{UAH} Allan/Frank/Pojim/WBK: Did Gen Museveni sell, destroy Uganda?

http://www.observer.ug/viewpoint/42390-did-gen-museveni-sell-destroy-uganda

Did Gen Museveni sell, destroy Uganda?

Written by SULAIMANI MUGULA

Created: 03 February 2016

"Uganda For Sale" was the cover headline for the New African magazine of September 1992.

This was at the time when President Museveni was rolling out the privatisation project of Uganda's parastatals which, in the eyes of many, amounted to mortgaging the country.

I think that for Ugandans to solve the current economic crisis, we need to understand where we have come from. The New African magazine blew the whistle as Museveni started dismantling our economy. Here are some extracts.

"After putting over 100 national parastatals on sale, the country and the continent was shocked. Museveni has done what his predecessors could not dream of doing – privatising the entire economy," (New African, September, 1992).

Many patriotic Ugandans were shocked. The same magazine wrote that the enactment of the privatisation programme caused uproar, not only in the National Resistance Council (NRC) but also among ordinary Ugandans on streets.

Apart from the sale itself, the privatisation process was riddled with a lot of shady and secretive deals – just similar to the oil deals the country witnessed recently. Parliamentarians were shocked on learning that government had secretly advertised the affected enterprises in foreign media (The Guardian of UK) before doing so at home.

Parliament groaned with anguish on learning that some government companies had already been sold secretly without tendering. For example, the agricultural enterprises, together with the seven subsidiaries including Ankole Tea, Bugembe Plantation Co, Kitco Co and Salama Estates, etc, were all sold.

Accordingly, behind the secrecy was fraud. Top NRA/government officials were busy slicing portions for themselves through various ways, especially undervaluing the enterprises.

For example, the seven agricultural enterprises, together valued at $36m, were sold at $7.6m. To make matters worse, government promised to pay their debt of $4.2m, meaning the take-away price was $3.4m! Nile Breweries was given away for Shs 500m only. 

"Kampala has become a beehive for foreign investors – as foreigners fall over each other to grab what most people believe is undervalued property," the magazine revealed.

Although dissenting voices increased, as it is today, public opinion hardly counted to Museveni. He went ahead and 'sold the country'.

Concurrently and totally disabling the economy, Museveni was busy dismantling the public service. He had already begun on the retrenchment exercise. By September 1992, an estimated 10,000 government employees, including 6,339 senior and mid-level officers, had been retrenched; his target was 60,000. Appeals grew, but an adamant Museveni could not relent on his decision.

"He has no regrets over the lay-offs; he says the restructuring will have a long-term benefit to the country," the magazine reported.

This was wrong because retrenching 60,000 workers meant more unemployment and an increase in suffering to the many dependants of those workers.
Unfortunately, imbedded in the privatisation and retrenchments was nepotism, corruption and cadre deployment. From then, these vices became part of Museveni's policy and have bedeviled the country to date.

In short, Museveni deliberately, systematically and unashamedly strangulated the Ugandan economy; he set in motion the economic meltdown which has led us to where we are. IMF/World Bank loans, budgetary support, and many other loans have not been able to resuscitate the economy.

Indeed, given the surging unemployment, the poor business performance, increasing infrastructure backlogs, increasing government indebtedness, the ever-weakening shilling and increased levels of biting poverty, it is clear that  the impressive figures of growth/prosperity are deceptive rhetoric.

Selling of over 100 public institutions at the heart of the economy and retrenching over 60,000 skilled public servants, left the economy hollow.

Uganda Electricity Board, Coffee Marketing Board, Uganda Hotels, Uganda Development Bank, Uganda Commercial Bank, Cooperative Bank, National Insurance Corporation, Uganda Transport Company, Uganda Railways, Uganda Posts and Telecommunications, etc, were the heartbeat of the economy in terms of energy, agriculture, transport, tourism, and  business.

Museveni can be defeated, but turning the economy around is the biggest challenge.
The author is a Ugandan living in South Africa.

Did Gen Museveni sell, destroy Uganda?

http://www.observer.ug/viewpoint/42390-did-gen-museveni-sell-destroy-uganda

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.