Monday, October 27, 2003
JOACHIM BUWEMBO
Why Uganda Will Soon be Awash with Forex
Ours is a country of many tribes; the constitution recognised 56 of them. The largely marginalised Banyoro, are tribe number 22 in our constitution. The numbering is alphabetical, otherwise the Banyoro would be closer to number 56, considering the raw deal they have been handed since 1891, when their gallant warrior king, the great Kabalega, resisted British imperialism, and was crushed militarily and exiled. Political harassment and infrastructural neglect ensured that the glory of Bunyoro collapsed.
But all that is set to change. The Omukama (king) of Bunyoro Solomon Gafabusa Iguru made a dramatic announcement last week: He is suing the Queen of England for �3 billion compensation for damage her government visited on his kingdom. This is not the usual romantic demand for reparations for colonialism. It is a clear commercial dispute, calculated and quantified. My guess is that the Queen will avoid a long court battle and settle out of court with �1 billion.
That won�t be the first cash from a foreign dignitary in Western Uganda in recent years. Bunyoro�s neighbouring kingdom of Toro has been getting some special attention from Libyan leader, Colonel Muamar Gaddafi. Toro�s infant king, the Omukama Oyo Nyimba, has exchanged visits with the colonel several times. The colonel has pledged to rehabilitate the little kingdom and the petrodollars are already flowing in.
Before we leave the little enclave of Western Uganda, you may wish to know that near the two kingdoms, is another smaller one of the Bakonzo. These broke away from Toro, and live around the mountains of the moon (Rwenzoris). Their king is not doing as well as the other two, and is currently somewhere in America pursuing studies. But he may have to rush home since the oil fields where mining is expected to start soon lie in his kingdom.
But don�t rush to predict a westward migration yet. Guys around Lake Victoria, in the central and eastern regions are also preparing to reap big foreign cash. For many years now, there has been a restriction for catching immature fish. Fisheries department officials usually patrol the waters, capturing small size nets and burning them. They used to burn tonnes of young fish confiscated from fishermen until recently when they started giving the fish to prisons, much to the contentment of the inmates.
Again all that is set to change. Last week, the government lifted the ban on catching small fish. The reason was that Kenya and Tanzania, with whom we share Lake Victoria, are not enforcing the ban. And you see the fish usually don�t carry passports; they violate the frontiers at will and if you don�t catch their babies in Ugandan waters, they will get killed in Kenya and Tanzania all the same. So the fishing bonanza is open. Our exports to Europe and the US of fresh water fish are set to multiply many times over. So let us get ready to spend the fish euros.
Only one fear though. Putting too much money in the hands of fishermen can be dangerous. They spend as recklessly as the other seamen. One day we should talk about those days in the mid seventies when they converted their boats to smuggling coffee and started washing their bicycles with Kenyan beer instead of water. May they be more careful this time when they start reaping euros from the export of baby fish.
And what about the rest of us who have no fish, oil, relations with Gaddafi or a �3 billion case against the Queen? We are focusing on the impending peace in an autonomous Southern Sudan. In fact, if Mr Kony knew what is good for him, he had better pack his bags and accept asylum in some third country. There will be no time for fighting in Northern Uganda, the gateway to the rich Southern Sudan where the black Juba based administration will be sharing oil revenues with Khartoum.
Fighting did not end in Acholi for eighteen years simply because the rest of Uganda could go on regardless of the northern mess. But with all the impending business activity, who can tolerate fighting? We need to grow food in Acholi for sale in Juba. We need to transport manufactured goods from Kisumu, Kampala and Nairobi via Acholi. We need to travel through Acholi to go teach, treat patients and do many jobs in Sudan. And eh, Brother Garang, don�t forget who have been your unwavering friends through these difficult years.
Jochim Buwembo is Editor of The Sunday Vision of Kampala.
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