The question of Uganda 2021 and beyond…

­­­By Johnson Akampa Tanbull

Well, having keen interest in the development of my country, I receive much feedback and I have a tendency of thinking a lot on the future of the Uganda I envision.

One of my friends the other day was asking himself  when shall we solve national issues if we spend most of the time bickering and solving our own problems? He as a concerned. He posed the following questions that may need no answers right now but thinking and meditating… It is true that man is selfish in nature but maturity is when you learn to use the 4 Ws, Where, When, Who and Which.

Parliament and Cabinet are preoccupied with their issues such as salaries, foreign travels, breastfeeding center, gym, deployment, positions, SUVs and the Likes.

Pastors are swallowing each other over congregations. A pastor who started a church one year ago today drives a 4X4 car while the church is covered by tumplines and abandoned iron sheets. In one year, a minister gets richer than a businessman who has been in business for more than 20years. He builds a mansion without a known source of income.

All political parties want to be in power at the same time.

Society has gone viral to the extent that the saying that "everything is possible in Uganda" makes sense. Are we taking over God? We cannot have a society that is lawless, where even law enforcers are used to lawless and themselves are lawless.

The poor man was abandoned in the wilderness while those responsible are sharing what they were meant to bring to us. This is not a policy of Government; it's an act of individuals, a breed of leaders we elected.

Will Uganda ever get to a level where it gets servants? Will we ever serve our country? Will we ever make Uganda proud? If the concentration is on personal issues then who is there to serve us?

A week ago, at a youth fellowship, we were sharing with Prof. Mwagutsya Ndebesa, of Makerere University. He argued that Uganda can disappear if we do not have a national dialogue and President Museveni, elders meet all the leaders of the opposition!! Hon. Obua rebutted saying that Uganda is here to stay and will not go any way…so it became a battle of who believes in the next Uganda and who does not!! The Professor's point here is that the leadership has to critically look at the next Uganda and thus a transitional Government…

The issue of public discussion and social participation is thus central to the making of policy in a democratic framework. The use democratic prerogatives both political liberties and civil rights is a crucial part of the exercise of economic policy making itself, in addition to other roles it may have. In a freedom oriented approach, the participation freedom cannot but be central to public policy analysis.

One set of prejudices has given way to another opposite set of preconceptions. Yesterday's unexamined faith has become today's heresy and yesterday's heresy is now the new superstition.

We have to avoid resurrecting yesterday's follies that refused to see the merits of indeed even the inescapable need for markets. We have to scrutinise and decide what parts make sense in the respective perspectives.

First, various parts of labour bondage can be found in many countries in Asia and Africa, and there are persistant denials of basic freedoms to seek wage employment away from ones traditional bosses. Uganda's move to stop people from going abroad for greener pastures has also sparked off a dabate!!

There is no interest why vested interests must win if open arguments are permitted and promoted.

The writer is a youth advocate