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How long did it take to build Rome?

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A man votes in Uganda during the 2021 elections. PHOTO/RACHEL MABALA

What you need to know:

  • Just the other time, Donald Trump, the just sworn-in American president, told a rally that he was the only person who could save the country from becoming Uganda, meanwhile, the democrats were also telling their supporters that Trump will turn America into Uganda.

So it is yet another election year. Usually at such a time, every event is a campaign, Easter and Martyrs Day, which are supposed to be religious festivities punctuated by speeches where leaders will talk about NRM’s 39 years in power and all the sleep and peace they gave our parents.

Most of the time, the worst that can happen to a regime apologist is someone pointing out that it is been 39 years too long, and in those years, the world has gone from benchmarking Uganda to referencing Uganda when talking about how bad things can get.

Just the other time, Donald Trump, the just sworn in American president, told a rally that he was the only person who can save the country from becoming Uganda, meanwhile, the democrats were also telling their supporters that Trump will turn America into Uganda.

Yet, when you bring this up, many people are quick to point out that Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Rome wasn't built in a day" is an excuse used to explain that a significant task or goal cannot be achieved quickly, requiring patience and consistent effort over time.

Most of the time, these people think we are asking for too much from the government, reasoning that with more time, things will get better and we need to be patient. The only part that doesn’t make sense is the fact that at the moment, the NRM regime is older than half of its present critics.
And the NRM critics are not toddlers.

Tomorrow is a public holiday, NRM celebrates the annual Liberation Day, the festivities will be held in Mubende. This is a national holiday that marks the occasion when the National Resistance Movement captured power.
To be exact, tomorrow, they are going to be 39 years old.

In less than 39 years, you and I have seen economies come from imitating Uganda to being benchmarked by Ugandans, case in point, we have seen a neighbour come from being just another country in the east to ‘the’ country in the east.

Some of these have had way more devastating and more recent disasters to deal with.
The question is, how have they managed to turn around their economies, infrastructure and reputation in a record time. These countries will still tell you that they are not where they want to be because well, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

An excuse you understand in their context but is hard to swallow in ours, because let's face it, we have been here for 39 years and yet, we are a country whose capital city is entirely under construction, the health system is a mess and we are grossly exporting ourselves for modern slavery.
Are we also a case of Rome wasn’t built in one day, or after all these years, we should admit that the project hit a dead end, and it is time to reset and restart?