Where is the development the President talked about?
While addressing a public rally at Rukungiri Stadium on October 18, President
Museveni said that those who can’t see the development that the NRM has
contributed to this country should go for mental check-up (New vision, October
20).
However, I’m one of the people who have failed to see the development Mr
Museveni was referring to. Maybe some of us have failed to see the development
because we are not ‘semi’ Gods like presidents who Mr Museveni recently claimed
are next to God! But, I would also like to see the development the President
talked about.
Besides, where do I go for mental check-up? There are very few government
hospitals in this country that have sufficient equipment to carry out general
medical, let alone mental check-ups. And I think that too is a sign that our
country is not yet developed.
How can we talk of development when some of our ministers are being implicated
in financial scandals? Corruption is one of the causes of poverty and it is one
of the characteristics of poor countries. Has the meaning of economic
development changed? In any case, the NRM government’s slogan is ‘no change’.
I still remember what my economics teacher told me in class, namely, that
development is the process where the real per capita income of a country
increases over a long period of time subject to the assumption that the number
of people below the poverty line does not increase and that the distribution of
income is equal.
As opposed to this definition, it seems to me that some Ugandans are becoming
richer while others are becoming poorer. From an economics theory, real income
per capita must increase both quantitatively and qualitatively before a country
can claim that it has achieved development.
Development includes improvement in general welfare, price stability, increased
output of quality products, employment stability, increase in leisure
opportunities, wider choice of goods, narrowing of income gaps and improvement
in social, political, moral and religious lifestyles of the people. Bearing
this in mind, I am quite sure that most Ugandans know that most of the above
characteristics are still a myth in most parts of the country.
There are still so many poor people in this country who can’t afford the basic
needs of life.That is why owning a mobile phone is still being referred to even
by the President as a sign of development. Yet I suspect that some Ugandans buy
certain things not because they need them but because they have been influenced
by so-called modernity that actually makes them poorer. Even making such
irrational consumer choices is a sign of mental poverty and a population that
suffers from this kind of poverty can easily be manipulated, especially during
electons.
Uganda’s economy is growing at a fast rate as the President rightly pointed out
but that growth has not yet trickled down to the grassroots and so it should
not be referred to as development unless we all acquire special lenses from the
President and overcome our economic blindness and mental disorder.
Lawrence Kyaligonza,
SJ. staff of John Paul II Justice and Peace Centre
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