|
The article below is well written and is an
excellent piece. Ugandans should print this article, and file the some for
future reading. The writer makes very many valid arguments especially for some
of you scholars who are interested the politic of the Great Lakes Region. He
should be commended for a job well done.
Matek Posted to the web March 3, 2003 Odoi Erisa
Yoga
Kampala As the world watches the seemingly inevitable progress to war in the middle east, it is my contention that today many African states are obsessed with the desire to build formidable security machines with a two-pronged strategy; to counter local and external threats to their survival. Some of these threats but most are imaginary.There is no doubt, of course that every country must be able to defend itself, but that right must not be used as an excuse to expend the country's resources on defence while relegating the social welfare to the bottom rungs in the chain. It is unacceptable that most countries on the continent spend half of their national budgets, eighty percent of which is financed by borrowed money, on expensive military equipment. This is done in the spirit of "security first" as poverty and disease, the monsters that are synonymous with Africa, are left to steadily grind the citizenry to death.I contend that the welfare of the citizenry is the cardinal responsibility of the state to which most of its resources should be directed. But we have over the years moved from the necessary welfare state to warfare states.In African "democracies" today, the Constitution has become the biggest weapon of oppression and suppression. There is no respect for constitutionalism, instead the leaders prefer to manipulate the supreme laws of the land to their favour. They smuggle in clauses that will perpetuate the incumbent's stranglehold on power. The African despot has morphed from cruel dictator of the last century to something more sophisticated. Oppression of the people (read opposition) is all done within the ambit of the law and in the name of protecting the constitution.You therefore have fertile ground for rebellion in circumstances where the state favours the suppression of dissent. The logical consequence is civil war and therein lies the rationale for heavy military expenditure.The denial of civil liberties leads us to war allegedly in the search for peace, which is a culture. Like all cultures, peace can only be cultivated and nurtured, and the are countless ways of reaching that end other than through war. War shows that we have failed to manage our society. War is a sign of a breakdown in the elements of state and is usually justifiable only for selfish reasons.At the interstate level, acrimony bred on the quest for supremacy in a given region is usually the driving force for conflict.Certainly military might counts in security circles but not even the mighty United States of America with her enormous military power counts on the army alone. It, for instance, sees the sense in diplomacy whether pursued aggressively of otherwise.In a state of war or in the warfare states the military brass holds a lot of power. You therefore, probably agree that this scenario implies that reverting back to welfare states would be too much a price for the "warlords" to pay. The "loss" of power so to speak cannot be tempting at all for the generals who thrive in wartime. In the event, can one see a reverse shift to the welfare state as opposed to the warfare state? Abu Mayanja it is pointless to expand Makerere. At the 42nd graduation ceremony of Makerere University the Vice Chancellor, Professor John Sebuwufu recently announced that Makerere is going to expand its curriculum and increase student in-take. The idea is to prepare for the products of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) will soon be knocking at the university's doors for admission.I must say I read this announcement with a great deal of anxiety. Readers will recall the number of investigative articles which The Monitor has recently published highlighting the problems facing Makerere. It came out very clearly in those articles that the great number of students already studying there is putting acute pressure on the facilities. Overcrowding in halls of residence, lecturer rooms, laboratories and the library has reached unprecedented levels.The student/lecturer ratio is so bad it is becoming impossible for lecturers to mark examination scripts.About two years ago, I read that many established places for lecturers have not been filled apparently because there is no money to pay them. Then there is the question of relevance of some of the courses to the demands of our market. I recently looked at the prospectus of the University of Cambridge and was surprised to find that Makerere offers a greater variety of degree programmes and admits more students than Cambridge!One of the major problems facing education planning in Uganda is that we have never had any decent manpower survey to determine how many graduates and other educated personnel our economy needs and in what fields. The result is that we continue to educate - on our extremely scarce resources - people who cannot be absorbed in the employment market.Makerere should recognise the implications of the Law of Diminishing Returns - you cannot expand forever. There comes a point when further expansion is counter- productive. Instead of overloading Makerere with students and courses why don't we put more energy in expanding the other universities in Mbarara, Kabale, Gulu, Busoga? The chancellor should consider appointing a Visitation Committee under the Makerere University Act, to take a long and thorough look at the developments in Makerere since 1970 when it broke off its special relationship with the University of London.This committee should review issues of land still available for further expansion; the adequacy or otherwise of teaching and research facilities and the structure of financing. It would also look at the desirability of the many degree courses offered.Advice resulting from this investigation would then save Makerere from haphazard expansion. At the same time, the Government should undertake a survey of the manpower requirements of Uganda over the next 25 years, having regard to the anticipated growth of our economy and population.My memory may be playing tricks with me, but I seem to remember that a World Bank mission that visited Uganda around 1959 made some tentative - very tentative - recommendations in the area of manpower planning which in turn assisted our educational planning work. (I was Minister of Education in the Kabaka's Government 1960 - 64.) One rule of thumb was that a fully qualified professional (e.g. an engineer) could work most effectively if assisted by four technicians under him and about 8 or 16 craftsmen (brick layers, electrical fitters, plumbers) working under the technicians. So,you had a kind of pyramid to guide your exercise.Of course those were the heydays of Five Year Development Plans carried out in developing countries such as India under Jawaharlal Nehru. I don't know whether you can have manpower planning in a market forces-driven economy. But having regard to the limitation of our funds, it does not seem intelligent to provide degree or such other courses for any and all manner of graduates without bearing in mind what the market really wants.The author is a former Minister of Justice.
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni Uganda is in Anarchy" Le groupe de transmission de Mulindwas " avec Yoweri Museveni, Ouganda est dans anarchy " |
