Moral poverty is the root of all forms of poverty in Uganda

Moral poverty is the root of all forms of poverty in Uganda
The Mouthpiece — 06 June 2011

In 2009, the press reported that Uganda’s poverty reduction/ eradication strategies have failed. From the outset, it was a figment of our own imagination that we thought of eradicating poverty. Hence Poverty Eradication Action Programme (PEAP) was bound to fail and Prosperity for All (Bona bagagawale) was merely an election catchword. I strongly believe, though, that poverty reduction is within the reach of any country with a visionary political leadership and many hitherto third world countries have done it.

At independence, Uganda was at the same economic footing with South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. Today, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia are economic power houses courtesy of the visionary transformational leadership of General Park, Lee Kuan Yew and Mahathir Mohammed respectively.

That said, we have two categories of citizens in Africa generally and Uganda in particular: those that live in colossal opulence and those that live in stark destitution, misery, hopelessness, frustration and normlessness. The former category comprises of the tiny minority while the latter category comprises of the vast majority. Both categories have been man-made. They have been created by the powers that be. It is not that the opulent category is more industrious or more talented than the destitute category for I believe and I am sure all of us do believe that God gives talents randomly.

Unless one wants to tell us that the opulent in this country are God-chosen people and the rest are cursed in which case personally I will vehemently deny that assertion because Uganda’s King of Kings has recently confessed that witchcraft worked for him when he was in the bush and didn’t tell us whether it doesn’t work for him now. Accordingly, I strongly believe that people who embrace witchcraft and demonic practices in utter disregard of the country’s motto, “For God and my country” cannot be God-chosen people. That’s why for me I cannot even be captivated by the primitively accumulated wealth they have for I know that is phantom as opposed to real wealth.

It is now crystal clear that poverty is engineered; that Mr. Museveni had it as his grand plan to seriously, rigorously, strenuously, assiduously and vehemently work on the impoverishment of the masses, the major drive being that when the masses become rich they will be ungovernable. This explains why sham organisations like Caring for Orphans, Widows and the Elderly (COWE) were started with the mere aim of draining the wretched of the earth of the meagre financial resources they had and hence leaving them bloodless, and therefore unable to oppose the powers that be. It is almost axiomatic that poverty is synonymous with worthlessness. Accordingly, the Museveni regime has always and still wants to push Ugandans into such a direction where they will be dependent on and subservient to the government. Yet, in a democracy, it is the government that should be subordinate to the citizens. This explains why I have always wondered whether or not Museveni has reduced us into subjects rather than citizens.

In a society where the masses have been impoverished, there are no such things as rights and every good thing the government does is looked at as a favour and not a right. Poverty-stricken people cannot assert their rights because they in an actual sense don’t have the tools to assert them. It is clear that there are many forms of poverty which include mental poverty, material poverty and moral poverty. All these forms of poverty reinforce one another. As such, material poverty leads to mental poverty and moral poverty. Moral poverty also catalyses and catapults mental poverty which also breeds material poverty. From the foregoing, it is clear that virtually all Ugandans are suffering from one form of poverty or the other. Personally, I must confess I suffer from material poverty but I don’t in the least suffer from mental and moral poverty and I am always on my knees praying to God that I never suffer from the mental and material poverty for I believe they are the worst forms of poverty.

The corrupt in this country are seriously suffering from the worst form of poverty, namely moral poverty. The majority of our people on the other hand suffer from mental poverty. Mental poverty is as a result of lack of information, knowledge and conscience. In short mental poverty is synonymous with ignorance and sometimes manifests itself into the dearth of critical thought. Moral poverty on the other hand is as a result of doing things that one knows are fundamentally wrong but all the same one goes ahead to do them. The Anglican common book of prayer says, “We have left what we are supposed to do and we have done what we are not supposed to do. Therefore, in us there’s nothing good at all”. This phrase dovetails so well and resonates well with moral poverty.

In my view moral poverty is the most inexcusable form of poverty. Moral poverty can be termed as moral perversion. People suffering from moral poverty need no sympathy but serious reprimands at best and at worst ostracism. Mental poverty on the other hand can be cured through sensitization and education. It may not be easy to eradicate in the short run but in the long run it is surmountable.

It is my considered view that moral poverty is the root cause of all forms of poverty. It is because of moral poverty or moral perversion that we have people pilfering money meant to buy drugs for the citizens. It is because of moral perversion that our engineers do shoddy work on our roads because they expect a difference which in the Ugandan parlance has been accepted as njawulo. It is because of moral poverty and intellectual peasantry that the children from poor families can be blocked from accessing higher education hence condemning them to perpetual poverty. It is morally poor people in Uganda who steal to buy large chunks of land yet they cannot utilize them after depriving the poor their means of livelihood.

I firmly believe that our society has enough to satisfy all our needs but not all our greed. This we can only do if we extricate ourselves from moral poverty. Otherwise, it is possible to primitively accumulate inexplicable wealth and die the most poverty-stricken human being for there’s real wealth and phantom wealth. Real wealth benefits the entire community as it is devoid of selfishness, hate and malice. Real wealth focuses on compassion, love, selflessness, empathy and sympathy.

It is a manifestation of the African philosophy of Ubuntu. Accordingly, with real wealth if one attained material or financial wealth, it will benefit society in a way or another. Real wealth emphasises the significance of the Christian principles of receiving, sharing and giving. Phantom wealth on the other hand brings forth selfishness, pride and greed. Believers in phantom wealth suffer from moral poverty and will never have any slight iota of satisfaction. Finally, poverty and destitution are as a result of the actions of human beings and can be stopped by actions of human beings. Thus, all of us ought to concentrate on fighting moral and mental poverty in our society. For God and my country!

Vincent Nuwagaba is a human rights defender and can be reached via email on vnuwagaba@gmail.com