You cannot eat 2.3% inflation; people need money, jobs, food 

So President Museveni last week told the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit delegates and Ugandans that inflation is at 2.3 percent. It seems he was trying to give the impression the country is doing well economically. 

Low inflation is a positive development, of course, but it does not in any way make Ugandans happy, especially jobless Ugandans — of whom there are millions — who are trapped in poverty. 

If inflation is at 2.3 percent but you do not have money to send your children to school, you cannot consult a doctor even if you are seriously ill, you barely get enough to eat, it will not change your hopeless situation. 

In fact, since inflation can always be brought under control, you would rather have inflation at, say, 9 percent when you are employed, when you earn something. The money you are earning may not buy much, but at least you will put food on the table or consult a doctor. 

In my humble opinion, the real positive news about our economy that Mr Museveni should be reporting with pride and pleasure — but he rarely reports — is the number of jobs the economy is creating every three months. We should have something like the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, which regularly tells Americans the number of jobs the government has created. 

For ordinary Ugandans and Ugandans who are VIPs, jobs mean everything. People who still support Mr Museveni and think he is a great leader despite the harsh criticism he keeps getting at home and overseas over his leadership style and glaring weaknesses often express their support because the government employs them. 

By contrast, Ugandans who are jobless or have left the country in search of work because they failed to secure jobs will never have kind words for Mr Museveni and his government. They are never going to be impressed by “inflation is at 2.3 percent”. 

It is all too easy to see why this news impresses few people. People who are dismayed at the way the country is managed have taken photos of crater-size potholes on Kampala roads and posted them online. 

Many people who use social media platforms have seen these photos, and when they hear that “inflation is at 2.3 percent”, they ask: “So what?” How does this help fix problems such as impassable roads, poor healthcare? 

None of what is written here is meant to suggest that controlling inflation does not matter. It does. But low inflation and economic growth do not necessarily mean people are living happily and that the country is developing fast and pulling people out of poverty. 

For decades, Sub-Saharan Africa has had some of the fastest growing economies. For example, Ethiopia and Rwanda saw some of the fastest growth in the world — an average of more than 7.5 percent per year over the past two decades, according to the International Monetary Fund. 

But Rwanda and Ethiopia remain desperately poor, just like Uganda, which has also had impressive economic growth. It is worth mentioning that one of the reasons asylum seekers that the United Kingdom wants to send to Rwanda are not happy is that they know perfectly well they are being sent to a poor country. 

Uganda, it seems to me, has no real positive economic news to report. We still read about workers on the government payroll who have not been paid for months — teachers in Busia, for example. 

How can you convince these people the economy is managed well? Can they put low inflation on their plates and eat it? 

Mr Musaazi Namiti is a journalist and former
Al Jazeera digital editor in charge of the Africa desk
[email protected]    @kazbuk