Our morals reveal a big national problem
Dec 29, 2008
UGANDA deserves a social audit for the year 2008. For the first time in her history, the ugly side of human behaviour reared its ugly face on the conscience of Ugandans as never before. Attempts to dress this ugly face in popular catch phrases such as human rights and freedom were made by advocates
By Nsaba Buturo
UGANDA deserves a social audit for the year 2008. For the first time in her history, the ugly side of human behaviour reared its ugly face on the conscience of Ugandans as never before. Attempts to dress this ugly face in popular catch phrases such as human rights and freedom were made by advocates of immorality with some degree of success.
Promoters of homosexuality, pornography and witchcraft, etc. were on the offensive seeking to market their philosophies contrary to tenets of Uganda’s laws as well as nature. The venom of embezzlement, poor time management and drug abuse, too, had their toll on public service.
In the case of homosexuality, some nations went into an overdrive. They drafted a resolution for presentation to the United Nations which would ‘compel’ other nations to legalise, in effect, anal sex, in the case of men, as an alternative to heterosexual sex. This is an unprecedented classic case of abuse by these nations which are seeking to use their weight and advantage to impose their tastes and preferences upon the rest of the world. One wonders what divine right they have to do that!
Practitioners in witchcraft continued to wreck havoc on many Ugandans. As a result, many of them are living in round the clock fear for their lives. Those who chose to live in fear were ‘pleased’ their gods by selling or offering their possessions. Witchdoctors whose pastime is to fleece unsuspecting Ugandans of their money and possessions were responsible for some of the rampant poverty in the country.
In other cases, individuals masquerading as traditional healers or herbalists but in reality they are witchdoctors and criminals contributed to the high spate of murders and child sacrificing in the country.
Theft or embezzlement continued to wreck public finances. This was a major challenge because there was organized ‘understanding’ and collaboration among some public officials which made detection difficult. Individuals behind this racket chose to put their interests before those of Uganda.
In this regard, they threatened to wreck Government’s chances of lifting many Ugandans out of abject poverty. Such individuals are a real threat to Government’s Prosperity For All program and other related programs whose main objective is to prosper Ugandans as well as put Uganda on a pedestal of sustained development.
During the year, time Management was a greatly abused subject. Poor management of the precious resource of time was one of the greatest threats against Government’s quest to transform lives of Ugandans.
Failure to keep and manage time marked every activity or transaction of most Ugandans. If the time lost during the year were to be valued in monetary terms, the cost would dwarf the money which is lost through theft that are associated with abuse of office.
Time mismanagement had another face whose costly ramifications have not been understood by Ugandans. Each time there is a wedding, on average ten hours are spent per person in one day.
Hundreds of people come to attend. The man hours spent, the many people who attend, the fact that in a weekend there may be over fifty weddings in Kampala alone and the funds spent on drinks and food add to colossal sums of money that if they were channeled to productive work would transform Uganda. How long shall we, as a country, go on managing time in this way?
Drug abuse was a growing problem. So called artistes were in the lead of popularising possession and taking of drugs. They elevated drug taking to a bizarre level which is harmful to our young generation. Such drugs include -marijuana, cannabis, cocaine and opium. Rather than being entertainers, they such artists have become a social problem.
The overall effect of vices is devastating for Uganda’s development. The country will not experience a breakthrough to attain desired levels of development if Ugandans do not support Government in its endeavors. What has gone wrong in our country? Uganda’s moral capital is considerably limited.
A country is made great not necessarily by the resources (human, physical) it has but the abundance in the population of values such as honesty, respect, integrity, patriotism, care, thrift, industry and personal responsibility.
The total sum of these and other values is what constitutes moral capital. To this end, the morality of a nation is defined by the levels and abundance of these values in its population. When they are absent or limited in a population, that nation is consigned to an underdeveloped status.
Even if a country has all the resources but not the moral capital, the resources in question will be squandered and not benefit the population.
Uganda’s moral capital is so low that our efforts to graduate to the club of more developed nations will remain a challenge. Government’s programs such as Prosperity For All will continue to be threatened by insufficiency of moral capital in the population and more crucially the public service.
The Government will renew its efforts against law breakers. It recognizes that enforcement of laws on witchcraft, embezzlement or theft of public funds, drug abuse, homosexuality and pornography has been weak.
To address the issue of inadequate laws, new legislation will be required. Regarding witchcraft, discussions are underway in Government to distinguish between witchdoctors and genuine herbalists.
The Government is appealing to the public to report all criminal individuals cum witchdoctors in their communities. In 2009, Government will seek to collaborate more with religious leaders and more emphasis on moral education will be made.
The move to universalise immorality in the name of human rights or freedom will not convince Ugandans to abandon what is right in preference of what is wrong.
Uganda will neither legalise nor recognise homosexuality as a human rights issue. Government has completed a nation-wide exercise on Uganda’s values.
The writer is the Minister of
Ethics and Integrity
UGANDA deserves a social audit for the year 2008. For the first time in her history, the ugly side of human behaviour reared its ugly face on the conscience of Ugandans as never before. Attempts to dress this ugly face in popular catch phrases such as human rights and freedom were made by advocates of immorality with some degree of success.
Promoters of homosexuality, pornography and witchcraft, etc. were on the offensive seeking to market their philosophies contrary to tenets of Uganda’s laws as well as nature. The venom of embezzlement, poor time management and drug abuse, too, had their toll on public service.
In the case of homosexuality, some nations went into an overdrive. They drafted a resolution for presentation to the United Nations which would ‘compel’ other nations to legalise, in effect, anal sex, in the case of men, as an alternative to heterosexual sex. This is an unprecedented classic case of abuse by these nations which are seeking to use their weight and advantage to impose their tastes and preferences upon the rest of the world. One wonders what divine right they have to do that!
Practitioners in witchcraft continued to wreck havoc on many Ugandans. As a result, many of them are living in round the clock fear for their lives. Those who chose to live in fear were ‘pleased’ their gods by selling or offering their possessions. Witchdoctors whose pastime is to fleece unsuspecting Ugandans of their money and possessions were responsible for some of the rampant poverty in the country.
In other cases, individuals masquerading as traditional healers or herbalists but in reality they are witchdoctors and criminals contributed to the high spate of murders and child sacrificing in the country.
Theft or embezzlement continued to wreck public finances. This was a major challenge because there was organized ‘understanding’ and collaboration among some public officials which made detection difficult. Individuals behind this racket chose to put their interests before those of Uganda.
In this regard, they threatened to wreck Government’s chances of lifting many Ugandans out of abject poverty. Such individuals are a real threat to Government’s Prosperity For All program and other related programs whose main objective is to prosper Ugandans as well as put Uganda on a pedestal of sustained development.
During the year, time Management was a greatly abused subject. Poor management of the precious resource of time was one of the greatest threats against Government’s quest to transform lives of Ugandans.
Failure to keep and manage time marked every activity or transaction of most Ugandans. If the time lost during the year were to be valued in monetary terms, the cost would dwarf the money which is lost through theft that are associated with abuse of office.
Time mismanagement had another face whose costly ramifications have not been understood by Ugandans. Each time there is a wedding, on average ten hours are spent per person in one day.
Hundreds of people come to attend. The man hours spent, the many people who attend, the fact that in a weekend there may be over fifty weddings in Kampala alone and the funds spent on drinks and food add to colossal sums of money that if they were channeled to productive work would transform Uganda. How long shall we, as a country, go on managing time in this way?
Drug abuse was a growing problem. So called artistes were in the lead of popularising possession and taking of drugs. They elevated drug taking to a bizarre level which is harmful to our young generation. Such drugs include -marijuana, cannabis, cocaine and opium. Rather than being entertainers, they such artists have become a social problem.
The overall effect of vices is devastating for Uganda’s development. The country will not experience a breakthrough to attain desired levels of development if Ugandans do not support Government in its endeavors. What has gone wrong in our country? Uganda’s moral capital is considerably limited.
A country is made great not necessarily by the resources (human, physical) it has but the abundance in the population of values such as honesty, respect, integrity, patriotism, care, thrift, industry and personal responsibility.
The total sum of these and other values is what constitutes moral capital. To this end, the morality of a nation is defined by the levels and abundance of these values in its population. When they are absent or limited in a population, that nation is consigned to an underdeveloped status.
Even if a country has all the resources but not the moral capital, the resources in question will be squandered and not benefit the population.
Uganda’s moral capital is so low that our efforts to graduate to the club of more developed nations will remain a challenge. Government’s programs such as Prosperity For All will continue to be threatened by insufficiency of moral capital in the population and more crucially the public service.
The Government will renew its efforts against law breakers. It recognizes that enforcement of laws on witchcraft, embezzlement or theft of public funds, drug abuse, homosexuality and pornography has been weak.
To address the issue of inadequate laws, new legislation will be required. Regarding witchcraft, discussions are underway in Government to distinguish between witchdoctors and genuine herbalists.
The Government is appealing to the public to report all criminal individuals cum witchdoctors in their communities. In 2009, Government will seek to collaborate more with religious leaders and more emphasis on moral education will be made.
The move to universalise immorality in the name of human rights or freedom will not convince Ugandans to abandon what is right in preference of what is wrong.
Uganda will neither legalise nor recognise homosexuality as a human rights issue. Government has completed a nation-wide exercise on Uganda’s values.
The writer is the Minister of
Ethics and Integrity