Four-finger salute means the NRM has delivered

KAROORO OKURUT
A literary and socio-political analyst

The other day, a colleague of mine in parliament who belongs to the opposition told me he was not coming to the Kololo Parade ground for the independence celebrations. “And pray, why? I was enjoying an unusually keen visitation of patience that day.

“You see,” he began, “I know that there will be many people who will be flashing that four- finger sign all over the place. You know what those fingers mean: another term of office for the President.”

I sat him down and explained that for those people, the flash of the four fingers is their definition of independence: it simply means president and his government have delivered. My honourable colleague shot back: “the four fingers aside, we have nothing to show for all the fanfare!”

I told him that we are on the way, a few hiccups not withstanding. For starters, there is the example of these particular independence celebrations (2007).

On independence eve, President Museveni opened the Quality Chemical Industries Ltd at Luzira – a $36m facility that will manufacture anti- retroviral (ARV) drugs. This facility will reduce our dependence on the Western world for the much needed ARVs.

Furthermore, more than 50,000 children living with HIV are in immediate need of ARVs, according to a ministry of health report.

For Uganda to be able to manufacture her own ARVs is a very big step towards self-sufficiency which is what independence is all about.

While commissioning this factory, the president made a continued case for land giveaways in favour of increased industrialisation. And yet there are still a number of our people who are dead set against giving any land to investors. They cite a few mistakes where land give- aways have left a bitter taste in the mouth and use that as a case for not giving away any land at all!

In fact even before those very few mishaps, the detractors always cooked a myriad reasons why land should not be given to investors. If the government was to buy their line, how would factories like the Luzira one come up? Apart from such a factory manufacturing the much needed ARVs, it will also provide employment. We should never lose track of the fact that our civil service provides about 300,000 jobs. Where then shall we get employment for the so many universities and tertiary institutions churn out every year?

At a time when jobs are scarce, access to land for investors should be guaranteed with utmost urgency. Industrialisation in Uganda should be viewed as an emergency as if it is the gateway for employment.

It is when we are able to fend for ourselves and our children that we shall be able to call ourselves truly independent, so the country must devise ways of guaranteeing economic independence.

The president once remarked that Uganda is difficult to govern, very much like trying to firmly tie the intestines of a sheep—they are so slippery, you could do it all day to no avail and restart the following day. You understand where he was coming from when he made this pronouncement.

All of us are busy trying to find employment for our people. the job market is simply too narrow. Then when an investor comes, who will put up a factory there by creating employment, you have these people shouting and bringing roofs down that the investors are stealing our land!

It is like this man who brought meat home and told his wife: “Don’t boil it, don’t roast it but I want to find it ready.”! The Quality Chemical factory no doubt comes as good news to a country where private investment is still low—at just 12 % of our GDP. A recent study by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) found that most firms in the industries category are small and employ between six to 20 workers. Only 9.1 per cent of the firms employed more than 50 people. And we are talking of small firms basically, because the study found that only 1.3 percent of the firms employed more than 50 people. And we are talking of small firms basically because the study found that only 1.3 percent of the firms had a gross output of more than $500,000.

With a $36m facility at Luzira, these statistics should look better and in time be translated into improved standards of living for the hundreds that will work there. More such big facilities will yield even more gains for this country.

Industrialisation at a higher level will also help us in the cause for value addition, so that we move from exporting raw materials of finished products. That should end the rather silly scenario of buying back our own produce in the form of finished products. The EPRC study found that only 8.3 percent of the firms surveyed reported value added in excess of $500,000; while 66 percent added value worth less that $100,000—the median being the rest (25.8 percent) who had value added to the tune of between $100,000 to $500,000.

In the end, my my colleague got convinced and went to Kololo for the independence celebrations. But even the day before, he went for the launch of the prosperity for all programme (Bonna Bagaggawale) with emphasis on food security for the nation so that we are not brought on our knees just to get food.

At the end of it all, my colleague remarked:

“This is too small to result in across-the-board gains for the country; but with such a good start, we are well on our way to defining independence in deeper terms.”