Dear Jackson and Lee, I salute the brilliant articulations you two and others have advanced here in pursuit of lasting solutions to our problems vis first class poverty, unemployment, lack of information etc.
I would however like to add that our people per se are not lazy people. At times my people(West Nile) amaze me by the zeal they have often shown in going against all odds to ensure West Nile is what it looks today despite the political neglect in terms of Infrastracture development. Our people could very easily diversify into more environmentally friendly Agricultural prouductivity, but where is the Market for these produce for large scale production?? Kampala, yes; DRC, yes; Sudan, yes; East Africa, yes- but the question is, what is the infrastacture state in our region to enable a cost effective movement of food supplies intra West Nile region and within the boundaries of the greater East African region including DRC and Sudan. I vividly remember occassions when some of our farmers would dispose of produce such as tomatoes, Avocados etc because of failure to be able to complete Sell of such perishable produce from Vurra, Maracha or Riiki and yet he or she can not carry the same on his bicycle or her head and walk all those daunting, dusty kms back to Vurra and then return to Arua town and resale the following day!! What is the next option, dump the damn balance and buy paraffin, match box, salt, tea leaves( though Ejiku plays with it now) and small sacket of brown sugar and simply goes back home because these are the simple basics that they need in the village(farm homestaed). What is the impact of all these, frustration of our farmers and people look for alternative cheaper sources of survival where there is minimal dispensation of energy and time, Marungi growing comes in handy men. I grew Marungi before and I still have the garden that is sustaining some peoples livelihood. I do not condone misuse of any consumable, "Marungi" inclusive. What is the difference between an abuser of Marungi and Bell Beer????? The point I would like to drive here is that there are bigger issues at stake that need to be solved first in order for any of our efforts to yield SIGNIFICANT dividends. Proper Infrastructure development in our region to enable cost effective movement of Produce, labour, Capital, Information so that our people can meaningfully change to environmentally friendly Agricultural productivity supported by the growth of other sectors as well. This needs Political WILL which is conspicuously absent. Jackson and Lee, do you guys think if I had my USD 50M and wanted to establsih a serious commercial rice farming in Yumbe wherein I construct Olewa in Terego to supply power to my farm, I would be Cleared by the Uganda political powerholders?? Just asking. Were it not for the hard work of our people, Arua and West Nile would not be what it is today, though we really deserve better, which is the central reason this forum has made us come together. Jackson and Lee, why are we exchanging ideas here despite not knowing each other, its because we all mean GOOD for our region. I hope we shall come up lasting workable solutions for all these crucial issues debated on this forum. Our people are doing their BEST amid all odds prevailing now with historical neglect backlog still haunting them. Brethren, we are doing Catch up with the rest of the Country and I salute all your contributions. Regards, Gilbert A On 17/05/2009, oguzu lee <[email protected]> wrote: > > Jackson, > > > > You've always made us win even it sometimes means slowing down your > journey. The decision to deal with poverty is long awaited. Many at times > people fail or fear to discuss this topic for fear of their frame of > reference (how rich they are to talk about poverty). So what happens if > someone asks them how rich they are to discuss such issues? To me poverty is > relative. Without fear of being prejudiced, one of the issues we've got to > deal with in our endeavor is apathy; a feeling of being unable, incapable, > and doing nothing about one's situation. Many people are doing nothing about > their situation. Our culture of helping (extending olive leaf to those who > do not deserve) seemed to have bred phenomenal laziness and promoted the > spirit of receiving free things. I think its time we changed > our empowerment approach from one that breeds dependence to one that rewards > hard work. History tells us, Europe was once in the same mess we are in > today but what they did was to start giving to those who work. People later > got to realize that only hard work pays. Decent life can only be led after > working. This was however done with respect for the rights of the sick, > elderly, and others genuinely incapacitated. > > > > The second thing we've got to deal with is the information > poverty. Globally, info is now power yet many of our rural poor do not have > access to information which can enhance their productivity, employability, > etc. Such people have dwindled chances of ever making informed decisions? > > > > Sam raised also a serious issue and I wish to state the following in > regard. Marungi is now one of the cash crops grown in Arua with its nucleus > in Kijomoro, Maracha County. Many people have looked at marungi with > complexity/mixture of feelings. The sad fact is: it’s a source of living to > some people but also number one cause of idleness and other problems. > Someone joked whether people would still be alive in kijomoro if Marungi > plantations were destroyed. While on a tour in Maracha, president also told > the people marungi is a mild drug–a statement that went well with the > population. People have now neglected food production preferring to buy food > from marungi proceeds. The youth are heavily involved in nothing else except > chewing marungi. Politicians fear to talk against marungi for fear of > loosing votes. Members, without jeopardizing livelihood of some people and > blessing the dangers of Marungi, how do we strike a deal? > > > > In addition to Marungi, we've got to deal with excessive drinking. Amb. > Phillip Idro once told me our poverty is now first-class poverty and he said > excessive drinking is an attempt to catch up with what was missed. He also > said that people in first class poverty spend all their earnings trying to > catch up with what they missed in the past--meaning they do not invest or > savet. With no savings/investment, such people find themselves in what > Robert Kyoshaki called 'rat race' and this is typical of most of our tobacco > farmers. Year in, year out, they are in fruitless production. Unless the > little money they get is finished they will never go home. There are cases > where people have ended up filling their drinking water pots with beer to > catch up with what they missed. Others swift from drinking ‘Okarito’ to beer > until tobacco money is exhausted. How then can such people eliminate > poverty? > > > > This is really the magnitude of the problem we face. The challenge is > really enormous. At times, the problem is so contagious. In trying to help, > one could catch the disease but I'm confident we can all do our part to > create the kind of society that guarantees hope for the next generation. > > > > Regards, > > > > Denis Lee Oguzu > > > > --- On *Fri, 5/15/09, JohnAJackson <[email protected]>* wrote: > > > From: JohnAJackson <[email protected]> > Subject: [WestNileNet] Hot Topics for discussion > To: [email protected] > Date: Friday, May 15, 2009, 8:41 AM > > This is a reminder about the issues & Hot Topics for discussion:* > > ** > > 1) Closure of Primary School in Koboko District---------Done > > 2) Migration of Walalu Pastoralist in Wet Nile > > 3) Barifa Forest demarcation for development-----------Done > 4) Derfoestation of West Nile Region----------------------Done > > 5) Relocation of Arua Prison out of the City or Town > > 6) Matego District Issue > > 7) Electiricity & Power development > > 8) Poor Performance in Schools in West Nile, Task Force (TF) = Waiting > for report > > 9) High Unempolyment & Poverty in the West Nile Region > > 10) Other Business ( Add more issues as you please) > > > May suggest that to members of this forum that *High unemployment and > Poverty in the West Nile Region* be discussed for the next two(2) weeks > Please look at root cause & solutions/proposals > > I have attached two PDF docs about the summary points on the recent > dicussions. > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > _______________________________________________ > WestNileNet mailing list > [email protected]<http://us.mc518.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]> > http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet > % WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > > The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including > attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. > _______________________________________________ > > > > > _______________________________________________ > WestNileNet mailing list > [email protected] > http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet > % WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > > The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including > attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. > _______________________________________________ > >
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