Iron sheet scandal is giving ‘term egenda’ vibes

There used to be a phrase, “Term egenda”, in school. Essentially, whatever grub one had left was devoured in those last couple of days before the term ended. Nothing crossed over into the next.

For the record, it wasn’t always the owner of the snacks who were having their way with squandering them. Most times, older more powerful students raided dormitories and suitcases of younger ones and made off with whatever they could.

Some people reading this might remember that one of the biggest stories in 2000 was of an inquest into the wealth of the now Lt Gen (I think he was Brigadier then) Henry Tumukunde. It was revealed that he was worth a staggering Shs800 million. The hullabaloo was that – at the time – it was inconceivable for a public servant to be that wealthy.

Even in the private sector, there was only a handful of people worth that much. That was the kind of economy we had. The basket was small and everyone was encouraged to contribute to it rather than take out of it. Perhaps that, more than many things, is a marker of the success of the NRM government. 23 years later, the pot is bulging for both the civil servants and the private sector. There are now hundreds of locally owned enterprises turning over Shs800 million in multiples – and going about it honestly.

Not to mention the number of top or even mid-level civil servants who are now able to slice that from a budgetary allocation without raising any eyebrows. So, in essence, there is more to steal today than there ever was – but also there are more thieves than there ever were.

If you look back through Uganda’s history, two things are constant – violence and corruption. The two are symbiotic. The more violence you see more corruption there is – and the reverse is true. However, it is also important to note that the collapse of all previous governments happened when the two hit peak, at the same time.

If you look back at the late 90s and early 2000s you will still find stories of corruption and violence. You will also notice, however, that there was a certain level of sophistication to many of them. You knew that there was some shady stuff going on. Names were mentioned here and there. But there wasn’t much evidence to go with it. It wasn’t just that stealing was happening but how it was. It wasn’t that citizens’ rights were being abused but how they were.

But the more these things happened without consequences, the more people got emboldened to push boundaries. Inevitably, the basket was expanded but this happened at a time when political brinkmanship was starting to make logic. One needed to stay in power to enjoy and make the most of its trappings.

To do that, you needed to open up and increase quantity but at the expense of quality. That is how we ended up with all sorts of people in positions where they really shouldn’t have been under consideration to start with. It made more sense to go into politics or government than to try and build a business. That guaranteed quick access to the basket to enable you to “create” wealth and protect it.

 It was, therefore, inevitable that the things you see today would happen, with these kinds of people. You see it in how they flaunt their wealth in a country ranked as one of the poorest. You see it in the laughable quality of the excuses they give. You see it in the issues they prioritise for debate and legislation. You see it in how crudely they go about their smash-and-grab operations.

Do you know how much an iron sheet costs? Shs80,000 on average. So why would up to nine Cabinet ministers be caught up in a scandal, accused of stealing about 300 iron sheets meant for Karamoja? The answer is what I would like to call the Theory of Inevitability. In simple terms, as you lay your bed so shall you lie in it.

It would seem that many senior people in government believe that the government in which they serve is in the evening of its tenure. Basically, term egenda. Because nothing explains why they are in a mad rush to swindle and deal with everyone who dares stand in their way.

Mr Rukwengye is the founder, Boundless Minds. @Rukwengye