Corruption is Uganda’s ticking time bomb
Sep 15, 2007
ON Tuesday, the World Bank released its report “Uganda, moving beyond growth.†<br>The report is a follow-on of another enlightening report: “Uganda’s recovery, The role of farms, firms and government,†released in the late 1990s, a series of articles that outlined how Uganda’s econom
By Paul Busharizi
ON Tuesday, the World Bank released its report “Uganda, moving beyond growth.â€
The report is a follow-on of another enlightening report: “Uganda’s recovery, The role of farms, firms and government,†released in the late 1990s, a series of articles that outlined how Uganda’s economic recovery was engineered, implemented and the reasons for its success.
It has been recognised for some time now, that Uganda’s stellar economic growth record has been fuelled by the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure.
This growth may be winding down and hence a need for new policy reform to take the economy to the next level.
In its latest report, the World Bank tackles this issue noting that there is an urgent need for massive investment in infrastructure – power generation, transport and a determined effort to lower population growth rates. However, they also point out that with the huge public investment required, there has to be greater accountability in the public service and an improved performance in the public sector.
In a round about way, they are saying we need to deal with corruption in order to transition to the next stage of our development.
We have heard it all before and we live it everyday to the point that we are becoming desensitised to the dangers of corruption and that is the danger.
Twenty years of reconstruction have shown that donor goodwill is not lacking and is clearly not about to exit the stage. But it is becoming increasingly clear that over the next 20 years, the fight against corruption has to be strengthened.
The evidence points to the fact that growth will come from major investments in power generation, road and rail transport.
All of which require a lot of public sector input. The need for an efficient public service unencumbered by the leakages of corruption is especially critical because of our high population growth rate and increasing dependency ration – the ratio of dependants to workers.
Our population is not only growing at a prodigious rate but also half of the 28 million Ugandans are 15 years or younger and therefore one can expect a doubling of the workforce in the next 15 years. This new workforce will need jobs or they could end up being a ticking time bomb for unrest and insecurity.
We have chosen the way of private sector led-growth – a euphemism for capitalism, which as far as I am concerned is the only sustainable way to grow wealth. The distribution of this wealth is another issue.
There is a reason why capitalism, while it has been shown to be a useful tool for wealth creation and therefore poverty alleviation, doesn’t seem to take hold in the developing world.
Study after study has shown that no matter how much money is poured into a country to build roads, dams and railways, if the culture of trust and respect of property rights, contracts and public goods is non-existent, you will be throwing good money after bad.
Capitalism can only provide significant gains in the overall welfare of populations within a certain political, social and cultural context.
Through taxation governments are supposed to be able uplift the general well being of the people by improving living standards, through the provision of health and education services and reducing constraints to business by building and maintaining, public transport systems, power generation and other physical infrastructure.
Taxpayers’ money is also supposed to pay for clean and efficient government.
In a situation like ours where there are serious questions about institutional integrity, the increased economic activity triggered by improving physical infrastructure without adequate institutions, would only exacerbate the widening gap between the rich and the poor. It is already happening.
The intellectual arguments against corruption are well worn, no one can feign ignorance.
It is safe to say that the legacy of this government and the continued economic growth of this economy will depend on the way corruption is handled in coming years.
pbusharizi@newvision.co.ug
ON Tuesday, the World Bank released its report “Uganda, moving beyond growth.â€
The report is a follow-on of another enlightening report: “Uganda’s recovery, The role of farms, firms and government,†released in the late 1990s, a series of articles that outlined how Uganda’s economic recovery was engineered, implemented and the reasons for its success.
It has been recognised for some time now, that Uganda’s stellar economic growth record has been fuelled by the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure.
This growth may be winding down and hence a need for new policy reform to take the economy to the next level.
In its latest report, the World Bank tackles this issue noting that there is an urgent need for massive investment in infrastructure – power generation, transport and a determined effort to lower population growth rates. However, they also point out that with the huge public investment required, there has to be greater accountability in the public service and an improved performance in the public sector.
In a round about way, they are saying we need to deal with corruption in order to transition to the next stage of our development.
We have heard it all before and we live it everyday to the point that we are becoming desensitised to the dangers of corruption and that is the danger.
Twenty years of reconstruction have shown that donor goodwill is not lacking and is clearly not about to exit the stage. But it is becoming increasingly clear that over the next 20 years, the fight against corruption has to be strengthened.
The evidence points to the fact that growth will come from major investments in power generation, road and rail transport.
All of which require a lot of public sector input. The need for an efficient public service unencumbered by the leakages of corruption is especially critical because of our high population growth rate and increasing dependency ration – the ratio of dependants to workers.
Our population is not only growing at a prodigious rate but also half of the 28 million Ugandans are 15 years or younger and therefore one can expect a doubling of the workforce in the next 15 years. This new workforce will need jobs or they could end up being a ticking time bomb for unrest and insecurity.
We have chosen the way of private sector led-growth – a euphemism for capitalism, which as far as I am concerned is the only sustainable way to grow wealth. The distribution of this wealth is another issue.
There is a reason why capitalism, while it has been shown to be a useful tool for wealth creation and therefore poverty alleviation, doesn’t seem to take hold in the developing world.
Study after study has shown that no matter how much money is poured into a country to build roads, dams and railways, if the culture of trust and respect of property rights, contracts and public goods is non-existent, you will be throwing good money after bad.
Capitalism can only provide significant gains in the overall welfare of populations within a certain political, social and cultural context.
Through taxation governments are supposed to be able uplift the general well being of the people by improving living standards, through the provision of health and education services and reducing constraints to business by building and maintaining, public transport systems, power generation and other physical infrastructure.
Taxpayers’ money is also supposed to pay for clean and efficient government.
In a situation like ours where there are serious questions about institutional integrity, the increased economic activity triggered by improving physical infrastructure without adequate institutions, would only exacerbate the widening gap between the rich and the poor. It is already happening.
The intellectual arguments against corruption are well worn, no one can feign ignorance.
It is safe to say that the legacy of this government and the continued economic growth of this economy will depend on the way corruption is handled in coming years.
pbusharizi@newvision.co.ug