• Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Login
Watchdog Uganda
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News
No Result
View All Result
Watchdog Uganda
No Result
View All Result

DENIS JJUUKO: Uganda at 60: What if Uganda was a human being

Watchdog Uganda by Watchdog Uganda
3 years ago
in #Out2Lunch, Op-Ed
3 0
Denis Jjuuko

Denis Jjuuko

ShareTweetSendShare

On Sunday, Uganda turned 60 years old having received its independence from the British on 9 October 1962. Had Uganda been a person, he would have received his full NSSF pay out five years earlier. If he worked in the Uganda public service, he would either be retired or on contract depending on the agency that employed him.

He would have seen a few of his children graduate from university, start marriages and dropping off grandchildren over the weekend or as often as they needed a willing nanny at no pay! And like most Ugandans, he would be begging his children that haven’t given birth to hurry up so he could have a chance to see some of his grandchildren before he dies.

And again like most Ugandans he would be considering relocating to his country home, leaving the city to the young and furious. Had he made some money, he would have set up a home somewhere else, and rent out the other house in preparation for retirement where once in a while he would invite friends for drinks and reminisce about the good old days.

He would start a farm somewhere and plant a few trees. Build some rentals and join a few boards as a non-executive director. Life would be good. He would be proud of his accomplishments, the policies and project he initiated. And how they changed the world even though those achievements may be invisible to many others.

He would be quick to mention where his children are especially those who live and work in London, Johannesburg or Boston, those practicing as doctors and engineers or on their post graduate courses in elite universities.

But there is also a Ugandan who would be calling everyone they know right now, as he turns 60, and facing retirement contemplating on what to do to remain on the job. A letter to his superior to extend his stay on the job or copying the former Chief Justice by swearing an affidavit to lower his age would be on the cards.

Another Ugandan would become captive to his children who are now his ‘retirement investment.’ The children will decide when he sees a doctor or whether the young offspring he got with his mistress would go to school.

He would feel abandoned and terrified and only name dropping the bigwigs he used to chill out with in the cities but who no longer answer their phones whenever he calls pretending to be too busy. He would mention the flight to New York or Tokyo for a conference and how good life was in Toronto when he visited. Unable to buy waragi for his new friends, their attention would quickly turn to the young man preparing for his 2026 bid for parliament. He can after all buy beer.

And for those below 60, parliament and elective office has become one of the most lucrative forms of employment competing at the same time with those who retired. If they don’t fight over votes in parliament to represent the country in the East African assembly, they are laying out strategies to become councilors at all levels.

Not to be like their retiring parents, those in employment, spend all their time looking for every possible way to have rental income. Buildings are going up in all sorts of suburbs but on salaries that can barely pay school fees for just one child in an average school.

Those who aren’t ‘lucky’ enough to be building rentals are surviving by the grace of God having mortgaged themselves to the bones. Salary advance is the order of the day. Those who had invested in businesses, Covid-19 disrupted their plans. The restructured loans have matured again and banks are foreclosing on them.

As Uganda celebrates its 60th anniversary, 12,000 schools according to the government owned newspaper are on forced sale. It is plausible that in the next few years, nobody will be investing in schools anymore. So where will those who will be 60 in the year 2082 have studied?

Without a functioning education system that is affordable for all, even the poorest of policies wouldn’t be put on the table for debate. There will be no debate actualy. Everyone will be for themselves. So if government wants to create impact for the next 60 years, it must start by fixing the education system—a catalyst for growth of all the other sectors.

The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com


Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
Share1Tweet1SendShare

Related Posts

Dr. Ayub Mukisa (Ph.D.)
Conversations with

Dr. Ayub Mukisa: For Parish Development Model to have impact in Karamoja, Government needs to partner with NGOs

4th July 2025 at 09:10
Ms Irene Naikaali Ssentongo,Country Director, 
The Hunger Project – Uganda
Conversations with

OP-ED: Epicenters of progress, accelerating the Parish Development Model

3rd July 2025 at 20:10
Phillip R. Ongadia
Op-Ed

PHILLIP R. ONGADIA: NRM joint campaign: The party’s fault line

3rd July 2025 at 18:58
Next Post

Archbishop Kaziimba castigates Church of England for advocating for same - sex marriage

  • Prostitution in Uganda- Courtesy Photo

    10 dangerous hotspots known for prostitutes in Kampala

    1110 shares
    Share 444 Tweet 278
  • LIST: New salary structure for civil servants starting July 2020 out; scientists, lecturers get juicy pay rise

    2286 shares
    Share 914 Tweet 572
  • Silent Billionaire Bosco Muwonge Buys Mukwano Arcade at UGX 250 Billion Cash Down

    29 shares
    Share 12 Tweet 7
  • Uganda’s Billionaires 2025: Once Again Sudhir Ruparelia Leads a Resilient Pack

    43 shares
    Share 17 Tweet 11
  • LIST : Gov’t releases Revised Salary Structure for Teachers, Police, and Prisons Staff for FY 2024/2025

    119 shares
    Share 48 Tweet 30
Facebook Twitter

Contact Information

Watchdog Uganda is a portal for solution journalism, trending news plus cutting edge commentaries in the fields of politics, security, business, tourism, entertainment, technology, agriculture, climate change, environment, public health et al. We also give preference to Ugandan community news and topical discussions. The portal also publishes community news and topical discussions.

Email: editorial@watchdoguganda.com
To Advertise:Click here

Latest News

Hon. Raphael Magyezi

Yara East Africa and Asili Agriculture Launch Agri-Hub in Kiryandongo to Advance Farmer Knowledge and Food Security in Uganda

4th July 2025 at 19:06
Chancellor of Jinja Diocese and Bishop’s Secretary, Fr. Gerald Mutto

Preparations for St. Gonzaga Gonza Day celebrations complete 

4th July 2025 at 17:54

Check out

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Minister Muruli Mukasa

LIST: New salary structure for civil servants starting July 2020 out; scientists, lecturers get juicy pay rise

24th May 2020 at 10:45
Pregnant woman

Shock as 17-year old boy impregnates his two sisters during Covid-19 lockdown 

17th June 2020 at 08:17
Sudhir Ruparelia is set to speak at business forum in United Kingdom

Billionaire Sudhir’s wisdom on how to invest in real estate

0

How a boy’s destiny turned from cotton grower to communications guru

0
Hon. Raphael Magyezi

Yara East Africa and Asili Agriculture Launch Agri-Hub in Kiryandongo to Advance Farmer Knowledge and Food Security in Uganda

4th July 2025 at 19:06
Chancellor of Jinja Diocese and Bishop’s Secretary, Fr. Gerald Mutto

Preparations for St. Gonzaga Gonza Day celebrations complete 

4th July 2025 at 17:54

© 2025 Watchdog Uganda

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News

© 2025 Watchdog Uganda