There isn’t enough to fill the yawning belly of entitlement

The recent reshuffle of Resident District Commissioners was received with mixed reactions. Tucked inside a story that is quickly forgotten in the wake of national mourning, were several grumblings from different quarters across the country. Some people felt they had not been rewarded enough for their support of the ruling party. Others questioned why they had no representation at all when their share of the national cake should be a given. While different groups may feel that they have a legitimate concern, the reactions to the appointments seem to be a continuation in a growing trend of entitlement across all levels of society. 

You could take any number of things that we have been complaining about lately and trace their roots back to a massive sense of entitlement. Our MPs think they are entitled to certain things and a certain lifestyle, we quarrel about it but we let them have their way. Different groups think positions in government should be ring-fenced for them and even though we can see it is a slippery slope, we let them get on with it, telling ourselves a lot of stories such as “it is our time to eat” and others. It trickles down from top level government positions to parliamentary representation. Let the daughter replace the mother, let that position be reserved for our clan and so on and so forth. 

Perhaps we do not see the danger in any of it yet, but when this sense of entitlement becomes an ingrained belief that a certain position or set of privileges belongs to a certain group by affiliation or birthright, the real struggle begins. We should, therefore, be wary of creating expectations and obligations that might be carried down the generations. This is a real possibility because it appears the youth have also been told they are owed certain positions and so, they are also making demands.

Instead of looking to new opportunities, you now have people complaining about not receiving rewards they think ought to have come to them. Instead of working to develop themselves and the community, they work to earn praise and to be seen to be worthy of reward. This can be very disappointing as many have learnt and others are yet to. There are not enough positions to accommodate the growing numbers of those who feel themselves worthy of political reward. There is not enough money to provide benefits to all those who feel that government owes them and their families benefits. 

We need to go back to doing our bit, contributing to our development and that of the community and letting that be enough. This clamouring for position, attention and reward is not only a strain on the national purse, it is turning us into a nation of ingrates, who refuse to see what is in front of us and choose to chase after what we think we deserve, at the taxpayers’ expense.

Granted, patronage is necessary to build loyalty but as popular saying goes, temukisussa (let’s not get carried away and go overboard with our demands). You know we have exceeded the ordinary when individuals write to the appointing authority seeking bailout from failed political exercises or suggesting positions they could occupy in government. 

All through this, the taxpayer is supposed to grin and bear it. As we slide down the slope, we are increasingly grooming entitled groups of people looking at the person who holds the purse strings and the job opportunities and willing him or her to favour them over and above everyone else and at great expense, because they feel they have earned it. 

Ms Nampewo is a writer, editor and communications consultant     

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