The Weekly Observer (Kampala)
Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda
29 October 2008
opinion
I was a speaker at two seminars last week. Makerere University law students invited me to discuss Principal Judge Justice James Ogola's paper on freedom of expression and media in Uganda at their two day annual conference.
The second discussant was David Mafabi, Private Secretary to the President on Political Affairs in charge of institutions and our paper was the first on day two of the conference, Friday October 24th. Prof. Kanyeihamba had spoken on the first day and said the media had done more than lawyers in fighting for human rights.
The media is built around deadlines which is the reason I arrived 15 minutes before the 9 o'clock presentation.
Justice Kibuuka Musoke who stood in for Ogola arrived almost around the same time and so did Mafabi.
The law students from Makerere (host) and their guests from Nkumba and Kampala International University (KIU) who were supposed to supply us with an audience arrived an hour later.
I wanted to blame the students for coming late until I saw the grass whose growth had almost submerged the faculty of law administrative block.
There must be a managerial problem at this faculty. If simple things like cutting the grass remain unattended to what about bigger issues like time keeping. Anyway, I wasn't about to look like I was a bad guest.
I was not surprised that when Mafabi stood up to speak he blamed almost every failure of this government on time.
Mafabi conservatively believes that transformation of society follows a historical chronological evolution from Stone Age, through feudalism, interstate wars, colonialism, capitalism etc.
He is contented with the speed at which this country is growing, sorry, under developing.
At the stage where we are, it is normal to close down newspapers and radio stations, more so because it is happening elsewhere in other post colonial states. It is not a Uganda disease.
If Mugabe becomes a savage and starves his people, it is okay because Zimbabwe is only a few years young compared to Britain. Mafabi shattered my aspiration for a better country.
And readers of this column should understand the frustration of Buganda kingdom which wants to move ahead of Mafabi and his boss.
The desire by those in government to rationalize every one of our failures is part of the reason a seminar to sensitize the subjects of Kabaka about the creation of the present day Buganda was organized on Saturday October 25th at Bulange Mengo. I was one of the speakers.
Betty Nambooze's Central Civic Education Committee (CCEC) organized the seminar presided over by Katikkiro Eng. John Baptist Walusimbi.
Buganda's boundaries and how they came to be was the theme of this seminar coming three weeks after government stopped the Kabaka from touring parts of his Buruuli county on October 7th -8th.
I and Medard Ssegona Karya-amaggwa spoke about the responsibility of every Muganda in safeguarding the kingdom's boundaries.
Someone will think we are crazy discussing tribal boundaries at a time the world is increasingly becoming a global village and discussing global threats like the recession.
This debate has been imposed on us by our revolutionary and visionary Pan African leaders and it is better we resolve it first before we think of East African Community, COMESA or the global village.
If you have a head of state who creates tribal chiefdoms where they didn't exist and has time to install village chiefs, surely you cannot avoid a seminar like we had on Saturday at Bulange.
The seminar was a success and that is why State House stopped CBS from broadcasting all of it which brings me to UMEME. Someone will think they are unrelated subjects but they both show you the level of mismanagement in this country.
I understand the state relinquished the responsibility of distributing power to its people because South Africa's Eskom and London's Globeleq would do it more efficiently. Those who sold our company must now be ashamed.
Can you imagine these two big foreign companies don't even have money to procure meters?
Instead of supplying clients with meters they are busy disconnecting them from the main supply. But even when you get a meter, it takes a century to get bills because they are still "capturing" your data in their system.
This is how some guys came to disconnect our head offices last week after we had made all the payments and waited for the meter since August. Getting a meter was like negotiating for life. I have personally gone through this rough exercise and Energy Minister Daudi Migereko is my wittiness.
Can you imagine Rwanda which experienced that horrendous genocide just recently already has pre-paid meters and Uganda doesn't?
If it was possible, we should have swapped leaders; we get Gen. Paul Kagame and Gen. Yoweri Museveni Kaguta goes to Rwanda. I know Rwandese will not accept because there a few countries that will accept our man; maybe Zimbabwe.
Isn't the failure of UMEME a reflection of the total failure of Museveni to manage our affairs?
There is nothing I hate in this 21st century like seeing an UMEME guy walking on my compound declaring that he has come to check on the electricity meter. I think UMEME is one of the many privatization projects that have gone wrong and the earlier we reverse it the better.
Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda, The author is Political Editor of The Weekly Observer
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