Our dear President and Handouts From envelopes, legal fees, medical bills to sacks of money and state house scholarship, it is very clear that handouts have replaced service delivery in Uganda. Dishing out of brown envelopes has characterized my beloved President whenever he attends a function especially upcountry. This has led to a belief among the population that whenever the president visits or stops anywhere to greet them he has a brown envelope to give out. It is therefore not surprising to see Ugandans from all walks of life begging to have an audience with the President. That is what happens in a country where the apparatus for service delivery has broken down. I am not against the idea of the President helping ‘his people’ but it bothers me when this culture replaces service delivery in the country. From peasants to Youths and to members of parliament, the president has turned into a money minting machine! The memories of members of parliament who turned a meeting with the president at state house to discuss the creation of more districts into a begging spree are still flesh in our minds. It is common knowledge that the President has financially bailed out politicians from all political divide either with medical bills, legal fees, bride price or schools fees. Stories of a few Ugandans being offered medical treatment in western hospitals and others airlifted from their villages by military helicopters while many mothers die for lack of fuel in the ambulance to transport them to a decent hospital leave a bad taste in the mouth of some of us. I wonder why instead of upgrading our hospitals to international standards, the government chooses to fly a few Ugandans abroad for treatment! The privileged few are flown out on tax payers’ money while the rest of us resort to begging the public for help. Almost every week you see somebody in the newspaper asking for support to go to India for a heart or kidney operation. Attempts have also been made to develop the country through handouts with disastrous results. You all remember the 25billion dished out to Mr. Kananathan to establish an AGOA factory in Bugolobi. Entandikwa, Bonna bagagawale, Youth fund and NAADs have all been schemes for giving people money to stimulate development. What became of all these is very obvious for all to see. Big chunks of land have also been given out to quack investors and much of it is idle. The President may mean well but clearly his methods are not working therefore a need to institutionalize all his efforts. However institutionalization is not in itself enough if the institutions are not allowed to do their work. The handouts have also been in most cases a preserve of the president’s supporters. This has created a sense of entitlement on the part of the supporters. They therefore don’t feel obliged to pay back even if money is given as a revolving fund. Ugandans should shun handouts and demand for good roads, education, health services, security, rule of law and sound economic policies. The president however is not alone in promoting this culture of handouts. The NGOs are also as guilty as charged. For every activity the NGOs do with the community, they dish out money to the participants. From workshop allowance to transport facilitation, money talks in the NGO world. These days you can barely do anything with the community without giving them money even if it is to their own good. Handouts may work for sometime but one thing I am sure of is they are not sustainable.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 11:29:53 +0000