Makerere shouldn’t be producing mediocre graduates

Guest Writers

Thursday, 19 April 2012 20:18

Written by Vincent Nuwagaba

8 Comments

We claim to be knowledgeable because we have accessed Western education.
But we have failed, or deliberately refused, to use our knowledge to solve our problems. Ultimately, we have allowed mediocrity to flourish. Makerere University is in the process of searching for a substantive vice chancellor, with Professor Venansius Baryamureeba’s tenure having ended. Here is what the university should focus on: Some Makerere University lecturers (certainly not all of them) solicit money from students in exchange for marks, just as some students solicit marks from lecturers in exchange for money.

Some staff in the senate, who enter students’ marks also solicit money from students in exchange for better grades, just as some students solicit better grades in exchange for money. I am at pains to reveal this grim reality, as many people are aware, but have not had the wherewithal to have this information published. But like Norbert Mao says, “you cannot treat a cancer with Vaseline”:  we cannot solve problems without tackling their root causes.

I reveal this not because I hate Makerere University, which is my alma mater, but because I love the institution dearly and I fell in love with its motto “We build for the future” when I joined it. The press has reported about cases of sex in exchange for marks in the same institution before and these reports cannot just be dismissed.

While appearing on a UBC TV show on March 6, 2008, I stated that because the job market favours the mediocre, the philosopher kings, if I can borrow from Plato, were busy working as coursework mercenaries, running coursework bureaus in Wandegeya and around Kikoni and Nakulabye, and I was vindicated a few weeks ago when Sunday Vision ran a comprehensive feature on coursework mercenaries.

This is happening, not because the ‘academic giants’, as Dr Simba Kayunga used to call them, have no integrity, but because for them to survive in Kampala where virtually only the dirty thrive, they have to break some moral rules and trash their values. Corruption begets corruption and if one cheats in the exams, or hires mercenaries to do coursework for them, they ‘earn’ a certificate not a degree. I should add that those who buy marks usually pose around with Makerere University papers but they do not have degrees.

A degree is intrinsic. It is not just a transcript or a certificate. And alas, this problem is not confined to Makerere University. During our school days, some students in relatively good schools also used to access UNEB exam papers beforehand, which they used to call it akasasi in Runyankore-Rukiga parlance.

If a Law student cheats exams to be admitted to the Law programme, buys marks at LDC and he or she ends up enrolling as an advocate, what sort of advocate will he/she be? What will stop such a person from being compromised with bribes? If such a person is ultimately appointed as a magistrate or judge, what sort of justice will they dispense since from their formative stages, they will have been corrupted? Those retained as teaching assistants are selected basing on their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). Now, if one coughs money to get good grades, what sort of lecturers are we getting for our children?

If Makerere, which churns out professionals of all kinds, is promoting mediocrity, why should we be surprised that we have mediocre lawyers, teachers, physicians, pastors, and politicians? Why should we be surprised to find journalists who practise yellow journalism and do public relations instead of sticking to principles of accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, balance and attention to detail?

Of course, what happens at Makerere is replicated in other institutions. If anything, in other universities it could even be worse. I remember in one of the ACODE breakfast meetings, economist Bernard Tayebwa stated that Ugandans survive through kuyiiya (cutting corners). This explains the dubious deals many Ugandans engage in. It is absurd that today, people with integrity are shunned and labelled failures while the crooks are glorified. Makerere can only build for the future by embracing integrity and leading by example.

The author is a human rights defender.
vnuwagaba@gmail.com

Negative ethnicity: Devouring Uganda?

My friend Angela has been an ardent supporter of Uganda’s opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Party and has together with her husband vigorously campaigned for Dr. Besigye and Honourable Jack Sabiiti in three past elections. In a sudden twist of events, she recently met me and told me she had defected to the Museveni camp. 

 “Mwaana nyowe nabiire owa Museveni; yayenda ategyeke, nomwana weye hamwe nomwijukuru” (I have become Museveni’s supporter; let him reign and thereafter, his son and grandson) she told me.

Reason? She was exasperated by some elites from Buganda who had travelled with her in a taxi and vowed to ruthlessly crush all westerners should Museveni quit power. When she reportedly said she has never supported Museveni, the other passengers reportedly told her: “Twala eli, silika; tubammanyi, mwenna mufanagana” (That is: shut up, we know you, you are all similar).

I understand Angela’s exasperation with the anti-Museveni camp especially those from outside western Uganda. I have personally been stigmatised, abused and suspected by my would-be allies because I hail from Ankole. However, I told her: “That’s the most important reason why you should strongly oppose Museveni and dissuade many people from supporting him.” She strongly refused to accept my reasoning.

We are all losers

It is amazing to note that despite the fact that the most acerbic critics of the NRM and Museveni are from the west, many non-westerners have not appreciated the fact that the west as a region has lost almost as much as the other regions during Museveni’s regime. During currency reform, all Ugandans lost 30% of their money. When banks were raided by the bush war fighters, all Ugandans lost. The adoption of SAPs and the botched privatisation policy made all of us losers. When cooperatives died, the Banyankole Kweterana also died. When Government sanctioned the increment of fees in public universities up to 126% in August 2009, some Banyankole and Bakiga children dropped out of school.

We have people who naively think that when there are no drugs in the national referral hospital at  Mulago, western regional referral hospitals and other health centres in the west have drugs. That’s an illusion. There are people who naively think that children of the Bakiga and Banyankole (who by the way are like identical if not Siamese twins) access statehouse scholarships.There are people who think that corruption is a project by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party aimed at enriching the westerners. Some people believe that all westerners that oppose Museveni are implanted into the opposition as spies and they call them ISO operatives. I know of some friends in Uganda Young Democrats (UYD), a youth wing of the Democratic Party who used to think I was an ISO operative. I  also know that many of the UYDs knew that I was genuinely opposed to injustice and that I cherished principles of truth and justice – principles espoused by the Democratic Party.

On Monday 14th November, I had a discussion with Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Ibin Ssenkumbi. “As a person from Ankole, you even have a road paved up to your home; you went to Makerere University on government sponsorship; you are favoured and you shouldn’t criticise this government,” he told me.

Sadly, that’s many Ugandans’ mentality. I never wasted time refuting those allegations. I told him that that was the more reason why I criticise the ruling establishment. It has divided Ugandans. I cherish social justice, economic justice and equal opportunity. 

All Ugandans should access quality education, quality healthcare and decent standards of living. They should be equal before the law. None should fail to get legal representation. If Nuwagaba, a son of peasants from Kanyabwanga and Bitereko in Bushenyi has a Master’s degree, he should stand equal chances of getting opportunities as, say, Francis Musinguzi Otafiire, a son of a minister. If they apply for a job, it should be given on meritocracy basis. If there are two people with similar credentials who put in similar effort at work, they should be paid an equal amount of money regardless of what departments they work for – that’s equal pay for equal value of work. 

Scholarships should be given on the basis of merit and need. Shockingly, in Uganda scholarships are given to ministers’ children and foreigners.When the Banyarwanda of Uganda go to Rwanda, they remain Banyarwanda. When those from Rwanda come to Uganda, they become Ugandans. Many Banyarwanda are getting State House scholarships. Recently, a young man found me in some Makerere university professor’s office and bragged of how he was not bothered with tuition because he was on a State House scholarship. After his departure, the professor told me in Runyankole: “Mbwenu ebi nenki, kushanga imwe muremirwe fees, emishoro yaitu neshashurira abanyarwanda.” Literally, this translated to mean:, “What is this?  You people fail to raise fees when our taxes are used to pay fees for Rwandans?”

These developments annoy Banyankole, Bakiga, Banyoro, and Batooro as much as they annoy all other Ugandans. It’s morally repugnant and politically imprudent that we westerners can be targeted for extermination just because we are westerners. In any case, we didn’t apply to be westerners.

Piece of advice

I have a word for those who make inflammatory statements about westerners. All Ugandans are accommodative. The Baganda have accommodated all Ugandan ethnic groups, including foreigners. If President Museveni or my area MP Otafiire wronged anyone, what does it have to do with me? Is it criminal to come from the same region with the president and other political rulers?

While studying the unification of Germany and Italy, I learnt that Germany and Italy, faced with similar problems, had to adopt similar means to solve them. Likewise, Ugandans face similar problems of poverty, graduate unemployment, corruption, a collapsed healthcare system; a disoriented education system; unjust and selective criminal justice system; meager wages for workers resulting into the phenomenon of the working poor, and general misery instead of general happiness. We can only solve them by focusing on things that unite us rather than those that disunite us.

Let’s focus on things over which we have control such as ideological paradigms - not those over which we cannot have control such as ethnicity. We must preach and practice love, unity, justice, transparency, honesty and brotherhood. Lyandro Komakech and Opobo Wilfred from Acholiland helped me so much while at campus; Asuman Basalirwa has always been there for me when the state attempts to dump me  in Luzira; Livingstone Sewanyana gave me a job that helped me pay my tuition. So many Acholi, Iteso, Karamajong, Baganda, and  Basoga have been there for me. Likewise Banyankole, Bakiga, Batooro, Banyoro have stood by me. I don’t think they do that because I am from their region but because I am a human being entitled to an inherent right to human dignity. We should harness our cultural and ethnic differences to enrich our society. Why can’t we advocate intermarriages so as to stop inbreeding and ensure producing real Ugandans?

To Angela and all my brothers and sisters from Ankole, Kigezi, Mpororo, Tooro, Bunyoro and Bukonzo, if we support Museveni, we will only postpone the danger but will make it real at any time. Accordingly, we should be the vanguards of opposing NRM’s injustices. I am sure, before Museveni, Uganda was not polarized along ethnic lines. We had many northerners and easterners study from the west, westerners study from the north, east and central and that enhanced social and political cohesion in spite of cultural diversity. From my own district Bushenyi during Obote II regime, we had five ministers – Edward Rurangaranga, Cris Rwakasiisi, Adonia Tiberondwa, Yonasani Kanyomozi, Ephraim Kamuntu and we had other key government figures.

Tell me any single district outside western Uganda with three ministers. Surprisingly, those ministers hardly help westerners. They only endanger us. When Obote lost power, the Luo suffered; when Amin lost power, the Kakwa and Nubians reportedly suffered. We as westerners shouldn’t suffer after Museveni has lost power. We can forestall the suffering when we distance ourselves from him as his government commits atrocities. For God and my country!

By Vincent Nuwagaba.

The author is a blogger at http://www.vnuwagaba.blogspot.com/ and can be reached via email at mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.co.ug

Museveni's Honorary Degree A Mockery

Makerere University

Makerere University is set to honour president Museveni with an honorary PhD in recognition of his “distinguished and outstanding public service as an eminent statesman.” There is an adage which states that “a statesman looks at the next generation while a politician looks at the next election.” Accordingly, a statesman builds for the future as the Makerere University motto states.  

On the basis of this adage, I highly doubt whether Uganda’s president is a statesman. In my view, Mr. Museveni is a typical Machiavellian politician. In 1987 during the currency reform, each person that took money for changing lost thirty percent of that money. The government immediately embarked on the unholy Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs). Thereafter, Museveni embarked on divestiture of our parastatals, marketing boards, cooperative unions and Uganda Hotels. This was followed by the sale or giveaway of our banks including those that were making huge profits. The NRM government then embarked on giving away public land and this was followed by directly fleecing of the public as was with the case of Concern for Orphans, Widows and the Elderly (COWE). Accordingly, whoever awards Museveni for his superb performance is deluding himself. A statesman builds for the future and doesn’t mortgage his nation. 

What does it take for a leader to build for the future? 

A leader can build for the future if they made education available, affordable, and accessible to both the rich and the poor. A distinguished, outstanding and eminent statesman fights corruption root and branch. This then ensures that money to equip hospitals with drugs is available; money to pay our medical workers handsomely is available; to build industries and factories, to create jobs for the unemployed is available. I surely wouldn’t honour Museveni as an eminent statesman. Today Museveni’s fight against corruption is cosmetic as it is discriminatory. He at one time said, he has come a long way with Mbabazi and Otafiire and that is why he defends them whenever the duo are in a hot soup.  

Museveni has presided over failed state institutions and has done nothing to forestall this. In fact, he is squarely responsible for dysfunctional state institutions. I know the award is being given to him for opportunistic reasons expecting that the president will now fund the university.  This surely casts doubt on the credibility of our university with Professor Venancius Baryamureba as the vice chancellor. We ought to note that it is the obligation of the state to adequately fund its institutions. 

It is ironical that Makerere University is awarding the president at a time when university dons have been turned into paupers and they hardly can sponsor their children in a university where they teach. This is the genesis of Professor Baryamureba’s mistakes and I hope it becomes the last. Professor Baryamureba has once threatened to expel students who participate in strikes as if he doesn’t know that it is a form of exercising their rights. 

As an alumnus of Makerere University, I am deeply touched that our honorary degrees can be awarded anyhow. An honorary degree should be a prestigious award given to people that have been exemplary not for just boosting people’s curriculum vitae. If it was to be awarded to a leader such as Paul Kagame who has moved his country from scratch to strength, it would be understandable. Possibly, Museveni would learn from Kagame’s award and change from his transactional leadership style to transformational leadership.  

During Museveni’s tenure as Uganda’s president, it is rare to give jobs on merit. What works is the spoils system typical of his patronage and clientelism. Today, higher education is a preserve of the rich. The few peasants’ children who by accident attain higher education are condemned to eternal unemployment because jobs are given to children whose parents fought, the cronies and relatives of the powers that be and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) cadres most of whom forge academic credentials from Nasser Road.  

Currently, if a pa

Rwandan leadership is an embodiment of genuine democracy

I read with wonder and bemusement an article by Mr. Derek Ingram titled Should Rwanda be allowed to join the commonwealth? Mr Ingram ably articulates the justification for Rwanda joining the Commonwealth as being adjacent to Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and teaching English in its schools and playing cricket among others.
Although I never knew that cricket is an exclusive game to the Commonwealth nations, I don’t fathom its relevance to poor African states.
That said, Mr. Ingram faults Rwanda on her democratic credentials, a reason why he strongly argues that Rwanda should not be allowed to join the commonwealth.
It is on the basis of this argument that I radically disagree with Mr. Derek Ingram. I feel that the concept ‘democracy’ has been used, abused and misused to suit the interests of particular interest groups.
Many elites in Uganda claim that Rwanda is an authoritarian state and Uganda is a democracy. Without necessarily going to the philosophical underpinnings of the democracy concept, let us use the commonly used definition of democracy according to Abraham Lincoln who defined it as the rule of the people, for the people and by the people.
If we are to read between the lines, this definition doesn’t necessarily mean what the Eurocentric school of thought takes the term to be.
Democracy is a twin sister to human rights. There is such a thin line between democracy and human rights that no country can genuinely claim to be a democracy when its human rights record is poor.
This takes me to the crux of my argument. Why should Mr. Derek Ingram fault Rwanda’s democratic credentials yet he makes no comment about Uganda’s democratic deficit, a country that hosted the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) only two years ago?
The author of the article said that the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) sent an eminent international lawyer Yash Ghai on a mission to Rwanda to discover whether Rwanda fulfils the commonwealth requirements and that his report found that Rwanda doesn’t measure up.
Maybe the CHRI confines its standard measures to Civil liberties and political rights and has nothing to do with socio-economic rights.
According to Yash Ghai’s report, Rwanda’s government “has not hesitated to use violence at home and abroad when it has suited it.” The question whose answer I earnestly desire is: haven’t some of Rwanda’s neighbours used force both at home and abroad when it favours them? Rwanda is not as aggressive as Uganda yet Uganda is not portrayed in such a negative manner.
The article smacks of double standards and dishonesty on the part of the Commonwealth states.
The author of the article says that Rwanda should wait for next year’s presidential elections and that their fairness is the one that will give the country a green light to apply for joining the commonwealth at the next CHOGM.
Why wasn’t CHOGM hosted by other countries after the opposition rightly raised the concerns of 2006 rigged and violent elections?
To begin with, Rwanda doesn’t have to beg to become a member of the Commonwealth. After all, most members are no better. “Commonwealth” members display common opulence, profligacy and corruption on the part of the ruling oligarchies. The commonwealth label is only applicable to the rulers.
To the majority citizens however, what is common is misery, neglect, despair and complacency. Thus, I feel Rwanda has little to gain by joining the “Commonwealth” members.
Why should independent third world states desire to pay allegiance to the Queen of England? Is Rwanda targeting donor funds from Britain?
Although I don’t believe that we should de-link ourselves from the north, as much as we need them (the capitalist north), they equally need us. We need their money, they need our raw materials. So it is quid pro quo.
That said, I wish to use this as an opportunity to share my views about the cherished concepts of democracy and human rights from a Pan African perspective.
I know that these concepts are universal but the Eurocentric scholars typified by Derek Ingram want to bamboozle us by confining democracy and human rights to the terrain of civil liberties and political rights. Whoever does such is utterly wrong.
To Africans, genuine democrats are those concerned about bread and butter issues and not the drama and rhetoric of freedom of expression, when all you have to express is anger brought about by hunger.
Accordingly, the current Rwandan leadership is an embodiment of genuine democracy. Democracy doesn’t mean going to the polls every five years where leaders use taxpayers’ money to bribe the voters and buy the votes from them whence politicians sit and raise their emoluments in total disregard of the ordinary citizens.
Rwanda with President Paul Kagame  at the helm is fighting corruption root and branch; has ensured access to education from kindergarten level to the university level; jobs are given on meritocracy as opposed to clientelism exercised in the current chair of commonwealth states; there is health insurance for every Rwandan and one gets treatment in any hospital if they fell sick; the Rwandan roads are in no way comparable to Uganda’s potholes; Rwanda has even gone ahead in environmental protection, every person with land adjacent to the road is urged to plant trees; polythene bags that are known to endanger the environment are a thing of the past yet here in Uganda we cannot enforce policies for expediency purposes.
Although Uganda still remains an education hub, Rwanda is surely becoming a technological hub.
I know for a fact that there are many westerners who will feel envious of Kagame and would want to portray him as a dictatorial leader, but I have no doubt in mind that Rwanda is on a steady road to social democracy which aims at social justice, social welfare and human dignity.
While I don’t condone the suppression of critical voices anywhere, in a country where services are provided, criticism is minimal.
Accordingly, if democracy is to be judged on the basis of the amount of noise made by the citizens, then a country like Uganda will be deemed more democratic than Rwanda. We need, however, to take note of the French saying; La bouche qui mange, ne parle pas (a mouth that is eating doesn’t speak).
What would you expect the majority Rwandans to say when they have access to services? Here in Uganda, people will complain about unemployment, sectarianism, marginalisation, potholes, lack of drugs in health centres, road accidents, corruption, increase in school fees in public institutions among others. These are a rare occurrence in Rwanda and many would argue that it is only ingratitude that would make one complain.
Truly, Paul Kagame has made an indelible mark in a country that was once shattered by ethnic cleansing. The only challenge he has is to make sure he uses his next seven years building sturdy institutions that will outlive him so that the other leaders who come after him will be in a position to continue steering the country on a development path.
Rwanda’s leadership is transformational but not transactional. To label Rwanda an undemocratic state is to hoodwink the world that all democracies must focus on the so-called first generation rights at the expense of socioeconomic rights.
Rwanda should focus on the socio-economic development for her people and forget about joining the Commonwealth Mr. Derek Ingram, Rwanda is a shining star and not as undemocratic as you portray it.
Vincent Nuwagaba is a Ugandan based human rights activist.
Ends

Rwanda is not undemocratic

P. Kagame with G. Brown       Photo courtesy

I read with wonder and bemusement an article by Mr. Derek Ingram titled Should Rwanda be allowed to join the commonwealth? Mr Ingram ably articulates the justification for Rwanda joining the Commonwealth as being adjacent to Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and teaching English in its schools and playing cricket among others. Although I never knew that cricket is an exclusive game to the Commonwealth nations, I don’t fathom its relevance to poor African states. That said, Mr. Ingram faults Rwanda on her democratic credentials, a reason why he strongly argues that Rwanda should not be allowed to join the commonwealth.  

It is on the basis of this argument that I radically disagree with Mr. Derek Ingram. I feel that the concept ‘democracy’ has been used, abused and misused to suit the interests of particular interest groups.  

Many elites in Uganda claim that Rwanda is an authoritarian state and Uganda is a democracy. Without necessarily going to the philosophical underpinnings of the democracy concept, let us use the commonly used definition of democracy according to Abraham Lincoln who defined it as the rule of the people, for the people and by the people. If we are to read between the lines, this definition doesn’t necessarily mean what the Eurocentric school of thought takes the term to be.  

Democracy is a twin sister to human rights. There is such a thin line between democracy and human rights that no country can genuinely claim to be a democracy when its human rights record is poor. This takes me to the crux of my argument. Why should Mr. Derek Ingram fault Rwanda’s democratic credentials yet he makes no comment about Uganda’s democratic deficit, a country that hosted the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (CHOGM) only two years ago? 

The author of the article said that the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) sent an eminent international lawyer Yash Ghai on a mission to Rwanda to discover whether Rwanda fulfils the commonwealth requirements and that his report found that Rwanda doesn’t measure up. Maybe the CHRI confines its standard measures to Civil liberties and political rights and has nothing to do with socio-economic rights.  

According to Yash Ghai’s report, Rwanda’s government “has not hesitated to use violence at home and abroad when it has suited it.” The question whose answer I earnestly desire is: haven’t some of Rwanda’s neighbours used force both at home and abroad when it favours them? Rwanda is not as aggressive as Uganda yet Uganda is not portrayed in such a negative manner. The article smacks of double standards and dishonesty on the part of the Commonwealth states.  

The author of the article says that Rwanda should wait for next year’s presidential elections and that their fairness is the one that will give the country a green light to apply for joining the commonwealth at the next CHOGM. Why wasn’t CHOGM hosted by other countries after the opposition rightly raised the concerns of 2006 rigged and violent elections? 

To begin with, Rwanda doesn’t have to beg to become a member of the Commonwealth. After all, most members are no better. “Commonwealth” members display common opulence, profligacy and corruption on the part of the ruling oligarchies.The commonwealth label is only applicable to the rulers. To the majority citizens however, what is common is misery, neglect, despair and complacency. Thus, I feel Rwanda has little to gain if by joining the “Commonwealth” members.  

Why should independent third world states desire to pay allegiance to the Queen of England? Is Rwanda targeting donor funds from Britain. Although I don’t believe that we should de-link ourselves from the north. As much as we need them (the capitalist north), they equally need us. We need their money, they need our raw materials. So it is quid pro quo. 

That said, I wish to use this as opportunity to share my views about the cherished concepts of democracy and human rights from a Pan African perspective. I know that these concepts are universal but the Eurocentric scholars typified by Derek Ingram want to bamboozle us by confining democracy and human rights to the terrain of civil liberties and political rights. Whoever does such is utterly wrong. To Africans, genuine democrats are those concerned about bread and butter issues and not the drama and rhetoric of freedom of expression, when all you have to express is anger brought about by hunger.  

Accordingly, the current Rwandan leadership is an embodiment of genuine democracy. Democracy doesn’t mean going to the polls every five years where leaders use taxpayers’ money to bribe the voters and buy the votes from them whence politicians sit and raise their emoluments in total disregard of the ordinary citizens. 

Rwanda with President Paul Kagame  at the helm is fighting corruption root and branch; has ensured access to education from kindergarten level to the university level; jobs are given on meritocracy as opposed to clientelism exercised in the current chair of commonwealth states; there is health insurance for every Rwandan and one gets treatment in any hospital if they fell sick; the Rwandan roads are in no way comparable to Uganda’s potholes; Rwanda has even gone ahead in environmental protection, every person with land adjacent to the road is urged to plant trees; polythene bags that are known to endanger the environment are a thing of the past yet here in Uganda we cannot enforce policies for expediency purposes. Although Uganda still remains an education hub, Rwanda is surely becoming a technological hub. 

I know for a fact that there are many westerners who will feel envious of Kagame and would want to portray him as a dictatorial leader but I have no doubt in mind that Rwanda is on a steady road to social democracy which aims at social justice, social welfare and human dignity.  

While I don’t condone the suppression of critical voices anywhere, in a country where services are provided, criticism is minimal. Accordingly, if democracy is to be judged on the basis of the amount of noise made by the citizens, then a country like Uganda will be deemed more democratic than Rwanda. We need, however, to take note of the French saying  La bouche qui manger, ne parle pas  (a mouth that is eating doesn’t speak).  

What would you expect the majority Rwandans to say when they have access to services? Here in Uganda, people will complain about unemployment, sectarianism, marginalisation, potholes, lack of drugs in health centres, road accidents, corruption, increase in school fees in public institutions among others. These are a rare occurrence in Rwanda and many would argue that it is only ingratitude that would make one complain.  

Truly, Paul Kagame has made an indelible mark in a country that was once shattered by ethnic cleansing. The only challenge he has is to make sure he uses his next seven years building sturdy institutions that will outlive him so that the other leaders who come after him will be in a position to continue steering the country on a development path.  

Rwanda’s leadership is transformational but not transactional. To label Rwanda an undemocratic state is to hoodwink the world that all democracies must focus on the so-called first generation rights at the expense of socioeconomic rights. Rwanda should focus on the socio-economic development for her people and forget about joining the Commonwealth. Uganda hosted CHOGN amidst strong opposition. We have just learnt that it was an opportunity for the NRM bigwigs to openly pilfer taxpayers’ money and build the shattered name of the party especially after the botched 2006 elections.  Mr. Derek Ingram, Rwanda is a shining star and not as undemocratic as you portray it. 

By Vincent Nuwagaba  

Ugandan based human rights activist .

Uganda: Why the War on Corruption is Elusive

 

While addressing the Pan Africanists at Nommo Gallery, General Elly Tumwiine said they have launched a war against corruption, re-echoing the President’s state of the nation address. He called on Pan Africanists to embrace the war against corruption. 

Although I am grateful that General Elly Tumwiine was launching an anti-corruption war, corruption needs to be redefined. The President’s understanding of corruption seems to be narrow. The President narrows his definition of corruption to over-invoicing, air supply, embezzlement and white-collar corruption. I find two dictionary definitions sufficient for this article: 

1. Moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles;

2. lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain.

My own understanding of corruption is that it denotes all aberrations, perversion and deviations from the moral principles and common good. Any form of abuse of office is but corruption. The government is largely responsible for the high levels of corruption in this country and it has deliberately refused to nip corruption in the bud.  Many graduates are rendered jobless as jobs are given on patronage basis. I  know many people working with government who are pursuing their Bachelors’ degrees and use mercenaries to write coursework for them. Ironically, the very bright but unemployed Ugandans are the ones hired to write coursework because they have to survive.  

In Uganda, there are many coursework bureaus around universities. These bureaus are not owned by average Ugandans but brainy people who have come out of the universities with very good grades but have failed to get jobs. The owners of the printing bureaus along Nasser and Nkrumah roads where the forgeries are mostly done are brilliant graduates who have found no other job and have opted to participate in forgeries as a way of making ends meet. These are the people who print university transcripts and UNEB certificates and are given money. I am sure if they had any other gainful employment, they wouldn’t indulge in this malpractice.   

Their failure to get jobs is not as a result of the fact that many people have graduated with university degrees. Research shows that Uganda has less than 1% of the people with university degrees. What this means is that there are many people who get jobs meant for university graduates with forged academic papers. Some people have been chased from the National Social Security Fund, the Uganda Revenue Authority and Bushenyi District Service Commission for forgery.  

If the government indeed was serious on fighting this form of corruption, it would prevail on all employing organizations to crosscheck with the institutions that the applicants and job occupants purport to have gotten their credentials from without necessarily informing the applicants and job occupants. If for instance, one submitted a degree transcript from Makerere University, the employers in this case the government departments and the private sector departments should send photocopies of the applicants to the University for Certification without the knowledge of the job applicants. The university staff then would cross-check with the person’s file and if the person has no file there, their applications should be rejected. Those that are already employed without genuine credentials should not only be fired but also should be prosecuted. By doing this, we would be able to kill two birds with one stone because, the would be coursework mercenaries would get jobs on merit and the people who forge documents would find it unnecessary for the forged documents would not help them secure jobs. 

From the foregoing, it is clear that even the president himself is not corrupt-free. The Ugandan press has time and again highlighted sectarianism in the government of president Museveni citing facts and figures and the president has not refuted the press reports. Sectarianism is one of the biggest forms of corruption which ironically was/is part of the reasons that made the National Resistance Movement/army fight a protracted bush war. Consolidation of national unity and elimination of all forms of sectarianism is number three of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ten point programme.  

Therefore, given my understanding of the term, I am ambivalent about the Ugandan government’s wherewithal to fight corruption. Nevertheless, I am convinced that corruption is the worst vice to which all of us should point our guns but the president and his henchmen ought to first have a mindset change. Unless the root causes of corruption are handled, the corruption fight in Uganda will remain an illusion.

Vincent Nuwagaba

Mr Nuwagaba vnuwagaba@gmail.com is a Human Rights defender

Will Secession Tear Uganda Apart?

Uganda is full of contradictions and controversies. Our newspapers are always awash with corruption, child sacrifice, murder, nepotism and marginalisation stories among others. Some pundits now think the once pearl of Africa is now a dud of Africa. Currently the Members of Parliament from the greater North comprising of West Nile, Karamoja, Lango, Teso and Acholi sub-regions are making calls for secession.Secession calls haven’t been exclusive to the people from the greater North. Honourable Hussein Kyanjo has at one time made spirited calls for secession of Buganda, citing marginalisation. 

Uganda Flag                 Photo:AE Graphics

Sadly, some Ugandans have opted to vilify and demonise those calling for secession. Personally, I think that those calling for secession are using this either as a bargaining tool or as a tool to express their discontent. Thus, rather than scold them, we should exhort  the government to treat all citizens equally. Surprisingly,  the Uganda government hates talk about secession yet it has failed to address the concerns raised. Should the greater North people remain in subjugation?  All they need is an assurance that they are not second-rate citizens.  All of us would like to live in a country where we are treated with dignity.

The government’s act of recalling Ambassador Onen from the East African Community secretariat was just a trigger. Even if Ambassador Onen had not been recalled, he wouldn’t be a solution to the greater North in as far as marginalisation is concerned. Clearly NRM has radically ignored its blueprint, the ten point programme whose point number three and seven were consolidation of national unity and elimination of all forms of sectarianism, corruption and misuse of power.

Sectarianism is one of the highest forms of corruption that we are witnessing in this country. It has led to misallocation of resources, undermined institutions (as office bearers pay more allegiance to their political godfathers at the expense of institutions) and is both inimical and antithetical to patriotism. Those raising the secession voices are simply showing that something is amiss. We must applaud them for demanding a fair share of the national cake.

What I find disagreeable however is their firm conviction that individuals in western Uganda  are benefiting. Marginalisation is not exclusive to the North. It doesn’t mean that because my area Member of Parliament is a minister, I am benefiting if I have no job, if there are no drugs in our health centres and if our roads are in a sorry state. We have five counties and five ministers in Bushenyi district but only one Member of Parliament who incidentally is a backbencher has registered visible success through an organisation known as Integrated Community Based Initiative.

Ironically, there are many people from western Uganda who are frustrated given the adverse atmosphere of unemployment, poverty, and poor service delivery among others. They are caught between the devil and  the deep blue sea.

In Kampala, the talk is that Westerners are in the thing. When you go to the West, the talk is that the Banyankole are eating; if you go to Ankole, the talk is that the Bahiima are eating and possibly among the Bahiima the talk is that it is the Basiita who are eating. This is a pointer that each region and ethnic group feels some level of discontent and marginalisation. The difference is only in the magnitude with some regions feeling that they are more marginalised while others are less marginalised.

The  Uganda government ought to embrace meritocracy and in the allocation of public resources as opposed to patronage basis. All Ugandans, without exception, pay taxes and have a right to benefit from their taxes. Virtually all Ugandans are faced with more or less similar problems and should adopt similar means to solve them. 

By Vincent Nuwagaba
Political Scientist and Human Rights Activist

Labour Unions in Uganda, a Threat to Workers’ Rights

Uganda does not suffer the dearth of instruments highlighting democracy and human rights. Our constitution is called a human rights constitution. The whole of chapter four addresses human rights, a situation that has led many people to dub it: the Ugandan bill of rights. Many rights enshrined in the international bill of rights are replicated therein. We also have numerous Acts of parliament aimed at promoting and protecting the rights of different social groups.  

Despite the fact that Uganda has ratified 31 ILO Conventions including all the eight core conventions, observance of these rights has drastically eluded us. The country is seething with high levels of unemployment and underemployment, worst forms of child labour,  sordid working conditions for workers, squalid accommodation for the police force, miserable wages, high levels of hire and fire of the employees, absence of employment policy, sectarianism, nepotism and corruption among others.  All these deal a hard blow to our workers. 

One of the most contentious areas is social security or social protection. The government uses (some believe it misuses and abuses) the National Social Security Fund the way it wants without due regard to the workers who in an actual sense are the owners of the money. The government proposes that the National Health Insurance scheme be funded by workers and employers in addition to the contribution made to the National Social Security Fund. This follows the Local Service Tax which is being paid already. Workers now feel that the government is bent on encroaching on their meager earnings to fund its activities without due regard to their plight.  

The right to social security is born out of convention 102 on minimum standards. The ILO Convention provides for nine forms of benefits which include among others medical care benefits and health insurance benefits. Uganda seems to have adamantly refused to ratify convention 102 so that it could be bound by the provisions therein. Uganda has ratified the tripartite consultation convention (convention 144) yet it continues to sideline the other two partners in matters of concern to them. Experience has shown that the government in a number of cases calls workers and employers to give them lectures and not for consultation.  

On 30th June 2007, Hon Otafiire on KFM stated that he wouldn’t agree with workers on local service tax unless they showed him an alternative source of funding. Dr Francis Runumi, commissioner of Planning in the ministry of health said the National Health Insurance must be passed. One therefore wonders whether the Ugandan workers are not punching bags.

It is possible that workers in Uganda are taken for granted because of the absence of a strong trade union movement. In countries like Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Zambia, and South Africa and neighbouring Kenya, trade unions are a force to reckon with. The trade unions are so influential in these countries that they can determine who should be in power or not. In South Africa, the role of COSATU in the ANC government cannot be underrated. In Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai got all the clout he has partly because of his leadership in Zimbabwe Congress of Free Trade Unions.  

On the other hand, here in Uganda, trade unions are preoccupied with internal squabbles. They have hardly mobilized and recruited members and are appendages to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government. If you are deemed not to be an NRM, you are thrown out of the trade union leadership. In fact the entire Workers’ MPs stood on the NRM ticket. Are  they NRM or Workers’ MPs?  In the run-up to the 2006 elections, Central Organisation of Free Trade Unions (COFTU) broke off from National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) following the elections in NOTU in which Dr Sam Lyomoki and Mr Kahirita emerged losers. It could be possible they never viewed the exercise as free and fair.  

Another labour centre, Confederation of Labour Unions (COLU) has been formed following the elections in NOTU that were reportedly marred by irregularities which threw out the outspoken former Vice Chairman, Irene Kaboole, whose passion for workers’ rights has remained unswerving.  The total number of unionized workers is less than 1,000,000 (1 million) in Uganda. Some union leaders occupy two fulltime positions. For example, two Members of Parliament are at the same time General Secretaries of their Union positions that entitles them to two salaries. This smacks of greed.  

The leadership of some unions is comprised of semi-illiterates whose main preoccupation is not the betterment of workers’ welfare but self aggrandizement. In many Unions, if you are a university graduate, that is enough to disqualify you from getting a job there. The leaders and some staff members fear that you might catch the eye of the donors hence blocking them from the spoils or that you may use that as a platform to contest as a workers’ Member of Parliament. This intrigue has cost our unions talented and skilled potential employees who would authoritatively advocate workers’ rights in Uganda.  

This intrigue has also affected other labour rights civil society organizations as unions try blocking them from accessing funds from International Labour Organisation. It is prudent that since all workers’ MPs are from Labour Unions, the unions address all the workers’ concerns whether unionized or not. But apparently, unions seem to be impotent.  From the foregoing, one may ask the following questions: are Labour unions in Uganda as they are now qualified to represent Ugandan workers? Can Ugandan workers count on the Labour Unions to effectively articulate their interests?  

Labour Unions should neither be anti-NRM nor pro-NRM but pro-workers, regardless of their political inclinations. That is their raison d’etre.  

By Vincent Nuwabaga

The writer is a human rights defender and was a HUGGO-Danida Intern at the National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU).vnuwagaba@gmail.com

Museveni on Patriotism: Drinking Water or Wine?

I wish to add my voice to those that have responded to the President’s countrywide tours in which he has been preaching patriotism to the teachers. The secondary school teachers are already patriotic enough that they don’t merit any patriotism lectures.

Museveni; President of Uganda Photo:Courtesy

Since 1997 or thereabout, there has been a ban on the recruitment of secondary school teachers. This is despite the government’s introduction of Universal Secondary Education (USE) of course for expediency. It is my firm belief that USE was and is still a vote winning scheme. This is not to say that it is a bad policy. I think it is a good policy that was not properly thought out.If introduced at the right time for right reasons, USE would be an engine for societal transformation.

The Ugandan teachers fall into the category of the working poor; they are the wretched of the earth to borrow Franz Fanon’s phrase. Most secondary school teachers who work in private schools work for as little as 150,000 shillings. But also, there are those in government aided schools and have never been on the payroll. I wonder why we have teachers in government-aided schools that for quite long cannot access the payroll yet state funds are pilfered by unscrupulous politicians and civil servants day in day out. 

One wonders then why the President who lives in glamour and has a high propensity to profligate spending should spend extra taxpayers’ money preaching patriotism to these innocent yet unfortunate patriotic Ugandans. I am sure if teachers were not patriotic most of them would have run away to Iraq or elsewhere.

I also wonder whether the President is the most qualified to preach patriotism. In my view, the President is only patriotic in words and not in action. That is but ostentation. That explains why he abhors those who talk about sectarianism. Consolidation of national unity and elimination of all forms of sectarianism was ironically the third point on the ten point programme. The practice however, has shown that the president detests talk about sectarianism and not the practice of the same. I shudder at the level at which sectarianism has been perfected during President Museveni’s tenure and I believe it is inimical to patriotism.

Patriotism is not confined to saying you love your country. You should not only love your country but you should be seen in action. To be the best teacher of patriotism, you should be a firm believer in patriotism and you should not do the antithesis of patriotism.

The government should equip our health centres with drugs and pay our medical practitioners handsomely so that we cease witnessing the doctors migrating to look for greener pastures. The government should improve the standards of our schools and remunerate teachers well for like the former Russian President Nikita Krushchev said; incentives are what get people working harder.

We should see an end to harassment of political opponents; criticism should not be regarded as sabotage and opposition as treason. There should be more efforts to ensure that thousands of graduates churned out by our universities get jobs on the basis of merit and not nepotism.

The president needs to revisit the NRM Ten Point Programme and stop tinkering with our sacrosanct provisions in the constitution to perpetuate himself in power. There are so many flaws in our society that our president should concentrate on rectifying. In fact on 21st March, when the Ekimezza programme of Radio One debated patriotism, one participant in the audience asked why waste people’s time discussing such a subject. That was a pointer to me that the president has wasted taxpayers' money preaching patriotism.

Patriotism lectures in my opinion are intended to conscript teachers into the recruitment drive for the NRM which is unfortunate because teachers are not supposed to be involved in partisan politics. No wonder, it has been reported before that the NRM intends to recruit even children into the party.

At the end of the day there will be no difference between patriotism lectures and Mchaka Mchaka which many political pundits say were meant to indoctrinate and brainwash the masses by hoodwinking them that the ugly past is solely attributable to political parties. Mr. President, please don’t preach water and drink wine at the same time.

Vincent Nuwagaba

The author is a human rights activist.

Power Sharing: A Threat to Africa’s Democracy

Kenya's Power-Sharing Deal

Africa has embarked on a rough journey of power-sharing where election losers retain their seats while winners are prevailed upon to become premiers. This has been witnessed in Kenya and Zimbabwe. The Kenyan situation involved mediation by the highest diplomat Africa has ever produced, His Excellency Kofi Annan. For Zimbabwe, former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, is still at the centre of negotiations. 

The power sharing trend is quite unfortunate. It renders the whole exercise of elections meaningless. In Kenya, Raila Odinga is the executive prime minister. In Zimbabwe, if the talks do not stall, Morgan Tsvangirai is destined to become the prime minister. Remember in both countries, the electoral process was extremely violent and cost the lives of innocent citizens.

What does power sharing help the ordinary Zimbabwean or Kenyan who wakes up early to vote for a socio-political and economic turnaround? If I may give an example of Uganda where majority of the peasants’ children cannot access jobs or quality education; where the people of northern Uganda for two decades have lived in sordid conditions partly because of the government’s indifference; where roads lead to miscarriages because of potholes; where university graduates work for less than $250 dollars a month if they are lucky to get a job and where jobs and scholarships are given on the basis of who knows who and who comes from where. I wonder whether power sharing is the ideal.

True, the contenders in the race may benefit because of the ministerial appointments, but how far will they influence governance? Politicians are policy makers but the policies are implemented by bureaucrats. How will Tsvangirai or Raila for instance influence the trend of job allocation? If there is any Ugandan politician who intends to share power come 2011 in case Museveni loses, please help us.

Voters don’t cast their votes because they love the aspirants. It is  because they feel there is need for change in the status quo.  If I have been jobless for the last ten years courtesy of poor governance, what will I benefit, if the candidate I vote embraces a power-sharing deal?

How come in the United Kingdom or the USA, there is no Labour- Conservative party and Republican-Democratic power-sharing? Yet, with the developed countries people largely get jobs on the basis of meritocracy as opposed to patronage. Assuming, all African countries followed suit, what will happen to the Ugandan workers who fall in the category of the working poor and believe in the political elites and employers to keep them in the wretched conditions? What about the street children who the government in power has no policy to help? What happens to the citizens who wallow in extreme poverty because of misallocation of state resources?  What of the politicians and bureaucrats who embrace corruption as a way of life and the head of state supports them as long as they don’t threaten his stay in power?

Zimbabwe Power-sharing Deal

It is apparent that power-sharing deals cannot change the socio-economic lives of the states in which the hitherto opponents agree to form government. If the country had been embroiled in corruption, poverty, disease, potholes, lack of drugs in health centres, poor education systems, military involvement in elections and mainstream politics, militarization of the police, sale of government assets without accountability, high levels of unemployment among others, power-sharing cannot be a cure. It is a travesty  and an affront to democracy.

Power sharing is first aid but not a remedy for the malady that characterizes African states. It is only a pointer that those who contest elections are also human and cannot resist greed. Those who share power start enjoying the state delicacies while their supporters remain in misery.

Until I am convinced that sharing power can lead to the total overhaul of defective state institutions and structures, I remain dismayed by the notion of power-sharing. In Uganda, politicians are dipping their hands in the workers’ till as the head of state looks on. What would happen to the culprits if Dr. Besigye or Hon. Mao shared power with the current clique of leaders? Will they change the status quo? No. On the contrary, they will be bound by collective responsibility and keep quiet to avoid being seen as dissenting voices against the president’s or cabinet position.

Democracy denotes that there must be losers and winners. And in a democracy, losers lose graciously and winners serve all and sundry regardless of whether or not one supported them.

Vincent Nuwagaba
Political Scientist and Human Rights defender

Museveni Must Walk the 'Industrialisation' Talk

Yoweri Museveni

On Sunday April 6, 2008. I was hosted on Uganda Broadcasting Television (UBC) together with Uganda’s Minister of State for sports and education, Hon. Bakabulindi who doubles as a member of parliament (MP) representing workers. The theme of discussion was Job-creation and protection of workers’ rights as a strategy for economic growth. In his presentation, the MP lauded the government for attracting investors who were creating jobs for Ugandans. I hastened to remind the MP that the Ugandan government not only hobnobs with these pseudo investors to trample on the rights of the workers, but also, there is no evidence to show that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has created jobs for Ugandans.

Passing through the Ministry of Education  on 27^th March 2008, I picked a fruitful conversation with one technical officer in the ministry on unemployment and corruption. She believes that government has no responsibility at all for corruption and unemployment in this country, but blames the ordinary citizens. For example, an engineer who does shoddy work upon winning a tender or contract from the government is responsible for the potholes which break vehicles, cost extra fuel consumption and waste time.

Sadly, she is starkly wrong. Cases abound where fake companies have been given contracts by the government. On the issue of attitude, Chinua Achebe in one of his novels observes that when mother cow is chewing grass, the young ones keep watching the mouth. Surely, do we have models in government with moral authority to tell us corruption is a cancer?  It is corruption on the part of the government if it fails to supervise the people it awards   tenders and contracts. Supervision ensures accountability which is a critical tenet of good governance.

On the question of unemployment, the officer told me how there are many kids who don’t go to school because of the long distance they have to cover to reach school yet many teachers who benefited from government grants but have not been absorbed seat idle. She suggests that these teachers should do voluntarily  teach these children as a form of not only paying back to government which invested in them but also as a form retaining their skills. She went further to to ask how much  they spend as they do nothing but wait for absorption.

A radio talk show  moderator once asked me: " What  have you done for Uganda?"  I did respond that I pay my taxes. What more should I do for the government apart from asking it to account for my taxes?

President Museveni has fundamentally failed to transform the Ugandan society through industrialisation, employment and education. This explains why the Ugandan population is still largely peasantry.In Uganda, the highly educated are highly redundant. People without formal education are comfortably doing their jobs as shoe shiners, boda boda (motorcycle) riders, barbers, wheel barrow pushers, and doughnut bakers among others.

The struggle against corruption and unemployment is a struggle that all of us must embrace. If  you are like the Commissioner for Uganda who reportedly earns a salary of 28 Million Uganda Shillings ( about US $16,000) but have fifty relatives and say twenty friends who are rendered depend on you, you will hardly make any savings or investments. Assuming you have accumulated savings and investments, can you and your property be secure in a situation where many people are unemployed? We must all raise the bar of thought and creativelt seek ways to eradicate unemployment.

By Vincent Nuwagaba
Political Scientist and Human Rights Activist

Uganda: The Battle for Democracy Continues

President Yoweri Museveni

For two decades, Uganda has operated without political parties. These were suspended when President Museveni captured state power, creating a no-party system or no-party democracy, later called the 'movement.' Although the proponents of this system argue that political parties are synonymous with mayhem and thus it is in the best interest of the country to do away with them, I think their stand was meant to entrench the new leaders who were not credible enough after being rejected in the 1980 election – an election that was followed by a protracted bush war that brought Museveni to power.

The crusade to hold a referendum to revert to a multiparty dispensation was ironically championed (under donor pressure) by one who had hitherto demonized and vilified political parties. His argument was: “let’s get rid of them (tubegyeko) and let them go (mubaleke bagende.)” Initially, the movement was not meant to become a political party but to get rid of “pig-headed” dissenters so that it could remain “pure.”  The reintroduction of political parties was not out of principle but expediency.  The president has never been comfortable with parties. He prefers calling the NRM an organization.

Changed System; Same Players and Operation

The July 28 2005 referendum ushered in a new era of multiparty politics. Multiparty politics calls for fair competition which sadly has not been the case. The police are still directly controlled by the president and have assumed unlimited powers to grant permission to political parties on whether or not to hold meetings. President Museveni still has a patronizing attitude. Shortly after the 2006 elections, he invited the other parties that participated in the 2006 elections for talks. When Forum for Democratic Change refused, the president said he had saved his tea. One wonders whether the president was using his personal monies to run the talks or not. 

The new Boss or the extension of the old Boss?

For more than two decades, President Museveni has remained the key actor in the politics of Uganda despite the cosmetic change of the political system. He has made it clear that he is not about to let go of state power as he is the only person with the vision. Since 1986, the country has been undergoing a transition. Although Museveni promised that he would pave way for multiparty democracy after four years of his rule, it has taken twenty years.The shift from the “movement” to the “multiparty” political dispensation was a trade-off for Museveni’s kisanja (third term). Many Museveni adherents argued that Museveni is an indispensable resource in a new political dispensation.

Symbol of the National Resistance Movement party

During Museveni's tenure, Uganda has had two referenda on political systems in 2000 and  2005. The multiparty activists boycotted both referenda on grounds that political parties are avenues via which fundamental freedoms and rights are exercised and enjoyed and should never be a referendum on one’s rights. In regard to the above argument, former Gulu Municipality Member of Parliament Norbert Mao said that “Fundamental human rights are enjoyed not because you are many but because you are human.”  Surprisingly though, the 2000 referendum was largely rigged even when the movement was practically running against itself.

President Museveni is partly responsible for the current dilemma (intra-party wrangles) within the old political parties- Democratic Party (DP), Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) and the Conservative Party (CP). As soon as he captured power, he vilified them, demonized them and embarked on politicization and brainwashing programmes.

Whereas I don’t support the discriminative nature of the Democratic Party and Uganda People’s Congress, I wish to aver that the political parties were far less discriminative compared to the Movement. This is because even though parties were largely founded on the basis of religion that cut across the entire nation, the movement was largely dominated by the “freedom fighters”, friends and relatives. At the end of the day, one region and one ethnic group dominated. The system that was meant to be inclusive became exclusive. Ironically, the person who used to bash political parties because of discrimination presided over the largely discriminative movement. Consequently, many would be movement pillars had to jump off the movement boat: Bidandi Ssali, Kiiza Besigye, Augustine Ruzindana, Eriya Kategaya (although he later made a round turn), Mugisha Muntu, Winnie Byanyima, Amanya Mushega, Richard  Kaijuka, Salaam Musumba, David Pulkol, Henry Tumukunde, the list is endless.

The president has personalised all the critical state institutions (the Police, the Judiciary, the Electoral Commission, the Uganda Human Rights Commission) and political parties. The movement and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) now revolve around the personality of Museveni. This has had a spillover onto other parties such as Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) which revolves around the personality of Dr. Besigye and Uganda People’s congress that revolves around the Obote family. Political parties are not electric switches that one can put on and off at will. They are indispensable institutions in the democratic process. They are engines through which fundamental freedoms of expression, association, assembly, choice and so forth are enjoyed.

What should be the role of opposition parties in critical institutions like the judiciary, electoral commission, and the police and human rights commission in a multiparty setting? Won’t the ruling party dominate these institutions to the disadvantage of other parties? How should political party activities be funded? If they are to be funded by the government, won’t the ruling wish to set a pace for these parties? If parties are to be funded by the government won’t this compromise their independence? If that be the case, what does such a situation portend for our fledgling democracy?

Conclusion

Results of a past political rally

Although we profess a multi-party democracy, the practice on the ground shows otherwise. Political parties are not free to hold rallies, demonstrations and/ or political meetings without let or hindrance from the police. Tear gas has remained a tool of taming the stubborn opposition akin to how it used to be prior to the July 2005 referendum. The struggle for democracy and human rights continues and all of us must join it.

By Vincent Nuwagaba
Political Scientist and Human Rights Activist


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Makerere: A University for the Rich? Open letter to the President of The Republic of Uganda

Makerere University   Photo courtesy

The sudden and unprecedented tuition increment has shocked very many of us although I may be among the few that have gathered the guts to write to you. I write to you not because you are the alpha and omega in Uganda, but because you have portrayed this image. Everyone with even the simplest problem is consequently running to you. We have seen MUASA running to you whenever they have deep concerns regarding their welfare; trade unionists and many other social groups also run to you.

When the university council wanted a fee increment, they ran to you. As far as my understanding is concerned, you never gave a nod to their request on the premise that our people are poor and they cannot afford paying exorbitant fares. How come all of a sudden, there has been a heartless tuition fee increment? A Bachelor of Laws course whose tuition has been 600,000 Uganda shillings has been hiked to 1,260,000 shillings. If one adds the functional fees of 546, 500 Uganda shillings, the whole figure comes to 1,806,500 Uganda shillings away from 1,146,500 Uganda shillings for day private day students and 1,116,500 Uganda shillings for evening. This is morally repugnant and politically imprudent. As citizens, we vehemently oppose this scheme. Any increment at a time when students are already admitted must be opposed by any sound Ugandan.

Graduation ceremony   Photo courtesy

What is more perturbing is the fact that the university administration has gone ahead to set stringent rules. For instance, they say that every privately sponsored student is obliged to pay all the functional fees before he/she can be registered, allowed to attend classes and be issued with an identity card. They further warn that if one fails to pay within three weeks, their place will be forfeited to another candidate. Further, the university council reserves the right to vary fees chargeable any time with or without prior notice. This begs the question that I asked in 2006 during the convocation elections: whose institution is Makerere University?

Although I got two degrees from Makerere University, I have been forced to enrol for a bachelors degree in Law for two reasons- to offer pro bono legal services to the indigent who normally fall prey to the decadent institutions we have in Uganda, notably the police, paramilitary organisations and mental hospitals and to be self-employed in my own chambers since the talk from you Mr President has always been self-employment.

Mr President, the unprecedented tuition increment could be a pointer that the centre can no longer hold and things have fallen apart. Otherwise, I wish to let you know that the increment hurts the peasants more than anybody else. Ironically, peasants are and have been the bedrock of your support. As a politician, you should be in position to decipher and discern the implications of such a decision.

Mr President, you have always demonised and vilified the past leaders by calling them swine. But those “swine”  made education accessible, built hospitals including Itojo and Kitagata from our home area; hospitals that are better than Mulago when it comes to services. Although, the state parastatals were less effective, the leaders who held the parastatals in trust for Ugandans never gave them away. Paradoxically, for you, a leader with a monopoly of the vision have either sold, given away or taken these parastatals without giving accountability of the proceeds thereof.

Mr President, going back to the gist of this letter, you must reign in the University council to reverse their position because that position is not sacrosanct and the rescinding thereof shall not tantamount to abrogation of the constitution.

How then will the university get money?

Makerere University is a public university. Like any other public institutions, it MUST be funded by the government. I don’t believe that the military and state house should always get supplementary funding in addition to the one provided by the budget while Makerere University is starved of funds. The money that Makerere University always demands is not the president’s money. It is taxpayers’ money. No patriotic tax payer would complain if Makerere University was given adequate funds.

My former professor in the department of political science says, “bamwe omubebembezi beitu beinire Makerere University enugu ahabwokuba bakaremwa kushomerayo, ekizibu nobu bagiire omu bwebembezi bakaremwa kumanya ngu enugu egyo eshemereire kuhwa” this literally means that “some of our leaders are envious of Makerere University because it rejected them. Sadly, even after capturing power, they failed to outlive that envy”. I tend to agree with my former don and mentor in political science and I think your Excellency are duty-bound to dispel that notion which is held by many elites.

You may naively think the elites have no impact on your project of retaining power (since you have effectively manipulated the peasants typical of all Machiavellian politicians) but as Professor Mamdani argues in his book “Imperialism and Fascism in Uganda” the livelihood of the peasants is rooted on the soil and they depend on the voices from the cities to explain reality around them. Accordingly, once the elites get fully disenchanted with you, they will mobilise the peasants against you.

If you are against peasants remaining in their peasantry, how would you explain an increment of tuition by more than 100% for a course like law and this excludes accommodation, meals and other scholastic needs? In a semester, students of law will part with not less than 4 million Uganda shillings.

I beg, Mr President, that you order Major General Kale Kayihura to respect and protect us as we exercise our constitutional right and not to oppress us. I also wish to state that should he choose the latter option (oppression and repression), I will not hesitate to drag your government to the courts of law.

Mr President, I wish to bring your attention the Runyakitara saying which goes, “ku oteera abaana obateera boona.” Please, prevail on the University Council and Parliament to rescind their position in the interest of the common good. The timing of the increment is ill and is bound to boomerang on your government with drastic results. It is illogical and heartless to increase tuition when students have already been admitted and are in the final preparations to report for studies. If the increment was to be made, it should have been before application so that the applicants know how much they are to pay for which course. 

The University Council members and Members of Parliament should not drop the ladders they have used when climbing because they feel those ladders are no longer relevant to them. They must be guided by the Ubuntu philosophy which embraces compassion, selflessness and respect for human dignity. If the stringent measures they are calling for were in place, few of them, if any, would have attained university education. Let us realise that the university’s primary role is knowledge production, reproduction, synthesis and dissemination. Makerere University is not for the rich but for everyone. Ultimately, if the poor are locked out, education will be exclusive to the rich who may be academic dwarfs and intellectual peasants.

Mr President, the rich have already had enough and the poor need to be assured that they too are citizens with rights. Majority of the rich in Uganda are top politicians and politically connected businessmen and women. The former pilfer tax payers’ money and other public resources entrusted to them and the latter get favours from the government through tenders, contracts, tax rebates, and exemptions among others. I know of many businesses that don’t pay taxes. I have learnt from a top official in Uganda Revenue Authority that Protea Hotel doesn’t pay taxes.

I call upon government not to starve the University of research funding. This has led to declining of standards, making lecturers to opt for consultancy research which is inimical to academic advancement. Remember, Makerere University is a pace setter. If it sneezes, the rest of the academic institutions catch a cold. Therefore, your government must redeem Makerere University if it believes in prosperity for all, health for all, education for all and wealth for all.

Finally, Mr President, Remember education is a right and not a favour and all human rights instruments enjoin all the state parties to make elementary education free and higher education easily accessible. The Makerere question involves everyone without exception because if one is not a student, he or she is a parent or guardian. If one is neither a student nor parent, he/she has a sibling there or a friend. And if you have neither sibling nor friend, you are a potential student there or your brothers, sisters, friends or relatives are potential students in the institution.

By Vincent Nuwagaba

Mr Vincent Nuwagaba studied Political Science and holds a Masters degree in Human Rights from Makerere University and can be reached on mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com or +256702843552

Uganda Mocks ILO Conventions

As Uganda joined the rest of the world to celebrate the international Labour Day on Friday, it is amazing but also perturbing that the Minister in charge of labour said that it would take forty years before the minimum wage is set for Uganda’s workers. Whereas what Ugandan workers need is not the minimum wage but the living wage, a minimum wage would set a benchmark upon which workers would begin negotiations for the living wage.  

It is not surprising though that Mr. Otaala has said that. He is re-echoing what the government position has always been. On May 1st 2007, the Daily Monitor quoted Hon James Kinobe as having said “there is no immediate plan for the minimum wage and that our people are not yet ready for it”. What he meant by our people is a paradox: did he mean employers -as if employees are not our people - or he meant Ugandans generally are opposed to the minimum wage?  

Uganda has ratified 31 ILO Conventions among which is Convention 26 which is the Minimum Wage Fixing Machinery Convention ratified on 4th June 1967. The country also ratified Convention 122, Employment Policy Convention, on 23rd June 1963. The country has also ratified all the eight core conventions namely, C87: Freedom of Association and Protection of the right to organize, on 2nd June 2005, C98: Right to organize and Collective Bargaining, C29: Forced Labour Convention and C105: Abolition of Forced Labour ratified on 4th June 1963, ILO C100, C111: Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention ratified on 2nd June 2005, C 138: Minimum Age Convention ratified on 25th March 2003 and C 182: Worst Forms of Child Labour ratified on 21st June 2001. 

By ratifying the aforementioned instruments, the country committed itself to respecting them. It is a principle in international law that treaties once ratified have to be observed, that is the principle of pacta sund servanda expressed in Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of treaties. What the Minister in charge of labour is quoted to have said is an antithesis of the government commitment in ratifying these vital instruments. Uganda is enjoined to observe the international labour instruments. 

The government’s alibi that setting the minimum wage is untenable and will drive away investors is unscientific. Uganda does not top other countries that have the minimum wage in foreign direct investment. Uganda cannot claim to be a more liberal economy than Kenya for instance. It may be true that “investors” flock to this country because of lack of the minimum wage which means workers are paid peanuts and are at the mercy of the employers. But, do we want exploitation of our workers? It is common knowledge that many Ugandan workers fall into the category of the working poor.  

The Philadelphia Declaration of 1944 states that poverty anywhere is a danger to prosperity everywhere and that Labour is not a commodity. Accordingly, the reward for labour which is a wage cannot be determined by the forces of demand and supply. We would only be heartless to be proponents of market forces in terms of wages. This is a clear message to the NRM government whose election manifesto was premised on Prosperity for All Catchword. It is not the skilled workers who need the minimum wage but the semiskilled and unskilled.  

In the NRM Manifesto of 2006, it is explicitly stated on page 5 that “NRM shall support workers through organizations of workers and shall take all possible measures to create employment for all. The NRM shall ensure the protection of workers’ rights”.  From the foregoing, I wish to stress two observations;  

1. The use of the word shall means it is mandatory that the NRM government must do what it committed itself to do: create employment for all and ensure the protection of workers’ rights.  

2. That workers’ rights were put in bold accentuates the value of these rights. The demand for the minimum wage is a matter of workers’ rights which the government vowed in black and white to protect, it is not a favour.  

Human rights are not requested; they are demanded and asserted. Human rights are never given on a silver platter. I don’t think that workers’ representatives should only focus on easier wins like compulsory medical insurance, National Social Security Fund remittances and the establishment of courts to resolve labour disputes like the 1st May Daily Monitor editorial suggested. To me that is a very small fraction of what workers’ representatives should do. And it will be difficult for workers’ representatives to convince their constituents that they are relevant if they are fainthearted and sweep the demand for the minimum wage under the carpet. Negotiation for fair wages is one of the most important raison d’etre for the workers’ representatives and labour unions. 

Wages are a very crucial ingredient in the workers’ welfare. In fact, the Uganda Human Rights Commission Report of 2003 stressed the importance of the minimum wage as a basis upon which negotiations for the living wage could be made. For the minister to tell workers to wait until 2050 for the minimum wage is a pointer that the government is obsessed with the protection of investors and not Ugandan workers! Workers’ rights ought not to be observed on a piecemeal basis but holistically. 

By Vincent Nuwagaba

A human rights defender with keen interest in socio-economic rights. vnuwagaba@gmail.com   +256772843552

Legislators' Sacco: Uganda Must Excercise Prudence

I was intrigued by press reports that president Museveni of Uganda has given former legislators U Shs 1 billion to buy buses. The story reported that the money was part of  UShs 2 billion pledge he made to their Sacco to improve their welfare.  

While it is alright to get concerned about the former MPs’ welfare, we need to ask a number of questions: did the President draw that money from his personal account or it was drawn from state coffers? If he drew it from his personal account, how does he intend to recoup it? Is it only the former legislators whose welfare needs to be improved or the other citizens also? The president and his lieutenants have vowed to crush corruption; is it possible when he is busy dishing out patronage to his clients?  

Our country has suffered a great haemorrhage of funds. Only a few days ago, the state owned newspaper The New Vision reported that U Shs 370 billion was spent on CHOGM. Prior to the summit, I questioned on air what an ordinary Ugandan would benefit from CHOGM. The skeptics are now being vindicated. It is coming to light that CHOGM cost us more money than we were told.  

Ugandans are dying of famine; higher education has been reduced to a preserve of a few as fees in public institutions have been over-hiked and our country is being turned into a man-eat-man society. It is ironical that those who were preaching Marxism before capturing power have now turned into far rightists hell bent on promoting individual welfare instead of the common good.  

Ugandans must stop complacency and begin asking tough questions such as: do we benefit from our taxes? Why have leaders who preached frugality become wanton big spenders? Ugandan elites must keep reminding our dear president of his 1986 inaugural speech and his book, “What is Africa’s Problem?” As my area MP Honourable Otafiire has always said, ebibagamba nibanyuka tibyo bagamba nibataha (what they say while making local brew is different from what they do while drawing it), but our leaders need to be told that not all Ugandans are too daft.  

Uganda has a miniscule number of university graduates yet most of them have no jobs. The government is always telling them to create their own jobs. Why couldn’t former MPs who were earning huge sums of money fail to create their own jobs - that they have to continue sucking the state coffers?

Could the money dished to former MPs be a reward for having struck out the constitutional provision which limited the president to two five year terms hence giving Museveni green light to rule the country ad infinitum? Assuming, many lost because of no-performance, should the president continue rewarding non-performers?  

I know of many first class and second upper graduates who fail to get jobs because jobs are given on patronage and the unfortunate graduates have no godparents. These people have chosen to write course works for others in order to make ends meet. Others have chosen to do printing business and are busy forging O level, A level and university documents. The NRM government on the other hand deludes itself that it is fighting corruption!  

On 6th April 2008, when I was hosted on UBC TV with Hon Charles Bakabulindi, I said that the government was seated on a time bomb because of graduate unemployment. Now the government, which always learns the hard way, has seen it. I doubt whether they would have deciphered that had it not been the events of 10th to 12th September 2009 which claimed the lives of more than 20 people. The government now knows that unemployment can push people into frustration, hopelessness and wave of criminality.  

We have a minute number of genuine university graduates but we have too many people with academic papers. I have advised the NRM government to verify all employee documents; the government has chosen to keep a deaf ear. Could it be behind the forgery?   

Uganda's opposition parties must shape up and address critical issues. I wish they had think tanks and research desks to help them address critical national issues. Only then shall we look at them as viable alternatives.  

Uganda has a new generation of voters who shall not be fed on deception and manipulation.This generation wants assurance that the country belongs to them.

By Vincent Nuwagaba. 

Mr. Vincent Nuwagaba is a political scientist cum human rights defender and can be reached via mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com