How the NRM’s Wealth Programs actuallygenerate poverty

 #POVERTICS

The prospect of every Ugandan obtaining a middle-income status is still hyperbolic. This is not pessimism. This is reality. The NRM’s Wealth Creation programs are actually producing more poverty, frustration, gloom, and apathy among farmers than what it should be producing - prosperity.

While the government has gone a long way to invest in improving and distributing high yielding seeds quality, the farmers have, in many parts of this country embraced the new improved seeds with cynicism.

Successful farming does not start and end with improved seeds. There must be a whole chain of infrastructure, including the market for the produce. This bit is where the Operation Wealth Creation has failed. Its failures have conjured up to produce exactly the opposite of what it should eradicate – poverty.

In my quiet sojourn in this country, I carried a critical view of things.  My subject was examining rural development or economies. Like many realists, and community development experts, I am interested in the rural economies for obvious reasons.

The rural Uganda is still home to 82% of our citizens and yet farming is one of the least funded sectors. To obtain a middle-income society, rural economies must be seen to be flourishing.

It is possible to see a contradiction in the government policy on agri-production. For instance, the President believes that by underfunding Agriculture and over funding Security sectors, farmers will utilize the prevailing peace and security to farm.

Farmers in this country actually have a diabolical need to what the President believes in. They need the storage facilities and markets for their produces – a steady market as such. The market should transcend Kampala - for farming to become profitable and sustainable. They need farmers’ Co-operatives so urgently, to safeguard them from the vagaries of these regional and global markets.

Take for instance, the plight of Citrus Fruit farmers in Uganda. Most of them are beneficiaries of the improved seeds movement. Fruits farmers in Uganda provide you a simple example of how this government can never get the farmer’s priorities right.

In Uganda, nearly 70% of fruits produced annually go to absolute waste. Only about 30% actually end up for commercial purposes; sold on stalls at the roadside, in the markets, blended into juice in restaurants, etc. The waste in the volume of fruits produced in a year is what should concern us excessively. Clearly, Operation Wealth Creation is blind to such a critical waste.

During the elections, the “Steady Progress” bandwagon announced that a Korean Investor would set up a fruit processing plant in Teso. Those nibbled enough jumped into the bandwagon to accept such a lie. It was a lie. A promise is a lie until it materializes.

The truth is, farmers do not need Korean or foreign investors. The Citrus fruit industry requires a self-sustaining internal or local capacity to self-sustain, a steady market, a fruit cooperative, and a processing plant, for it to boom.

Through my research, I found that a complete high quality Chinese made multi-fruit processor would cost US$250,000-450,000. This is the machine needed to process 80% of all fruits produced in Uganda.

 Given a meticulous attention, the farmers Fruit Co-operative with some help from government funding and resource development, could establish a regional fruit processing plant at a cost of no more than US$600,000, (or slightly more when adjusted to inflation). This investment would employ no more than 1000 youths, along its chain.

This amount is far much less than the money spent wastefully in promoting Dr. Specioza Kazibwe for African Union Chair – a noncritical venture to our needy economy.

Much of the dilemma in this country is the leadership. Each minute that elapses with them in power, it is a painful dis-service to farmers.  Most of their economic programs in place are increasingly reactionary, poorly thought-through, and sentimental, or politically tailored.

A simple study of the fruit industry in Kenya, and how Kenya’s packaged fruit juices have infiltrated shelves of Supermarkets in Uganda, could offer a lesson.

The Operation Wealth Creation is a recipe for generating more poverty than wealth as its’ predecessors. When farmers cannot gain profitably from the fruits, they will cut down the trees. Their investments, energy, expectations, and time will lead them back to abject poverty – a vicious cycle. I witnessed a similar problem with Cotton farmers during the AGOA milieu. Can we learn, or at the least, assume a different mindset?

END.

It is the election fraud messing up our “rule of law”

ILLEGITIMATE AUTHORITY

Since the end of the fraudulent February 2016 elections, Uganda continues to experience a crisis with the rule of law: Police is breaking the law and; it is conspiring with criminals to break the law.

One would notice also that the distance between the government and the people has widened for the worse. In the real free world, leaders of a popularly elected government would endear to the people. This one fears the people!

Many Ugandans are apathetic and silently repulsive to this self-awarded mandate. Many no longer look at Museveni as a bona fide leader. They despise him silently and defiantly. The time for Museveni’s legacy to materialize has elapsed. Whatever happens now, only erases the legacy he could have made as a unique leader.

The mainstream media is rife with reports that the dictator has abdicated most of his roles to his favorite trinity; - brother, wife, and son.

The Judiciary is already rundown and in a state of crisis. The election thieves no longer respect the laws of this land. Many feel immune to due processes and they run roughshod, using state privileges and resources to exert themselves above the law. It is clear that the fraudulent February election is at the root of this collapse of the rule of law.

Incidentally, the law does not even apply for those outside of the shades of the ruling clique.

There, the application of the law is for repression and violation of human rights. They first arrest the suspects, detain, and thereafter, investigate them. Investigation outcomes arrive after one has completed a long sentence. When such evidence is eventually presented, it is just bogus enough for the victims to walk – albeit, without compensation.

The Uganda law society should constitute a process for compensation for those detained purely for political and malicious intents.

The Judiciary is even in a deeper crisis than we already know. Look at the impunities of Gen Kale Kayihura, the Inspector General of Police. For all his law degrees, the Gen is a notorious expert in abrogating human rights. His public display for partisan politics enables him to use the Police to mobilize for, and protect the NRM Party. Now, his “supporters” also wear yellow.

For a Police that liaises with, and promotes criminality, one should only understand that Gen. Kayihura must be the embodiment of the NRM power. He is the Prince of the election fraud and no reprimand can befit him. If the Police Chief is above the law, then who can regulate his actions?

By observing the conduct of the Police, one can conclude that stealing elections deprives a post-election authority of legitimacy and confidence in a society like Uganda that is yearning for change in direction.

Stealing elections only ferment anarchy and tyranny in its purest forms.  Public institutions are overwhelmed with demands to adjust to illegitimacy of the new authority and may fail to adjust, given the repressive environment in which it is compelled to operate. Public policies are subordinated to the priorities of legitimizing the fraudulent authority. The people lose capacity to demand for accountability in the process. And yet, every public institution must endure chaos and counter-productivity during after such a fraudulent elections. Can we fix this part of our politics quick enough?

Incidentally, the first victim of this electoral fraud was the judiciary. The Courts are partly responsible for this impunity because it legalized a fraudulent election. When you legalize an illegitimate process, or outcome, you must play by its new rules.

We learn now that such actions compromises rule of law and make men like Gen Kayihura drunk with power. We are enduring a relapse of the Iddi Amin era. Gen. Kayihura is not any different from Malyamungu or Major Kill Me Quick, with all the attendant foreboding.

Without the rule of law, Uganda becomes a typical Darwinian Island of Archipelagos where only the fittest and connected survives in the crude politics and unpredictable economy.

In the next five years, life will be very hard for Ugandans. Without the rule of law, it may even become impossible.

End

The Glamorous Gulu City

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Two years ago, I suffered in these inner city roads in Gulu with its manhole-size potholes like those that littered the Ring Road. Gulu had some of the most horrifying roads one could ever fathom. Two years later, I could not recognize any of these horrifying inner city Roads. Road development and the cleanliness of Gulu Municipality now have set a new standard and redefining the course of urban development. The ongoing development has reset the foundation for a rebirth of Gulu City from the horrors of two decades of war, commuter population and internment. With a little bit of green spacing, Gulu could become the greenest City in Uganda, and we should embrace such to stave off our environmental degradation.

Could the progress that I saw in Gulu exemplify FDC’s potential once it ascends to power at national and regional levels? I need to study other districts where FDC is firmly in control, like Kasese, if its leadership is as focused and outcome based as the one in Gulu. It is possible that other than a properly conceived Party ideology or its implementation, individuals have innate capacity to espouse unique traits that produce stunning results, even in the most hopeless situations. One of our own,  an emerging intellectual firebrand, Ms Janette Abalo has conducted research on positive deviance for her MPH degree in Norway. By positive deviance, she refers to exceptional performers in extremely difficult situation, such as the violent corruption, sectarianism and divisive politics that have stalled development in most local governments.

My very first encounter with the Gulu LCV, Mr. Ojara Mapenduza was perhaps an impromptu one, courtesy of the sociable Nwoya MP - Hon Simon Oyet. Mr. Mapenduzi was meeting a team from ACCORD who had completed capacity building training for Local Government leaders in the Acholi region to maximize on their roles (I heard them refer to Acholi as a sub-region and I cringed). The ACCORD team spoke very well of the performances of Gulu Local Council and that reaffirmed my faith in what I had adjudged.

My impression of Mr. Mapenduzi was upfront – amiable, poised, jolly, sensitive to the comfort of his guests, and above all, very polite and respectful of everything around. He was even chaperoning for us to eat the goat meat he had roasted for his guests before it cooled! These personal traits are, perhaps, what endears him to lead the Gulu District Council with such a sense of unity and purpose.

I am told that in Gulu, once politics is done with, unity of diversity prevails immediately. This, precisely, is why in Gulu, the Electoral Commission has struggled to steal votes for the ruling Party to generate fake and corrupted leaders in vain. People here still value integrity of process and product.  They know that a falsified process will produce a fake or illegitimate result. They value trusting and trustworthy leaders who can rise above trivialities and pettiness. Here, the gift of leadership is not in short supply.

I was therefore frozen in space and time in deep thoughts, as to whether the proper use of World Bank Funds to build these roads could be replicated in other urban places, townships, and Municipalities in this country. The other thoughts that flooded my mind is whether these glittering roads will be maintained for even five years. 

We need more beautiful Cities like Gulu to decongest Kampala.  Services should be distributed to different locations in the Country. For instance, the headquarters of Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Fisheries, should be in Gulu. Ministry of Education should operate from Karamoja etc. As is, few have the passion of living in Kampala. It is simply a painful experience of nonstop noise, risk of being run over by erudite boda boda, total lack of respect for traffic rules – lights, zebra crossings, pavements, lanes, shoulders, boulders etc. The most challenging aspect of it all you find improperly trained Police Traffic Officers commanding traffic as if they have no energy or sense of direction in their heads. In a away you start to see a conspiracy between Police and lawlessness come alive in this City. When in Kampala your life expectancy is reduced twentyfold and you feel a constant sense of doom beckoning at you!

Indeed, one must value the development in Gulu and use it to attract investments, trade and tourism. There is peace; people are travelling back and forth during odd hours, but with caution. I understand that some robbers still linger around the peri-urban areas and are known to the authorities. I am told a one notorious thug called Ojara is even known to the Police (a random person told me so, this is unqualified) in the area, and yet he is at large! I travelled in villages; the sights of permanent structures of jaw-dropping designs are sprouting sporadically, and land is becoming expensive. I wish these people leased, and not sold their land.

As I left Gulu, I was satisfied that this region carries a unique potential for growth. Its success is a manifestation of the much-desired change in governance. Whether the success of Team Mapenduzi exemplifies the potential of FDC, or that of positive deviance, it is evident, that democracy, when properly applied, can generate great and visionary leadership.

It would be cruel to end this reflective note without recognizing the other developmental partners and government agencies that have contributed to Gulu's development. It is certain that the unity of diversity is the driving force that conjoins with the vision of these leaders. However, we must fix our democracy urgently so that natural process of selection prevails to generate the type of leaders that we desire. We need leaders who can stave off this endemically corrupted regime to deliver.

End.

Gulu: A Case of FDC Competence or Positive Deviance?

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Two years ago, I suffered in these inner city roads in Gulu with its manhole-size potholes like those that littered the Ring Road. Gulu had some of the most horrifying roads one could ever fathom. Two years later, I could not recognize any of these horrifying inner city Roads. Road development and the cleanliness of Gulu Municipality now have set a new standard and redefining the course of urban development. The ongoing development has reset the foundation for a rebirth of Gulu City from the horrors of two decades of war, commuter population and internment. With a little bit of green spacing, Gulu could become the greenest City in Uganda, and we should embrace such to stave off our environmental degradation.

Could the progress that I saw in Gulu exemplify FDC’s potential once it ascends to power at national and regional levels? I need to study other districts where FDC is firmly in control, like Kasese, if its leadership is as focused and outcome based as the one in Gulu. It is possible that other than a properly conceived Party ideology or its implementation, individuals have innate capacity to espouse unique traits that produce stunning results, even in the most hopeless situations. One of our own,  an emerging intellectual firebrand, Ms Janette Abalo has conducted research on positive deviance for her MPH degree in Norway. By positive deviance, she refers to exceptional performers in extremely difficult situation, such as the violent corruption, sectarianism and divisive politics that have stalled development in most local governments.

My very first encounter with the Gulu LCV, Mr. Ojara Mapenduza was perhaps an impromptu one, courtesy of the sociable Nwoya MP - Hon Simon Oyet. Mr. Mapenduzi was meeting a team from ACCORD who had completed capacity building training for Local Government leaders in the Acholi region to maximize on their roles (I heard them refer to Acholi as a sub-region and I cringed). The ACCORD team spoke very well of the performances of Gulu Local Council and that reaffirmed my faith in what I had adjudged.

My impression of Mr. Mapenduzi was upfront – amiable, poised, jolly, sensitive to the comfort of his guests, and above all, very polite and respectful of everything around. He was even chaperoning for us to eat the goat meat he had roasted for his guests before it cooled! These personal traits are, perhaps, what endears him to lead the Gulu District Council with such a sense of unity and purpose.

I am told that in Gulu, once politics is done with, unity of diversity prevails immediately. This, precisely, is why in Gulu, the Electoral Commission has struggled to steal votes for the ruling Party to generate fake and corrupted leaders in vain. People here still value integrity of process and product.  They know that a falsified process will produce a fake or illegitimate result. They value trusting and trustworthy leaders who can rise above trivialities and pettiness. Here, the gift of leadership is not in short supply.

I was therefore frozen in space and time in deep thoughts, as to whether the proper use of World Bank Funds to build these roads could be replicated in other urban places, townships, and Municipalities in this country. The other thoughts that flooded my mind is whether these glittering roads will be maintained for even five years. 

We need more beautiful Cities like Gulu to decongest Kampala.  Services should be distributed to different locations in the Country. For instance, the headquarters of Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Fisheries, should be in Gulu. Ministry of Education should operate from Karamoja etc. As is, few have the passion of living in Kampala. It is simply a painful experience of nonstop noise, risk of being run over by erudite boda boda, total lack of respect for traffic rules – lights, zebra crossings, pavements, lanes, shoulders, boulders etc. The most challenging aspect of it all you find improperly trained Police Traffic Officers commanding traffic as if they have no energy or sense of direction in their heads. In a away you start to see a conspiracy between Police and lawlessness come alive in this City. When in Kampala your life expectancy is reduced twentyfold and you feel a constant sense of doom beckoning at you!

Indeed, one must value the development in Gulu and use it to attract investments, trade and tourism. There is peace; people are travelling back and forth during odd hours, but with caution. I understand that some robbers still linger around the peri-urban areas and are known to the authorities. I am told a one notorious thug called Ojara is even known to the Police (a random person told me so, this is unqualified) in the area, and yet he is at large! I travelled in villages; the sights of permanent structures of jaw-dropping designs are sprouting sporadically, and land is becoming expensive. I wish these people leased, and not sold their land.

As I left Gulu, I was satisfied that this region carries a unique potential for growth. Its success is a manifestation of the much-desired change in governance. Whether the success of Team Mapenduzi exemplifies the potential of FDC, or that of positive deviance, it is evident, that democracy, when properly applied, can generate great and visionary leadership.

It would be cruel to end this reflective note without recognizing the other developmental partners and government agencies that have contributed to Gulu's development. It is certain that the unity of diversity is the driving force that conjoins with the vision of these leaders. However, we must fix our democracy urgently so that natural process of selection prevails to generate the type of leaders that we desire. We need leaders who can stave off this endemically corrupted regime to deliver.

End.

Gulu: A case of FDC Competence or Positive Deviance?

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Two years ago, I suffered in these inner city roads in Gulu with its manhole-size potholes like those that littered the Ring Road. Gulu had some of the most horrifying roads one could ever fathom. Two years later, I could not recognize any of these horrifying inner city Roads. Road development and the cleanliness of Gulu Municipality now have set a new standard and redefining the course of urban development. The ongoing development has reset the foundation for a rebirth of Gulu City from the horrors of two decades of war, commuter population and internment. With a little bit of green spacing, Gulu could become the greenest City in Uganda, and we should embrace such to stave off our environmental degradation.

Could the progress that I saw in Gulu exemplify FDC’s potential once it ascends to power at national and regional levels? I need to study other districts where FDC is firmly in control, like Kasese, if its leadership is as focused and outcome based as the one in Gulu. It is possible that other than a properly conceived Party ideology or its implementation, individuals have innate capacity to espouse unique traits that produce stunning results, even in the most hopeless situations. One of our own,  an emerging intellectual firebrand, Ms Janette Abalo has conducted research on positive deviance for her MPH degree in Norway. By positive deviance, she refers to exceptional performers in extremely difficult situation, such as the violent corruption, sectarianism and divisive politics that have stalled development in most local governments.

My very first encounter with the Gulu LCV, Mr. Ojara Mapenduza was perhaps an impromptu one, courtesy of the sociable Nwoya MP - Hon Simon Oyet. Mr. Mapenduzi was meeting a team from ACCORD who had completed capacity building training for Local Government leaders in the Acholi region to maximize on their roles (I heard them refer to Acholi as a sub-region and I cringed). The ACCORD team spoke very well of the performances of Gulu Local Council and that reaffirmed my faith in what I had adjudged.

My impression of Mr. Mapenduzi was upfront – amiable, poised, jolly, sensitive to the comfort of his guests, and above all, very polite and respectful of everything around. He was even chaperoning for us to eat the goat meat he had roasted for his guests before it cooled! These personal traits are, perhaps, what endears him to lead the Gulu District Council with such a sense of unity and purpose.

I am told that in Gulu, once politics is done with, unity of diversity prevails immediately. This, precisely, is why in Gulu, the Electoral Commission has struggled to steal votes for the ruling Party to generate fake and corrupted leaders in vain. People here still value integrity of process and product.  They know that a falsified process will produce a fake or illegitimate result. They value trusting and trustworthy leaders who can rise above trivialities and pettiness. Here, the gift of leadership is not in short supply.

I was therefore frozen in space and time in deep thoughts, as to whether the proper use of World Bank Funds to build these roads could be replicated in other urban places, townships, and Municipalities in this country. The other thoughts that flooded my mind is whether these glittering roads will be maintained for even five years. 

We need more beautiful Cities like Gulu to decongest Kampala.  Services should be distributed to different locations in the Country. For instance, the headquarters of Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Fisheries, should be in Gulu. Ministry of Education should operate from Karamoja etc. As is, few have the passion of living in Kampala. It is simply a painful experience of nonstop noise, risk of being run over by erudite boda boda, total lack of respect for traffic rules – lights, zebra crossings, pavements, lanes, shoulders, boulders etc. The most challenging aspect of it all you find improperly trained Police Traffic Officers commanding traffic as if they have no energy or sense of direction in their heads. In a away you start to see a conspiracy between Police and lawlessness come alive in this City. When in Kampala your life expectancy is reduced twentyfold and you feel a constant sense of doom beckoning at you!

Indeed, one must value the development in Gulu and use it to attract investments, trade and tourism. There is peace; people are travelling back and forth during odd hours, but with caution. I understand that some robbers still linger around the peri-urban areas and are known to the authorities. I am told a one notorious thug called Ojara is even known to the Police (a random person told me so, this is unqualified) in the area, and yet he is at large! I travelled in villages; the sights of permanent structures of jaw-dropping designs are sprouting sporadically, and land is becoming expensive. I wish these people leased, and not sold their land.

As I left Gulu, I was satisfied that this region carries a unique potential for growth. Its success is a manifestation of the much-desired change in governance. Whether the success of Team Mapenduzi exemplifies the potential of FDC, or that of positive deviance, it is evident, that democracy, when properly applied, can generate great and visionary leadership.

It would be cruel to end this reflective note without recognizing the other developmental partners and government agencies that have contributed to Gulu's development. It is certain that the unity of diversity is the driving force that conjoins with the vision of these leaders. However, we must fix our democracy urgently so that natural process of selection prevails to generate the type of leaders that we desire. We need leaders who can stave off this endemically corrupted regime to deliver.

End.

Alcohol ban is band-aid, offer mental health services

NORTHERN UGANDA

In 2014, I spent 4 months in the districts of Kitgum, Pader and Lamwo working on an HIV project with the Food for the Hungry. My project was integrated within the clinical discipline at the New Life Medical Centre that offers free HIV treatment.

One of my mandates was to help the staff strengthen service delivery at point of care. The other, was to increase the reach of the HIV treatment program. This facility has the most specialized HIV treatment in this region.

While doing this work, I had not understood well, why male participation in HIV treatment was a major challenge. In fact, the national HIV prevention strategy recognizes that male participation is key to success of HIV treatment. One would think that since the New Life Medical Centre provided a cost accessible and free integrated HIV services, men would naturally flock into this facility to seek treatment, and to bring their spouses for regular ante-natal visits and treatment. The WHO recommends that women should at the least, attend four ante-natal visits to seek qualified medical assessment.

What I experienced during my stay, was that the Acholi man is constantly in retreat from public spheres, and reneging their roles in society to women. The rural males are deeply inserted in self-destructive activities such as being drunk constantly, and aggressive non-productive activities leading to murders, suicide, vagaries, and physical fights.

Further, the Ugandan government policy is that healthcare facility should be within five kilometers of reach by every community. To my surprise, men in these districts avoid seeking HIV testing, counseling,or treatment, and are the least to adhere to HIV treatment.

I am bringing this background so that we can put in context, the recent recommendation by the Lamwo County MP, Hon. Eng. Hillary Onek that Acholi District councils should enact by-laws to ban alcohol and alcohol consumption in this region.

During my stay in Northern Uganda, I saw a pattern of post conflict maladjustment that worried me excessively. I find that in the context of post conflict Acholi region, banning alcohol using regional by-laws is merely band-aid that clumsily attempts to resolve symptoms. Such approaches would justify an outsider’s view that the Acholi rural males have decided, voluntarily to drink alcohol in this excessive manner, whereas not.

In my assessment, there is more to it. And, a vast number of foreign students who have conducted research in this area in the past decades will agree that each of the problems that manifest in post conflict Acholi, come with the same intensity and are all intricately interlinked to perpetrate self-destruction. Take for instance, myriad of studies associate gender-based or domestic violence to alcoholism. While some associate the excessive consumption of alcohol to the convenience of its availability in cheap sachets. Both high alcohol consumption and gender-based violence are predisposing risk factors for high HIV.

My cursory professional assessment as a Public Health authority reveals that the unattended to problem of Northern Uganda is mental illness and the lack of primary healthcare services to detect, diagnose and treat it early. The post conflict Acholi society is fraught with a huge burden of undiagnosed, unattended to mental illness, which to me, is the primary driver of all the deviant social manifestations.

Luckily, Hon Onek is a deputy Premier and a Member of Parliament. He should know that all social problems that are manifesting in post conflict Acholi now are inherently rooted in the experiences of the two decades of conflict. The post conflict Acholi is a place of broken systems and broken dreams. Enactment and enforcement of band-aid interventions will not do much to alleviate the real problems.

Here are some proposed policy approaches to the matter; First, to treat alcohol consumption not as an Acholi problem, but a national problem. Isn’t Uganda only top of Luxembourg in the world list of alcoholics?

Second, a national policy on primary healthcare services for mental health is needed in the whole country. Ugandans as a whole need regular mental health treatment. However, a specific focus on post conflict northern Uganda is utmost. Public Health interventions that are cognizant, and taps into reviving cultural and traditional structures are needed to focus on reduction of alcohol consumption, enhancing domestic relationships, and boosting productivity on the land.

Mental health management is the key determinant of Acholi survival right now. Lastly, the Acholi men have switched roles with women. It is women now doing much of the productive works, including bearing, raising and educating children; mothering their husbands and in some instances, building houses and homes. Sadly, the typical Acholi men have gone to the sachets. Enact policies that give the women more ownership rights to property and land.

End.

Only the people can guarantee peace and stability in Uganda

REFORMS

Post election times in Africa are difficult times to fathom with as it often erupts into vexatious disputes and violence. Democracy itself has proven a costly practice everywhere in Africa. The democratic societies seemed to have arrived at a convergence that the net worth of their societies supersedes that of an individual or their ambitions. They then use democracy as a tool to sieve progressive ideas that adds value to their societies by resolving social, political, and economic questions.

In Africa, we still believe that individuals and their ambitions supersede the very existence of a state, such that without these individuals, these states naturally collapse.

The biggest dilemma in our Uganda is such a myth. We do not even belief in it, but we are too afraid to admit that it is just what it is – a myth.

In my humble view, Uganda is at such a critical stage where its priorities are no longer destructive wars and insurgencies to obtain peace and stability. Uganda yearns for unity of its rich diversity. Many countries have made profitable gains in harnessing its diversity in ethnicity, ideas, ecology, and beliefs to become wealthy, stable, and progressive.  Even countries without endowment with natural wealth as Uganda, have prospered out of harnessing its diversity. Take for instance, most world cities are now competing to clinch the most culturally diverse city status in the world. They have realized the numerous benefits of diversity - tourism, cultural capitals, livability, intellectual growth, and profound tolerance.

The respect for diversity is the cornerstone of Dr Kizza Besigye’s advocacy for wide ranging reforms in electoral laws and in governance using non-violence means.

Uganda need these reforms very urgently. To achieve these reforms, some respect, tolerance, and sacrifice have to be made by all parties involved. The government needs to tone down on its contempt and arrogance towards the Opposition elements and; the opposition ought to pursue principled positions that allows for transparent dialogue. The opposition led by Dr Kizza Besigye has always fronted dialogue and peaceful propositions for reforms. The 2015 Citizen’s Pact is one such example where members of the opposition worked well with civil society organizations to build a strong proposal for electoral reforms. The people in power snubbed these noble efforts.

The struggle that Dr Besigye has waged is a protracted peaceful struggle rooted deeply in creating in vision of a peaceful, stable, just, tolerant, and predictable Uganda that embraces our inherently diverse society. For foreign investments and tourism to flourish, the political developments in Uganda must be predictable. Investors and Tourists want to know that when elections come, it will be fair, peaceful, and that any outstanding contentions are resolved amicable by courts of law - that the rule of law and the due processes work.

Further, to achieve a sustainable middle income economy, some form of economic and social justice needs to prevail. As is, Uganda is a sharply unequal country with much volume of wealth accumulated in Central and Western Uganda. 

This ambition of middle income by 2020 clearly is exclusive of the Eastern and Northern part of this Country. Here, much of the environment is under stress, and people are poor to the core with no proper education, lack of functional healthcare services, and are occasioned by natural calamities - landslides, El Nino, prolonged draught, mental health issues, and high cases of HIV, etc.

So, while some people are mission hungry, it is equally important to conceive those missions with the nation, not individuals using the nation for their ends. As it is, we all agree that there is a whole lot that needs fixing in our politics and avidly corrupted society.

It is my conviction that only the people can better guarantee peace and stability when properly united, not guns and prison walls. Those incubate instability.

The government should engage Dr. Besigye, the Opposition, and civil society in meaningful dialogues to embrace wide-ranging reforms that will restore confidence in our democracy, and the conduct of elections.

What it is now, is nothing but a bully using the army and Police to snatch power from the people to rule perpetually. It is simply not sustainable in the long run. It is the reason Dr. Besigye vows not to support an armed insurrection whose end will further subordinate the people to the power of the guns.

END