When Amin was chased away 1979 and then came Obote II - gone too, in 1985; and Lutwa - gone too 1986; there came the new NRM leadership Jan 1986 that raised peoples hopes for a new future where POVERTY would be PAST TENSE.
But come the year 2007 we now realize as a nation that POVERTY is there, is here and is in plenty across the country not only in the rural populations but also in peoples staying in slums, towns, and cities.
Uganda has a population of about 28 million people ( with 1 million being born every year) and its now on record that about 40% of that population is living below the poverty line:THAT THER ARE EIGHT MILLION UGANDANS LIVING ON LESS THAN 2,000 UGANDAN SHILLINGS A DAY !! that is less than 1 US$ a day !
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/560186
Its shocking and yet true! there are parents who cannot even afford to have their kids go to the USE program because they cannot afford to buy things like a shoe =20,000Sh, a trouser/skirt =15,000, a shirt/blouse =10,000, school pullover/sweater =15,000, Ream of paper =8,000, school badges =2,000, -ID card =2,000, necktie =3,000, -passport fotos =4,000 , lunch fee =10,000, exercise books pens etc =15,000, laboratory or library fund =6,000 . And this comes to a TOTAL of I10,000UG Sh for one child to begin secondary education tha is not day and this is excluding the fees since itgoing to be paid for by the govt as part of USE. Soppose the parent has two children who have finished P& PLE that makes it 220, 000 sh! And then the peasants have sold the ire produce and got little money out of it. and the goats taken to the market has only fetched 15000 sh and the hen has been sold at 6,000, may be the tin of beans sold at 14,000.But will the parent sell all the goats by the end of the year in order to educate his 2 secondary school kids? There is poverty and it must be addressed urgently otherwise we are sitting on a time bomb or on a volcano that is about to erupt andf pour its ashes far and wide and ten will shoot out the flow of hot unwanted molted lava - the anger of the increasing number of the povertuy stricken population that cannot afford to survive.
Am telling you I have been deep there in the villages to see for myself and there is POVERTY FIRST CLASS - families that cannot even afford to pay medical bills.Tthey can afford to buy meat only on Christmas and Easter and perhaps on new Year as well. Many cannot afford to buy Sugar that is at 2000 shs a kilo. And perhaps that is why the RICH and the outside world cannot understand why the MABIRA -Kampala Demonstrations turned sour and bitter and violent --- i think the igniting factor was and is P O V E R T Y . It was Christmass 06 and New Year 07 when there was alot of noise in Uganda due to high prices of Sugar, a kilo went to 3000 sh. Who could afford that? And Kampala almost saw Sugar Riots and the sugar thing became the topic of the opposition parties. Now the ruling NRM knows that LESS SUGAR can lead to demos, but they did not know that MORE SUGAR (MABIRA-MEHTA) would ignite sentiments of anger from the poor toward the rich Mehta and Political Leaders and thus lead to more demos? IT was shocking for all but especially for the TOP POLITICAL LEADERS OF THE NATION AS THEY SAW THE SUGAR BECOMING POLITICS .The pipo dont care about the sugarcane being planted after all very many of the local population DO NOT BUY and CANOT AFFORD TO BUY SUGAR OF 2000 a kg! so why tell them that Metha will produce more sugar for sale? he actally angers them the more when he says that he if they boycot his sugar he will take it and sell it in Sudan and Congo. Imagine that statement! Its a statement that was seen as an insult , a word of arrogance towards the poverty stricken population that has now awakened the long sleeping volcano of HATRED TOWARDS THE FEW RICH WHILE THE MAJORITY ARE POOR.
How can Uganda politicians sing and teach the population to chant slogans of Capitalism is good and yet be able to the syncronise that with Bona Bagaggawale Prosperity for all? Cna the politival leaders keep the momentum going that the pipo will have hope that POVERTY WILL REALLY GO AND BE A THING OF THE PAST? Capitalism will mean the rich getting richer, and with Bonna Bagaggawale (BB), haaa ! if this BB scheme fails then the VOLCANO will erupt for sure. Its the many who cannot afford to survive on the 85 cents of a US dollar or the 1200sh per day. That makes it 1200 for 30 days =36,000Sh a momth, and the 36,000sh for 12 months =432,000sh a year, THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE UGANDAOF TODAY CANNOT AND HAVE NEVER HANDELED THAT MUCH MONEY IN ONE SINGLE YEAR- the 430, 000. And so one wonders how they survive every day, and how they head of the family is failing more and mre to buy simple things like salt, parafin, etc and perhaps thats why even the children and patients are being treated loccaly at home instead of the hospitals or clinics , and the children dropping out of school and the girls being married off early for some home income --- eeee its all poverty, poverty, poverty in Uganda!
YES MORE INVESTMENT OF INDUSTRIES IN THE RURAL AREAS WILL HELP FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY.
REMEMBER THAT 60% of Uganda's Population is below the age of 15 yrs and many of these are underpressure from sideefeects of poverty, Aids and being left as orphans. Are we not sitting on a time bomb?. And the youth who are 16 - 35 yrs are feeling these pressures even more than the lower age group/ To fight povery needs concerted efforts from all side and the government cannot claim that they will do all that worl alone a apolitical party it must be all Ugandans to fight againts poverty
LOCUSTS -------- they have no King or President or Priminister -------- YET THEY MIGRATE ALL IN ARRAY.