Dear Change Agents, Reading from various posts, two schools of thought have emerged in trying to explain lack of development in West Nile. One group thinks we are lagging behind for being in what they call opposition while other thinks supporting an alternative government to an inefficient regime is the path of development. These two theorists have convincingly advanced their points to extend it has almost become hard for an average brain to construct the correct line. Nonetheless, there is the third school of thought which looks at development in the face of opposition vs partnership with government to gain better understanding. This school of thought has found out that while a few pro-government areas have developed, some opposition strongholds have also developed thus making it difficult to establish the co-relation between voting patterns and development.
For instance Busoga which in 1996 voted President Museveni with over 95%, 65% in 2001 and 47% in 2006 is still languishing in abject poverty and ignorance with jiggers as the only clearly visible development yet Busoga has many ministers. On the contrary, Kasese which voted opposition has well-tarmacked road, operational hydro power plants and connections to National Grid. Acholi region has only one NRM MP but the region boasts of unimaginable number of developments... vocational institutions, university, flourishing private hospitals, reliable power, etc. Why and why not? The same school of thought has also established that while Busoga still overwhelmingly votes NRM and West Nile rejects it in the face of her inadequacies, both regions have remained poor and underdeveloped save for the Jinja power plant that predates current regime. Why? To the scholars, pegging service delivery to expression desperation by way of silence or praising inefficient govts is to be an architect of a modern form of slavery. None of our leaders should be seen to be such an architect because responsible government all over have obligations towards their citizens irrespective of how they vote. The scholars however advised watering of the thorns for the sake for the roses. Personal views There is just not any iota of fact in the arguments of previous schools of thought as the analogy of third scholar clearly depicts. I only see conflict of interest and irresponsibility as key doom factors to develpment of West Nile. Of late, our region has become habitat to two sects of people......those, well-insulated and unaware an ordinary man's struggles and those who see and suffer the brunt edge of regime failures. Because these two sects eat, sleep and think differently, their vision and dreams have been divergent too. Whereas one sees change as key to a better tomorrow, the other prays for maintenance of the statusquo for the gratification of today. With such conflict of interests well dissolved in our society, solutions of our own are far from reach if not unlikely. Why? because when two brothers fight, only foreigners can inherit their remains. In this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmZqW_xh_eA), we'll see how conflict of interest made some societies neglect addressing problems that later led laid foundations for the eventual collapse. With Afi's clarifications beyond imaginations and ambiguities surrounding electricity, with 2010/11 budget again ignoring upgrade of power transmission lines and layout of fibre optic backbone, and with associated cost of these developments beyond our hollow pocket sizes, what is our next course of action? Demonstrate against it or fall it? As far as I'm concerned, if you fail to stand up for something, you'll fall for it. The remaining choice is yours but the cross is ours! Denis Lee Oguzu
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