All the Facts, Miss

Selective perception confirms our prejudice; then selective memories reassure us that this prejudice is consistent with experience—and it flows along automatically, leaving us a clear conscience. Kaplan & Kaplan


Human intellectual progress, such as it has been, results from a long struggle to see things “as they are,” or in the most universally comprehensible way, and not as projections of our own emotions. Ehrenreich
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The other day a lady from West Nile wrote in local daily. She felt that a prospective presidential aspirant was not being completely forthright. He supposedly asked for investigations into some of the murkiest past atrocities which the winners and losers alike get red faces to distance themselves from: You did it. I did not; you did it.

Our fair lady’s problem was that the said aspirant did not mention the traumas of her people in the immediate post- Idi Amin. For example, you could feel her pain as she told of her people going into exile as the winners terrified the people of West Nile. No excuse here. But the lady did not mention the nine years of Idi Amin’s horrors in which some West Nilers are perceived to be culpable. Unfortunately, the wrong-headed dynamics is that a people carry the sins of its sons. All the facts, miss.

Then, comes the recalcitrant ex-FDC lady—she of the federalism crusade. Check out some of what she had to say.

She declared: The problem of Uganda originated with the British ferrying resources to Britain. Now, the unitary Uganda government is doing similarly as it sucks taxes from the regions to the seat of power in Kampala. This sucking will not stop with federalism. In fact, the taxation structures will become more complex: The states and kingdoms will have to exact their pounds of flesh, and the federal government its loot.

Surely, our cotton found its way to Lancaster. Our tea supplemented the Indian tea just as Gandhi was shaking the status quo. Copper was a good conductance required to electrify the imperial palaces. While we are at it, let us not also forget the schools, hospitals, roads and the administrative structures that we all agreed were the best in Africa, South of the Sahara, excepting the Boer’s South Africa. Nothing comes from nothing.

Talking about Uganda’s problems; what about that business of protecting one kingdom from another? That single act came to haunt the newly minted independent nation. Did it not galvanize the 1966 crisis, reverberations of which still linger to today? What is that break-away kingdom within a kingdom? What is its paramilitary training all about? I don’t want to imagine even the potential rivers of blood. What is the craze for districts if not fiefdoms which may create more bad blood?

And don’t forget the loss of self-confidence which sends us in a frenzied search for meaning in all the wrong places. If Creflo Dollar jets into town and peddles his bizarre “Christian” wealth credos, even generals pay homage. We subscribe to the violence of our former colonial masters instead of condemning it as no less barbaric than the rut war of chimpanzees answering to primitive instinct to perpetuate genes. What is to be said about a nation whose parliamentarians are bought on the cheap to change a key tenet of a constitutional mandate?

Our esteem lady goes on to say that the calls to get rid of Museveni is misplaced. She can’t get over being “betrayed” by her former FDC boss. But the question is: Mr. Museveni opposes federalism; why not gang up against him instead of going off in a tangent in a fit of egocentric emotions?

So, ladies, the passions deserve A+ but, for credibility sake, give all the facts and let the chips fall where they may—just the facts, mums!

Healthcare System, Uganda Style

Obama, after a protracted battle, failing of which would have irrevocably crippled his presidency, finally triumphed amidst the clamoring noises of the Sarah Palens of the American world. Those who have had experiences with the sometimes capricious American healthcare insurance industry may breathe a shy of relief: At last!

In Uganda, to say that the healthcare system is a survival of the fittest (no pun intended) is an understatement. Stories are abound of stolen drugs by medical workers, dilapidated state hospitals, patients sleeping on hospital floors, and unsanitary conditions that could lead to serious disease outbreaks in the same hospitals meant to cure.

Let us get under the hood and take a glimpse of the structure of the system.

The Uganda healthcare begins largely as a bequest bequeathed by the British colonial master. This was a system of state hospitals and clinics distributed throughout the country to which anybody could be treated for free. The Obote I government maintained and improved on it. For modest a fee there were also Catholic missionary hospitals. Asians, and increasingly Africans, had private clinics which served a certain clientele base.

Fast forward to today. The Catholic hospitals have expanded, and served heroically during critical times, especially in the Northern 20-year LRA war of attrition. New private hospitals have been built by entrepreneurial clinicians. There is a vast array of clinics by doctors, some of whom work in government hospitals. The government hospitals, which service the great majority of the population, have regressed with broken infrastructures and poor services.

Here are some experiences that my good friend, we will call him Ojukkwe, had recently.

Ojukkwe hooked up with an old flame. Ojukkwe, like Reagan with the Russians, has the motto of: trust but verify. So he convinced the woman to check if she was “clean” before they got intimate. She, of course being relatively well-heeled, had insurance through her work. She thus walked into a private hospital in the capital city. The waiting room was clean, and the young doctors and orderlies looked efficient. There was not much waiting. She got her results, and they were soon on their way to consummate their pent-up missed opportunities.

Another experience occurred when Ojukkwe was knocked to his rear-end by nonstop partying and needed to extend his stay by a of couple weeks to recuperate. He did not want to pay a penalty for rescheduling his cheap ticket. When in Rome, do what the Romans do. He contacted a London-based doctor friend, who recommended a local doctor to provide Ojukkwe with a sickness note to present to the airline. The local doctor, while working for a public hospital, also had his private clinic in one of the slums that mushroom the city outskirts. When the doctor finally arrived past the appointed time, the nurse assistant ushered Ojukkwe in ahead of the other patients. The doctor was paid far above the requested fee, and the assistant welcomed a surprise tip. That is Ojukkwe, my friend. His other motto is: one good turn deserves another!

It thus seems then that in the present Uganda, if you have the means, your healthcare needs are taken care of without dislocation of resources. For the high-and-mighty you might even get flown out of the country to specialists and better medical technologies—all at taxpayers’ expense, for you are more valuable than they are. What about the teaming millions who have to use state hospitals and clinics? Are they forever cursed with dirty dilapidated buildings, lack of drugs, and poorly paid attendant physicians and orderlies?

The present is a legacy of the NRM government’s priority. Every hospital death that could have been prevented is its responsibilities and has to be accountable. It cannot escape by some futuristic gimmick declaration of transforming society. We all know that much of the 54 trillions transformation budget will go down the dark holes of corruptions.

We need leaders who are genuinely pro-people—not showmen, charlatans and pirates. If we examine the history of Uganda healthcare systems and study how similarly-challenged countries are handling theirs we can customize our solution. For example, Brazil provides basic preventive primary care to all its citizens. Malaysia has individual account system, called Malaysia National Health Accounts Unit that service basic healthcare needs. We cannot transform a society with a sickly population.

Did the Fat Cats Yawn at Museveni's UN Speech?

At the recent UN meeting Gadaffi’s buffoonery was legendary. A Chinese diplomat was seen undiplomatically laughing at him. Venezuelan Hugo Chavez noticed the absence of the smell of sulfur sans Bush around! The octogenarian Mugabe had a shinny face and a noticeably colored pate to camouflage the white hair. What about Museveni who fancies himself as the chief spokesperson for Afrika? There was no creativity. He harped on his born-again capitalism mantras: Uganda’s economy is growing at a clip of 7 percent per annum; we (meaning the latter-day crop of Afrikan leaders) have discovered the secret to resuscitating our moribund economies; we shall manufacture our own raw materials instead of exporting at desperate poor man’s prices; if you can help us with our infrastructures, we are ready to take off; and yada, yada, yada.

When the ruling class of Afrika is shaken it screams about interference, sovereignty, neocolonialism, racism and the likes. While, most of them failed miserably, at least, the first crop of Afrikan presidents and prime ministers came up with bold, quasi-original ideas—Ujamaa, Move to the Left, Common Man’s Charter, Negritude, etc. The new crops of presidents show no creativity in solving the challenges of Afrika.

Can a Singapore be achieved without destroying communities and the environment? Can the unbridled quest for trinkets bring happiness and contentment? The president of Uganda boasted of having viable consumer population now. The last time around we were sold into slavery because the chiefs were excited about the trinkets shrewd European adventurers dangled in their faces. There is a need to go to the drawing table to redefine the premises of development and progress not based on greed, jungle laws and aping the West uncritically. The survival of the race depends on it.

Size Isn't Everything

A time in the men’s gym locker room is a study in comedy. There is the tall Rastafarian with a member almost to his knees! He knows what he has, and is not shy about intimidating with it. Then there is the white dude with his fat belly folds almost covering his member. Then there is the rest of us in-betweens.

Men are so hung up on size. So do many women. Yet the mechanics of giving satisfaction does not require reaching the womb. Tantric techniques can make a woman explode without much ado. It is not the size; it is the intelligence in the winnie. But this is not going to stop the myth and much low self-esteems. Incidentally the dude with the navel size has a bunch of kids--testimony that something is happenning to keep the memshahib around.

Talking about size; it has of late been a major theme song of the president of Uganda. Not that size! Rather the relationship of population size to economic development. Most recent one was in a lecture to the students at university of Dar-Es-Salaam. He, ostensibly, wooed for the need for a East African Community as a means of a larger economic free flows. Tanzania has been dragging its feet to the creation of the common market.

Size is not decisive in bringing about economic development. There are numerous economies with small populations which are prospering in this globalized world. Uganda has for several years now had the markets of Southern Sudan and Eastern Congo to exploit. It only stole stuff from Congo. It could not take full advantage beyond petty commerce. The obsession with the East African Community is a misplaced effort. With the dilapidated public structures and leadership-by-whims, Uganda will only be a dumping ground for the goods of those more prepared, and the fledgling Uganda wannabe-industrialists will be snuffed at birth.

Tanzania should stick to its course. Better later than sorry.

Next, Britain Will Donate Grasshoppers

The story that Britain is donating two lionesses to Uganda is unbelievable. It is a story that demonstrates the hopelessness of Africa at its core.

Lions and many other animals are native to Uganda, and would have been a critical cash cow. Where did the lions go? Poisoned by pastoralists, so says the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). That is the shifty (Allan Tacca) explanation. A major part of the problem is lack of foresight and planning, which also shows up in bad roads and collapsing public infrastructures. Foreigners took, were given or stole a variety of animals just as they did humans. They went built zoos in their homelands. Now, why would middle-class Americans go to Africa to see animals when they can go to Florida and see the same animals? Which fool gives away his precious assets so that others can profit from while he starves?

Now that climate change is happening and the power that be sells away forests to “investors,” grasshoppers (cinene) may find nowhere to spawn. I understand part of the Baganda bride price includes cinene. We need to send an SOS to mother Britain. I am sure a foreign service Eton kid foresaw the day cinene would be of service in winning and influencing “friends,” and arranged for the breeding of imported cinene in Pax Britannia.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Chickens come from eggs, but eggs come from chickens. So, what originally gave rise to the other? This is a question that dogged ancient philosophers as they wrestled with the questions of the universe and life. By now we know that evolution might have played a part in bringing about the domesticated chicken, and thereby making it to come first and lay eggs for self perpetuation. 

By the same token, in this day and age, as Uganda and similar countries desire to be developed, it is appropriate to ask: Which should come first, political freedom or economic freedom? 

Looking at contemporary history, what do the experiences of the Soviet Union, China and others tell us or not tell us? 

 Mikhail Gorbachev embarked on a political reform as he was cheered by the West but, because economic reform lagged behind, he became the architect of the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Now Putin has taken an iron grip of Russia, the father of the Soviet Union, and with a wealth lifeline of oil and gas it is flexing its chest in a renewed sense of national confidence. Putin is a god and the Russian people are economically appreciative even as political freedom gets the boot.  

Deng Xiaoping, the survivor of Mao’s repressive years, approached his reform differently. He will probably be noted as the father of globalization as he helped catapult the American free-market idea to new heights and made China a formidable powerhouse. And the Chinese are happy with themselves even as they lack political freedom. 

Many of the Asian Tigers seem to have developed along the Chinese model of economic freedom first and, may be, political freedom later—Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia are examples. 

Even many western countries did not start off as the practitioners of political freedom before heralding in economic freedom. Kings, potentates and robber barons lorded over labor of the masses to build great wealth that formed the groundwork from which present-day developed economies metamorphosed.  

While modern Japan’s political freedom and economic freedom seem to have grown simultaneously, it is likely that the economic groundwork was laid under pre-war dictatorship of Imperial Japan.

Even India had its own native potentates, in addition to the British who may have laid the basics from which present-day democracy and liberal economy grew simultaneously. 

Historically then it seems that economic freedom preceded political freedom for most peoples. On the surface it would seem that Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is falling in lockstep. Does it then follow that developing countries have to go through repressive regimes via liberal economies before the political space is liberalized? 

It is possible that, if authoritarian regimes embarked on massive infrastructure build up, they could lay the groundwork for economic takeoff. The few like Obote and Nkrumah continued where the colonial dictatorships left off but never survived to see their handy work come to fruition.  Many of the potentates who followed were and are more concerned with their personal aggrandizement and survival than any genuine commitment for up-lifting the lot of their peoples. And, in the world of instant news and universality of liberal thoughts, the dictators are a dying breed, surviving only by the grace of their benefactors who will discard them like condoms when their use date passes. 

What does this leave us with? We don’t need to re-invent the wheel. Liberalization of both the economy and the political space can go hand-in-hand to bring progress, peace, and harmony in society. Isn’t that what the end result should be about?

Come Ye Investors for Free Land

Once upon a time there were “free” lands in the Americas, Africa, the Far East and Australia. Brave whities of all tribes scrambled and tore chunks for themselves and their progenies. They left the natives caged in reservations, homelands or caves to perish in alcohol, drugs, various delinquencies and confusions. While in most of these places the thefts have been grudgingly settled, in Africa the matters are still in flux. In Zimbabwe grandpa Mugabe grabbed back the stolen land and re-distributed it to favored black-faced robber barons. He, however, forgot it is still a white world and you don’t do that to massa and get away with it. Zimbabwe’s economic, social and political make-up has gone to the dogs as Mugabe insanely fights a battle he cannot win.

Here at home we have this Museveni guy wailing to those who care to hear him. He has free land to give away to investors who should come and turn his impoverished fiefdom into an economic jewel.

For all I know, the only places in the world where investors are attracted by land availability are some of the former Soviet Republics. While this may change in the future, for now these Republics have huge infrastructures of collective farmlands of the former Soviet Union which they are leasing to the efficient western agro-investors with impressive results.

The dynamics are different for Uganda. The majority of land is in the hands of various forms of small holdings. Any large-scale farming that will attract investors' avaricious appetite will, therefore, necessitate the consolidation of these small holdings by displacements. Which sane investor will accept the possible political and legal risk ramifications that may follow if Museveni were to carry out his rhetoric of “free land?” And by the way, land is not the only requirement that attracts investors. Investors abhor uncertainties since they already have so much at stake on whether or not they will turn a profit. Mr. Museveni needs to settle once and for all if he is an unapologetic dictator or a full-fledged democrat. Either way it works to turn profit—but there must be certainty. Other requirements include viable infrastructures and predictable legal environment unencumbered by the whims of the executive.

A workable alternative could be model villages which, I understand, are being tried out. This idea may require villages to come closer together, leaving swaths of land they could cultivate for larger output. This might also involve smaller forms of co-operatives for processing and marketing purposes. If this idea is carefully thought out, communities can be preserved while at the same time increasing the national productivity without undue social and political disorientations.

A Yellow Bus on a Perilous Road to Nowhere

Korea's and Japanese's economic miracles started with an agreement on the mode of economic development--Nationalist Market Economy. China's was imposed Socialist Market Economy by the CCP from within. Current Uganda's is imposed Unfettered Market Economy from without by the IMF-World Bank.

First, we need a system that we can agree on or, at least, develop from within based largely on our peculiar situation. The Ist Obote did well--at least in the economy--because it built--with the tacit concent of the majority-- on what was handed over without major shocking changes for a few years. Had Ben Kiwanuka been at the helm, he would have probably followed the same course without moving to the far left.

We will never know what the shock of Obote's Move-to-the Left would have engendered. The restlesstness in expectations may have contributed to his first overthrow.

The current government has not provided the atmosphere for bringing people together to talk and come to some agreement on the way forward. It is all about the man with the vision. He can have all the oil in the world, build railways, or have an infallible military infrastructure, chances are he is taking the country down a perilous yellow bus to nowhere.