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On Economic Growth in Uganda Articles by Rev. Emmanuel Mwesigwa: 1. Economic Cooperation Liberating or Crippling? 2.

. Harvesting Oil the Role of the Church 3. Repentance over Basajja pay is essential

1. Economic Cooperation Liberating or Crippling? They are worth commemorating the fifty years of China-Uganda ties beautifully re counted by Zhao Yali, the Chinese Ambassador to Uganda, in the New Vision of Thu rsday March 1, 2012. He illustrated how progress has been made in debt cancellati on, tariff exemption, and provision of concessional loans. This article came exac tly one week after Pamela Tusingwire, an international Economic Law and Policy e xpert, solicited in her article that Chinas scramble be in Africas interest; she n oted how on many occasions in the last 150 years Africans have been shown kindnes s only to realize too late that they in fact paid a heavy price for it. However, she rightly asserted that we will strike gold if we ensure that Chinas funding is consistent with our short, medium and long-term agenda. It is without doubt that China has good intentions (especially for her people), and Uganda has burdens that can be eased through economic cooperation. China is currently in the first world while Uganda is one of the worlds forty eight least developed countries (LDCs). LDCs have common characteristics of high poverty preva lence and huge national debt burdens, unfortunately accompanied by low literacy levels and intrinsic laziness; these weaknesses will many times manifest as corr uption and endless power struggles. If Ugandans do not deal with these weaknesse s head on, we can only lose more to and enrich the development partners. Bilateral economic cooperation and trade can only be said to maintain a sound momentum of growth if the growth is two-way, both in China and in Uganda. The 28,000 jobs c reated from Chinas $596m investment in Uganda between 1993 and 2011 could dupe ex cited employees into thinking that they have attained their highest potential, w hile much greater opportunities are passing by! These much greater opportunities are our land and natural resources coupled with hard work. Earners of salaries and wages will not lift Uganda out of the LDC tr ough. More so, a combination of debt cancellation and provision of concessional loans does not change our status we remain debtors. However, this coupled with a little aid creates a pseudo-comfort that makes many Ugandans even lazier. It is not uncommon to find officers in funded government and non-governmental organizat ions doing very little therein and nothing outside but rejoicing at a coming sal ary. Crippled in laziness, what a tragedy! How can these benefit from China-give n tariff exemptions? The way to handle relations with China and other such partn ers is to look inside our own territory and rise to the occasion raise something to offer in the relationship (if it is to be symbiotic and not parasitic). Every Chinese who has come to Uganda is busy on a building site or in a hotel at tending customers doing something. To benefit from economic cooperation, we need to work much harder and engage in activities that produce exports to our friends including China, starting with revolutionary commercial agriculture, agro-proces sing and other manufacturing activities there is no other way. To address illite racy, our current education system must be supplemented with actual developmentrelevant information that will cause men and women to get up and work, and not t o wait for jobs in offices and boardrooms. The amounts of aid that we either receive or seek is not congruent with the imme nse opportunities in natural resources God has endowed us with. By harnessing la nd, mineral and labour resources in Uganda, then we can maximally take material

advantage of the China-Uganda ties, and possibly make Uganda a pearl not only of Africa but of the World. 2. Harvesting Oil the Role of the Church Many people associated with the Petroleum rich Bunyoro exhibit diverse perceptio ns and apparent misguided assumptions capable of plunging the region into unfore seen deeper under-development; imprudent laxity is slowly taking the place of wi se preparation for the economic boom oil will bring. On asking how these excited people hope to improve themselves or their region, answers are hard to come by. It is important that proper guidance be disseminated at different levels, up to the grass root; the Church as an advocate for social stability and well being m ust participate in this work. While commercial quantities of Petroleum were confirmed as existent in the Alber tine Graben over five years ago, it could take another three to five years befor e substantial production starts. Petroleum activities are best understood throug h the processes of reconnaissance, exploration, development and production, refi ning and processing. Uganda is now entering Development and Production phase, af ter carrying out intensified reconnaissance and exploration activities for more than ten years. Some people think: now that oil is here, money is going to flow into my hands lik e a river. Some of the imminent untimely perceptions and responses among the mass es include buying land (suspecting it will increase in value exponentially), oth ers sell land (thinking it will be grabbed by these oil people), others have slo wed down on their normal agriculture thinking they will make money from oil. Chu rch leaders have a platform in their churches and other public gatherings where they can address these pertinent misconceptions. There will be assured effects o f oil on the Church as scores of these people are parishioners; more so, some of the land that may be affected by petroleum activities belongs to the Church. Government through its various organs is putting in place a legal framework to m itigate the Oil curse among other issues. The oil curse is the negative effect of oil and gas resource utilization leading to economic stagnation, environment deg radation and increased poverty. The National Oil and Gas Policy of 2008 has a go al, to use the countrys oil and gas resources to contribute to early achievement o f poverty eradication and create lasting value to society. As many stakeholders p ut their minds together to develop a suitable regulatory environment for this se ctor, the Church should not lag behind in these debates. Church leaders need to be aware of and hence voice prudent guidance to the masses. Corruption is among the prime issues can turn the blessing into a horrible curse . Nigerias Niger Delta region which is one of the richest oil regions in Africa h as more than 70% of her population living under the absolute poverty line, as a result of that vice. This situation has consistently gone from bad to worse sinc e Oil production peaked more than thirty years ago! Praying for civic and politi cal leaders is not enough; collaborating with them and discipling them into values , accountability and equitable resource distribution is paramount; though it may be difficult, it is necessary. Chronic unemployment is another challenge that c an loom on and on in the presence of numerous opportunities created by the oil i ndustry. Even with the National Content and State Participation provisions in th e forthcoming legislations, the local people need to amass necessary learning an d skills positioning aptly to take advantage of approaching opportunities. Farmers who improve methods and produce intentional commercial quantities and qu ality are the ones who will significantly milk the growing market base as oil ac tivities grow; improved roads are already a positive factor. In a nutshell, prep aration for the economic boom oil will bring means relentless foresighted hard w ork today. Church leaders ought to disseminate this direction to her flock, in a ddition to participating in the development of the institutional and legal frame work that will guide the nation in utilizing these finite resources to create la

sting benefits to society. 3. Repentance over Basajja pay is essential In a case of gross loss of money with no hope of recovery, the only consolation refuge is repentance. If Uganda lost billions in Chogm, Global Fund, Temangalo a nd now Basajjabalaba compensations (to mention but a few), it is clear that a na sty vampire trend has adhered to our public administration. The national treasur y continues bleeding through such transactions, enriching a few individuals whil e impoverishing further an increasing majority. The excess 88 billion shillings paid to Basajjabalaba is what we need for a whole year to raise the salary of 40 ,000 school teachers from 270,000/= to their desired 450,000/= a month, or to co nstruct about 60km of tarmac road. The subject of repentance concerns all people who believe in God. Our President declared 20th June 2010 as a day of national prayer and repentance; despite the criticisms, it is worth recalling that Uganda repented of bribery, embezzlement, i llicit enrichment and misuse of public funds. Where is the fruit? It is a shame that our systems continue letting through dubious deals by which the nation lose s colossal sums of money in a time of great economic hardships. What is required in this circumstance is individual repentance of specific actions. Repentance (from the Bibles Hebrew and Greek as well as the Qurans Arabic) means to turn leaving what God prohibited and returning to what God commanded; it involve s a voluntary change of heart and mind, starting from a realization of ones guilt and sinfulness, then actual hatred of wrongdoing, resulting in a persistent end eavour after an upright life. Repentance is particularly demanded of the followi ng people: President Museveni: He has repeatedly declared his commitment to fight corruptio n with zero tolerance. Letters he signed were used as authority to get the Basaj jabalaba payments. While this involvement calls for repentance, the bigger reaso n is that the President also personifies the repentance of the whole nation. Thi s is what King Jehoshaphat did when he led his nation in fasting and prayer (2Ch ronicles 20:3-6); more so, while Mordecai had the total burden and the vision of Gods deliverance for the Jews in captivity, his nave niece Esther had to lead in fasting and prayer because she had the position she was Queen (Esther 4:15-17). If real transformation is to trickle down to the subjects, a deep personal resol ve and expression of repentance must reside in the leader. Government Officials: From political leaders to technocrats and support staff, i t has become common knowledge that no juice can flow through these channels with out some being retained at each level. Some of the 142.6 (or 169) billions attac hed to one markets-merchant could be with some officials. They betray the nation into the hard-biting teeth of corruption. It is bad enough to continually sleep on a bed of guilt in a house built with stolen resources; these government offi cials must repent. Makubuya in his letter to the President asked to be considered for kindness and mercy, and Muhoozi, one of the presidential aides said I did er r, and I accept I made a mistake. While these could be a beginning, repentance go es beyond mere apologies; confession accompanied with commitment to turn and work accountably with integrity is what will benefit Ugandans. Deriders: These rejoice at someones failures. There is nothing to celebrate when two members of the House recede to the back. We lose the fight if we stop to lau gh at a wounded colleague. Instead of helping him up, deriders trample him! Of t his, they need to repent. Perhaps by repenting truly about these actions, the ch anged people will transact uprightly in future to stop the country from bleeding .

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