[UAH] Are Ugandans lazy?

Are Ugandans lazy?

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Written by Isa Ssenkumba Friday, 14 December 2012 09:10

"Ugandans are lazy people"- I don't think this statement is good music to the ears of investors who pour billions into this country to spring up businesses. The growing corporate business sector means nothing other than creating jobs for Ugandans.

It is, however, disappointing to learn that Ugandans are lazy people who won't add value to their employers' business ventures. Vast majority of our leaders do not hesitate to blame Ugandans for being unproductive and preferring leisure to work.

On several occasions Ugandans have been held responsible for the biting and neighing poverty in their country. It is said that our labour force enjoys leisure more than work. Our weekends begin in the middle of the week and every day is almost a fiesta day. There is also a belief that we write our resignation letters the very day we get jobs and we keep these letters until the right time for handing them in comes. Others keep them until they are fired. Most Ugandan workers think that they owe nothing to the organizations they work for and instead the organizations owe them.

It is Ugandan to believe that your personal goals be given priority over the organization's ambitions and goals. Both employees and employers compete over whose goals should be given priority; there is also hot debate over who is doing a favour for the other. Employees are always tempted to think that they are doing great favour to those who employ them. They hold a conviction that investors and employers immensely profit from the labour that employees provide. Therefore employers greatly owe their employees.   

We sons of the soil are suffering from one terrible disease-pride. Pride has never brought food on our dining tables. The so called 'pancakes investors' who storm this country are objects of ridicule in our daily conversations. But to our astonishment these stingy people are becoming billionaires while we the sons of the soil are rotting in poverty. I have notised that being Ugandans makes us believe that this nation owes us something therefore we should sit back and wait to be paid or provided our share. On the contrary foreigners in this country are aware that they are here for a reason and probably for a season. They believe that their stay here is a favour that must be utilized.   

I have closely observed people who, later in their lives, convert to other religious. They tend to become more pious than the people they join. People who are born and raised in families that cherish particular religions take those religions for granted. By the virtue of the fact that they were born and raised in those religions makes them believe that they not only have a stake in the religion but also qualify for heaven. New entrants in these religions, however, think they are badly off and have a lot to do to cope up and match with others. The extra energy they invest, the commitment, devotion and much love for the new religion makes new converts stronger believers than the people they join.    

In most relationships, we have seen poor men becoming creative and more dedicated lovers than the rich.  The rich have every thing (assets and cash) that an ordinary woman may be looking for; they are sure woman will be looking for them. In fact rich men have dozens of women around them and are most likely not to bend low for a woman. This is exactly the opposite with their counterparts. A poor man banks his luck on creativity, commitment toward the relationship, unflinching love, patience and dreams, sense of humour, care and praising the woman.  A combination of all those, sometimes, makes poor men better lovers to the dismay of the rich.

The good news is that while most Ugandans are accused of being lazy with a negative attitude towards work they are greatly useful people when they move to work in foreign countries. Being in foreign land opens up challenges as well as threats; the pride disappears and that means you can take up any job because survival now depends on hard work. This is exactly the same with foreigners who come to work in Uganda.  Other impediments to positive attitude towards work in this country include unemployment, lack of employee motivation, exploitation by employers, and absence of job security, low pay and lack of active workers pension schemes.

When the madness of an entire nation disturbs a solitary mind, it is not enough to say that the man is mad. We allege that Ugandans are lazy but we always don't go the extra mile to find out why. You and I have seen very hardworking people who have died disappointed.  There are people who have provided strenuous and hard labour to this nation and moved home with peanuts. Instead crafty, cunning and dishonest people are becoming billionaires.

Before we accuse people of being lazy and hating work we need to examine the benefits attached to this kind of work. Most youths have searched heaven and earth for jobs but in vain and at the end of the day we say they don't want to work. This is ridiculous.   

senkumbab@ymail.com

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H.OGWAPITI
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"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that  we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic  and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
---Theodore Roosevelt

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