Strikes &Demonstrations Exhibit Policy Contradictions!

Makerere Universitiy has been closed due to a sit down strike by lecturers over pay. Kyambogo University until recently saw its lecturer go on strike and in all these seemingly "unruly and unpatriotic" demonstrations of resentment by our academics, students are the most affected and therefore justified to support those who impart knowledge in the future leaders. Gulu University has threated to follow suit just like the Medical Doctors in all National Referal Hospitals.

The motivation of the growing resentment is just one:Public Irresponsiveness. The Ministry of Finance, Dr.Ezra Suruma recently confirmed that his ministry has budgeted for the comfort of our members of Parliament who have already hinted on their expectations to the tune of shillings 20bn to share among themselves. Each member of parliament expects a minimum of shs.60million for the purchase of a powerful 4WD car to ease transport on our very bad roads. The minister is a potential beneficiary as an Ex-Official of this parliament like many pot-bellied politicians and other Presidential appointees. This is tax payers money in a very banana country with banana people. The fact that the state is strongly fused and almost homogenous in function means there is unity by the political elite to exclusively sit on the national dining table. The Public Service of Uganda today is diverting alot of develoment resources to nurse the egos of its redundat human resource because the services we expect from the state/government as a mandate are not forth-coming. It means the government cannot deliver services to the people but has money for politicians to share among themselves. Ugandans hate this buffoonery and are watching. Imagine what shs.20bn can do amidst this energy crisis.

MUK Students carry an injured Colleague.

I read in the media recently that an Indian firm TATA was planning to set up a $20m plant to manufacture instant coffee from our organic coffee. This is just twice the money MPs want to share among themselves just for their comfort. How about using the same money and investing a fruit processing plant? How many university graduates would get jobs? Farmers in Busoga or Teso would find market for their agricultural produce?

So far,the strikes are exhibit of a clash between those in the civil service and the public service of Uganda. Uganda today has a huge Public Administration structure which is so expensive to support economically. Politically, this structure can deliver in electoral terms but has serious limits and is predatory.

So strikes and demonstrations from the civil service might be a tip of the ice-bag. The civil service is saying look you say you have money for the luxury of MPs, you must have money for us to afford the increasing cost of living due to inflation. Meantime, the business community which has been hit badly by the enery crisis amidst a sky rocketing taxations regime is still watching,definately with a plan. The energy sector coupled with wrong political decisions are pointing us in a very gloomy direction.

Where the President has reached, he has very few options on his hands. He can't dismantle his political structure to redirect resources to strategic sectors that will calm the public nerve by lowering the cost of doing business because this is political sucuide. It is the most strategic option but requires a total reconfiguration of the political spectrum and therefore a radical shift. This means carrying out surgery on on the constitution of Uganda that grants the legal instruments that legalize the political octopus feeding on the resources meant for service delivery.Almost unaffordable!!!! The possibility of this is founded in the political will and pragmatism of the President and his policy adivsors. If the intentions of the NRM political regime is purely political rather than strategic re-aligment back to the foundation of the revoution it will be very hard for it to come back should the peasants run out of any hope. The political cadreship built on financial incentives does not appreciate the ideological bondage between the peasants and the authors of the rebellion. It is this growing sloppiness that characterizes the bulkiness of the political infrastrcuture. The cost of maintining all political members financially is eating up resources away from sectors that would galvanize and consolidate the support from NRM's most strategic allies.

The other option is to crack hard on demonstrators with the police and military which will technically fault the CHOGM and the country's cartoon democratic credentials in the international community. Good Public Relations does not support this direction except in extreme conditions which still point to a strain in the economy which statistics show but politics deny.We might be headed in the evening days similar to the Mzee Arap Moi's days in Kenya as forces try to take advantage of public slopiness. Everyone wants their share if the government behaves like it has "alot" of money to waste but these simple harmonic motions of having and not having will generate further public resentment. President Museveni, has lots of work to do in these 5 years my dear friends.