Uganda’s workers are on their own
Aug 30, 2009
<b>Letter of the day</b><br><br>EDITOR—Ugandan satirical writer, Joachim Buwembo, once said that we might soon run out of words to describe the multi-billion shillings that our ‘leaders’ swim in while peasants sink in filth. This is specifically s
Letter of the day
EDITOR—Ugandan satirical writer, Joachim Buwembo, once said that we might soon run out of words to describe the multi-billion shillings that our ‘leaders’ swim in while peasants sink in filth. This is specifically so in the case of Chandi Jamwa’s shopping and gambling spree on workers’ sweat, as the savers, some retired and others still contributing, cannot afford a decent meal from Monday to Monday! No wonder, Jamwa and his colleagues squandered our savings as they wished. How else would one deal with such idle billions, without running the risk of being declared a ‘non-performer’? Naturally, some projects, familiarisation tours, legal fees, partnerships, professional fees, project stipend, etc had to be invented to get these idle billions active! Thanks to our legislators, who find it easier to play with the Constitution to earn a few millions, than to amend the Social Security Act to make our savings work for us while we are still active. Thanks to our our legislators and our experts in matters financial (Treasury and Central Bank), these savings cannot be used in domestic infrastructure development because ....“this will jeopardise the macro-economic stability and affect our standing and rating in the eyes of our development partners....â€! So, we would rather beg and take 10 years to complete the procurement process for a 10km road, than use local savings! Thanks to these ‘experts’, we lose billions in speculation in the name of security trading, while workers live in shanties! What brains does one need to plan and put up low cost houses for workers without the Nsimbe scandal? Thanks to our laws, the thieves in the Nsimbe and Temangalo are worshipped as heroes as they drive around. One of the Nsimbe thugs was recently boasting how he has been granted citizenship in South Sudan and is soon relocating to ‘invest’! Thanks to these well learned and experienced experts, only 1% of Ugandans contribute to NSSF, yet there is a massive untapped resource in the Small and Medium Enterprises, which still run as an ‘informal sector’. Thanks to our legislators and their cronies, the trade unions have been ‘castrated’ otherwise in a functioning economy, by 9:00am on Thursday 27, when the NSSF scam was revealed, all workers would have been out on the streets baying for the blood of the vampires who are sucking us to death. In a restaurant on that very day, I shared a table with a National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) official who was briefing a colleague on how he was busy updating their benefactors from the UK, who are financing their HIV/AIDS Workplace Awareness Campaign, the several workshops and seminars, radio talk-shows and sensitisation campaigns this will involve....
NOTU, remember that the workers in Poland, COSATU in South Africa, COTU in Kenya, the peasants in France (1789) did not need foreign benefactors to demand their rights. Do not fool yourselves that by having a few representatives among the eaters that you are also eating! Time to demand what is ours! My sh23m at NSSF as at end of May 2009 will be more useful to me now than 18 years to come! One does not have to be Adam Smith to understand that. Ugandan intelligentsia, please tell Uganda that there is a country called Nigeria where last week, the rich thieves were regretting the day they were born!
Amon B. Mbekiza
Kampala
EDITOR—Ugandan satirical writer, Joachim Buwembo, once said that we might soon run out of words to describe the multi-billion shillings that our ‘leaders’ swim in while peasants sink in filth. This is specifically so in the case of Chandi Jamwa’s shopping and gambling spree on workers’ sweat, as the savers, some retired and others still contributing, cannot afford a decent meal from Monday to Monday! No wonder, Jamwa and his colleagues squandered our savings as they wished. How else would one deal with such idle billions, without running the risk of being declared a ‘non-performer’? Naturally, some projects, familiarisation tours, legal fees, partnerships, professional fees, project stipend, etc had to be invented to get these idle billions active! Thanks to our legislators, who find it easier to play with the Constitution to earn a few millions, than to amend the Social Security Act to make our savings work for us while we are still active. Thanks to our our legislators and our experts in matters financial (Treasury and Central Bank), these savings cannot be used in domestic infrastructure development because ....“this will jeopardise the macro-economic stability and affect our standing and rating in the eyes of our development partners....â€! So, we would rather beg and take 10 years to complete the procurement process for a 10km road, than use local savings! Thanks to these ‘experts’, we lose billions in speculation in the name of security trading, while workers live in shanties! What brains does one need to plan and put up low cost houses for workers without the Nsimbe scandal? Thanks to our laws, the thieves in the Nsimbe and Temangalo are worshipped as heroes as they drive around. One of the Nsimbe thugs was recently boasting how he has been granted citizenship in South Sudan and is soon relocating to ‘invest’! Thanks to these well learned and experienced experts, only 1% of Ugandans contribute to NSSF, yet there is a massive untapped resource in the Small and Medium Enterprises, which still run as an ‘informal sector’. Thanks to our legislators and their cronies, the trade unions have been ‘castrated’ otherwise in a functioning economy, by 9:00am on Thursday 27, when the NSSF scam was revealed, all workers would have been out on the streets baying for the blood of the vampires who are sucking us to death. In a restaurant on that very day, I shared a table with a National Organisation of Trade Unions (NOTU) official who was briefing a colleague on how he was busy updating their benefactors from the UK, who are financing their HIV/AIDS Workplace Awareness Campaign, the several workshops and seminars, radio talk-shows and sensitisation campaigns this will involve....
NOTU, remember that the workers in Poland, COSATU in South Africa, COTU in Kenya, the peasants in France (1789) did not need foreign benefactors to demand their rights. Do not fool yourselves that by having a few representatives among the eaters that you are also eating! Time to demand what is ours! My sh23m at NSSF as at end of May 2009 will be more useful to me now than 18 years to come! One does not have to be Adam Smith to understand that. Ugandan intelligentsia, please tell Uganda that there is a country called Nigeria where last week, the rich thieves were regretting the day they were born!
Amon B. Mbekiza
Kampala