I congratulate all of you on the attainment of
the 50 years of independence.
I wish all of you a happy future.
Before I talk about the last 50 years, let me
first talk about Uganda. There is
a wrong but pervasive idea that Uganda was created by the British in 1894. Even some official documents propagate
this lie. I have tried several
times, in the past, to dispel this lie.
Let me try again.
Before the emergence of the present dynasties
(the Kabakas, the Bahinda, the Bashambo, the Babiito, etc), Uganda had become
one kingdom when Ruyonga and Ishaza formed an alliance, through the marriage of
the former’s daughter called Nyamate, to the latter. Ishaza and Nyamate produced Isimbwa (Simbwa among the
Baganda). Isimbwa succeeded Ruyonga
and his capital was in Bigo bya Mugyenyi in the present day Sembabule district. Isimbwa, eventually went to Bunyoro and
produced a boy child with Nyinamwiru, Bukuku’s daughter. The boy was the famous Ndahura (Ndawula
in Luganda). Isimbwa went to
Bukiri (Lango and Acholi). He,
later, abdicated to his son Ndahura.
By this time, Ankore, Buganda, Bunyoro, Bukiri were one kingdom, under
Ndahura. One of the Bachwezi,
Kyomya, had children with a Mukiri woman called Nyatwooro, daughter of Rabongo. The children were: Nyarwa, Isingoma, Mpuga Rukidi, Kato
Kimera, Kintu and Kiiza. These
legends may not be exact in terms of details. They, however, give a general outline of the linkages of our
peoples. The shared Bachwezi names
say it all: Isimbwa, Ndahura (Ndawula), Kagoro, Mukasa (Mugasha), Kyomya,
Wamara, Mugyenyi, etc. Archaeology
confirms this history. The
excavations at Bigo and Ntutsi confirm that there were huge settlements at
those sites by 1350 AD and 900 AD, respectively. There were huge cities there (Endembo). Who were the
kings there? Certainly they were
not the present dynasties of Buganda, Bunyoro or Ankore. Who, then, were they?
When we restored the traditional leaders, it
was our expectation that the cultural institutions would delve into these
obvious linkages among our peoples instead of promoting tribal chauvinism.
It was not just that the kingdoms and the chiefdoms
of Uganda had linkages among themselves, it is also true that what is now
Uganda had close and organic links with the Coast of East Africa, with Congo
and with South Sudan. As I have
pointed out some time back, the excavations at Ntutsi and Bigo retrieved cowrie
shells (ensimbi) and glass beads (enkwanzi). Cowrie shells could only come from the ocean and there is no
ocean in Uganda. Where, then, did
the cowrie shells come from?
Obviously, it was from the ocean.
Which ocean? The Indian Ocean,
because, at that time, the route to the Atlantic ocean, through Congo, was not
open. It is Stanley who opened
that route in 1874.
Uganda was not manufacturing glass beads. Where did they come from? They were coming from India as well as from the Middle East
and passing through Zanzibar. The
oneness and linkages of the African peoples in this Region is further
illustrated by the dialects, the languages, the clan system and other aspects
of culture.
On this occasion, let me just mention
something on the clans, dialects and languages. Take my Basiita sub-clan. I call it sub-clan because it belongs to the bigger cluster
of clans known as Abagahe. All
these clans have a totem of the striped cows ─ black stripes against a
background of a brown skin. Such a
cow is known as Ngoobe in Runyankore and Lubombwe in
Luganda. My sub-clan, the Basiita,
is found in Kigezi (especially Rukungiri), Ankore, Tooro, Bunyoro, in Tanzania
(Karagwe, Buhaya, Bujinja, etc.) and in Rwanda. In Bukonjo, the Basiita are called Baswaaga. In Buganda, they are called Ab’ ente,
with the same totem ─ the striped cow.
In Sironko, there is a whole parish, known as Busiita. Dr. Wabudeya belongs to this clan. The late Rev. Engola Etwai of Lango
belonged to the cow clan. In
Tanzania, there is a Minister in the present Government, Dr. Anna
Tibaijuka. She belongs to this
clan as did the late Cardinal Rugambwa.
The former President of Burundi, Batista Bagaza, apparently, belongs to
the Basingo clan, the clan of the Rt. Hon. Eriya Kategaya. The Basiita clan, of course, also is
found in the DRC, the Bunia area.
There is the Bahinda clan, their totem is a monkey. They became the ruling clan in Ankore, in
Tanzania (in the areas of Karagwe, Buhaya, Bujinja, Busuubi and Buha in Kigoma)
after the collapse of the Bachwezi Dynasty. That is why you find a number of Ruhindas in Tanzania.
Coming to the dialects and languages, you hear
a lot of untruths on this subject.
You hear that Uganda has got “a lot” of languages. Where are these “many” languages? In fact, there are only four languages
in Uganda: the Bantu dialects; Luo; Karimojong-Ateso; and Lugbara-Madi. This is why I never use translators in
most of the Bantu speaking areas.
Somebody speaking Rukiga, Runyoro, Rutooro, Luganda, Lusoga, Luruuli,
Lunyala, Lugweere, Runyambo, Ruhaya, Rujinja, Lunyole or Ruhema of Congo is,
actually, speaking Runyankore in a certain way, slightly different from the way
I speak Runyankore, but perfectly intelligible to me. With Kinyarwanda-Kirundi, mutual intelligibility is about
50%. With Lumasaaba- Lusamya and
Rukonjo ─ most of the words are the same but pronounced differently or
sometimes used differently. Take
the word ─ enyena. In most
of the Bantu dialects of this area, the word, enyena, is used to mean ─ a
calf or young cow that has not produced a baby cow. However, in Lumasaaba, it is also used to mean a dog
puppy. This makes it so funny to a
Runyankore speaker. The Bagisu
call a puppy ─ inyana yimbwa.
The Banyankore call a puppy ─ ekibwaana and use the word enyena
to apply only to a pre-mothering cow.
The Bagisu also use the word hugona (kugona in Runyankore)
to mean to sleep just like the Nyakyusa of South Western Tanzania. In Runyankore, kugona means to
snore. In the same way there are
similarities among the Bantu dialects, there are also similarities among the
Luo dialects (Acholi, Langi, Alur, Japadhola, Luo of Kenya, Labwor, Anuak of
Ethiopia, etc); Karimajong-Ateso, the Ateker group, which also includes the
Turkana of Kenya, the Rendille of Ethiopia, the Kakwa and the Bari of South
Sudan; and the Lugbara-Madi which include some of the dialects of South Sudan
which I have not studied except for the Lugbaras and Madis who are found in Congo
and South Sudan.
Apart from the similarities among the Bantu
dialects, there are also linkages between Bantu languages and the Luo, Lugbara-Madi
and Karimojong-Ateso. The Oyima
clan of Lango, the clan of the late President Obote, means the Bahima
clan. The Bahima are the cattle
keeping portion of the populations of Karagwe, Ankore, Bunyoro, Tooro, parts of
Congo, etc. The word Lubaala
means anthem in Acholi. In
Luganda, the word Omubala means clan anthem. The word Wankachi used to describe one of the gates
in the Kabaka’s palace is known as Wang-kac in Luo meaning the main
gate. The word: Oyaa in
Lugbara means syphilis. In
Runyankore, syphilis is known as: ebihooya. The word nyaara in Luo means daughter. The Bantu speakers know what that word
means.
My question, then, is: if you say that Uganda
was created by the British in 1894, did the British create these similarities
and linkages? The answer is,
obviously a big “no”. The people
of this area are either similar or linked. At some stage, according to the oral history, a big chunk of
them were even governed together as I already said. In any case, they were always trading together ─ all the way
to the River Congo in the West and to the Indian Ocean in the East. The kingdoms that colonialism found in
the area, were, sometimes, fighting each other but, sometimes, co-operating
with one another.
Indeed, on page 300 of Hannington Speke’s
Book: The Discovery of the Source of the Nile, Kamurasi made the
following comments to Speke:
“After arriving there,
and going through the usual salutations, Kamurasi asked us from what stock of
people we came, explaining his meaning by saying, “as we, Rumanika, Mtesa, and
the rest of us (enumerating the kings), are Wawitu (or Princes), Uwitu (the
country of the Princes) being to the east”.
Kamurasi was referring to Rumanyika of
Karagwe, Tanzania, as his brother and Mutesa as his son. Therefore, all these were fraternal
kingdoms that at some stage were governed together. However, even at this stage, following the disintegration of
the old kingdom, Bunyoro was still a very large kingdom, covering an area that
could not be smaller than the present day Uganda.
On page 277 of the same book, Speke was trying
to intimidate Kamurasi’s official known as Kijwiiga, mis-pronounced as ‘Kidgwiga’,
by saying that if the latter did not open the way for them to Gani, they would
combine with Mutesa (Mtesa) and the latter’s rebellious brothers such as
Ruyonga and fight him. Kijwiiga
answered as follows:
“Nonsense! Kamrasi is
the chief of all the countries around here ─ Usoga, Kidi, Chopi, Gani, Ulega,
everywhere; he has only to hold up his hand and thousands would come to his
assistance”.
Gani must either be West Nile or South-Sudan
and Ulega (Bulega) is Congo. Bukiri
is the traditional name the Banyankore, Baganda, Banyoro and Basoga people give
Lango and Acholi region. In the foregoing quotation, Bukiri was mispronounced
as Kidi. In the colonial times when the Banyankore cattle keepers
were going to those areas to work after tse-tse flies had killed their cattle
in Ankore, we would say: “Bakaza Bukiri
– they went to Bukiri. Therefore,
this idea that Uganda did not exist until the British came it, is
nonsense. In fact, colonialism
interfered with the wider Commonwealth of these kingdoms and chiefdoms, from the
River Congo, Ituri forest and the swamps of South Sudan to the Indian Ocean
Coast at Zanzibar. The only
problem was the greed and narrow mindedness of the kings and the chiefs. Moreover, we are even luckier that our
people at the Coast distilled a non-tribal dialect from these many dialects
known as Swahili. Swahili is a
Bantu dialect that is non-tribal and was enriched by words from Arabic,
Portuguese, etc.
The fact that such untruths can persist and be
propagated even in schools and universities not to mention newspapers, media
houses, churches, the traditional institutions which were resurrected at great
sacrifice to our lives and time, etc, shows the first problem that afflicted
independent Uganda. This was the problem of ideological
disorientation.
Was the economic, social and political space
created by Uganda good or bad for the producers of Uganda? During the launch of the patriotic
clubs in 2009, I answered this question.
My prosperity as a Munyankore is not just because of the Banyankore; it
is, mainly, because of the people of Kampala (Ugandan or otherwise) that buy my
milk, my beef and my matooke. Actually, most Banyankore do not buy my milk
because they also produce milk except the ones living in the towns. The Banyankore only help me to generate
enough volumes of milk for ease of marketing and processing. It is only the parasitic interests that
are not engaged in production that do not appreciate the importance of
Uganda. Also the uninformed may
not see the importance of Uganda.
Most of the problems Uganda has had since independence in 1962 were
springing from the pushing of these parasitic interests. There was also the issue of the poor or
no sensitization of the masses so that the parasites are isolated. The ideological disorientation of so
many actors was, therefore, problem number one of Uganda.
This ideological disorientation led to problem
number two ─ the inability to restructure the colonial state to the chagrin of
Ugandans. Without a nationalist
ideology, it was impossible to, for instance, build a national Army. Sectarianism that was being manipulated
by colonialism could not produce a national Army. The Governments that took over after independence, trying to
rely on these sectarian Armies that had little or no education, created a
dangerous booby-trap for our country.
In time, that booby-trap exploded with tragic consequences for our
people. Since Independence, about
800,000 Ugandans have died on account of political violence, mainly, in the
form of extra-judicial killings by indisciplined Armies. In Luwero, we have 32 mass graves, each
with about 2,000 skulls and other skeleton parts. That is why point number two (2) of the NRM Ten-Point
Programme that was, finally, promulgated at Kanyaara in the Luwero Triangle
talked of security of persons and property. Extra-judicial killings, impunity on the part of security
forces, poaching of animals in the National Parks, looting of people’s property,
etc., were the order of the day.
The NRM addressed this by targeting and destroying the old colonial Army
and replacing it with an Army that is based on patriotism which despises
sectarianism. Of course, it is
also an Army that is led by educated people. Hence, its heroic performance on the battle fields. The UPDF has solved one strategic
bottleneck ─ insecurity of persons and property.
Apart from the two strategic bottlenecks above
─ ideological disorientation and a criminal state ─ there are eight (8) other
strategic bottlenecks independent Uganda had to deal with. These were:
i.
attacking
the private sector;
ii.
an
undeveloped human resource;
iii.
inadequate
infrastructure that causes the costs of doing business in the economy to go up
thereby rendering our products un competitive and undermines the profitability
of investments by having the said high costs;
iv.
a
small internal market caused by the political balkanization of Africa;
v.
lack
of industrialization;
vi.
an
undeveloped services sector;
vii.
underdevelopment
of agriculture; and
viii.
lack
of democracy.
Attacking the private sector arose from a
mistaken view among some of the leaders.
Some people thought that altruism was universally and equitably
distributed. They thought that
everybody, inspired by altruism, was able to work diligently and devotedly even
if he was working for the State.
They did not believe in the story of the ‘hired hand who runs away from the wolf when it comes to attack the
sheep unlike the owner of the sheep that will defend them even at the cost of
his own life’. This is from
the Gospel according to Saint John 10:12.
This was a failure to understand the nature of the majority of human
beings. What will make a human
being work devotedly? Can he/she
work devotedly for the benefit of others as he/she would work for
himself/herself? This was a
philosophical question. Are all
human beings Mother Terezas who can be motivated by altruism to work devotedly
for the benefit of others? Many of
the NRM people are, indeed, like Mother Tereza. That is why we could fight all these wars. Who was paying us? However, the majority of human beings
are selfish and ego-centric. They
work best when they work for themselves.
When we are designing a plan for the entire society, it is better to
utilize the ego-centrism of the human beings to build our economy and society. It is not correct to be subjective and
assume that because you are not selfish, the entirety of society is also
selfless. This is not objective
but subjective.
It is better to recognize and utilize private
initiative ─ the entrepreneurial spirit.
In the past, we used to talk of the three factors of production in
economics. These were: land,
capital and labour. It was later,
realized that we needed to add a fourth factor, entrepreneurship ─ private
initiative. I hear that since my
time of studying economics in the 1960s, a fifth factor has been added,
knowledge. As you know,
entrepreneurship and knowledge are both private and personal capabilities. Soon after Independence, influenced by
the success of socialism in the Soviet Union, many African elite declared
socialism of some form ─ ending up with interfering with the private
sector. Here in Uganda, we had
bouts of that which culminated in the expulsion of the Ugandan Asians by Idi
Amin in 1972. This was a big
disservice to Uganda. That is one
of the factors that led Uganda to join the rest of Africa in lagging far behind
Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea, which were far much less endowed than the
African countries, in rapid socio-economic transformation. In Uganda, when our leaders were, in
one way or another, attacking the private sector, in South Korea, General Park
Chung Hee was empowering private groups such as Samsung, Daewoo, Hyundai,
etc. Chinese private groups have
played big roles in building the economies of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia,
etc. Even today, bias against
private enterprise by some political actors, corrupt public servants, etc
interferes with the fast development of Uganda. However, the NRM, under my leadership, has firmly stood
behind the private sector. I am a
socialist by ideology. However, I
long ago realized what Mzee Deng Hsiao Ping of China realized and implemented
since 1978 ─ to use capitalism to build socialism. This is correct and those who inconvenience private
entrepreneurship that is within the law are, knowingly or unknowingly, the new
enemies of Uganda. On account of
our correct stand, by ensuring security of persons and property, as well as
supporting private enterprises, the GDP of Uganda has been growing at the rate
of 6.5 for the last 27 years, the problem of inadequate infrastructure,
especially electricity, notwithstanding.
Now that we are solving the problem of electricity, the economy will
roar at an even much faster rate.
I have no doubt about that.
However, inconveniencing legitimate private entrepreneurship is
un-acceptable.
The next strategic bottleneck was a human resource
that was underdeveloped on account of inadequate education and health
care. These two have been our
priority. In 1986, there were a total of 936 Health facilities all over Uganda,
of which 89 were Health Centre IIIs or their equivalent of that time, 104 were
Health Centre IVs and only 81 were District Hospitals and above. We now have 1,279 Health Centre IIIs,
193 Health Centre IVs and 152 Hospitals (i.e. 135 General Hospitals, previously
called District Hospitals, 17 Referral Hospitals). The private ones are 342
Health Centre IIIs, 23 Health Centre IVs and 88 Hospitals. Our people, in their enthusiasm and
without clearance from the Central Government, went ahead and built 3,549 Health Centre IIs at the
parish. In the recent debate
within the Government and Parliament, our stand of consolidating health care at
HC IIIs and IVs has been re-affirmed.
The salaries and allowances for the doctors at HC IVs have been
increased and will be increased even more in the future. Immunization has been quite successful. That is why infant mortality rate has
declined to 54 out of 1,000 live births from 120 out of 1000 live births in
1986. If only our people could add hygiene, nutrition and disciplined behavior
in sexual matters, we would eliminate 80%
of all sicknesses.
Increase in education has been
phenomenal. Enrolment in primary
schools, is now 8,317,420 pupils
compared to 2,203,824 pupils in
1986; in secondary schools, it is 1,225,326
compared to 123,479 students in
1986; in universities, it is 150,000 students compared to 5,390 students in 1986. We are now working on skills and emphasizing science
education. The problem is now jobs
for the schools and university graduates.
This is a problem but a good one.
We have had very good success in this area in spite of inadequate
resources. This strategic
bottleneck of uneducated population is being addressed by emphasizing skilling
of the youth. We must quickly deal
with the other strategic bottlenecks so that we create jobs for these youth.
Strategic bottleneck number five was
undeveloped infrastructure. By
independence we had only 844 kms of tarmac roads (now we have 3,300 kms), 150
megawatts of electricity and very few towns with piped water, etc. This minuscule infrastructure
deteriorated during the time of Amin.
At least the post independence UPC Government had extended tarmac roads
to new towns such as Mbarara-Kabale, Mbarara-Fort Portal, Kampala-Gulu-Lira,
etc. This infrastructure, however, collapsed during Idi Amin’s time.
By 1986, Jinja was producing only 60
megawatts. The NRM, on account of
depending on external funding up to 2005 for electricity, could not launch its
own aggressive plan. Using
external funding, we had repaired the Nalubaale power station back to its
original capacity of 150 megawatts and later up-graded it to 180 megawatts as
well as built the Kiira power station to the East of the Nile with 200
megawatts if the water to run both is available. That was the end of progress in that sector. External
funders would use every pretext to block projects of electricity. Excuses like
the environment, Egyptian objections and some Basoga spirits would all delay
the construction of a dam. It was
only the creation of the Energy Fund that liberated us from that
blackmail. Uganda is now generating
810 MW.
With Karuma, which we are about to embark on,
we shall be generating 1,885 MW.
By 2014, we shall start generating power using crude oil and gas before
we start using Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) from our oil. Using the Energy Fund we have supported the following
mini-hydro projects to get connected to the grid by supporting their
inter-connection lines: Bugoye (13 MW), Buseruka (9 MW), Mpanga (18 MW) and
Ishasha (6.5 MW). We have also
extended electricity lines to the following Districts: Kibaale, Kyenjojo, Bundibugyo, Kanungu,
Kaberamaido, Amolatar, Aleptong, Oyam, Dokolo, Nakapiripirit, Amudat, Moroto,
Napak, Kyankwanzi in addition to the rural large industries like Tea Factories,
Fish Processing Factories and Mining areas. With reliable electricity, the economy will grow much
faster. Since the switching
on of Bujagali in February 2012, several industries have been connected
consuming about 36 MW and expected to grow to about 56 MW by the end of 2012. The
following new businesses have been connected:
· 101 large and medium scale
businesses;
· 458 commercial enterprises;
· 34,600 domestic users;
· Since June 2012, about
40 large existing businesses have significantly increased their consumption
e.g. Roofings, Hima cement, Tororo cement, Tembo steel, etc;
· The number of domestic
users is also increasing.
With reliable electricity, the economy will
grow much faster. The real march forward has begun.
Strategic bottleneck number six was the small
market created by colonialism.
While British colonialism had seen the wisdom of re-assembling the East
Africa common market which had been fragmented by the competing colonial
interests – German, British, etc, that effort did not include Congo, Rwanda,
Burundi or South Sudan which were part of our old system. Without a big market, you cannot
sustainably produce. Somebody must
buy what you produce. Big markets
are stimulants for production.
Working with our partners, we have revived the East African Community
(EAC) and also created COMESA.
Besides, we have negotiated market access, tariff free and quota free,
with USA, EU, Japan, India and China.
The markets are there. Let
us produce for them. The GDP of
Uganda was USD 1.55 billion in 1986.
It is now USD 20 billion.
The size of the economy has grown by 13 times since 1986. If we succeed in adding value to our
coffee, our cotton, our bananas, our fruits and to our minerals (copper, gold,
cement, iron-ore and phosphates, the size of GDP would jump to USD 155 billion
which would be bigger than South African’s economy by 1994 when Nelson Mandela
took over. Now that we are
beginning to solve the problem of electricity, this is what we are
targeting. Therefore, lack of
industrialization has been strategic bottleneck number seven (7). The cure for this is industrialization. Adding value to our coffee, for
instance, would push the value of our coffee to go up by, at least, ten times –
from USD 400 million to USD 4 billion.
Strategic bottleneck number eight (8) has been
the underdevelopment of services.
In 1963, I drove (kufunya) a
bull on behalf of Mr. Kaguta, my father, from Kikyenkye (Ibanda) to Katebe (10
miles from Mbarara). I was
assisted by another slightly older person. I was 19 years old at that time. Although we had money, we could not get anything to buy on
the way. We could not even buy a
soda from the few shops on the way (e. g. Rubindi) because we had no ‘empties’
– empty bottles. Yet, we did not
have time to stand in the shops so as to drink the soda and finish it in order
to hand back the bottle. We even
offered to put 50 cents down as an extra charge to cover the soda bottle but
the shopkeepers would not agree.
In the end, we quartered for the night at Rweibare, gave money to a mutembuuzi (somebody starting a fresh
garden) to go and buy a bunch of banana from a nearby village, cooked for us
bananas with mere salt so that we could have a sort of breakfast, supper for
the previous night, lunch for the previous day and lunch for that day in that
one meal. Services were poor if
not non-existent at all. Services
have now increased but there is a lot to be done. With the underground and the under sea cables, telephones
are much easier; public transport is more plentiful; hotels and trading centres
are more plentiful today than in 1986 and before.
At independence, there was one capital city, Kampala. There were 13 municipal councils, 27 town
councils and a few trading centres.
What is the situation now?
There is still one city, Kampala – Although Jinja, Mbale, Mbarara, Fort
Portal, etc., are clamouring for city status. There are 22 municipalities, 174 town councils, 197 town boards and very many trading centers
which are not gazatted.
If you take the example of the Kazo-Nyabushozi area that I know well, there were only
two shops at Burunga in 1966 about three shops at Kiruhuura, three shops at
Rushere, etc. There are now big trading
centres at Burunga, Rwemikoma, Kijuma, Mugore, Nshweere, Rushere, Katongore, Bijubwe, Rushoga,
Kyakabunga, etc. All these contain
services – shops, eating houses, telephone agents, etc.
Strategic bottleneck number nine has been the
underdeveloped agriculture. The
British had promoted coffee, cotton, tea and tobacco – crops that were of
interest to the colonial system.
Beyond that, they had no interest in bananas, cattle, maize, millet,
sorghum, irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, etc. In order to modernize agriculture, we
have to undertake the following measures:
improved seeds and breeding stock; improved agro-practices; organic and
inorganic fertilizers; as well as irrigation and water conservation in the
soil. We have made some good
progress in the area of seeds and breeding stock – there are products with high
yields e.g. clonal coffee, improved breeds, etc. What we need is the multiplication of these seeds. Let us take coffee. There are about 6 million homesteads in
Uganda. If four million of them
were to grow one acre of coffee each, when each acre requires 450 trees, that
would mean that we could require 1.8 billion seedlings. When they would mature in 18 months, Uganda
would harvest 18 million bags of 60 kg each. It would be number two or three in the whole world in
the production of coffee depending on the coffee production in Vietnam which
currently produces 17-19 million bags.
Four million acres of land represent only 10% of the whole acreage of
arable land in Uganda, 40 million acres.
Some years ago, we put out plans of 4 acres
per family of small holders planted as follows: One acre of clonal coffee; one acre of fruits (oranges,
mangoes or pineapples); one acre of bananas; and an acre of pasture (elephant
grass) for 6 cattle in the shed (zero-gazing). To this, add poultry, piggery and improved goats in the backyard
of the home. A combination of all these
enterprises would bring in much in excess of the 20 million shillings per annum
we set as a minimum. In the
non-coffee growing areas, we can use fruits. Where possible, e.g.
Busoga, Teso, Lango, some parts of Buganda, some parts of Ankore, fish
ponds should be promoted as well as apiary. In some areas, I am promoting silk rearing. With the above mentioned enterprises,
we are talking about small holders.
The big farmers and the plantation owners have different options:
ranching, cotton growing, tea growing, sugarcane, palm oil, cocoa, etc.
Strategic bottleneck number ten, was lack of
democracy. We have achieved
democracy. However, some people
want to turn our democracy into anarchy, using populism and opportunism. This is injurious,
especially if it creates a feeling of paralysis and crisis. We need disciplined democracy.
You recall the panic that was generated last
year when inflation climbed to 30%.
You remember, that I told you that that inflation was good because it
showed that there was high demand for food and other products. I called on Ugandans to produce more in
order to feed these bigger markets.
As we speak today, inflation is only 5.4%. Shame is on whom – the charlatans or ourselves?
We have identified the above mentioned ten
(10) strategic bottlenecks that Uganda has had to face in the last 50
years. To recapitulate, these are:
i.
ideological
disorientation;
ii.
a
state, especially the Army, that needed restructuring;
iii.
the
suppression of the private sector;
iv.
the
underdevelopment of the human resource;
v.
the
underdevelopment of the infrastructure (the railways, the roads, the
electricity, the telephones, piped water, etc);
vi.
a
small market;
vii.
lack
of industrialization;
viii.
the
underdevelopment of the services sector (hotels, banking, transport, insurance,
etc);
ix.
the
underdevelopment of agriculture; and
x.
the
attack on democracy.
The NRM has long identified all these
bottlenecks and is in the process of addressing each of them. The process of addressing each one of
them has gone some distance. Some
still have a long way to go. On
the ideological plane, we still have groups that are still trying to push
sectarianism and chauvinism. This
matter needs to be concluded. No
group should be allowed to continue on this false path. The NRM stands for four principles:
· nationalism,
· Pan-Africanism,
· Socio-economic
transformation, and
·
democracy.
On the human resource development, we have
gone a long way. What is needed is
more skilling and adequate remuneration of the crucial cadres such as
scientists, judges, teachers, soldiers not to foeget other security personnel as
well as managers.
As far as infrastructure is concerned, this is
a crucial frontline. It is good
that we have now began to focus and have gained some progress on
electricity. We are not going to
relax on this point. We are aiming at 3,500 megawatts in the short-run. Uganda, however, needs something in the
range of about 20,000 megawatts which is the level of electricity a country
like Japan consumes minus what they need for winter or hot summers which
Uganda, fortunately, does not have.
Fortunately, Uganda has the resources ─ hydro-power, fresh water bodies,
good agricultural land, petroleum and gas and other minerals etc. National Planning Authority (NPA) has
found out that we need about US$ 13 billion to push Uganda to a middle income
status. In the last 27 years, the
total amount of aid and loans from outside, from all sources, only amounts to approximately
US$ 17 billion in total. If we are
earning US$ 5 billion per annum from petroleum and gas, we only need three
years to raise the money we need to invest to convert Uganda into a middle income
country.
By dealing with infrastructure, it will be
easier for us to industrialize Uganda.
Good and adequate infrastructure, means low costs of doing business in
Uganda. This means more business
coming to Uganda. This is the key
to industrialization and the modernization of the services.
The plan for modernization of agriculture is,
partially, addressed with our research institutions developing improved seeds
and breeding stock. We need to
multiply these products to meet our planting and stocking needs. With our oil money, we shall deal with
the issues of irrigation and, if the private sector has not shown up, we shall
build the fertilizer factory at Tororo by using Government funds.
However, we need to protect our environment to
ensure the durable productivity of our good land and to maintain reliable rain
patterns. We need to protect the
rivers and the lakes from silting as well as the wetlands because they help us
with transpiration that gives 40% of our rain. The other 60% comes from the oceans (the Pacific). That is why West Nile and Acholi have
more rain than Karamoja although they are on the same latitude. West Nile and Acholi get moisture from
the swamps of South Sudan and the forest of Ituri (Congo).
Although we emancipated the private sector
through liberalization, that sector is still inconvenienced by corruption of
the public servants as well as some elements of the political class and also
the arrogance and the myopia of some elements of the political class. This corruption must stop. As you have seen, the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID) is hot on the trail of the suspected thieves in
various sectors.
In restructuring the State, the NRM mainly
dealt with the Army. Recently, we
have been dealing with the Police and URA. We need to deal with the whole civil service and judiciary
so that we eliminate corruption and anti-private sector attitudes. In my address to the nation recently, I
told you that, in modern economies, apart from peace and security that are
provided by the State, there are two sovereign actors: the investor and the consumer. Without these two, there will be no
sustainable production or wealth creation. The investor encapsulates savings or ability to borrow, entrepreneurial
skills that enable one to identify opportunities to create wealth and has the
ability to deploy the appropriate technology to make quality and price-wise
competitive products. All wise
countries need to attract but not to mishandle these actors – the investor and
the consumer.
Uganda is going to become a first world
country in the next 50 years. We
shall become a middle income country in the next few years. Our GDP per capita is today US$
580. With value addition to our oil,
our coffee, our cotton, our fruits, our maize, our leather, our beef, etc., this
GDP per capita would rise to US$ 2,700 even at the present level of
raw-material production. To become a middle income economy, you
need to have a GDP per capita of at least US$ 1,000. This we can quickly
achieve now that we are solving the problem of electricity. Therefore, in the next 50 years, if we
follow the NRM line, Uganda will become both a middle income country and a first
world country. We have, since some
time now, identified the strategic mistakes. They can be solved.
This Century is Uganda’s Century, it is Africa’s Century. It will be the first time, ever since
the conquest of ancient Egypt by the Persians in the year 525 B.C., that Uganda
and Black Africa will be, in terms of development, at par, or even ahead, of
the most prosperous countries in the world. We have the means, we now know what was lacking and we have
always had the intention to fundamentally transform Uganda.
Long Live Uganda, Long Live Africa.
I thank you all.
