Henry Mukasa
2 July 2008
Kampala — UGANDA still has to grapple with lack of structural transformation in the economy, rapid population growth, high cost of doing business due to its geography and tense relations with its neighbours, especially Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Other challenges are changing the mind-set and attitudes of its citizens, the promotion of a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation, managing political transition, the land question, corruption and ending the LRA war.
These were some of the conclusions of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism, discussed at the African Union summit in Egypt on Tuesday.
The report noted that Uganda emerged from economic decline, conflict and repressive government to a relatively free society, with a significant measure of political liberalisation as evidenced by the emergence of free media and civil society. It also pointed out that there wasâ-‚a remarkableâ-‚decentralised system of governance and as a result, there was a reasonable level of participation in the formulation and planning of development policies at all levels.
"If you take Uganda of 1962, where there was chaos, lack of law and order and where governance was at its worse, and 20 years later, we can talk about a democratic country," said Prof. Adebayo Adedeji, an Nigerian scholar who led the panel that reviewed Uganda.
The panel lauded Uganda's macro-economic stability, high economic growth and positive trend in the struggle to eradicate poverty.
It, however, warned about worsening inequality. It saluted Uganda's education sector with prestigiousâ-‚universities and best record in Africa in raising school enrolment.
It also described Uganda as one of the few success stories in Africa in combating the HIV/AIDS scourge.
The panel commended Uganda for playing a key role in facilitating regional peace and security, including negotiations and peace keeping operations.
Responding to some of the concerns raised, President Yoweri Museveni told the forum that the Prosperity-for-Allâ-‚programme was aimed at ensuring an income of sh20m per year for every household.
He noted that about $1b had been provided in the new budget to implement the Poverty Eradication Action Plan, of which $137m is under the Democracy and Political Governance programme.
In terms of transformation of society, he noted that Uganda's agriculture declined from 53.9% of GDP in 1986 to 21% today. Industry at the other hand rose from 16% to 24%, while services went up from 30% to 49%.
On concerns that the Presidential term limits had been abolished, Museveni said: "Given the history of Uganda, it was clear that there were no strong institutions that could carry out the necessary programmes that the NRM Government had initiated."
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