Buganda and Baganda rendered helpless It is 25th Friday, July 2006, in the suburb of Kampala. I stood at a certain minibus stage, for two hours. There were six young men, who so easily sat on their motorcycle may be for a longer period of time doing than I have been at that point. I left after two hours of my study.
Doing what? Waiting for passengers to make a shilling. Meantime, they made fun and merry making chatting their worries away. Im trying to map what exactly, Buganda people actually do now that they are industrialised and have gained minimum economic recovery. Ive written about the national agricultural advisor services (NAADS) and the programme for the modernisation of agriculture (PAM). Ill post the article again in due course for reflection. There is no better way, of betraying Buganda and Baganda than those two programmes. Ask what happened to vanilla gardens in Mukono or the government is today adding value to vanilla? Get to grips with Buganda and Bagandas fate under NRM. One presidential advisor last march was donating wooden wheelbarrows and charts in Mukono. Implying Buganda and Baganda leave vanilla to who and do wheelbarrowing?! Fine you might have another argument. And let me also put it like this. Uganda has over 7000000 million children in the so-called universal primary education. Dont mind that Karamojong children are begging on Bugandas Kampala streets. 7000000 million children, would every day consume a meal of 500 grams of dried fruit and half a little of milk each. Adding up to 35000000 kilograms of dried fruits and 35´000000 cubic litres of milk a day. That will be very cheap for the Buganda kingdom to do something very difficult for NRM to emulate. The pineapples from Bugerere are rotting in Nakasero and Owino markets. Mangoes and pawpaws from Luwero are rotting away by the roadside. Sweet bananas from Ssese are rotting in Ssese as Buganda and Baganda farmers and children are rendered helpless, unemployed and malnourished. Buganda and Baganda must fight back in a big way. During the March election 2006, I was coming from a study tour of Entebbe and tens of motorcyclists composed of mainly young Buganda men, were given free fuel. Indeed they got it, so they rode in a very long procession from and to Entebbe, along one of the presidential candidate in a show of support. I was somehow shocked people so poor and dispossessed yet so accommodating. I cant tell what those motorcyclists, think when they look back at their own conditions on that particular afternoon, in relation to what and how they live their lives today. I know the conditions are the same in Kabale, Busia or Arua for example but Buganda is nearest to our hearts. That is exactly how Buganda youth and men have been used for political gains, by being politically manipulated. What is going on is terrible to say the least, given the cultural and socio-economic setting of the country. Ask were the commanders of Professor Lule rebel forces integrated in NRA are? Men basically provide for their homes and families in cultural and ethical Buganda . Just recently, a bodaboda association chairman of sorts said, each motorcyclist in Kampala for example has 7 customers. Now take it that on average, every customer pays a transport fee of 800 shillings minus fuel cost of 200. A week, a bodaboda cyclist will make some 5600 shillings making it 24000 shillings a month! A shack in Kampala or Masaka slums go for some 50000 shillings a month. Is the nrm condemning Buganda and Buganda to persons isolation, no children and a wife? In all faith, can such a person have any chance of having a good marriage, social life, proper economic and financial standing, let alone a good psychological posture? Judge for your self. In my bookshelf, I still have books written by Professor Robert Elliote on labour economics, an expert into the field, he has studied for decades. Ive another book Open Economy Macroeconomics Theory, Policy and Evidence by Ronald Shone 1989 also an expert into the field he has studied for so many years. That one too is a very good book. If there is any claim by NRM politicians, of so being concerned about the fate of this Buganda and Baganda, I wonder then how they can comfortably sit in their offices and claim all is well when thousands and thousands of Buganda youth are lured into an empty trade! The problem is far greater and deeper, thanks to NRM strategies. I am in a managers office of a certain popular media company. Hes reserved and selects his words carefully. Caution he pays much attention to, is derived from his experience in running and managing a major media company. This, I realise later in our encounter. NRM most certainly, has killed this Bugandas professional working ethics for good. There is virtually no office or public entity that functions to its most optimal efficiency, with Ugandans in the management stool. Those who attempts to do so, the NRM bandwagon drags them into oblivion. Take an example of District Land Boards or Uganda land commission under the celebrated Mayanja Nkanji, once a Conservative party leader, that has been rendered useless. These are entities with an array of professionals ranging from; surveyors, civil works engineers, valuers, planners. Now, imagine that one allocates a school in the city centre without consulting the authority on land allocation? Then how will Buganda children, resident in a city centre cross the city traffic jammed roads and get to a school several kilometres away from their residences? See how Buganda children are strategically being sent into slum schools? Unbelievable! It is basically impossible to find any single entity in Buganda that is not dented with some demonic evil, as a result of killing professionalism NRM has unleashed on this Buganda nation. In the same light, there is virtually no entity; banks, media organisations, corporate entities etc, that fully recruit Ugandans these days. In fact most banks and other such entities, are today run by foreigners; Americans, Europeans, Kenyans or Tanzanians. Its quite understandable. Look at New Vision, Monitor, Banks, medium and large NGOs. Its shocking to say the least! A telephone in a government institution might not be working or is not loaded with money on it. Such services were privatised to the highest bidding trader. Notice, even the state, finds it difficult to get the same services. Power shortage has exposed the backwardness of NRM to a degree only reminiscent authoritarian and dictatorial African leaders exhibit. At times a government office doesnt have paper to photocopy or a certain type of work, is not in a given offices jurisdiction. If you go to Umeme for example and ask them where they have a map of a given power infrastructure or installation, they will send you to Uganda electricity distribution Company (UEDCL). UEDCL might have the same material, in a given building not known to them or leased to a private company only known to a certain government procurement body and so on. Humble people, have given up but they continue to come to their jobs atleast to earn their daily bread. A certain entity might have the legal right to i.e. plan, design, and execute a given type of work. The entity has everything i.e. tools and personnel. However, the same entity let us say is mandated with designing toilets. It will outsource such work and a civil engineer recruited for that particular work is instead rendered useless! Chaos rules in this country, and arbitrarily sold off entities in what is termed as privatisation is also amazing. At a commercial bank it is written, we open 8.30 surprisingly opening hours can instantly be extended one hour sometimes more. Bwanika Nakyesawa Luwero Bwanika ________ http://www.idrconsulting.com --> for your consultancy needs _______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [email protected] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ---------------------------------------
