Nairobi — THE LATEST GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS index report issued by the World Bank this month says Uganda ranks among the worst places for business on the globe, having maintained a declining trend since 2004 when it scored 3.5 out of 10, and this year, 3.3.

The score is not surprising, but it is disturbing; that in the 21st century a country that was hailed as progressive in the 1990s has sunk to this level.

Uganda is ranked the 6th worst place, competing with Chad, Zimbabwe and Burundi -- nations that have been mired in political and economic quandary for decades and are now just recovering.

The report says Uganda's public and private sectors are riddled with corruption; it mentions the country's poor electricity supply, an ailing transport and internet infrastructure, poor tax rates, and low access to finance.

How did we get here? Voices from the World Bank often speak of government being the high priest in all this.

But it is also evident that Ugandans are not given to demanding a stop to this predatory system.

The business community has been making noises about these issues for far too long. Is there an inherent inability to change things, unlike Kenya and Tanzania that fared better, at 3.8 and 3.4 out of 10, respectively?