Sam, I respect your observation to the extend of its degree of accuracy. No doubt we are a civil society organisation capable of doing all lawful things within jurisdictions except unlike governements we lack force backed-structures in our attempt to foster development. I'm sure you are more familiar than me on the role civil society organisations have played in the face of repressions in streamlining and providing policy alternatives to governments across the globe. But your sort of civility that propagates fear over critique of issues is what i wouldn’t subscribe to.Where would one have erred on this forum by providing best alternatives or identifying issues impeding our development? You ignored one very important fact! We are the public and government you proposed the information be reserved for. So in my opinion there is no ideal and focus more civil than bringing to forefront of issues problems that hold us back. Civility which doesn't create room for intellectual discussion is a dead one and i would suggest must be refrained from. For instance, on 18th April, 2010, I attended a burial in a village at Oluffe Sub County of a youth who had succumbed to meningitis; a highly contagious airborne disease that killed several people early February this year and still continues to kill more voiceless poor-peasants in West Nile unrecognizably. Government in her reactionary approach to issues delayed to intervene; later with MSF support only to take a few dosages of drugs to immunize locals after 70 people were reported infected and others dead. Whereas health service delivery is one of the salient obligations of governments across the globe, many tax payers in our communities even with known outbreak pattern are still not immunized to-date. People above the age 60 were told they can’t be immunized to avoid wastage of drugs. Sub counties such as Tara and parts Yivu have been excluded from this immunization programme for reasons as miserable as lack of resources to buy more drugs yet every day we see resources being mismanaged in the country with the President reportedly living on 300M per day. Who else will save lives and speak for such people if not ourselves on this forum? On my return to Kampala, the first thing I read of in the Daily Monitor is creation of 14 new districts inclusive of Maracha supposedly to take services closure to the people by alteration of Arua and Maracha-Terego districts' boundaries. This news didn’t only excite my adrenaline, it also sent cold into my spine with a key question still lingering in my mind unanswered: which exceptional service more meaningful than live will the district bring to Maracha people if the same government seeking to take services closer to them can not care about their lives even when they are dying? What would be more important than life, more valued of a precedence to set if we waver from our obligations? Fr. Ruffino, what sort of research is needed to believe there is unreliable power in West Nile, West Nile is missing out on fibre optic backbone, many ex-servivice men are not paid, and farmers are exploited etc.? I know there could be issues to with the methology but bringing these issues forward to for digestion is already an attempt at individual level to help. I'm sure you recognise that a lot of the issues raised in my analysis are responsilities the government. It will equate to Iranian denial of Holocaust and denial truth for anyone to imagine that i can lay fibre optic backbone measuring to 1500km already missing in West Nile. Otherwise I thank everyone for the comments on this article. I'm particularly indebted to Akile, Sam, and others for providing us with the other side of coin. However i maintain "the only thing we must fear is fear itself" or else face a situation where excessive discipline eventually erodes into indiscipline. Denis Lee Oguzu ________________________________
Dear all, I am drawn to comment on the battle lines drawn by Christine and Akile on the subject matter raised by Lee. I still would like to agree with Akile that the subject of such discussions could be disastrous to the forum because it can easily be intepreted out of context and make West Nile Foundation sound partisan - I beilieve as a Civil Society Organisation, we should as much as possible reflect this nutrality. Information contained in Lees analysis is important for public consumption and governments consideration. I would rather they be discussed as development concerns but not engage it in party lines. We should maintain our civil duties of informing and educating our people and yet be conscious of the fragile 'freedom of expression' practiced in Uganda. Otherwise, we are likely to set a precedence that will eventually eat into our ideals and focus. I rest my case. From: Sam Ejibua <[email protected]> To: A Virtual Network for friends of West Nile <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, April 26, 2010 5:23:28 PM Subject: [WestNileNet] Can Northern Uganda cast vote of self-destruction?
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