Your mail: Attacking only CAA is hypocrisy 

It is of great concern that almost everybody that has the means is actively participating in ostracising the Civil Aviation Authority operators at Entebbe Airport for being corrupt.

Whereas what has been alleged against some individuals is unacceptable, there is a lot of dis ingenuity about our acceptance of corruption in this country.

Let us ask a random traffic officer how many people would exchange a bribe for a speeding ticket. Or a random Officer in Charge at a police station on how much people would be willing to pay to “kill”a case before it goes to court.

Check public hospitals and Ugandans will try to find out “how to quicken things” on their own even before anybody asks for anything.

Corruption is what we breathe as a country and either you turn a blind eye or participate in order to “get things done.”

Therefore, the hullabaloo about CAA officials at the Entebbe International Airport is just an extension of what our society has become. The bitter truth is that we are all cut from the same cloth My philosophy lecturer at Makerere University, Dr. Spire Sentongo one time told us that throwing a random stone in Kampala has a great chance of striking a thief.

That is what we have become as a society, where a bribe here and there may be the easiest way of having things unfold according to one’s terms.

We are just picking the speck in the eyes of others with a vision that is so blurred because of the logs in our own eyes. We are part of the same hypocrisy.

Andrew Kasumba
Kampala

Keep girls in school

Presently, many children do not have the opportunity to learn, especially if they are girls. This is due to different circumstances.

Children living in poverty face many barriers to education, although the stakes are higher for the girl child and even in areas where parents don’t have to pay school fees.

Parents often rely on girls’ income to support the household, and paying for a girl school fees is seen as a waste of money. There are thousands of girls in Uganda who are currently not enrolled in school, and yet investing in their futures has the potential to uplift their families out of poverty.

When girls receive quality education, they see the benefits in all aspects of their lives. Women who complete secondary education are less likely to experience intimate partner violence and they report higher levels of psychological well-being.

They go on to make higher incomes, and their families’ standards of living are enhanced. Girls who miss out on education are more likely to experience early pregnancy, malnourishment, domestic violence, and pregnancy complications.

Therefore, keeping girl child in school will not only deal with the root causes of poverty and underdevelopment, but also support economic growth and promote peace.

Shadia Nakazibwe
nakazibweshadia61@gmail.com

Parents need to raise children

Many schools are set to open for the first term next week as the ministry of Education and Sports academic calendar stipulates. All parents have been with these learners at home for a long time -more than two months.

Anyone from the academic field would ask whether parents have inculcated some behaviours in these students that promote discipline. It would be good if parents did their supreme role of nurturing children for life.

To burden the teachers who associate with these learners for just few years interval of the academic level to instill all the needed characters is being short-sighted. I would wish to inform the parents that they must be able to ascertain that they will be with their children longer than the school time.

So, shifting the responsibility to the teachers does not work anymore in such a demanding world. Therefore, sending fees to schools without extra effort invested in raising disciplined and responsible children is not enough.

And, I implore all parents that before filling to capacity the metallic or leather suit cases of these teenagers at secondary schools with eats and pocket money in whatever amount, and other added advantages, package discipline and cultural values that characterize their humanity.

Timothy Kitasse
0775852575

RDCs have performed well

As the NRM celebrates 37 years of leadership, the population needs to know that the government has done so much to bring services closer.

For example, it is now possible to move from border to border on a good tarmac road; this wasn’t the case before. Now the biggest issue is with the community access roads, which are supposed to be maintained frequently by districts.

One of the wise decisions that the President Museveni made was to appoint Resident District Commissioners and their deputies.

These ones have helped the central government to keep the local governments in check, especially on issues of accountability and making sure that there is value for money in all the projects that the central government and the local governments funds.

If the office of the RDC was absent, public funds would be squandered. Whereas people still embezzle these funds, it difficult in instances where the RDC gets to know about it; many people end up in prison while others lose their jobs.

Vigilant communities have always reported shoddy work to the office of the RDC and the RDC usually intervenes. Unfortunately, in situations where the RDC stops corrupt cartels, they have always found a problem with politicians who make false reports against them. In the end, the RDC is usually transferred to another district, offering an opportunity to thieves to execute their heist.

Sam Evidence Orikunda
Sheema District

Oil communities should not be ignored

Recently, when President Museveni launched the Kingfisher oil field in Buhuka, Kyangwali sub-county, Kikuube district, he encouraged Ugandans, especially the oil affected communities to engage in agriculture in order to tap oil and gas opportunities by providing enough food to the sector.

This was a good idea by the president but it will not help the oil affected people if not supported financially in terms of markets, extension services.

The oil affected communities need to engage in green economic activities such as agriculture, tourism, afforestation, renewable energy and others.

These activities will help to reduce the big pressure imposed on the forest and wetlands for fire wood; it will help to absorb the emissions that are expected to be produced by the oil and gas sector; and it will provide food for families in the oil and gas sector, as well as creating jobs for many Ugandans.

Under the agricultural sector, the government needs to engage the oil affected communities on eco-friendly activities such as tree and fruit growing, fish rearing, poultry as well as bee keeping.

Also, the oil companies need to ensure that contracts for supplying food are ring-fenced for the oil communities. It is noted that most of the contracts that have so far been given out, were awarded to rich individuals with no social contract with the local oil communities.

Paul Kato
Kikuube district

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