{UAH} UGANDANS IN THE DIASPORA HAVE BOTH A RESPONSIBILITY AND ROLE TO PLAY IN THE DEVE

UGANDANS IN THE DIASPORA HAVE BOTH A RESPONSIBILITY AND ROLE TO PLAY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF UGANDA

-                      By Moses R. Wilson, PE (Los Angeles, CA. USA)

According to Bank of Uganda estimates, Ugandans in the Diaspora injected over US $700 million into the Ugandan economy last year.  Yet while these Ugandans very actively contributed to the Ugandan economy, they collectively have very little impact on major development in the country.  Indeed, it can be argued that most of the physical development taking place in Uganda (infrastructure, institutions, external trade, retail commerce etc.) is attributable to just a few local tycoons, foreign companies and investors. 

On my recent trip to Uganda, I took several long walks through commercial areas in Kampala such as the  Nakasero Market area, the Kikubo, Kampala Road, Kisenyi, some of the innumerable malls in the city and even smaller commercial areas such as Kabalaga and Ggaba and Wandegeya.  In my opinion, there is literally nothing one can possibly want that cannot be readily found for sale somewhere in the city.  In all instances I tried to gauge how many of the products being sold were produced in Uganda.  My very non-scientific estimate was less than 30%.  It pained me to note that even some of the fresh foods such as chicken, beef, fruits and vegetables came from Kenya and South Africa.  I did not find a single breakfast cereal (Corn Flakes, Rice Crispies, Granola, etc.) other than the very traditional maize, millet and soya porridge, that was produced anywhere in Uganda.  In some supermarkets, upwards of 80% of the featured coffee and tea came from Kenya.

When I lamented about this to friends and family, the response was almost universally, "it is you Ugandans in the Diaspora who need to step up and do more to bring out the necessary changes in our country."  But what can we who have embraced residence and raised families in foreign lands do to significantly influence and impact development in Uganda? 

As a start, I have some suggestions.

1.       We have to embrace the fact that even while we may have sought and attained the citizenship of other countries, we are still very much Ugandans in body, heart and soul.

2.       As such, we need to exhibit pride and celebrate both our mother country and our Ugandan heritage.  This does not mean that we should turn a blind eye to the many things wrong (and in some instances down right evil) in Uganda.  But we should not let these make us turn our backs against the country in which most of us were born and in many cases, raised.

3.       We need to continue to do whatever we can to support our families, friends, neighbors and fellow countrymen that we left behind.  Indeed, we need to find ways to do more.

4.       We need to take a more critical look at development in Uganda and see where we can make a difference.  This will entail taking a more active role in educating ourselves about what is taking place in the country and analyzing this information realistically.

5.       We need to find ways to work more collaboratively with each other to effect the very changes we want to see in the country.

Now I acknowledge that the suggestions I have noted above are not entirely new.  Indeed, I have myself previously made many of these same suggestions.  But the simple fact is that there is a huge disconnect between the amount of money Ugandans in the Diaspora inject into the Ugandan economy and the degree to which they influence and participate in the country's development.  Putting it rather bluntly, a very significant portion of the millions of dollars that Ugandans in the Diaspora send to Uganda is used to buy commodities made in Kenya, South Africa, the Middle East and other countries.  Taking this discussion to the next level, Ugandans in the Diaspora are very effectively supporting the economies of Kenya, South Africa and United Emirates as much, and some might argue, even more so than that of Uganda.

Let me conclude thus.  It is way past time for us to seriously look at the way in which we send money to Uganda and how it is ultimately utilized.  The responsibilities we feel to support our families and friends must extend and translate to a similar responsibility to the country itself.  So how can we fulfill our filial responsibilities and also effect long-term positive changes in the development of Uganda?

Allow me to quote a popular Kiganda proverb.  "Agali awamu ge galuma enyama."  A literal translation is "teeth that work together are more successful in the biting and chewing of meat."

There needs to be a collective change in the mindset of Ugandans in the Diaspora and a very active drive to come together and work collaboratively towards the future development of our country.  At some point we need to reach a level of understanding and trust within ourselves that will both enable and promote such collaborative efforts.  Only when we get to this point will the full economic might of the Diasporan Ugandan community begin to serious impact and influence development of Uganda.