[UAH] UGANDA IS A FAILED STATE

Ugandan is among the failed state Countries, according to the 2012 failed state index..

Under tyrant Museveni's regime Uganda is now among the failed state, Uganda's government  allowed a climate of impunity for serious abuses by the police and military, Malnutrition and poverty remain among of the most difficult challenges facing Museveni's regime ,There has been  fatal and non-fatal shootings by the security forces, as well as abuses such as beatings, theft, and rape and  no member of the security forces has been held accountable.

Recently  Foreign Policy magazine in collaboration with the Fund for Peace, published the 2012 Failed States Index, the eighth in the series.

This year's report gives 10 reasons why countries fall apart. It clearly shows that the collapse of a failed state is a process. Countries fail, the report states, "not in an explosion of war and violence but by being utterly unable to take advantage of their society's huge potential for growth, condemning their citizens to a lifetime of poverty."

The researchers' next most important recognition is that Failed States become what they are "because they are ruled by…"extractive" economic institutions, which destroy incentives, discourage innovation, and sap the talent of their citizens by creating a tilted playing field and robbing them of opportunities."

Jammed between Kenya and Burundi, in the 2012 index Uganda is ranked the 20th Failed State. What is striking about this Uganda's latest standing is deterioration of the country's overall situation from its 2011 ranking, which was 21th.

Deterioration has been noted across several of the 12 metrics. Its identification coded by strong red is interpreted as signifying the country being in a critical situation.

Once again, the number one failed state position is occupied by Somalia.

Hereunder are the 12 metrics and annotation of what is meant by each of them to help readers to make their judgements about the data on Uganda:

Demographic pressures(↓)

The Fund for Peace defines this as deriving from high population density relative to food supply and other life sustaining resources.

Refugees/IDPs (↓)

The Fund for Peace sees this as the forced uprooting of large communities as a result of random or targeted violence and/or repression, causing food shortages, disease, lack of clean water, land competition, and turmoil that can spiral into larger humanitarian and security problems, both within and between countries.

Group grievance (↑)

This relates to a history of aggrieved communal groups based on recent or past injustices, which could date back centuries.

Human flight (↓)

The Fund for Peace interprets this as caused by persecution and resulting in "brain drain" of professionals, intellectuals and political dissidents fearing persecution or repression; Voluntary emigration of "the middle class," particularly economically productive segments of the population, such as entrepreneurs, business people, artisans and traders, due to economic deterioration and the growth of exile communities.

Uneven development (↑)

This relates to (a) Group-based inequality, or perceived inequality, in education, jobs, and economic status; (b) Group-based impoverishment as measured by poverty levels, infant mortality rates, education levels; and, (c) The rise of communal nationalism based on real or perceived group inequalities.

Economic decline (↑)

This relates, according to the Fund for Peace, to: (a) A pattern of progressive economic decline of the society as a whole as measured by per capita income, GNP, debt, child mortality rates, poverty levels, business failures, and other economic measures; (b) Sudden drop in commodity prices, trade revenue, foreign investment or debt payments; (c) Collapse or devaluation of the national currency; (d) Extreme social hardship imposed by economic austerity programs; (e) Growth of hidden economies, including the drug trade, smuggling, and capital flight; (f) Increase in levels of corruption and illicit transactions among the general populace; (g) Failure of the state to pay salaries of government employees and armed forces or to meet other financial obligations to its citizens, such as pension payments.

Delegitimization of the state (↑)

This occurs, according to the Fund for Peace, when: (a) Massive and endemic corruption or profiteering by ruling elites; (b) Resistance of ruling elites to transparency, accountability and political representation; (c) Widespread loss of popular confidence in state institutions and processes, e.g., widely boycotted or contested elections, mass public demonstrations, sustained civil disobedience, inability of the state to collect taxes, resistance to military conscription, rise of armed insurgencies; (d) Growth of crime syndicates linked to ruling elites.

Public services =

This situation is measured by: (a) Disappearance of basic state functions that serve the people, including failure to protect citizens from terrorism and violence and to provide essential services, such as health, education, sanitation, public transportation; and, (b) State apparatus narrows to those agencies that serve the ruling elites, such as the security forces, presidential staff, central bank, diplomatic service, customs and collection agencies.

Human rights (↓)

This in the views of the Fund for Peace is a situation characterized by: (a) Emergence of authoritarian, dictatorial or military rule in which constitutional and democratic institutions and processes are suspended or manipulated; (b) Outbreak of politically inspired (as opposed to criminal) violence against innocent civilians; (c) Rising number of political prisoners or dissidents who are denied due process consistent with international norms and practices; (d) Widespread abuse of legal, political and social rights, including those of individuals, groups or cultural institutions (e.g., harassment of the press, politicization of the judiciary, internal use of military for political ends, public repression of political opponents, religious or cultural persecution).

Security apparatus (↓)

This relates to: (a) Emergence of elite or praetorian guards that operate with impunity; (b) Emergence of state-sponsored or state-supported private militias that terrorize political opponents, suspected "enemies," or civilians seen to be sympathetic to the opposition; (c) Emergence of an "army within an army" that serves the interests of the dominant military or political clique; and, (d) Emergence of rival militias, guerilla forces or private armies in an armed struggle or protracted violent campaigns against state security forces.

Factionalized elites (↑)

This is a situation in which: (a) Fragmentation of ruling elites and state institutions along group lines; and, (b) Use of nationalistic political rhetoric by ruling elites, often in terms of communal irredentism, (e.g., a "greater Serbia") or of communal solidarity (e.g., "ethnic cleansing" or "defending the faith").

External interventions (↓)

This metric is deals with: (a) Military or Para-military engagement in the internal affairs of the state at risk by outside armies, states, identity groups or entities that affect the internal balance of power or resolution of the conflict; and, (b) Intervention by donors, especially if there is a tendency towards over-dependence on foreign aid or peacekeeping missions.

Viele GruBe

Robukui

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