{UAH} ARE MUSLIMS GETTING A FAIR SHARE OF THE NATIONAL CAKE?
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ARE MUSLIMS GETTING A FAIR SHARE OF THE NATIONAL CAKE?
By Mukwanason A. Hyuha
Professor of Economics
hyuhama@gmail.com
Mukwanason A. Hyuha
Last week, there was a news item on the local NTV station concerning the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) that is mandated, among other things, to ensure that even minorities and disadvantaged people in the country enjoy equal opportunities, with no discrimination in service provision by government, in employment and, in general, in sharing the national cake. It appears that the EOC had received a complaint to the effect that Muslims in Uganda were/are receiving a less than fair share of the national cake, especially in employment in the public sector. An official of the EOC (a Ms. Malole?) did highlight the nature of the Commission's docket, responsibilities and activities with respect to the Commission's implementation of its mandate.
What was, however, surprising—and, possibly, very disappointing to the many Muslims in this Republic—was, first, the official's claim that she was not actually aware that Muslims were/are facing discrimination. Second, the official seemed not to have the necessary data to enable the EOC to take action on the matter. She, therefore, requested anybody with the data or evidence to forward that evidence to the Commission. It was surprising and disappointing because, in my opinion, it appears to be public knowledge that Muslims are discriminated against in many areas, at least since the colonial days. For instance,
• The Obote II regime had only one Muslim Minister appointed to Cabinet. This Muslim had to immediately flee from the country, following a bombardment of his residence by, allegedly, the security forces. As a result of this flight, the Obote II regime had no Muslim Minister in it.
• The Executive Director of the Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) appointed 12 high ranking officers to run the affairs of the Authority. There was/is no Muslim among the 12, yet there are so many extremely well-qualified Muslim Ugandans eligible for such and other similar jobs or appointments.
• Many a time, lists of appointed judges and other high-ranking officials in other sectors of the public service are announced, only for Muslims to painfully discover that in such lists, Muslims are missing or are under-represented. Isn't the EOC aware of this?
• Although both the Kibuli and Old Kampala Muslim factions, particularly their leaders, are normally quiet on these issues for reasons best known to themselves, Sheikh Obed Kamulegeya has often complained in public about this discrimination. Unfortunately for the Muslims, Sheikh Kamulegeya of late is no longer as vocal on this issue as he used to be during the current and previous regimes.
• Fortunately, my Member of Parliament (Hajji Latiff Ssebaggala) as well as Sheikh Nuhu Muzaata Batte have taken over the mantle, albeit on a voluntary basis. For instance, following the EOC's feigning of ignorance, Hajji Ssebaggala pointed out that no Muslim is represented in the high-most layers of Uganda's political leadership: President, Vice President, Speaker of Parliament, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, Prime Minister, occupants of the portfolios of major ministries (such as Agriculture, Education, Health, Industry, etc.), and so on. For equity purposes and in order to correct historical injustices to Muslims, some of these positions should be ring-fenced for the Muslims—knowing that getting well-qualified and competent Muslims is not a problem at all.
• Some of the other examples include the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Uganda and similar chief executive officers (CEOs) of the NSSF, NWSC, CAA, UNRA, URA, UDBL, UPDF, Police, Prisons, ISO, ESO, public universities and other full or semi-parastatals. What about these CEOs' deputies? Ring-fencing can also be recommended in this case.
What extra evidence does the EOC require? Has it worked on these glaring cases? Given its central position, can't the EOC generate the required evidence on its own?
Collecting Data and Computing Vital Percentages to Generate Evidence
The EOC should act like the office of the Inspector General of Government (IGG), especially as regards capacity to investigate cases once reported. Because of its capacity, the IGG's office only needs a report or complaint to start off its own investigation(s). It does not wait for evidence from the complainants or the whistleblowers. That way, the office gets its own evidence, and, hence, does not rely much on evidence from the complainants or whistleblowers—which evidence may, after all, be biased, inaccurate, incomplete, and/or internally inconsistent. Therefore, for a properly implemented act, the EOC must collect data on its own. Thus, a Muslim need only report to the EOC that KCCA's CEO has employed 12 Ugandans without including a Muslim, or that Muslims are underrepresented in the hierarchy/category of permanent secretaries, yet there are so many well-qualified Muslims fit for the underlying dockets. Thereafter, the EOC swings into action, rather than sitting back in Bugolobi to await the complainant to produce the required evidence.
It is easy to work out the required percentages in every instance. Suppose the population of Muslims in the country is, say, 12% of the total population, then the KCCA should have employed (12×0.12) = 1.44 Muslims, i.e. at least one Muslim; in fact 2 Muslims in line with affirmative action aimed at correcting historical imbalances.
In case the EOC is so understaffed that it has no adequate internal capacity to gather the data on its own, it should at least hire qualified individuals or groups of competent individuals to assist it with the collection and analysis of the necessary data sets. Further, the EOC can actually also source the data from an independent, legal entity to supply it with the required vital data from time to time. This option is actually very attractive and plausible since the EOC may never have enough staff to gather all the data the Commission requires. According to its mandate, the EOC was created to deal with all types of discrimination—with respect to, say, ethnicity, religion, creed, race, region, disability, gender, minorities, political affiliation, ideology, and access to social and other public services and supplies. It is not possible that the Commission can have expert staff in all these areas; hence, the need to hire or source experts from outside the organisation itself.
Conclusion: My Challenge to the EOC
I challenge the EOC to gather data, analyse the data, thereby derive appropriate conclusions, and take the required actions with regard to discrimination against Muslims in cases of the following types, among others:
1. The number of Cabinet Ministers
2. The number of Ministers of State
3. The number of Muslim Ministers in important ministerial portfolios
4. The number of permanent secretaries and their deputies
5. The number of Commissioners in Ministries
6. The number of heads/CEOs of public entities/'parastatals', such as those mentioned earlier
7. The number of other employees in each Ministry and parastatal (from lowest to highest posts)
8. The number of Presidential advisors
9. The number of Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), given the current 112 districts
10. The number of deputy and Assistant RDCs
11. The number of District Police Commanders (DPCs) in the country
12. The number of Regional Police Commanders in Uganda
13. Similar employment structures in the UPGF and the prisons
14. The number of Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) in the 112 districts
15. The civil service of all districts, municipalities and town councils in all entities
16. And so on.
Are the relevant positions/posts being shared equitably with respect to regions, religions, tribes, gender, et cetera? I am concerned particularly with the percentage of Muslims in these positions vis-à-vis their (Muslims' population) percentage in the over 35 millions of people in Uganda. Is the Muslims' share of the national cake equitable or satisfactory? Good analysis of the data will bring out the required answer. The Muslims claim that they are not getting a fair share of the national cake. Does the evidence show otherwise in each of the above instances?
The EOC's answers to these and similar questions will help all of us and, above all, raise all of us higher on the knowledge scale.
© Mukwanason Hyuha
May 15, 2016.
*Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba*
Stalk my blog at: http://semuwemba.com/
"My journey is long and my preparation is so little, and weakness has gripped me and death is chasing me!"
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