With 530 MPs, 82 ministers, and thousands of other personnel on public payroll but whose real contributions to the country’ progress cannot be measured, many areas of duplication, wastefulness, and pervasive corruption, yet plenty of resources, Uganda probably deserves neither pity nor World Bank (WB) loans. There are faint-hearted quislings who falsely believe that foreign aid and loans are indispensable, yet it is possible to do without, but only if we enforced better planning and prioritization, frugality, transparency, strict accountability, effective implementation and supervision of plans and projects to the desired results.
Following the promulgation the 1995 constitution to accommodate antagonistic views, Uganda has built an exceptionally bloated, wasteful, and clearly unproductive public bureaucracy. It’s time to consider areas to downsize, but unfortunately very few can bell the cat yet shed crocodile tears over sluggish progress and socio-economic transformation. With expanded transport network, literacy, technology and digital communication, Uganda could do with fewer political structures than are today, all feeding from the public trough. We could, with a few exceptions auction the huge fleets of government vehicles and entitled public officers are provided for like MPs.
Other countries, perhaps less endowed with land, natural resources, weather, and population than Uganda like Cuba and Iran have withstood imperial strangulations for six decades now. They are not only developing and relatively prosperous, but provide aid to some countries being supported by the so-called international ‘donors’. Clearly, the bigger problems are with Ugandans to resolve, starting with the mindset. Ugandans should not seek to live in affluence and wastage when they cannot produce quality things by themselves yet whine about the slavery treatment they receive from presumed benefactors.
The fickle reason advanced by the WB, and others to halt future loan and grant considerations to Uganda over the recently enacted anti-LGBTQ+ law, should, in fact be a silver-lining below the dark cloud and compel government into fiscal consolidation and discipline. It’s fickle because the enactment of the law and before, there hasn’t been any reported case of harassment or discrimination of LGBTQ+ persons in Uganda. And well, WB has previously frozen lending to Uganda over myriad of issues, some very flimsy. It’s possible it’s under pressure from LGBTG+ groups hence issuing a hasty statement not supported by any evidence over an abhorrent lifestyle that is still contested including in western countries.
It’s necessary to point out that in the economic and financial realm, the WB, dubiously named International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have since inception in 1946 been the front-men for US and Europe’s dominance. It’s the reason WB and IMF top dogs are exclusively American and European respectively, and have very little, if any, with serving the universal good. Of the fifteen WB presidents since 1945, the profiles of John J. McCloy (1947-49) former Secretary of War, Robert McNamara (1968-81) former Secretary of Defence under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, and Paul Wolfowitz (2005-6) a deputy Defence Secretary and architect of the Iraq war are pointers. But greedy Wolf, fell abruptly in a huge sex scandal wish Shaha Riza, Libyan woman and WB staff.
Some of the West’s closest and rich allies publicly executed homosexuals in 2022, yet continue to receive accolades. While the anti-LGBTQ+ law is being fronted, it is only for political correctness. In reality the fight is much bigger, deeper, and could even get bloody because no fading empires have gone down quietly. Currently, President Yoweri Museveni and other African leaders are on an aggressive campaign to re-set centuries-old Western one-way dominance and exploitation of Africa in trade, investments and geo-political relations that keeps much of Africa a pauper.
President Museveni in particular, has been and continues to mobilize Ugandans, and Africa to stop exporting raw materials because it denies us true value, employment, revenues, skills and technology transfer, while making us completely dependent on outsiders. With such a stance, Museveni becomes a target for blackmail. President Museveni has stopped the export of raw minerals especially gold, iron ore, uranium, oil and petroleum among others, and as well unprocessed agricultural produce like milk, beef, cocoa and coffee which may all soon require enactment of laws and the west isn’t amused.
All these, if well coordinated and implemented as should be throughout Africa, and the global South the main producers and suppliers of cheap raw goods will certainly disadvantage, if not ruin the prevailing Western dominated World order. And surely the West will seek to withdraw the little support they currently offer, and impose sanctions as well. Therefore, the WB strike at Uganda must be seen from a broader perspective, and not just LGBTQ+ disputes.
The west, aided by local poodles have run a global web of lies and manipulation which presented Chinese as insidious spies, Russians as evil mobsters, Muslims as terrorists, and Africans as murders and dictators. They present themselves as world heroes fighting for justice to save humanity. To survive and triumph, Africa collectively must strengthen and coordinate internal resistance.
The writer is the Executive Director of the Uganda Media Center
