Uganda; a stirring mix of vices and virtues

Way back in 1908, Sir Winston Churchill envied Uganda.

In his book “My African Journey,” he doesn’t waste his appetite for Uganda; he describes her stunning natural beauty, adulatory of the lush landscapes, abundant wildlife, and welcoming people.

He admires our fertile soil, and even believes we could feed the entire continent. And thus, the nickname “Pearl of Africa,” which is still used to describe Uganda today. Could you imagine if habitation changed? However, as our society has evolved, some vices have emerged, requiring immediate public policy interventions.

My friend likes quantifying everything. So, we tried to calculate the man-hours lost due to traffic congestion caused by these bad roads. We estimated roughly 20 man-hours lost per week. This affects productivity. Perhaps this is one reason why Uganda is not meeting certain development targets.

Gaetano Kaggwa has even dubbed us the “Pothole city of the world,” highlighting the challenges of navigating our cratered roads. But are our backs safe? The vehicles in Uganda have built resilience to hold overtime for using roads in Uganda. Maybe that’s the reason garages have mushroomed across our towns. Can we commit to infrastructure development that connects our communities and drives progress?

Our public transport system is another area of concern, characterized by chaos and confusion. Being on time, safety, and sufficient sleep are luxuries for commuters. Ask parents taking their children to school. There is a need for a comprehensive overhaul of this system to ensure efficiency, safety and accessibility for all.

The healthcare system is also facing challenges, with doctors sometimes going on strike due to various issues. The health system can be sick; queues, empty shelves that are in a private drug shop (pharmacy) in Uganda, no essential medicines, scarcity of qualified medical personnel…this list can go on.

With the expected oil revenue, there is an opportunity to prioritize healthcare, investing in facilities, training and preventive measures that will improve the health of Ugandans and reduce the need for medical tourism. Ugandans will live longer, work harder and feed the whole of Africa, and be a serious market for our goods.

Some five important questions resurfaced on our socials a few weeks ago. Trust me, they are worthy of reflection and merit. These guys just prey on the vulnerable with promises of miracles and prosperity, only to leave their flock spiritually and financially bankrupt; you guys are tactfully making a worth out of us.

God’s case no appeal! Now we are appealing using Psalms.10: 12-14 and the five questions. We can masquerade as men of the cross, of the cloth and the Good Book to sow seeds of discord and disillusionment, poisoning the well of faith. It’s possible to create a landscape of a diverse religious landscape but one that is truly for God and my country.

Even the bars, too, should join the choir of silence during rest hours!

We earlier agreed that trash talk is cheap and actions are louder. Now let us untangle the pandemic of plastic and polythene pollution. It has choked our environment like a suffocating embrace.

I love Kampala but her streets with plastic waste it away. But the pandemic has spread everywhere; plastic waste has become a ubiquitous blight, threatening our ecosystems and endangering our wildlife. It’s time to clean up our act, embracing sustainable alternatives and implementing strict regulations to curb this environmental menace.

Now there is some moral pollution that has plagued our land; it corrodes our society – corruption. It’s like a stubborn stain. Corruption seeps into every fibre of a Ugandan. Experienced from a taxi driver to undermining our institutions and eroding trust in our leaders.

However, there’s cause to celebrate; each Ugandan needs to have a CV of resilience, unity, and hope. We can actually become so patriotic without an ID and harness the power of our diversity to forge a path forward that is inclusive and sustainable.

At the policy level, we have well-crafted policies that need proper implementation. As we wait for oil money, we can implement these policies to create a brighter future; improved infrastructure and efficient public services, safe communities and the environment, and genuine faith.

You also know the vices not listed here we can mitigate. The progenies of Churchill will visit Uganda as tourists, Africa will be fed from here and development partners, envying the Uganda we all call home.

The author is a social critic