Happy New Year, 2020 is here at last
In barely three days’ time 2019 will come to end. A new year, 2020, will dawn on us, so will a new decade. Many Ugandans are looking forward to witness the fulfilment of a promise made by the ruling clique a few years ago that 2020 would be the year in which Uganda will achieve middle-income status.
A friend, who is an economist with the United Nations, told me that it’s an empty promise and a pipe dream which he thinks was made deliberately to deceive wananchi.
According to him, the promise the ruling clique made is as worthless as the Zimbabwe dollar and unattainable by a corrupt, decadent, unpatriotic and tribal regime.
In my Sunday Monitor Opinion of December 16, 2018, I made, inter alia, the following observations.
“2018 has been a difficult year for Uganda, to put it mildly. The trials and tribulations Ugandans have faced, endured and suffered at the hands of a brutal, corrupt and desperate regime have produced perseverance and resilience among our people who are more than ever determined to struggle peacefully and relentlessly to bring an end to the tyranny which has been imposed on our country, by force and deception, for over 30 years. The trials have prepared wananchi for a new beginning.”
It is regrettable that no positive change has occurred in the political landscape of Uganda since I wrote those words one year ago. If anything, the situation is perhaps worse and deteriorating by the day as 2021 beckons.
The contradictions in Uganda’s body politic are sharpening and a showdown between progressive and reactionary forces appears inevitable. Unlike in 1986, this time round it will not be a North versus South conflict, but a typical class struggle between the nouveau riche and the workers of Uganda. It will, in addition, be a people’s struggle for liberty from decades of exploitation, humiliation and oppression.
Some predictions for 2020
First, Uganda will definitely not achieve middle-income status in 2020. In order to gain political capital, the corrupt and tribal ruling clique may shamelessly brag that Uganda is now a middle-income country. Don’t be surprised if a few development partners, such as IMF, which forced a bitter pill called SAP down Uganda’s throat in 1990s, endorse such fake claims by the regime.
Second, the writing is on the wall for the ruling cabal of the corrupt and decadent regime, politically their days are numbered. If elections scheduled to take place in February 2021 are genuinely free, fair and credible, NRM cannot win and they know it.
That is why some NRM leaders are panicking and have been travelling all over the country making empty promises about wealth creation and dishing out ill-gotten cash to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the hope that money will buy or at least rent for them support which they desperately need for 2021.
As a popular 1960s hit by the Beatles puts it, “money can’t buy me love.” It’s a disgrace, shameful and unacceptable. How low will some Ugandan politicians sink into the abyss of moral decadence?
Third, elsewhere in Africa, I predict victory for Ethiopian Prime Minister and Nobel laureate Dr Abiy Ahmed in elections scheduled to take place in Ethiopia in May 2020.
In Ghana, I predict victory for former President John Dramani Mahama at elections due to take place on November 7, 2020. Mahama lost narrowly to President Akufo-Addo in 2016.
Fourth, I predict end of the road for US President Donald Trump who has been impeached by Congress for abuse of power.
Trump will be forced to resign in 2020 like President Richard Nixon did in 1974. Truth be told, Trump is despicable, obnoxious and a pathological liar. He is, in my opinion, unfit and unsuitable to be a national leader of a developed and powerful country like the United States of America. USA deserves a better president than Trump who, like many African leaders, is self-condemned. So, the sooner Trump goes the better for America and the world.
Fifth, in sports, I predict that Uganda will win two gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.
Finally, despite dark clouds hanging ominously over our beloved country, I wish Ugandans a Happy New Year. Let us keep hope alive.
May God bless and save the people of Uganda.
Mr Acemah is a political scientist and retired career diplomat.
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