Victoria Sekitoleko, an apt example

Impressive. Rather than let her circumstances hold her back, she kicked off the effects of growing up poor to rise to the top of the world. Once at the top, she made her mark impressing it upon Ugandans that all they had was agriculture and it was necessary that they developed their capacity in the sector, writes Steven Tendo

There was a time when Victoria Balyejusa Sekitoleko was a darling of the media. She had newsmen eating out of her hand for her heavy news bites and forceful personality. There was a time when a certain ring of women, of whom Sekitoleko was one, set the agenda, albeit in the background.

In hindsight however, Sekitoleko was not a backgrounder. She was big on the Ugandan political scene at a time when the kitchen heat was at its hottest. The bush generals were fresh from their famous victory and they had hot heads under their control that were known to drive army vehicles at break-neck speed through Kampala streets, whacking those who dared to stay on the sides.

Uganda’s leaders in those precarious days understood that they were performing a balancing act. They had to get their act together by forcing their rowdy soldiers, whose aggressiveness was a huge plus in the bush, to tone it down as they were now considered part of civilised society.
It could not have been easy. Strong leaders were needed and among these no-nonsense devil-may-care pioneers was Sekitoleko.

Making her mark
Her stint as Agriculture Minister from 1988 to 1994 provided an indelible image of her as a decisive official who was confident about the decisions she took, seeing as agriculture was the mainstay of the country.

Uganda was still lagging behind, depending on the elements. Sekitoleko understood that transformation of the sector would mean the difference between recovery from two decades of economic mismanagement and total disaster.

In an earlier interview with the New Vision, Sekitoleko told of growing up in a big family where money was scarce. Her father, a policeman, did not earn enough to take care of everyone. One value the young Sekitoleko took away from this was that she needed to learn as much as she could so she would not have to suffer in life.

When opportunity struck, she grabbed it with both hands. She went to Makerere University to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture. Her posting as minister was therefore not on a whim; she had the necessary smarts.

Little wonder then that when she was handed the agriculture ministry, she made her mark impressing it upon Ugandans that all they had was agriculture and it was imperative that they developed their capacity in the sector.

After she relinquished the post as minister, the charismatic lady went to work for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), as the director for South and East Africa. After that, she became the representative for the African Union and the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Africa. She was only continuing from where she had stopped- at an international stage this time.

She went on to do great works internationally and to develop herself personally. She represented the FAO in China, DPR Korea and Mongolia, a phase of her life that also seems to have impacted her in a unique way. No wonder, when she returned home, she founded an organisation, the Uganda China Culture Center (UCCC), that seeks to bridge the gap between Uganda and China.

Her ploy to fight poverty in Africa
In a 2011 interview with the Chinese media outlet, Xinhua, she was quoted saying: “China does not thrust anything down your throat, what they do, they serve a la carte, they put out a table and you choose what you want and they give it to you.”

This, it can be assumed, is what the years she spent in China from 1995 to 2010 would have contributed to her thinking. She went in, saw firsthand the inner workings of the next super power and concluded, Africa is better off taking what is being offered to her.

But this is also a throwback to the Sekitoleko of old, who took no prisoners. In another interview, she pours scorn on the West and its pontifications about good governance in the face of debilitating poverty in Africa. She is quoted saying: “Let’s first talk about finishing poverty and then we talk about good governance.”

Around Butembe, the constituency she represented in Parliament in the early 1990s, she is respected; her name still inspires awe. It could be for many reasons. She did not let her circumstances hold her back from attaining the highest of dreams. She kicked off the effects of growing up poor to rise to the top of the world. Sekitoleko rose to the occasion when it mattered.

Today, she has virtually gone off the radar. Apart from the cultural exchange organisation and the state-of the-art media hub she started, there is almost no news about her. It is a far cry from the days she was all the rage, busy with the pains of putting a bit in the mouths of the wild horses of a young government. In other words, her influence did not just die when she packed her bags.

That she is off the radar however should not be taken as a confirmation of her complete loss of power. She is still a strong believer in agriculture and the power people can attain if they practice farming.

That and her stint in China,which is the real super power of the world, makes her a silent volcano.

A recent contribution
Sekitoleko told a news conference on April 16 last year that farmers’ views on the escalating food prices have been ignored, a reason for her decision to launch a platform for professionals in the field to discuss pertinent issues.
The former minister went ahead and founded the Karibu Culture Center (KaCC), an educational and research centre promoting international understanding through information and cultural exchange. The KaCC also houses the Victoria Megabyte Library offering a wide selection of books.