Is Uganda independent yet?

Uganda will make 55 years tomorrow and what always lingers in peoples’ minds is whether Uganda is independent or not. When you talk about independence, what quickly comes to mind is political independence. Little thought is given to economic independence, which should actually be the main focus. In any case, political independence should lead to economic independence.
Unfortunately, no attention is given to economic independence.

Can Uganda claim to be economically independent? Asking this question about Uganda raises the same question about other African countries.
Prior to independence, economic policy was decided by colonial governments based on their interests.

These interests were primarily trade interests. Trade interests were for the capitalists in Western countries, who sought to make a profit by selling their products to Africans. They also took away what the Africans had to sell in their countries for profit.
The establishment of colonies was based on the need to protect business interests of those companies based in those countries that were economically powerful at that time.
On attainment of independence by many African countries, it was expected that the new leaders would start enacting policy to take care of their interests. At the time of independence, there were very few organised communities who would have economic interests.

The immediate post-independence governments in Africa went for socialistic policies not because they believed in them but because the socialist countries at that time had helped them to fight for independence. Uganda, on the other hand, adopted the Western capitalistic policies at the time of independence. These policies supported the interests of the British colonial government. In 1967, [former president] Milton Obote reversed these policies when he declared the “move to the left”. This was dismantling the capitalist values that gripped the country by introducing socialism. When he was overthrown by Idi Amin in 1971, Obote’s policies were cited as one of the reasons why he was overthrown. Amin ran the economy based on Economic Freedom for Africa.
In 1986, President Museveni introduced the Ten-Point Programme, which he later reversed in 1987, opening up the country to free market economies, thereby enabling those who have the money and the ideas to establish shop in the country. He took a step further to go round the world to attract foreign investors after realising that Ugandans could not deliver themselves from the slavery of poverty.
The Museveni period has seen phenomenon growth in the economy over the years.

The growth patterns have been undermined largely by a drought in the country, otherwise the economy would have hit a sustained 7 per cent annual growth in GDP over the years. Does this make Uganda economically independent? The answer is a clear No. While Ugandans board planes to go and become cooks, maids, security personnel in rich countries, Indians and Chinese open up business here and make fortunes in this country! What a contradiction? Uganda’s leading business houses are foreign-owned.
Eighty per cent of Ugandans are in the rural areas living off agriculture.

They can’t take their children to school, can’t feed them properly and cannot pay for their medical bills. Where is the economic freedom?
But who is to blame? The enemy is ourselves. As Africans, we have failed to craft an ideology that fits our conditions. By accepting to tussle between capitalism and socialism, we fail to make a breakthrough that gives us a beginning point in economic freedom. We have failed to advance our causes. We have failed to address education, population growth and business development.

We are very simple people who wake up, dress in second hand clothes, go to the street corner to make and sell chapatti using imported oil and wheat. We are busy on the phone everyday making calls to our loved ones but paying a foreigner to enable us do it. This is the freedom that we cherish that is not economic freedom.

The writer is the Principal of Makerere University Business School