{UAH} Better public transport will chase boda bodas from town
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10:26 AM |
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Better public transport will chase boda bodas from town
Written by Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda
The committee is scrutinizing the Non-Governmental Organizations Bill, 2015. The NGOs, in their multitude, appeared before the committee on Thursday last week at parliament and pointed out "satanic" clauses in this bill. They were not satisfied with time allocated; so, they organized a workshop to speak to us again.
There are 12,500 NGOs registered in the country. These NGOs employ 230,000 people, so they claim. A 1998 study claimed that NGOs in Uganda provided services worth $89 million annually. This translates into something like Shs 290 billion.
This is bigger than the budget of four ministries; trade, tourism and industry (Shs 65 billion), lands (Shs 99 billion), gender (Shs 52 billion) and ICT (Shs 15 billion.)
I think the Americans have over time developed doubt in this government's capacity to deliver services. Before the passage of the anti-homosexuality law, they were channeling a big chunk of their money through the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda and other NGOs.
Almost all Western capitals run government NGOs in Uganda such as USAid, SIDA, GTZ, etc. Some of these NGOs are involved in advocacy on good governance and they freely speak against corruption. The reasons they don't want to be controlled by the state is the reason the president has, through Gen Aronda Nyakairima, introduced a bill to rein them in.
Jobs in this country must be controlled by State House and dispensed at the pleasure of the big man. All services must be offered by him and he must inaugurate at all groundbreaking ceremonies and launch completed projects. Even for the elective positions, he must have a big say and if you get it and disturb him endlessly, he can remove you – like he did to Erias Lukwago.
The UN and almost all Western governments have spoken against many clauses in the bill, especially those regarding issuance and revocation of permits on such flimsy grounds like the unexplained public interest. The big man has a bone to pick with NGOs. You all remember how he lambasted them during the intense debate on the country's oil resources in 2011/12.
He was angry that NGO sponsored workshops that equipped MPs with information to begin questioning his moves in the oil sector. He also fears NGOs might be used as conduits for campaign money for the opposition, especially Amama Mbabazi.
When he appeared on the Capital Gang talk show sometime late last year, I asked him during the break why he had boycotted the national conference organized by the opposition and civil society at Hotel Africana. His answer was that "it was sponsored by foreigners".
So, on my way to Entebbe to continue the discussion on the legislation, I counted more than 25 police trucks, including those that sprinkle water and fire teargas, along the highway.
I found the answer in the newspapers. Amama Mbabazi was expected to return from his US and European tour and there were enthusiastic fans planning to receive him. Therefore, police was deployed to stop them. Amama is almost an outlaw since he expressed ambitions to run for president, moreover on the NRM ticket.
The police asked for nearly Shs 300 billion to man the 2016 general elections. I now think actually that they need the money. If you must deploy 25 vehicles and hundreds of anti-riot policemen/women along the Entebbe highway, what will happen when Amama goes upcountry?
And in here lies the problem afflicting this country. To sustain the life presidency project, the big man requires a lot of resources. Services can, therefore, wait at least until the next elections. And the bad thing with him, he begins campaigns immediately after general elections. Some people think he is smart. They don't know how much money the big man requires to sustain daily campaigns, year in year out.
And that is why we are a country almost without direction. Like the NGOs, boda boda have become a very big industry employing our youths. These, mind you, are the most energetic members of the country's workforce. Our completion rate at primary level is between 25 and 30 per cent. All the dropouts end up on streets riding boda boda. Now Jennifer Musisi is chasing them from the city centre.
The same executive director is buying and erecting structures for selling matooke, nsenene and onions in the city centre. People who work in Owino or Usafi market don't drive. They actually ride on boda boda. That is what our economy is.
The solution, therefore, doesn't lie in chasing boda bodas but, rather, in investing heavily in public transport. If there are fewer people jumping on boda bodas to reach Owino market, cyclists will slowly abandon town. And I think that is the point Erias Lukwago has been making.
Don't harass poor people. Just improve their welfare; their way of life will automatically change. And for their creativity, I salute boda boda operators. Imagine what they would be doing in a country where unemployment among youths is 83 per cent.
semugs@yahoo.com
The author is MP for Kyadondo East.
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but I heard oo warning the police about being partisan on the news? was this a gimmick or had the same western powers prevailed on the big man?
as for boda boda, they are simply too many and its a tragedy of this country.
to see a problem build up and keep quiet then make noise and blame everyone once its out of control.
second President of Indonesia, holding the office for 31 years from the ousting of Sukarno in 1967 until his resignation in 1998.
Suharto was born in a small village, Kemusuk, in the Godean area near the city of Yogyakarta, during the Dutch colonial era. He grew up in humble circumstances.
His Javanese Muslim parents divorced not long after his birth, and he was passed between foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Suharto served in Japanese-organi sed Indonesian security forces.
Indonesia's independence struggle saw him joining the newly formed Indonesian army. Suharto rose to the rank of Major General following Indonesian independence.
An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by Suharto-led troops and was blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party.
The army subsequently led an anti-communist purge, and Suharto wrested power from Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno.
He was appointed acting president in 1967 and President the following year. Support for Suharto's presidency was strong throughout the 1970s and 1980s but eroded following a severe financial crisis that led to widespread unrest and his resignation in May 1998. Suharto died in 2008.
The legacy of Suharto's 31-year rule is debated both in Indonesia and abroad. Under his "New Order" administration, Suharto constructed a strong, centralised and military-domina ted government.
An ability to maintain stability over a sprawling and diverse Indonesia and an avowedly anti-Communist stance won him the economic and diplomatic support of the West during the Cold War.
For most of his presidency, Indonesia experienced significant economic growth and industrializati on, dramatically improving health, education and living standards. Indonesia's invasion and occupation of East Timor during Suharto's presidency resulted in at least 100,000 deaths.
By the 1990s, the New Order's authoritarianis m and widespread corruption were a source of discontent. In the years after his presidency, attempts to try him on charges of corruption and genocide failed because of his poor health and because of lack of support within Indonesia.
I once read an article in News Week or Time magazine several years ago where the author described Suharto's Indonesia as one where once you arrived at the airport, your language was handled by a company owned by the wife, you ate at a restaurant owned by the brother, drove on a road constructed by a firm owned by himself in a taxi owned by the son and stayed at a hotel owned by the daughter...