Emulate the UK on aid
This idiom was drummed into my head by my popular O’ level English and History teacher, Rev. Joseph Oyanga now retired Bishop of Lira. It simply expresses the common knowledge that when you patch up your cloth in good time, you stop a bigger tear and save yourself the expense of buying a new dress at least in the immediate.
This could not be so true for the state of affairs in Uganda today, where I think the writing is on the wall and signs are that we are destined not for stability but the anarchy we have been through in the past, ironically enough for the same reasons - manipulation of the constitution. Call it what you may, haven’t you heard these reasons before?
My former student in Madera Seminary recently told me that some of my letters border on politics and I was at pains to tell him that I am only being a responsible prophet- an interpreter of the situation in light of history and God’s word. He told me it was safe for me to do that while out of Uganda. The implication was that while in Uganda you cannot speak freely.
What more reason did I need to be more loud as a prophet in the state of fear that seems to be engulfing the majority of brains whom I would expect to guide our country through the challenges of globalisation and help lift our developing country out of the abyss of poverty?
It is for this reason that I want to applaud the action taken by Britain in withholding aid. In fact I have been wondering why other countries do not follow suit hearing the abuses from our leaders basically telling them to keep out of “our politics” but give us their money anyway!
I am not an advocate of withholding aid especially if it is given for purposes of poverty eradication. The facts on the ground, however, bear witness to the fact that the eradication of poverty is very much rhetoric. People continue to wallow in poverty, unless of course we continue to use the Amin era as our perpetual yardstick for the measure of our progress!
If donor countries were to give aid and not have a say in the use of funds they would be perpetuating the scenario of the cold war era where developed countries bred dictators and looked the other way as the ordinary people were brutalised and subjected to systemic intimidation unless they danced to one tune. Examples abound of dictators, who benefitted from the poverty of their population. Mobutu Sese Seko of DRC was a great beneficiary of Western aid and because the West wanted to prevent him from reverting to the communist East there were no conditions attached to the colossal aid given to the DRC in the 1970s to 1980s.
May be it is time the Western world demanded for democratic accountability, respect of human rights from all who receive their aid or take moral responsibility for the consequences and be accused of complicity in the muzzling of people.
On the other hand if they suspend aid and human rights continue to be abused, then they still have a moral obligation under our common humanity to speak out on the side of human freedoms.
Rev Richard Pius Okiria
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