By Sam Orikunda
The head of public service and the secretary to cabinet in Uganda Lucy Nakyobe executed her assignment of heading the planning committee for NAM/G77 without any hiccups and reports of misusing public resources. Previously it had become a norm in Uganda, every time we host these international and national events, the country would be shocked to discover scandals mostly embezzlement of public funds meant to facilitate the important events, some people had made it a habit to take advantage of these events to steal and misuse public funds. Some would also hire substandard service providers who would embarrass the country in the face of the world. The last time we hosted CHOGM, it looked as if it was a bonanza for people to steal huge amounts of money in the name of facilitating the preparations of the event. This actually is the reason as to why Ugandans are usually less interested when they’re told about these events and I think to some extent they’re right. why should people take advantage of an event to steal even when the public has been inconvenienced in their daily activities of hustling to make ends meet? Lucy Nakyobe started by asking public servants to surrender their vehicles to be used by guests, she did not plan to procure new vehicle which usually are abandoned after these events. She used the available resources to make her country proud.
I think the NAM/G77 summits was a success and we were lucky that most of the delegates who were expected came even when the opposition tried to interfere with these important occasions. The opposition had always lied to Ugandans that President Museveni is isolated by the world because of a number of reasons they would give. I think they got a disappointment of their lives when suddenly Kampala turned into a beehive of activities with international delegates flying into the country. I think they had expected the conference to flop so that they would get something to lie about. That’s why we have always said and continue to say that the politics based on lies and propaganda isn’t sustainable. At one point in time people will get to know the truth and the one who was spreading wrong information will always get embarrassed and even lose the support of the people. The opposition in Uganda, has invested alot in the politics of lies and propaganda even in situations where they’re sure that truth is known by Ugandans.
The demonstrations of planting matoke in the potholes wasn’t meant to protest poor road Network but rather to sabotage the success of the NAM conference, they thought and couldn’t get a better solution to taint Ugandan President’s image in the eyes of the world. Of course everyone is aware that once we receive lots of rains our roads are affected not because the government doesn’t care about making good roads but because the government has no control over nature. It should be noted that some of the people that organized and participated in these protests are actually the ones supposed to provide solutions for the problem they were protesting against. For instance Lord mayor Elias Lukwago is a political head of Kampala city. He has executive committee and the council that sits and plans for the city. The executive arm of government led by the President have never dictated on what they should include or not include in their budget. The government instead through the ministry of finance continue to fund the budget of KCCA without delay or hesitation. Why then would the person who has the budget to solve the problem be the one to organize protests against that same problem? isn’t that betraying the public and openly misleading them?
The opportunity to host NAM/G77 summit portrayed to the world that Uganda is a safe country, a few weeks ago some people had written advisory notes to their citizens and the world that Uganda isn’t safe for them. They however have been proved wrong for many times, The President of Uganda who is responsible for the safety of all the citizens has always said that the UPDF has the capacity to secure the country and once they organize there’s no enemy that can survive. We could have had a few challenges like the attacks of ADF but of course all countries including those with the most modern technology experience these kinds of crimes, what matters is how one is able to control and reduce on the crime. The Democratic Republic of Congo gave Uganda a lee way to fight the enemies who had turned the DRC forests into a zone of survival and organizing crimes, from the time the operations began they have had a hard time with the Ugandan army and they will be eliminated.
The new chairman of NAM/G77 who is the president of Uganda made interesting remarks during the opening of the head of state summit. He wondered why people indulge in the affairs of other countries and also try to force their beliefs on other countries even when they call themselves democratic. During colonial time, the same people ruled Africans without mercy and humanity, they got free labour from Africans and sent so many Africans to their graves. So many decades now, the same people want to be the ones to think for African countries and also participate in making decisions for African countries. Africa has never indulged in their affairs even when we’ve thoughts about their behaviors and politics we reserve them. But without shame, several European countries want to give their views on our cultural beliefs and even our internal politics. that’s the shallowness that President Museveni talks about. That’s the disrespect that most African countries have gone through, The views of Ugandans about homosexuality are known, through their members of Parliament a law was enacted to protect and preserve the culture of Ugandans. but some people do not feel good about that law and they feel they should lecture Ugandans and their leaders about that same law.
Therefore, in a country where people have taken pride in misusing public resources, embarrassing the country with cases of corruption, it’s legit to appreciate someone who does a good job and makes the country proud. It means that we haven’t run short of the patriotic Ugandans who give attention to service more than what they’ve gained as individuals, I’m sure some people who targeted to steal billions from these summit must be annoyed, they must have had a hard time and they must be cursing the organizing committee. The greed in most Ugandans leaders makes you feel as if you’re living in Uganda alone, it makes you feel as if no body cares about the country any more. The habit of primitive accumulation of wealth in most Ugandan civil servants and politicians has affected the economic growth of the country and the service delivery of the government, people are stealing money meant to do things that can be of great importance to the common citizens of Uganda. Unfortunately, those same people are also affected, like for instance when the road is bad they also use same roads, their relatives also suffer in the health facilities whose money they misuse. Lucy Nakyobe should be saluted for organizing a successful world event and for making Uganda and Ugandans proud.
The writer is a deputy RDC Sheema District.
