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The NRM and It's leadership have managed to steal donor funds for their self aggrandisement because the people of Uganda did not really care as to what the NRM did with funds borrowed for and in the name of the people of Uganda. The people of Uganda, were deeply engrossed in the politics of Tribalism as in Bunyoro vis Buganda, Bacholi vis Longo, Banyankole vis Ba Teso Baluru vis Lugwara. Well guess what you suffer the consequencies of your stupidity..as in extreme poverty Buganda , death and destruction in Northern and eastern Uganda. E.t.c. The man already stated in no uncertain terms that if you are stupid you wwill be taken into slavery. The people of Uganda should simply enjoy their slavery in peace!!!!!
Matek
Corrupt leaders now vomit on shoes of donors |
| Daniel Lukwago |
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Corruption often flourishes where institutions are weak, rule of law and formal rules are not rigorously observed, political patronage is rife, according to the World Bank Report, "Can Africa Claim the 21st Century?" Recent developments in the country, especially in Parliament, clearly illustrate this. Despite an estimated Shs1,440 billion in international assistance every year, Uganda continues to head the list of poverty, hunger and disease-prone countries. Corrupt leaders siphon off this foreign aid and the country's natural wealth, getting enriched, while their people suffer. For decades, Uganda's agony has been made worse by plundering politicians who have looted the country that the British once christened the pearl of Africa. Uganda has wallowed in conflict and deprivation for many decades. But it is corruption that has hurt the poor most, diverting funds from development, undermining governments, fuelling injustice and inequality, discouraging foreign investment, and breeding distrust and brutality. According to the Auditor General's Report 2003/04, Uganda lost over Shs540 million in lack of accountabilities and misuse. The junk helicopters, ghost payments, invisible valley dams, to the informal fines by LCs, show that corruption is woven deeply into the fabric of Uganda's public life. It's noble for the rich countries to help Uganda but what are our leaders doing to help the poor people? As Mr. George W. Bush, the U.S. President, said recently, "Nobody wants to give money to a country that is corrupt, where leaders take money and put it in their pocket". Why should donors continue giving us money, which remains in pockets of few politicians? Our leaders have not refuted the charges, but have instead complained about donor interference in Uganda's internal affairs. As one diplomat put it, they are behaving like gluttons and vomiting on the shoes of donors who provide 50 percent of the national budget. Over 40 percent of children under-five years of age in Uganda are malnourished, and even major towns lack clean water and basic sanitation. People in slum areas such as Katanga in Kampala and villages are dying of cholera and other water-borne diseases while their leaders are simultaneously building themselves lavish retirement homes. Uganda has been highly regarded as African miracle during the NRM regime, having enjoyed 6.5 percent annual economic growth rates and low inflation rates. However, the country is becoming a basket case, riddled with corruption, institutional decay, and rising sectarianism. Uganda's troubles have been reverberated by the extravagant lifestyle of public officers and failure by Government to punish corrupt leaders even when they have been implicated in corruption practices. These have looted the country's treasury through making fictitious payments, kickbacks and when cash is not enough, they have awarded themselves unauthentic contracts. With the flair for political patronage and politics on numbers, our leaders have managed to rule with a benevolent dictatorial hand, dividing opponents along ethnic lines, manipulating the laws, including the constitution, and pandering to a political culture that is consistently incompetent and very corrupt. By the time the current crop of leaders leave power they will be stinking rich. At the same time, they will leave behind a nation crippled with foreign debt, failing infrastructure, accusations of widespread human-rights abuses and simmering sectarianism. The failure of democracy and poverty reduction in Uganda is largely due to a large part to the scramble for wealth by predator elites who have dominated Uganda's politics. They see the state as a source of personal wealth accumulation. Uganda's tragedy is not that the nation is poor. The tragedy is that we lack a ruling class that is committed to overcoming the state of poverty. Daniel Lukwago is a policy officer at Uganda Debt Network (UDN) |
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