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ADVOCATE: Buganda�s Katikkiro Joseph Ssemwogerere (left) confers with Kabaka Mutebi |
Whenever elections are round the corner, advocates of Federo come out demanding that the government give Buganda a federal structure of government.
There are many reasons advanced for this: one is that it is the system that can guarantee rapid economic growth for the country and two, that it will provide the best mode of governance for our country and the much-needed political stability. In the 1995 Constitution, the government arrived at a compromise solution giving the districts of Buganda the right to join together in some form of regional entity. However, Mengo is now demanding for a full federal structure.
Looking at it from the point of view of a disinterested observer, however, I believe there are many reasons why the Baganda are howling for Federo. The first and most simplistic reason being nostalgia for the past.
Another reason, may be the fact that immediately after independence, Buganda enjoyed a privileged position in Uganda which she lost when that
Constitution was abolished by Obote. When one considers also that the Baganda are the richest, the most advanced, the most populous, and (according to their view and mine too) the most civilised tribe in Uganda, one cannot help having a sneaking suspicion that they feel that they can do better for themselves once they get Federo.
Federalism has many good points as can be attested to by the fact that some advanced countries like the US, Australia, Canada, Switzerland and Germany are federal states. It does not, however, always follow that the adoption of federalism by a country is a sure way of bringing economic prosperity and political stability. One has to look at Nigeria.
In a small country like Uganda with its even smaller economy, the introduction of federalism might just mean dividing the country into small, economically unviable entities that will take us everywhere but forward.
And judging by the role tribalism has played in setting us back in the past, is
there
any guarantee that we shall love neighbouring tribes more when we each live in our tribal fiefdoms?
Stephen Nakonya
Kampala
Published on: Sunday, 1st August, 2004 |
