribution when you steal. How come God has not punished the thieves in Uganda? I was also wrong to believe that older people don't steal because in Uganda, the big ones are the rabid thieves. The author is Education Forum Editor of The Monitor Contact: 077-593-745 © 2003 The Monitor Publications --------------------------------- Gook "You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom."- Malcom X --------------------------------- Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* ===== LM __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
