Putting the weight of President Museveni’s sack of money in context

The same politicians preach hard work but know that people with dependable sources of income of their own are not easy to manipulate.

So in a populist bid to ‘deliver as promised,’ a few days ago President Museveni went to Busoga sub region and doled out a sack containing Shs250 million to a youth group. This maverick move made it to the news menu of several international news outlets and dominated debate in the local media.

Busoga was once the home of Uganda’s industry and prospered as a result of it being in the proximity of the Owen Falls (now Nalubale) Dam. In the last 27 years, it has turned into the land of ridicule for poverty, jigger infestation and Basoga being the makers and sellers of chapatis the country over.

With his sack, Museveni achieved on many fronts. He managed to uphold the agenda of keeping Ugandans preoccupied with their favorite pass time; talking and raving mad without taking actions injurious to his stay in power. Thereafter, Ugandans will move to the next talking point as may be supplied by Museveni’s constant supply of theatrics and curious statements.

His greatest advantage is that the media never gets to look back at what he did or said in the past to access his seriousness. Now all the cheer leaders are telling the world that this is the greatest move in as far as service delivery is concerned.

One wonders if going forward the President is going to move with trucks of medicine, school books and food to ‘deliver as promised.’

Secondly, in the mold of an African chief whose role as giver, he made a point to the unemployed youth and the large armies of people in need of money.

As the sole controller with the capacity to casually deliver state resources, Museveni is bigger and more powerful than any institution in this country. And by the way, he has presided over the collapse and weakening of many of these institutions which he has replaced with himself and his sacks of money.

Now with him, you do not need to work, open a bank account, have a guarantor, sign here and there, etc. to access money. He makes those around him look impotent, incapable and lacking in integrity to deliver. He remains the only shining star in the sky.

If you are ‘compliant’ you shall be rewarded. If you have not been rewarded yet you still have time. These things define the power relation that has kept Museveni going for many years and have many beholden unto him.

To his advantage, Museveni operates in an environment where there is a dominant mindset that expects free things without breaking sweat. Over the years, people have been driven in this direction by those who want to perpetuate themselves in power.

The same spirit drives many elements in the laws governing ownership of land. It is now a habit for people to encroach on land and pretend to be ‘bonafide occupants’ without paying a cent for it. They then take shelter under the pronouncements and protection of politicians who claim to protect the interest of peasants for patronage.

People have been given money like the Entadikwa ‘loan scheme’ and have never paid back. This culture of free money is a disincentive to hard work. The droves of energetic young people in urban and rural areas idling around waiting for the ‘big (wo)men in town to bring them money is part of a detrimental norm that is growing with the silent encouragement of politicians.

The same politicians preach hard work but know that people with dependable sources of income of their own are not easy to manipulate. So they take advantage of this habit of loafing by crying out hypocritically that the government has not helped their people.

The saddest part of this mentality is that it has become entrenched. Our vocabulary is now strewn with terms like kagwirawo (instant cash), bifuuna kilalu (inexplicably gainful), kyabiise (its explosive) kiwedde, (it’s done), etc.

All the sports betting and pyramid schemes plus the outright con men who rob people by making them believe that they can invest millions of shillings in a chemical to be sold to some factory for which they will make a profit 20 times over, are a result of this mentality that there is such a thing as free or easy money.