{UAH} Presentation on the Economic Crisis in Uganda.
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Presentation on the Economic Crisis in Uganda.
By Dr Vincent Magombe
Ugandan Journalist & Broadcaster, also Secretary Free Uganda (FU) Leadership Committee and Press Secretary FU.
at The Great Lakes Region Meeting,
The UK Parliament, IPU Room, House of Commons
14 March 2018
Brief introduction to the current state of the Ugandan economy
On the surface of it, Uganda's economy today seems like a fast advancing, healthy economy, whose GDP growth rate, according to the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics, (ref to link - https://tradingeconomics.com/uganda/gdp-growth) has been fluctuating between 2.5% and 1.3% from July 2017 to the beginning of 2018.
Compare the above with the UK GDP Growth Rate – which was 0.3% in July 2017, rose to 0.5% and then dropped to 0.4% as at January 2018.
The supposed implication is that the Ugandan economy is among the fastest growing economy on the African continent, and even in the developing world as a whole.
And as we can see from above, seemingly faster than the UK economy in terms of GDP Rate of Growth.
In reality, Uganda's economy today is a ghost economy that is stuck somewhere in the 1950s, when the bulk of Ugandans lived in abject poverty, strangled by abhorrent malnutrition, inconceivable levels of illiteracy, non-existent medical and social care provision, together with the attendant killer disease such as nodding disease in Northern Uganda, etc.
For ordinary Ugandans, the so-called socio-economic advancement and super GDP rates of growth and development are but mere mirages and figments of imagination in the heads of the political leaders who govern the country, as well as their clueless backers from within and outside Uganda, who falsely believe that Mr Yoweri Museveni corrupt and exploitative regime has brought back Uganda from the brink of catastrophic collapse.
Just some reality check - If it is indeed true that Mr Yoweri Museveni has delivered the Uganda from the supposed totality of economic ruin, and that the Uganda's economy is growing faster than that of the United Kingdom, South Korea, Russia, the Netherlands, Euro area, France, Germany and Switzerland – then why are the majority of ordinary Ugandans still living in abject poverty with the per capita income of "…under US $170" making it "…one of the poorest countries in the world", according to the World Bank's statistics? – refer to this link - http://web.worldbank.org/…/0,,contentMDK:20204772~menuPK:43…
To illustrate the above point in the simplest manner, you have to just look at the example here below:
Just compare a poor man (called Uganda) with 1 British pound in his bank account, which grows to 2 pounds after a year of business – meaning that he has doubled his money in that time period; to a rich man (called United Kingdom, or Sweden, or Canada, or Switzerland, or Germany, or Russia, etc), who starts with 1 billion pounds and after a year has not doubled his original amount, but has managed to grow that amount to 1.5 billion – the implication being that the poor man doubled his income, while the rich man could not double his income, but instead increased it by half of his original 1 billion.
Surely, is it right for the poor man (i.e., Uganda or President Museveni) to go jumping up and down and throwing his hands up in jubilation, celebrating the fact that he has had a faster and bigger rate of growth than the rich man? Is the poor man in his right senses to sit back and boast about developing his nation, and winning the GDP growth rate battle?
Just for your information, if you did not know, almost all of the original 1 pound owned by the poor man, and much of, if not all, of the extra 1 pound which the poor man accumulated over the 1-year period, came from the rich man, in form of hand outs, aid donations, loans, etc.
So for me, those seemingly wonderful statistical projects of African countries growing faster than the UK, Canada, Germany, etc, are meaningless ghost statistics that will continue to haunt our people, whenever they hear about so-called incredible growth figures, but see no change in their own lives, or where there is any change, then it is in the opposite direction – where poverty levels are rising higher and higher and the tribulations and misfortunes of their living experience are increasingly unbearable.
Ask any Ugandan in any village across the country, and he or she will tell you that they have no access to any meaningful educational and health-care provisions, clean water, or to 3 proper meals a day - things which most people here in the United Kingdom take as given and common features of their daily lives?
If you want to know the real state of the Ugandan economy, ask the small man and woman of the Uganda village. He or she will tell you – LIFE IS A NIGHTMARE.
Underlying causes of the Crisis and the nature of challenges we face
• Poor and fragile political governance infrastructure leading to Economic mismanagement.
It goes without saying that when a nation's political leadership is poor and flimsy, as is the case in Uganda under Mr Museveni, there will always be an inevitability of inadequate and ineffective management of the country's affairs, and a high propensity for economic mismanagement, for destructive, instead of constructive decisions and choices being made, and for missed development opportunities.
In Uganda today, poor political leadership has become a burdensome attribute, which is propelling the nation towards total economic collapse.
• The 4 common malpractices hampering economic progress:
- Entrenched Corruption and Misappropriation of Resources
Innumerable investigations by local and international anti-corruption campaign organisations have concluded that corruption in Uganda is solidly entrenched and endemic in all sectors of public life and all sectors of the economy.
We have seen millions of dollars siphoned off from important national projects, for example - the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunisation (Gavi) funded programme, which was supposed to enable the Ugandan government to immunise millions of children and construct health facilities across the country; road building programmes, such as the Katosi Road project; as well as mining projects, for example in 2017, when an investment project in the mining sector worth USD 175 million was cancelled after a Ugandan government minister was found to received USD 1 million in bribes.
- Cronyism and Nepotism – the "Mwana Wani?" -i.e 'Whose son or daughter is it?' syndrome
One distinguishing characteristic of the decades-long Museveni rule that will be remembered long after he is gone will be the normalisation and standardisation of the "Mwana Wani?" -i.e 'Whose son or daughter is it?' syndrome.
A major pre-occupation of Mr Museveni, since he came to power in 1986, has been to build a personal power base, founded on the selfish sharing of wealth, not with the wider Ugandan society, but with close and distant family relatives, as well as loyal associates and friends who commit to keeping him in power as long as he wishes.
A clear example of this is the way Mr. Museveni's personal family has been strategically positioned in what should be the country's national leadership infrastructure. Top government and military posts are shared by members of Museveni own family, in a way that few African countries can manage.
So, we see Mr Museveni as President; his wife Janet Museveni, as a most powerful cabinet member running the Education Ministry; Museveni's son, Major General Muhoozi Kaneirugaba, as the de-facto commander of the Ugandan Armed forces and Intelligence Services, with his position now designated as Senior to the President for Special Operations. Muhoozi was until recently the Commander of The Special Forces Command (SFC), which also doubles as Museveni's personal Guard. Then you have Museveni's brother, Major General Salim Saleh, who remains an all-round overseer of Special military operations and close confidant of the President. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you have Mr Sam Kuteesa, who is Museveni's in-law. His son is the husband of one of Museveni's daughters.
These are but a few examples of how Mr Museveni has personalised politics in Uganda and centred his power on family alliances.
- Non-functioning Public Service-Provision Institutions kept alive by a mixture of incompetent civilian and 'non-civilian' (usually military) cabals.
The breakdown of public service provision in Uganda is petrifying, given the dire consequences this is having on the state of the people's well-being as well as the general socio-economic situation in the country. Sadly, unless the country is liberated from Museveni dictatorship soon, there will be nothing left to call a public service infrastructure.
Over the decades, Mr Museveni has been very busy destroying the once vibrant public services, mainly through systemic personalisation and militarisation of this national resource.
There are hardly any ministries or other public service provision establishments where Museveni has not deployed military and security service personnel, supposedly to act as his ears and eyes.
The presence of these operatives in the ministries and many other government departments has poisoned the work environment, and sowed fear and apprehension among civil servants across the country, at a time when public servants are faced with other innumerable problem, for example the abject failure by Museveni's government to pay salaries and other entitlements in a timely manner.
As a result, Uganda's public service provision institutions have been rendered ineffective and virtually non-functional, and this is having dire consequences to the upkeep and well-being of the entire Ugandan society.
- The paradoxical oxymoron of under-performing, low-yielding traditional African economic entrepreneurship versus equally under-performing, fake and destructive modernistic approaches of the new African political and economic elites.
We have, now and again, heard Mr Yoweri Museveni and many of his colleagues in the ruling elite preaching about the need to modernise and transform Uganda from a backward low-production economy, that operates on the basis of outmoded, low-yielding traditional methods, into a modern, progressive entrepreneurial society fit for the 21st Century. And yet, what we have seen is nothing but wholly defective economic management approaches, characterised by unpatriotic, anti-people practices that are based on unequal opportunities, unfair distribution of wealth, as well as exploitative and self-centred practices, such as land-grabs, which are impoverishing and disempowering local communities across Uganda.
• The scourge of unemployment, and unfavourable population demographics, which must be addressed to avoid an impending tectonic social implosion
The current levels of unemployment in Uganda are not only nerve-wracking. They pose a real danger to the stability, security and development of Uganda and the entire great lakes region. Uganda which has one of the youngest populations in the world, with 78 percent of the country's population being young people below 30 years old (National Population and Household Census. UBOS, 2014), is tittering on the edge of social and political implosion. Not necessarily because of the youthfulness of the population, but because Uganda has one of the highest youth unemployment on the globe. It is a grim reality that over 60 percent of the youth population in Museveni's Uganda are jobless.
That so many youths should be unemployed, is not only an indication of failure, on the part of the Museveni regime, but also an acute endangerment of the young people's lives, as well as sure cause of political instability as well as economic backwardness of the country.
Mr Museveni is guilty of letting these youths down, but he must also blame if these victims of his failure to govern, embittered and dehumanised as they are, decide to channel their frustration in criminality or end up joining anti-government rebellions in Uganda and the Great Lakes region as a whole.
Remedies and the way forward
• Eliminate the underlying causes of the economic crisis that I have detailed here above:
- Put a stop to the poor and fragile political governance infrastructure, which leads to Economic mismanagement in Uganda.
- End the culture of Corruption and Misappropriation of Resources, that is symptomatic of the Museveni dictatorship.
- Exterminate Cronyism and Nepotism – the "Mwana Wani?" -i.e 'Whose son or daughter is it?' syndrome, which has ravaged the Ugandan economy through the decades of Museveni rule in Uganda.
- Put an end to Non-functioning Public Service-Provision Institutions, which are kept alive by a mixture of incompetent civilian and 'non-civilian' (usually military) cabals.
- Terminate the Defective economic dynamics, which are characterised by unpatriotic, anti-people practices that are based on unequal opportunities, unfair distribution of wealth, exploitative and self-centred practices, such as land-grabs, etc
- Stop the land grabs, stop the invasions of neighbouring countries for purposes of looting the natural resources there and impoverishing millions of our neighbours in those countries.
- Urgently deal with the scourge of unemployment, and unfavourable population demographics, which must be addressed to avoid an impending tectonic social implosion
• In short – bring an end to Museveni's corrupt and repressive regime, and unleash a new democratic dispensation where the rulers are servants of the people, answerable to the people, and truly democratic leaders who can accept the verdict of the people during peaceful, free and fair elections – when the people can say no, we do not want you any more, please go and leave us in peace.
• That is to say - end the Museveni dictatorship that thrives on extreme exploitation, corruption, nepotism, cronyism, and which continues to destroy the national economy, making the Ugandan people poor and imprisoning them in the political hell and whirlwind that we are witnessing today.
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