It is now apparent that Uganda’s president Museveni and a few of his richest top government officials have lost touch with the reality, the biting poverty which Baganda and the rest of the Uganda population are suffering. Over the last two weeks Mr. Museveni and his Central Bank governor, Tumusiime Mutebire arrogantly bragged about how well Uganda is doing economically. They made these statements even as the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBS) and Museveni’s ministry of Disaster Preparedness issued official reports which pointed to a miserable economic and social situation. The UBS supplies statistical data to Bank of Uganda.
According to the UBS November 2008 Economic Statistics Report: “The annual headline inflation rate for the year ending November 2008 went up to 14.9% from 14.5% in October. Food inflation rose to 30.3% in November from 29.2% the previous month.” See for more TBD for inflation.
A National Food Security Report presented by Mr. Museveni’s own ministry of Disaster Preparedness to MPs, ministers and donor representatives on November 26, 2008 says: “In Karamoja, about 407,543 people require aid, while in Acholi sub-region, about one million are facing starvation… The food shortage follows poor harvests due to a prolonged dry spell and reduction in livestock due to disease, inadequate pasture, scarcity of water and rustling… The main causes of food insecurity were environmental degradation, inter-clan conflicts, poor government policies and inadequate local government resources… Other areas that are facing food shortage include Teso, Elgon, Lango and West Nile regions.”
Unaffected by and oblivious to the inflation pains caused by high oil prices and a weaker Uganda Shilling or the hardships that the ordinary Ugandans are facing, Governor Emmanuel Mutebire told the 3rd National Public Dialogue on Impacts of the Global Financial Crisis: “The current economic crisis that has plunged the west into panic will not affect Uganda’s economy as most analysts have predicted. The immediate impact of the financial turmoil in the western world (on Uganda) is almost zero.”
And a seemingly incoherent Museveni, told members of the African Parliamentary Union at Speke Hotel, Munyonyo on November 29, 2008: “If the world is now desperate for food, that is good for Africa. Certainly, it is good for Uganda. Europeans were not allowing us to sell them food because they had protectionism… They put taxes and protectionist measures like subsiding their farmers within Europe,… In Uganda, we are ready.”
The contradictions between filthy rich Museveni and Mutebi and their professional employees in UBS and Disaster Preparedness points to one thing; President Museveni, governor Mutebi and their type are totally out of touch with the economic realities in Uganda. Clearly, even Museveni isn’t sure what is going on in Uganda.
