1 hr · Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba, PhD. THE IDEAL UGANDA: MY PERSPECTIVES BY PROF. VENANSIUS BARYAMUREEBA, PhD PROLOGUE “In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.” ~Charles de Gaulle On January 26, 1986, the then National Resistance Army (NRA), under the command of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, captured power following a five year guerrilla war against Milton Obote’s government. As a seventeen year old, I joined my folks and the rest of the people in my village to celebrate this take over. The coming in of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ushered in a new atmosphere of democracy and hope to Ugandans, at least to the people in my neighbourhood. I can vividly remember my father and his peers gathered at home, all ears glued to his tiny radio as they followed the events of the day. A new dawn had indeed risen in our country. As a young man, fully aware of my surroundings, I knew then that service for my country ought to come before self. After all why would my very well groomed and knowledgeable father be singing praises of a Museveni I didn’t even know! Born to a family of cattle keepers, Museveni became the talk of my village as an exceptional leader. In the 1990s, Uganda’s economy grew, poverty levels dropped and the country generally enjoyed reasonable stability. In September 1995, the Constitution of Uganda was adopted and enacted by the people of Uganda through the Constituent Assembly. At the time, I was just 26 years old and fully interested in the issues of politics and governance of my country. Now in December 2014, at 45 years of age, I can proudly say that my interest in the issues of my country continues to take priority over everything else. The passion for politics and governance was definitely nurtured by my father Pius Kabukure. As a man who voluntarily joined a group of young people to fight in the second world-war, Pius was often looked at among his peers as a man who sacrificed himself for the good of others even after he had long returned from this war. This reputation, dad held in high esteem. And because of this, he was more like an authority on issues of politics in my village. And as he vehemently discussed day to day issues in governance structures, I listened in and even engaged him. To date, I find that I consistently want to discuss these day to day issues and being the typical scholar that I am, I have no fear of viewing things from a new perspective. As I close my 2014, I am glad to share some of my distinctive views on how we can have a better Uganda. Yes, because of my love for service above self, I dream repeatedly of a better Uganda, never mind how ideal my Uganda must sound. But this Uganda is achievable. There are issues like human rights, free and fair elections, promotion of multiparty democracy etc that I have not given attention to in this book. This is because several other authors have already written extensively about them. I choose the less talked about issues like orderly political transition, federalism, separation of powers, national budget priorities, Uganda’s global competitiveness, job creation and corruption. Having witnessed six regime changes in Uganda in my lifetime, from Idi Amin Dada to Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, it is my personal conviction that we should start thinking and planning for orderly succession in regard to the Presidency of this country. More specifically, reinstating of term limits for the Presidency is an issue that we can’t continuously treat as an oversight. As global leadership takes a paradigm shift, we too ought to learn from countries that are successfully transitioning politically as I will discuss later in this book. At the same time, reducing the age limit to ensure that a President does not serve beyond 70 years would come in handy for Uganda. We need to avoid a precedent of a President dying in office because of old age like it’s happening in other countries lately. The Bible in Psalms 90:10 says that “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away.” Even the word of God recognizes that after 70, as humans we may not be able to achieve as much as we would in our earlier years. Who are we to think otherwise? Political leadership aside, how can Uganda enhance its global competitiveness? Within the East African Community, the global competitive index 2013-2014 placed Burundi at 146th, Uganda at 129th, Tanzania at 125th, Kenya at 96th, and Rwanda at 66th position out of the 148 countries ranked globally. Thus Rwanda tops the list as the most competitive country in East Africa. Looking at this index, my mind couldn’t help pondering how our competiveness could be this poor! The education, health and agricultural sectors too are ailing yet very important to the development of the country. While we need increased funding to these sectors, we need a strategic plan on how to combat the already rampant challenges on the ground. A survey report released by the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA) in May 2014 on employability of graduates in East Africa found that graduates from Kenya and Rwanda are preferred in the workplace to their counterparts from other East African countries. The study, which polled employers across the region, concluded that in general, East African graduates lack employability skills – technical mastery and basic work-related capabilities. According to this study, Uganda had the worst record, with at least 63% of graduates found to lack employability skills, followed by Tanzania at 61%, Burundi at 55%, Rwanda at 52% and Kenya at 51%. The findings by the IUCEA, which regulates higher education in the East African Community’s five countries confirms long-held concerns among employers that most higher education graduates are not fully prepared for the job market. For Uganda to have the worst record among the East African countries is even more absurd because once upon a time, we were considered the hub of education in East Africa. And with Uganda’s population on the rise, all indicators point to the fact that the youth bulge in Uganda is likely to turn into a demographic bomb instead of a demographic dividend. As a country, we need to urgently address unemployment especially among the youth. This book will share more on how the government can put in place specialised financial institutions like Agricultural Bank, Youth Development Bank, Venture Capital in addition to investing in business incubation, the education, health and agricultural sectors. It is the only sure way new jobs can be created in the economy. Furthermore, the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International ranked Uganda among the most corrupt countries in the world. The 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Rwanda 55th with a score of 49%, Tanzania 119th with a score of 31%, Uganda 142nd with a score of 26%, Kenya 145th with a score of 25% and Burundi 159th with a score of 20%. The higher the percentage score the less the country is perceived to be corrupt. Thus, Rwanda is ranked as the least corrupt country in East Africa. The high levels of corruption in Uganda are not sustainable. After genocide of 1994, Rwanda was not comparable to Uganda in anyway. In fact, Rwanda was more of a failed state. But today all development indicators point to Rwanda as being ahead of Uganda in the quest to join the upper middle-income countries. The question on every Ugandan’s mind must be: what has gone wrong in the last 20 years or so? “Don’t think of yourself Vena; think of everyone else first and yourself last,” my father always challenged me. This lesson I carry with me in this book as I pen down my perspectives of an ideal Uganda without compromising any of our rights and laws. My ideal Uganda is one whose graduates stand tall to be counted; a Uganda whose people have the opportunity to have an honest debate of all political systems; a Uganda whose people are assured of a peaceful political transition; a Uganda whose quality products are recognized in the competitive global market; a Uganda with a functional health system; a Uganda whose youths are creatively and innovatively getting things done and not somewhere on the streets taking advantage of every opportunity to riot and strike; a Uganda with zero tolerance to corruption. Yes that is my perspective of the Uganda that should be! =============================== THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT MUKONO BOOKSHOP, KAMPALA. Enjoy x-mass where getting updated on what is going on in your mother country by one and only Prof.Baryamureeba Venansius.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 14:28:37 +0000
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