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Uganda: Govt Can't Cure Poverty
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The Monitor (Kampala)
COLUMN
30 March 2008
Posted to the web 31 March 2008
James Abola
A government that provides good leadership and management of national resources makes it a lot easier for its citizens to escape poverty and become prosperous.
It would be nice to rest the case of responsibility for poverty at this point but even countries with good leadership or economic management still have poor people. Conversely, countries with poor leadership and management also do have people who have escaped the clutches of poverty.
As one person pointed out, people get the leaders they deserve. If there is a problem with leaders that lack vision or the ability to implement policies that enhance development and thereby provide better opportunities for citizens then we ought to ask who keeps re-electing such leaders into office.
Bad leaders who continue to enjoy the perks that go with incumbency do not have a strong enough motivation to follow through policies and programmes that will uplift their citizens.
Responsibility
The importance of citizens playing their civic roles cannot be overemphasised but the poor need to assume greater responsibility in order to experience a change in their wellbeing. There is a Ugandan proverb that "when you are pursuing a thief do not spend your entire energy chasing, spare some energy in case the direction of the chase is reversed."
Individuals and households must take responsibility for their income. In many economies the lack of jobs or if jobs are available the lack of a living wage is blamed for the existence and persistence of poverty. While jobs are important, other means of getting income should not be ignored.
Any person or household that desires to become wealthy have to consider other sources of income like self employment, owning a business and investing. The tragedy for many people, Ugandans included is that the educational system only prepares students to expect employment.
The late Dr Samson Babi Mululu Kisekka, former Prime Minister and Vice President of Uganda, loved to tell Ugandans to become job creators. The practical man that he was Dr Kisekka loved to say that if at his age (he was well over 70 years) he was able to thrive in business then how about younger people. Many people were offended by Dr Kisekka's advice and continued asking for jobs.
Job creation
Now with the benefit of experience and hindsight, I realise that Dr Kisekka was onto a very good thing. There are not enough jobs to go round, and even the jobs that are available may not suit many people in terms of pay and personal development.
But saying people have to become job creators is not enough; people have to learn how to become job creators. In fact job creation is simply a by-product - people have to get into business to attain goals like being financially self sufficient and creating products or services that meet needs of the society.
Starting and owning a business is one way to beat poverty but in order for Ugandans to become successful business owners they need to recognise that there is a big difference between understanding the technical work of a business and understanding the business that does that technical work.
There has been a lot of frustration from both farmers and people in government at the slow rate at which the National Agricultural Advisory Services is turning peasant farmers into commercial farmers, for instance.
Do the people training farmers as well as the farmers being trained understand that there is a difference between doing the technical work of farming and owning a commercial farming business?
Reason for saving
Many people become and remain poor because they think they are entitled to spend or consume but nobody should tell or expect them to save. Realistically the lower your income the more you should save in order to make ends meet.
A household that earns Shs700,000 and has to pay fees of Shs800,000 per term will need to save about 33% of its income while another household earning a lot more can afford to pay fees from one month's earning. The point is that low income should never be given as a reason for not saving, infact it is the most important reason for saving.
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Mr Abola is a business/ finance consultant.
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