{UAH} A simpler look and dissection of corruption in Uganda.
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A simpler look and dissection of corruption in Uganda.
Speaking of corruption, is it a virus mapped in Uganda's DNA or could this be an ancient city building bug evolving and taking hold in our lives- where the witty in the City and state regulators have to find ways to coexist to move the nation forward. Could it be a condition of abject poverty that reveals its ugly head when folks for the first time become stewards of new big corrupting money- in the absence of governmental locks. We have got to really look deep into this issue of corruption and where it stems from in each region.
Did it all start with class struggles - an educated class taking advantage of a rather naive polity on land and other acquisitions? Long ago such a loss of innocence could be found in stories of how the powerful and well connected annexed land that is not their own by putting iron fences around it, or folks who bought hundreds of cows from village farmers by beefing up cash bundles with stashes of well cut newspaper clippings. The poor village farmers had no clue or reason to suspect that cattle buyers were not well intentioned when they showed up at their farms, and they would realize too late that they'd been had.
During Idi Amin's times with the introduction of debilitating sanctions - we had a surge of Magendo floated on (Kibanda Market on Luwumu street) when the need to get essential commodities in the Cities at all costs arose. Ugandans lacked sugar, toiletries, cooking oil , flour you name it -if we did not make it in the country, it it was a candidate for this market, including the purchasing of dollars! People were dying to get foreign tenders in dollars and sell them off to the highest bidder beyond the 7 shillings per dollar exchange rate that they'd get from Bank of Uganda.
Funny how quickly one finds ways to get stuff when hard pressed. I believe this is where the government first lost its ability to regulate trade in Uganda, all the Marketing boards -which used to operate and trade in a British trained linear manner and their capable linear thinking stewards were all paralyzed by the sanctions.
A new Ninja class of fast thinking Ugandans emerged -some educated most not so well educated -hailing from the schools of "hard knocks" and incredibly street savvy.They could move Kasse (processed coffee beans) through Panya (rat) roads and sea lanes never imagined by government.
Unlike the "above the board" linear thinking coffee marketing board members or the Bichupuli Dubai traders we see today -these folks operated under the threat of international law , internal law and death if caught. Yes, some lost their lives, but there was a credo under which they operated -if there is such a thing as a credo in the books of the corrupt -they were simply responding to a crisis and the needs of the people -thus the creation of all these Panya roads and their inevitably getting rich in the process.
Would this type of trade be any different from that of folks in the Western Money markets ,who profited in derivative and money market swaps that led to the 2008 financial meltdown,remains a subject of study!
All we know is that there has been an evolution of sorts in the way the nation of Uganda has adopted and adjusted to graft, and unless we study these trends and patterns we may never be able to weed out the undesirable aspects of it. Folks like the late Ssebagereka and John kirunda struggled with the Magendo market they found in place from exile-should they have embraced it and enhanced it as a commodities market of our own making, remains to be seen!
There is a fundamental difference between ebichupuli (check thieves ) and magendo (the business of middle men) who merely made a difference in the sale of a well gotten commodities!
I on the other hand as a citizen of Uganda, would like to encourage government to find legal ways of recognizing and rewarding innovation in the financial sector, all things do not turn out to be linear with trade and commerce -especially on government procurement contracts, but we should strive to get the best deal, and to the most capable hands that can deliver a product worth our 10% reward(cut), if this were to be legalized, It might be a great first step in combating corruption.
Tendo kaluma
--
"To ask a dictator to implement democratic measures after 30 years in power is an oxymoron"
-- Speaking of corruption, is it a virus mapped in Uganda's DNA or could this be an ancient city building bug evolving and taking hold in our lives- where the witty in the City and state regulators have to find ways to coexist to move the nation forward. Could it be a condition of abject poverty that reveals its ugly head when folks for the first time become stewards of new big corrupting money- in the absence of governmental locks. We have got to really look deep into this issue of corruption and where it stems from in each region.
Did it all start with class struggles - an educated class taking advantage of a rather naive polity on land and other acquisitions? Long ago such a loss of innocence could be found in stories of how the powerful and well connected annexed land that is not their own by putting iron fences around it, or folks who bought hundreds of cows from village farmers by beefing up cash bundles with stashes of well cut newspaper clippings. The poor village farmers had no clue or reason to suspect that cattle buyers were not well intentioned when they showed up at their farms, and they would realize too late that they'd been had.
During Idi Amin's times with the introduction of debilitating sanctions - we had a surge of Magendo floated on (Kibanda Market on Luwumu street) when the need to get essential commodities in the Cities at all costs arose. Ugandans lacked sugar, toiletries, cooking oil , flour you name it -if we did not make it in the country, it it was a candidate for this market, including the purchasing of dollars! People were dying to get foreign tenders in dollars and sell them off to the highest bidder beyond the 7 shillings per dollar exchange rate that they'd get from Bank of Uganda.
Funny how quickly one finds ways to get stuff when hard pressed. I believe this is where the government first lost its ability to regulate trade in Uganda, all the Marketing boards -which used to operate and trade in a British trained linear manner and their capable linear thinking stewards were all paralyzed by the sanctions.
A new Ninja class of fast thinking Ugandans emerged -some educated most not so well educated -hailing from the schools of "hard knocks" and incredibly street savvy.They could move Kasse (processed coffee beans) through Panya (rat) roads and sea lanes never imagined by government.
Unlike the "above the board" linear thinking coffee marketing board members or the Bichupuli Dubai traders we see today -these folks operated under the threat of international law , internal law and death if caught. Yes, some lost their lives, but there was a credo under which they operated -if there is such a thing as a credo in the books of the corrupt -they were simply responding to a crisis and the needs of the people -thus the creation of all these Panya roads and their inevitably getting rich in the process.
Would this type of trade be any different from that of folks in the Western Money markets ,who profited in derivative and money market swaps that led to the 2008 financial meltdown,remains a subject of study!
All we know is that there has been an evolution of sorts in the way the nation of Uganda has adopted and adjusted to graft, and unless we study these trends and patterns we may never be able to weed out the undesirable aspects of it. Folks like the late Ssebagereka and John kirunda struggled with the Magendo market they found in place from exile-should they have embraced it and enhanced it as a commodities market of our own making, remains to be seen!
There is a fundamental difference between ebichupuli (check thieves ) and magendo (the business of middle men) who merely made a difference in the sale of a well gotten commodities!
I on the other hand as a citizen of Uganda, would like to encourage government to find legal ways of recognizing and rewarding innovation in the financial sector, all things do not turn out to be linear with trade and commerce -especially on government procurement contracts, but we should strive to get the best deal, and to the most capable hands that can deliver a product worth our 10% reward(cut), if this were to be legalized, It might be a great first step in combating corruption.
Tendo kaluma
--
"To ask a dictator to implement democratic measures after 30 years in power is an oxymoron"
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