Laziness, not hunger is killing Ugandans
Jul 14, 2009
I recently had an opportunity to fly into Cairo during the day for the first time. Through my window seat, I could not see any grass or any vegetation. I only saw sand separated by tarmac or buildings. I made a comparison with landing at Entebbe. There is
By Denis Jjuuko
I recently had an opportunity to fly into Cairo during the day for the first time. Through my window seat, I could not see any grass or any vegetation. I only saw sand separated by tarmac or buildings. I made a comparison with landing at Entebbe. There is a lot of green vegetation.
As soon as I had landed in Uganda, I was informed of the death of my aunt. So I drove to Masaka for the burial. Upon disembarking, I was confronted by men and women asking for money so they could buy themselves some alcohol.
When I looked around, there was a lot of uncultivated land and few plantations of bananas. The picture of Cairo lingered in my mind. The newspapers had a lot of stories of people dying of hunger. I felt embarrassed.
I do not see any reason why people in a country so gifted by nature should be dying of hunger.
If you planted crops in most parts of this country, you do not even need to irrigate them. The question then is: Why should anybody hijack people for money as little as sh500?
I believe there is a lot of laziness in Uganda. At junctions in most parts of Uganda, you see people playing cards, mweso and ludo in the morning while drinking cheap alcohol instead of tending their gardens.
The male youth are simply dreaming of riding boda bodas. We need a change of attitude towards work. Ugandans are so accustomed to looking for easy ways of becoming rich. They believe that one day, a Mzungu (Whiteman) or a rich man will drop millions of money and they will become rich all of a sudden. This is the reason Black Dollar and a White Man-Dropped-Gold conmen are in business. So many Ugandans just want quick money to ride boda bodas or drive Hummers.
If people in deserts can survive, why can’t Ugandans surrounded by green vegetation survive? We should stop waiting for our relatives in the Diaspora to send us money to survive or steal from those Kampala. This does not mean that there are no people in rural Uganda who are making ends meet.
My late aunt’s grandson is putting up a house worth over sh50m.
He is a hard working builder in the village. For the two days I was at the funeral, he only seemed perturbed by his grandmother’s death. Unlike other villagers, he did not beg for money from anyone. Unfortunately, very few people are learning from him.
You do not have to live in Kampala to make ends meet or to be regarded as successful. People are complaining of high food prices in this country because very few people are engaged in farming. I have been to every corner of this country but you rarely see people involved in meaningful agriculture.
Some people like those who live before Karuma are simply using the highway to dry their clothes, not to transport their produce. On Tirinyi Road, you see a few people drying one sack of cassava or maize on the tarmac instead of effectively putting it to proper use.
No Ugandan should die of hunger or even live on half a meal a day, simply because we do not want to grow food.
The writer is a media consultant.
I recently had an opportunity to fly into Cairo during the day for the first time. Through my window seat, I could not see any grass or any vegetation. I only saw sand separated by tarmac or buildings. I made a comparison with landing at Entebbe. There is a lot of green vegetation.
As soon as I had landed in Uganda, I was informed of the death of my aunt. So I drove to Masaka for the burial. Upon disembarking, I was confronted by men and women asking for money so they could buy themselves some alcohol.
When I looked around, there was a lot of uncultivated land and few plantations of bananas. The picture of Cairo lingered in my mind. The newspapers had a lot of stories of people dying of hunger. I felt embarrassed.
I do not see any reason why people in a country so gifted by nature should be dying of hunger.
If you planted crops in most parts of this country, you do not even need to irrigate them. The question then is: Why should anybody hijack people for money as little as sh500?
I believe there is a lot of laziness in Uganda. At junctions in most parts of Uganda, you see people playing cards, mweso and ludo in the morning while drinking cheap alcohol instead of tending their gardens.
The male youth are simply dreaming of riding boda bodas. We need a change of attitude towards work. Ugandans are so accustomed to looking for easy ways of becoming rich. They believe that one day, a Mzungu (Whiteman) or a rich man will drop millions of money and they will become rich all of a sudden. This is the reason Black Dollar and a White Man-Dropped-Gold conmen are in business. So many Ugandans just want quick money to ride boda bodas or drive Hummers.
If people in deserts can survive, why can’t Ugandans surrounded by green vegetation survive? We should stop waiting for our relatives in the Diaspora to send us money to survive or steal from those Kampala. This does not mean that there are no people in rural Uganda who are making ends meet.
My late aunt’s grandson is putting up a house worth over sh50m.
He is a hard working builder in the village. For the two days I was at the funeral, he only seemed perturbed by his grandmother’s death. Unlike other villagers, he did not beg for money from anyone. Unfortunately, very few people are learning from him.
You do not have to live in Kampala to make ends meet or to be regarded as successful. People are complaining of high food prices in this country because very few people are engaged in farming. I have been to every corner of this country but you rarely see people involved in meaningful agriculture.
Some people like those who live before Karuma are simply using the highway to dry their clothes, not to transport their produce. On Tirinyi Road, you see a few people drying one sack of cassava or maize on the tarmac instead of effectively putting it to proper use.
No Ugandan should die of hunger or even live on half a meal a day, simply because we do not want to grow food.
The writer is a media consultant.