Let us reject culture of survival by chance

What you need to know:

  • The issue: Accidents
  • Our view: Regrettably, we have accepted this deliberate downgrading of our standards to celebrate thieves in public offices, allow any boat rider to put to the lake any kind of boat, permit boda boda taxi riders to zoom against oncoming traffic on the same lane, buses and taxis to pick-up and drop-off passengers at non-designated stops or stands, and cars to ride on walkways!

The series of recent tragedies in our country depict us, Ugandans, as a cavalier people who have chosen to survive by chance. From scores of deaths in the boat cruise tragedy at the weekend, the common deaths of our children in school fires and daily deaths in road crashes, all tell that we all live a devil-may-care life. We have, without any doubt, cast all caution to the wind. We have all become cheerfully irresponsible even about things that endanger our lives.

And so often our eyes only open wide after the disasters and we tightly shut them again once we have buried our victims. We then again swing through these never-ending cycles of tragedies. This has happened with scores of deaths on our lakes, on our roads, and in schools and at motor rallies. All these catastrophes have been repeated over and over with only knee-jerk reactions, but without any durable corrective solution.

Worse, our citizens, regulators, and law enforcers are all guilty of this selfish conduct and disregard for our own common good. We have all allowed ourselves to lead a jungle life, making Uganda a wild and risky country where misfits who violate the country’s established laws are celebrated as role models. Today, every sort of dishonest, shady, or even outright errant behaviour is permissible, forcing on us a dim and tragic mindset, “that is Uganda.”

Regrettably, we have accepted this deliberate downgrading of our standards to celebrate thieves in public offices, allow any boat rider to put to the lake any kind of boat, permit boda boda taxi riders to zoom against oncoming traffic on the same lane, buses and taxis to pick-up and drop-off passengers at non-designated stops or stands, and cars to ride on walkways!

In short, we have nurtured a rotten national culture that is stalking us all with disastrous consequences.
Sadly, at each of these calamitous occasions, our leaders come to issue only knee-jerk press statements, nothing fundamental to reverse the rotten status quo.

But not all is lost. We, as decent citizens, can reboot and change this bleak mindset and do things right. We can begin to re-cultivate excellence by paying more attention, giving more forethought and being thorough in all we do and want others to do in strict conformity to decent standards and our national laws.
Let’s reject all acts that seek to dumb down our national standards and force us to survive by chance.

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