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Opinion | September 14, 2006
The price of NRM rule on Uganda’s democracy Joseph Ochieno London In a telephone conversation with a young student from western Uganda recently, I asked whom she voted for in February: “Besigye. I would never vote Movement; they are arrogant, corruption and nepotistic”, citing the obnoxious State House Scholarship scheme designed for NRM cronies in her words, “from Ankole and Kigezi.” Joining university shortly to pursue Development Studies, I told her
that
UPC paid university students to study, availed high quality facilities and excelled in health, public service and economic development nationwide. Taking UPC seriously, she is now studying our history, records and the negative myths portrayed by NRM and other short-cutters. She won’t get State House aid. Like thousands of other students and struggling parents, I learnt yesterday that she needs Shs1.19m this semester. Yet she will be lucky if no lectures are cancelled, gets standing
space
during lectures and no power cuts. At a Trades Union Congress conference in Brighton the other day, Gemma Tumelty, president of the British students union was batting for more State investment in their already quality education system but who will in Uganda? While reviewing my small library today, I stumbled on Adrian
Leftwich’s
book, “States of Development”. He refers to author Amartya Sen who argues strongly that political and other freedoms such as freedom from disease and ignorance must be seen as constitutive components of development. Sen states that there are “instrumental freedoms”, which enable
people to
live more freely and, in linking with and supporting each other, promote development and, thus classified; political freedoms, which enable people to shape government and government policy and maintain accountability; economic facilities, which constitute the opportunities for individuals to use resources for consumption, production and exchange; social opportunities, which refer to the arrangements societies make for health care and education, for instance, which have substantive but also instrumental value in providing for more effective participation in political and social life; transparency guarantees, which are essentially guarantees of social and public trust achieved through ‘ disclosure and lucidity’ which can limit corruption and graft; and protective security, which is an instrumental freedom for development in that it provides an institutional social safety net which prevents people from being reduced to abject poverty and starvation. For individuals or communities to pursue their trading or productive
activities to promote their own or wider social development, specific regimes have to be in place and, certainly “un-freedoms” must be eliminated. Both (a responsible) state and society have what he calls ‘extensive roles in strengthening and safeguarding human capabilities’ for development hence, development as freedom not only presupposes political action but directly and continuously requires it. Although it took the IMF, World Bank and the older democracies
notably
Britain and the US over 15 years to acknowledge dictatorship in Uganda, a World Bank report on Africa way back in 1989 had this to say; “Underlying the litany of Africa’s development problem is a crisis of governance. By governance is meant the exercise of political power to manage a nation’s affairs”. (World Bank,1989:60). For my 19-year old friend to maximise her development studies, she needs to be fully informed on global, African and Uganda body polity and to freely and fairly engage. For her new interest and thousands joining post-secondary
institutions this
month, I give a modest political history. From Uganda National Congress (UNC), the precursor to UPC, we were instrumental in Uganda’s independence. Focusing on unity of all Uganda nationalities (including kingdoms), we campaigned for rights and freedoms of indigenous Africans who were then third class citizens after whites and Asians; employment rights, fair wages, better education and health provisions; fair producer prices for key agricultural products like coffee and cotton and cattle; against neo-colonialism, imperialism and apartheid, as per www.upcparty.net/archives. A Pan-Africanist centre-left political party, some of our sister
parties
are: the Congress Party of India, the ANC of South Africa, the German Social Democrats, the CCM of Tanzania and the British Labour Party. We believe that governments are responsible for creating and ensuring
enabling environment where private individuals, industry and commerce can thrive in order to create private and public wealth and public services are available and accessible to all, not the privileged few. FDC emerged from internal NRM conflict between those for whom
Museveni had
outlived his time, jumping the queue, personal differences and, belief that Museveni deviated from the original NRM path. For my 19-year old friend, her experience in the last sham elections
were
that Ugandans are so impoverished that from village to village, two hundred shillings, small packet of salt, a tablet of soap, stuffed boxes and “spoilt ballots” were what mattered. No worries who gave it. Yet it was their money: paid through taxes or donated from abroad in their names. My friend, please scrutinise all political parties for what they
are and
vote informatively. Only then will you defeat dictatorship in Uganda. Thankfully, your choice is UPC. The author is the UPC Spokesman and UK External Bureau Chairman [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
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