Curb population growth

Nov 24, 2001

VICE-PRESIDENT Dr Specioza Kazibwe has condemned uncontrolled population growth while launching a new environmental NGO Ecotrust.

VICE-PRESIDENT Dr Specioza Kazibwe has condemned uncontrolled population growth while launching a new environmental NGO Ecotrust. She attacked critics of family planning and said that population growth was the biggest threat to the environment. Last week the Buganda Minister of Health Robert Ssebunya also blasted Baganda who go on FM stations and urge their fellow Baganda to have as many children as possible. He said that this would make the Baganda poorer and not richer. It is very good that such senior politicians are zooming in on the problem of high population growth. Uganda has the highest rate of population growth in Africa with each woman having an average of nearly seven children. It is an illusion that this will make Buganda more powerful, or Uganda richer by creating a larger market. Unrestrained population growth will only make Uganda a poorer and more miserable place. Wealth comes from a well-educated and well-endowed population. Children who grow up in large uncaring families, or families where the parents are overwhelmed by the cost of raising too many children, are more likely to grow up as semi-illiterate and non-productive members of society. They will not be wealth-generators, either in the field or in the factory. There is no correlation between a country’s wealth and the size of its population. America is rich, India is poor. Ireland has a population of three million yet is a major donor to Uganda. The Vice-President is on the right track. Rampant population growth will not only mess up the environment but will make Uganda a poorer place. The V-P should now kick-start a renewed campaign to curb population growth.

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