Summits: A tale of hyenas fighting over carcass

By the time the delegates of the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit arrived in Kampala, the government of Uganda was still busy preparing to welcome them – and impress upon them the incredulous allegation that Kampala is actually a beautiful city. 

So people were busy planting grass and flowers - and trees in the city. Roads were still being repaired. Kiosks of small businesses that support small people were being knocked down – guests should not see such lowlifes!

It is also possible that, as it was 17 years ago when we hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm), some people were building a hotel or some other such facility to support the summit. 

By the time the grass decides that it has to grow, by the time the flowers remember that they have to blossom, the guests will be long gone. When did we get to know that we’d be hosting the summit – was it like two or three months ago? Fact: by the time an international summit of this nature is held, people know where and when the next two or three will take place. 

But in Uganda we wait until the very last minute then we spring into action. One may ask – what have we been doing all along? The answer is simple: first of all, conferences the size of NAM Summit have a budget that can only be measured in millions of dollars. 

We are talking about a windfall that is hefty and heavy; and where just a fraction of the bigger whole will change your life and that of your family forever. 

Most of the time big boys in high places (the usual suspects) are busy haggling over which big shot should take what deal. It is a time to show clout, command and control; time to show who is favoured most and who is to be feared. It is like hyenas fighting over a carcass.

You have the bigger hyenas; each of them insisting on getting the whole carcass for itself, snorting, snapping and yelping - fighting to ensure that no other big hyena comes close, and certainly none of the smaller ones. 

Then you have the smaller hyenas ganging up and aligning themselves with certain of the bigger hyenas. 

The battles rage for a while, until the chief hyena comes in, listens carefully to each of the bigger hyenas accusing each other; then he, with relish and aplomb, sits in judgment over who should take which part of the carcass. 

He takes care to ensure that his most loyal hyenas, and those most likely to cause undue trouble for not getting the fullest benefit of the carcass, are kept happy. 

A happy hyena will be laughing, it will be cordial and it will be calm, albeit excited. And it will stay loyal; faithfully barking at and biting your opponents. 

But by this time, a lot of time has been eaten away and everybody suddenly begins to act in a rushed manner. 

So work will be mostly incomplete, products and whatever other outputs are substandard and so much is disorganised and not working. 

But the hyenas are happy; because for them, this was never about the country hosting the conference or whatever event – it was about getting a decent chop of the big block. 

The quality of the outcome is really beside the point for them; all they care about is that they tucked away a few hundred million to snack on as the years roll by.

That is why you look for coherence and logic; you look for decency and decorum, and it’s like you are searching for penguins at the equator! 

These are the people who are calling upon Ugandans to be patriotic; to love their country and to be law-abiding. Big, juicy opportunities like this summit will explain in part why people hesitate to let others run the country – they cannot afford to miss out on easy money that comes your way by you simply being at the centre of power or close to it. 

Excellence in service delivery gives way to political and private expediency. Like it is in the forest: hyenas cannot listen to arguments about sustainability of the ecosystem; they only focus on survival for today.

Gawaya Tegulle  is a Lawyer