As we close the year 2023 and look towards 2024, one wonders if a change in the date will make any difference to the state of our nation. Ugandans have struggled with the roads in Kampala during 2023, but there is no indication that things will Improve in the year to come. A letter from the African Development Bank has been widely circulated indicating that funds which had been allocated for the repair of roads in the city are about to be withdrawn because the conditions for the loan have not been met, including land compensation for the sum of 41 billion shillings. This amount is considerably less than the 193 billion which Parliamentarians allocated themselves as extra allowances in 2023, plus the 2.8 billion for ceremonial cars for the Speaker and her deputy, and a further 2.5 billion for new vehicles for old Speakers.
There does not seem to be much fiscal responsibility by Parliamentarians in the prioritization of such items at the expense of more basic needs such as fixing our roads. In Uganda it would appear that the privileged few get what they want at the expense of the voiceless many. This profligate spending is accompanied by ever increasing pressure on the Uganda Revenue Authority to collect more money from taxpayers to foot the bill. I sometimes imagine that we must be living in parallel universes – with the political elite inhabiting one Uganda and the rest of us living in a different reality. In one version people have brand new top of the range chauffeur driven Land Cruisers to ride out the potholes, while in the other the common man struggles through broken down roads trying to preserve his tires and shock absorbers, all the time knowing that his taxes are paying for the elite in the other world to ride around in luxury cars. Worse still, the tax authorities are put under so much pressure to collect increasing amounts of cash for these spurious expenditures, they end up strangling businesses and thus slowly throttling the economy -which is the goose that lays the golden eggs.
We made a change more than a decade ago to reorganize the politics of Kampala and appoint a ‘strong’ executive director, plus more Ministers for Kampala, in order that Central Government would have more say, but it seems that Central Government has lost interest, and the last state is worse than the first because now we have more people on the payroll with worse results. Also, if our representatives in Parliament can allocate themselves allowances, and ignore the state of our capital city what does that say about the priorities of those who are supposed to be representing us? The sad part is that there is no indication of a change of heart of our politicians or civil servants to exercise more fiscal discipline and fulfill the social contract.
With the worsening state of Kampala, one would expect an outcry led by ‘His Worship the Lord Mayor’, followed by all the other divisional mayors and the several hundred Kampala councilors, but I don’t hear anything – it is as if the state of Kampala has nothing to do with them. One would also expect a strong lobby from the Executive Director, and all the Ministers for Kampala, clamoring for the reallocation of budgets in order that the city can function, but I hear a deafening silence. It leaves one wondering what all these elected representatives and civil servants are paid for.
The over-representation of an ineffective and self-preserving political establishment might be OK in a country which can afford it, but we are a poor country, so when we give up our meagre resources to one small section of the population at the expense of providing basic services for the many, it causes frustration, anger and resentment. If the bloated number of politicians, Mayors, Ministers and the KCCA Executive were actually delivering, there would not be an issue, but as things stand at the end of 2023 it is clear they have failed.
So, as we make our new year’s resolutions and express our hopes for the future, would it be too much to hope that in 2024 our legislators and treasury officials would prioritize spending for the good of the many before they lavish benefits on the few. If such a radical change were to take place, then all of us would indeed have a ‘Happy New Year’.
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
