What to do? We can’t eat meat, and we can’t eat ffene or nakati

Formalin, a chemical used to keep dead bodies “fresh” is also used to keep our meat, fish and nsenene shiny and flies-free.
In terms of the macabre and the scary, possibly cannibalism ranks only higher. What a way to start the year with the smell of, well, cadavers.
The story broke in the media hardly a week after we ended the long festive season. During that period, of course, we generally eat much more meat, pork, chicken, and fish than at any period in the year.
Now to think that we were chomping down for days on meats and fish filled with potentially deadly chemicals — chemicals associated with the dead — makes one think of the underworld in truly more ways.
Yet these reports tell us so much about contemporary Uganda. We have a country where, unless you are seriously challenging President Yoweri Museveni’s hold on power, you can pretty much do anything you want and get away with it.
It is one of the ironies of Mr Museveni’s government: he runs a strong yet weak (if uncaring) government. The government is very strong in keeping him in power, yet very weak in ensuring the general safety and wellbeing of Ugandans beyond the absence of war.
Society must be actively governed or else the worst in human beings reigns. The business of governing falls primarily on the government.
In Uganda, we break traffic rules and get away with it. As a result, traffic chaos fills our roads.
In Uganda, we throw buveera and build in wetlands all over the place and we get away with it. The result is that our environment is getting worse.
In Uganda, we build hospitals and schools and don’t maintain them, let alone ensure they provide decent healthcare and education. The result is that we are not getting as competitive as we should be.
In Uganda, we talk about agriculture a lot and deliver negligible results. The consequence is that our agricultural productivity is low and we are “among the least well-nourished countries in the world”.
In Uganda, we talk about the importance of paying our way yet we opportunistically shield some from paying taxes or look the other way for cronies to avoid and evade tax. The result is our tax to GDP ratio (13.5 per cent) is way below comparator countries, and is virtually stagnant.
In Uganda, we talk big about industrialisation, manufacturing, yet we can’t complete building one industrial park in nearly two decades. The result is that those jobs we need for a fast-growing population are ever harder to come by — and kifeesi is a visible consequence of that.
In Uganda, we steal government money and abuse our offices and get away with it. The result is that we are falling behind neighbours in delivering vital goods and services.
In Uganda, we treat our meat, fish, chicken, fruits, vegetables with dangerous chemicals to maximise our gain. Some of us could already be dying as a result. Who knows, after all those we pay to know, care and act are clueless.
For example, Kampala city authorities, one of whose routine duties is to ensure the health and hygiene of residents, apparently had no idea that bad meats and fruits and vegetables were actively on sale in Kampala.
Maybe they knew all along but corruption stood in the away of action. It had to take a newspaper report.
What does our government do ordinarily to create an environment that delivers a good life for us citizens? Left on our own, we will cut all manner of corners. We will do things that actually hurt us. So governments exist to ensure and assure the common good. Not really so for this government. It exists to sustain a presidency-for-life delivered not through extraordinary performance, but through patronage, political expediency, corruption, and subterfuge.
We, the people of Uganda, are basically on our own. We could do well to appreciate this reality sooner.