{UAH} Uganda a dustbin of fake investors
|
1:44 PM |
No comments |
And because of this, it is capable of attracting indiscriminately the good and the bad. In a way also, Uganda has become a dumping ground in the real sense. The good and bad ideas have been dumped and tried here.
In the early 1990s, the IMF and World Bank instigated ideas of structural adjustments programmes which had a bruising effect on the people and economy. Along with privatization came the urge and trend of surrendering the economy to investors.
Again Uganda opened its arms to all manner of investors. Many of them made a quick buck and relocated to their countries, others made impossible juicy promises and it ended with that; they never set foot again in Uganda.
But the lingering aspect of this all, is the fact that investors were looked at as infallible beings, whose sole interest was to liberate Uganda from the ridiculous poverty.
The 'investors' became untouchable and whoever touched them in any way was likely to be accused of economic sabotage. Uganda established the Investment Authority (UIA), a body which is supposed to fish from the world the best investors to turn around our economy.
Unfortunately, the 'investors' have cast spell on this authority in that they seem to be the bosses of their would-be supervisors!
The recent story where men from Pakistan allegedly gang-raped their maid is one of those sad stories that have come with this soft attitude towards the 'investors".
The Turkish paedophile was able to move from Kenya where he had sexually molested children, into Uganda and continued with his dodgy business with Ugandan underage girls.
The accused Pakistani men work for a mivumba (second-hand) car importation company.
You can imagine a business as basic as selling mivumba cars needs all those 'experts' from Pakistan! To whom do these people sell these cars? I assume Ugandans. Do Ugandans need Pakistani salesmen and parking controllers?
I would have thought that these jobs would be left to Ugandans. Wasn't one of the objectives of attracting foreign investment to create jobs for Ugandans? Most of these don't even have work permits, nor do they speak any of the local languages because their stay in Uganda is dodgy and not well defined.
So, the dumping is not only in commodities, but also in eroding our ethics and values. An immigration officer accepts a bribe and lets in a foreigner whose background he cannot ascertain. Unknown to this immigration officer, he might have received a juicy bribe but he may not live to enjoy it especially if the person let in is a terrorist or paedophile.
What defines an investor is not clearly known. In other countries, an investor must be able to add value to the lives and the economy of the host country. In Uganda, an investor abuses the rights of the citizens.
In this digital age, Uganda should be able to do character profiling of the people who are allowed into the country. But this is not the case. The visas for certain category of Europeans and Asians are issued at the airport and other points of entry. For a Ugandan to visit Europe, America or Asia, he is subjected to all manner of scrutiny, at times humiliating, even when sometimes the candidate for the visa is wealthier than the person interviewing him.
You should see how our police officers bow in awe whenever they come into contact with these investors. And because of the ill-conceived proliferation of investors, even our choice of investments has been lopsided. Government has steadily surrendered its responsibility to investors.
Recently the newly-rebranded Shell (now Vivo) alerted people on how the market is flooded with fuel (petrol, diesel) that is adulterated. The managing director of Vivo, Ivan Kyayonka, says this habit has grown because government decided to liberalise that sector and allowed every Tom, Dick and Harry to do the business of selling fuel. Whoever has money irrespective of his experience, business ethics and background is licensed to do the business.
This was an effort to break the 'so-called' monopoly of the big players like Vivo in the market. But this has come with the heavy price especially to car owners and some homes. At first, government was happy because it earned taxes from as many players as possible but now that motivation is no longer achievable because when petrol is adulterated with paraffin which attracts no tax, it means government is still losing some income.
The unscrupulous petrol stations owners mix petrol or diesel with paraffin. This is because paraffin attracts zero tax while petrol is taxed at Shs 850 per litre. So the fuel 'ninjas' add paraffin to either petrol or diesel in order to close the gap in taxation. The consequences are dire. The car engines get spoilt and the environment too is affected.
Our investment options are also funny.
Not long ago, Uganda was ranked as one of the countries with high alcohol consumption rates. Many people faulted that research and characterized it as malicious. They didn't know what they are talking about. An informal research indicates that liquor packed in small sachets has penetrated the country to unbelievable levels.
This is liquor manufactured from people's homes. It is cheap and has an additive which is addictive. So, people are hooked to it. As to whether it meets the Uganda National Bureau of Standards requirement, only God knows!
And then we have sports betting. The young have abandoned work and others sold their property in order to gamble and the investors are making huge profits! If these are not 'killer' investments, how best can they be defined! Why has Uganda decided to become a guinea pig and dumping ground for all ridiculous things in the world?
pmkatunzi@observer.ug
The author is the business development director, The Observer Media Ltd.
UAH forum is devoted to matters of interest to Ugandans and Africans in general. Individuals are responsible for whatever they post on this forum.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com or Abbey Semuwemba at: abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com.
0 comments:
Post a Comment