Do Not Undermine Our Dr. Kasekende
Sep 24, 2002
Sir –– I refer to Mr. Mulera’s article (The Monitor 9/09/2002) on the appointment of Dr. Louis Kasekende to a World Bank post in succession to Mr. Kaijuka.
TALK BACK
Sir –– I refer to Mr. Mulera’s article (The Monitor 9/09/2002) on the appointment of Dr. Louis Kasekende to a World Bank post in succession to Mr. Kaijuka. Unfortunately Mulera’s good write up was marred by irrelevancies. Mulera could not resist dragging religion and tribe in his discussion.
After pronouncing Kasekende’s Catholicism and tribe as being major considerations for President Yoweri Museveni’s decision, Mulera went on to pay a left handed compliment to Kasekende’s abilities.
Being familiar with top class executive recruitment, I can state that Kasekende is eminently qualified for the post and Uganda should be proud of sending him to the world’s top financial institution.
Mulera wanted to reassure Ugandans that Kaijuka has offered to tutor Kasekende in the so called complex system of the World Bank, presumably because of his alleged ‘lack of practical experience in the real world of rural poverty,’ how currently monetary issues should be addressed and how he can become conversant with the issues of the various African countries.
Seeing the presumed formidable challenges which Kasekende faces, Mulera went on to conclude that by the time Kasekende works his way through the “cobweb of the World Bank group, his two-year tenure will be up in 2004.â€
What are these so-called complex monetary issues and what are the economic and financial issues of the various African countries? Why should it take Kasekende so long to be able “to do full justice to his portfolio?†It does not need a genius to appreciate the ravages of poverty in Africa. Its ugly faces are the same in Uganda, Zambia and Cameroon etc. Kasekende goes to the World Bank with Uganda’s experience of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) which is highly commended by the World Bank.
PEAP begun in 1997, has guided policy reform and committed government to the overriding priority of tackling poverty.
Similarly, Kasekende will be no stranger to the World Bank’s comprehensive development framework nor to the IMF and World Bank Poverty Reduction strategies (PRS). Uganda is highly praised because of its contribution to the reduction of poverty through the PRS.
There is general agreement today for a broad international coalition to fight poverty. What Kasekende will need to do is to champion this coalition, first expressed in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in 2000 embraced by the European Union as a major donor group as well as by the G8 at their recent meeting in July in Canada.
We can further state that the importance of sustained economic growth as one of the tools to fight poverty will not be a stranger to Kasekende. He goes to the Bank with Uganda’s experience as one of the very first beneficiaries of debt relief through the HIPIC initiative.
Kasekende should be ready to fight for deeper debt relief and increased resources to reduce Africa’s continued scourge of debt. Kasekende knows the shortcomings of the HIPIC initiative.
We urge him to be an advocate of making debt sustainable if not totally cancelled. Because the IMF and World Bank’s assumptions and projections have fallen far short of the realities, HIPIC is insufficient in giving African governments permanent exit from debt.
As regards Uganda’s international trade, the new director must find a way where by Africa can build its production capacity so as to take full advantage of the increased market access in the European Union, AGOA and Canada (the latter from January 2002).
In summary, I do not see Kasekende being handicapped on the political front either, though he is not a politician not on the poverty, debt relief or trade fronts. The so-called complex politics of the organisation is nor as mysterious as one wishes to make us believe.
Having said that, I would wish to urge Kasekende to advocate for a change of attitude in the Bank towards the informal sector which is the largest employer of youth and women in Africa. Indeed we cannot see how the Bank can be committed to fighting poverty without policies geared towards the informal sector.
Secondly, the Bank’s focus on poverty demands a long-term commitment because poverty is structurally intractable.
Without a long-term commitment in funding, the war against poverty will be hard to win.
Prof. Semakula Kiwanuka Ugandan Ambassador to the United Nations
Sir –– I refer to Mr. Mulera’s article (The Monitor 9/09/2002) on the appointment of Dr. Louis Kasekende to a World Bank post in succession to Mr. Kaijuka. Unfortunately Mulera’s good write up was marred by irrelevancies. Mulera could not resist dragging religion and tribe in his discussion.
After pronouncing Kasekende’s Catholicism and tribe as being major considerations for President Yoweri Museveni’s decision, Mulera went on to pay a left handed compliment to Kasekende’s abilities.
Being familiar with top class executive recruitment, I can state that Kasekende is eminently qualified for the post and Uganda should be proud of sending him to the world’s top financial institution.
Mulera wanted to reassure Ugandans that Kaijuka has offered to tutor Kasekende in the so called complex system of the World Bank, presumably because of his alleged ‘lack of practical experience in the real world of rural poverty,’ how currently monetary issues should be addressed and how he can become conversant with the issues of the various African countries.
Seeing the presumed formidable challenges which Kasekende faces, Mulera went on to conclude that by the time Kasekende works his way through the “cobweb of the World Bank group, his two-year tenure will be up in 2004.â€
What are these so-called complex monetary issues and what are the economic and financial issues of the various African countries? Why should it take Kasekende so long to be able “to do full justice to his portfolio?†It does not need a genius to appreciate the ravages of poverty in Africa. Its ugly faces are the same in Uganda, Zambia and Cameroon etc. Kasekende goes to the World Bank with Uganda’s experience of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) which is highly commended by the World Bank.
PEAP begun in 1997, has guided policy reform and committed government to the overriding priority of tackling poverty.
Similarly, Kasekende will be no stranger to the World Bank’s comprehensive development framework nor to the IMF and World Bank Poverty Reduction strategies (PRS). Uganda is highly praised because of its contribution to the reduction of poverty through the PRS.
There is general agreement today for a broad international coalition to fight poverty. What Kasekende will need to do is to champion this coalition, first expressed in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in 2000 embraced by the European Union as a major donor group as well as by the G8 at their recent meeting in July in Canada.
We can further state that the importance of sustained economic growth as one of the tools to fight poverty will not be a stranger to Kasekende. He goes to the Bank with Uganda’s experience as one of the very first beneficiaries of debt relief through the HIPIC initiative.
Kasekende should be ready to fight for deeper debt relief and increased resources to reduce Africa’s continued scourge of debt. Kasekende knows the shortcomings of the HIPIC initiative.
We urge him to be an advocate of making debt sustainable if not totally cancelled. Because the IMF and World Bank’s assumptions and projections have fallen far short of the realities, HIPIC is insufficient in giving African governments permanent exit from debt.
As regards Uganda’s international trade, the new director must find a way where by Africa can build its production capacity so as to take full advantage of the increased market access in the European Union, AGOA and Canada (the latter from January 2002).
In summary, I do not see Kasekende being handicapped on the political front either, though he is not a politician not on the poverty, debt relief or trade fronts. The so-called complex politics of the organisation is nor as mysterious as one wishes to make us believe.
Having said that, I would wish to urge Kasekende to advocate for a change of attitude in the Bank towards the informal sector which is the largest employer of youth and women in Africa. Indeed we cannot see how the Bank can be committed to fighting poverty without policies geared towards the informal sector.
Secondly, the Bank’s focus on poverty demands a long-term commitment because poverty is structurally intractable.
Without a long-term commitment in funding, the war against poverty will be hard to win.
Prof. Semakula Kiwanuka Ugandan Ambassador to the United Nations