{UAH} Your mail: Kabafunzaki arrest shouldn’t divert sexual harassment case

Your mail: Kabafunzaki arrest shouldn't divert sexual harassment case

• April 14, 2017
• Written by OUR READERS

The arrest of Herbert Kabafunzaki, the state minister for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations, gives us hope that the state is becoming serious against corruption.

Kabafunzaki was allegedly soliciting for a bribe from the Aya group boss, Mohammed Hamid, who is under investigation by police over a sexual assault complaint by one of his employees.

I was shocked when I heard that the minister had promised to clear the name of the accused person and kill the investigation, if given money. That is how he was nabbed by security agents as the Aya boss turned into a police informant.

We should remember that the employee had reported the allegations of sexual harassment to police but when she realized that investigations were taking long, she decided to approach the minister. Imagine a minister whose mandate is to protect workers from all violence and unlawful acts.

Minister Kabafunzaki's actions, if true, resemble those of the people in police President Yoweri Museveni talked about at the late Andrew Felix Kaweesi's home who arrest the informers and set the accused free persons.

From an audio conversation allegedly between Kabafunzaki and the Aya boss, the minister is pleading to help Hamid, forgetting that even the girl who came to him wanted help.

We all thought that it was a joke when President Museveni introduced his new slogan of Kisanja Hakuna Mchezo but now we have come to see it in action. Within two weeks, two people from the ministry of finance, a magistrate and now the trending minister have been caught red-handed over corruption allegations.

However, although the minister was arrested, those handling the sexual harassment case should not let it die because we need to know the truth and equally get justice. Whether Hamid is an investor or a big businessman in the country, he should not be favored if he is found guilty. 

David Serumaga, 
serumagadavid916@gmail.com.

Uganda's economy unfair to women

The increasing inability to provide the minimum requirements of food, shelter, clothing, education and healthcare attest to the fact that the economic development process in Uganda is inordinately continuing to fail.

The inability to provide food to the drought-stricken areas has led to the death of many people in rural areas. Lack of medicine in hospitals, compounded by the HIV/Aids scourge, corruption and poor infrastructural conditions have undoubtedly compromised the provision of health care to millions of people.

In the education sector, lack of qualified teachers and poor salaries have constrained the learning opportunities for the majority of young people. Rampant crime in many parts of the country, cattle rustling  and intertribal conflicts, all which affect the right to peace, have become commonplace.

Besides delivery of services, economic conditions have affected the individual persons' ability to enjoy the full range of rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Numerous accounts have shown how women and children take the greatest burden of poor economic conditions and suffer discrimination in the allocation of resources.

On a more personal level, the ability to file suits and seek recovery against violations of human rights often depend on one's ability to pay exorbitant court fees. Also, lack of legal aid and limited number of courts have all made human rights litigation unavailable to the poor. 

Isabella Bwiire, 
Foundation for Human Rights Initiative.

Besigye is seeking cheap popularity

The executive director of Uganda Media Centre, Ofwono Opondo, dismissed the claims made by Dr Kizza Besigye that dialogue with President Museveni was in the offing.

But Opondo clarified that no one in government had approached Dr Besigye for a dialogue, arguing that the former presidential candidate is doing all this for political grand-standing, continuous publicity and comedy.

Opondo challenged the Swedish government, the alleged mediators, to front evidence of such talks.

I know Uganda and what it has gone through for the last 31 years and although there has not been a drastic change, at least there has been some progress in such sectors as education, health, transport, etc. 

Let's appreciate the little and then we can ponder on other issues that need to be addressed. I believe taking it out on a personal level, the Besigye way, does not help develop our country, but unity is what will help us prevail.

Hope Abonit,
Kampala.

We must use irrigation farming

After the recent severe drought, Uganda must adopt a piped water irrigation system to avoid the reoccurrence of the same. Egypt and many other countries use irrigation and are assured of constant harvests throughout the year.

Uganda is gifted with rivers and streams across the country and if we start a fully-fledged irrigation scheme, we shall no longer experience food shortages.

A survey must be conducted spotting areas along rivers in every district where water can be drawn to irrigate farms in those respective areas. The issue of farm irrigation should be taken seriously because climate change is here to stay. We have sufficient water for irrigation; let us utilize it.

The agricultural sector must be given particular attention and sufficient finding to implement this irrigation system. We are told agriculture employs up to 80 per cent of Ugandans, let government prioritise it.

P S Mabuliro,
Entebbe.

Whistle-blowing can reverse corruption

Last week, the public was awash with three ugly corruption incidences in which all perpetrators were public servants.

For me, I think that as public servants are busy soliciting bribes, inflating costs and exercising influence peddling, there are people either within or outside the institutional framework with ample knowledge of such unscrupulous deals.

However, out of fear for victimization or reprisal, such people deliberately fail to come out on record to report.

Let us operationalise the 2010 law that protects whisleblowers. We should also encourage the public to benchmark good practices of whistle-blowing in order to appreciate the merits therein. 

Badru Walusansa,
Commonwealth correspondent.

letters@observer.ug

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

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"Even a small dog can piss on a tall building" Jim Hightower

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