Recently, Kampala hosted an international summit on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa under the theme: African Union addressing the challenge of forced displacement in Africa.
But the question is: have we benefited from it at all?

I expected the delegates to approve a special fund for states that handle refugees well as an incentive for them to even manage these unfortunate people better.I believe Uganda is among countries with a large number of refugees from almost all the neighbouring countries and beyond. Did the delegates reap for us anything from the summit?

International financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, not to mention UNHCR, need to consider countries that have performed well in refugee management. Uganda is on record for not deporting refugees seeking asylum in the country back to their countries of origin. On the other hand, many Ugandans have been deported from other countries, including neighbouring countries, on flimsy grounds, even after applying for asylum!

Kayondo Kizito,
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Closing radios is like killing the messenger

It is now two months since CBS, Suubi FM and two other radio stations [which have since been re-opened] were closed by government for allegedly inciting Ugandans to riot. Closing media outlets is just like killing a messenger, a favourite pastime practised by typical African despots.  By closing these radio stations, did the government eliminate the problems that drew that “fierce criticism” from these journalists?

Central in the negotiations to re-open CBS is the government’s desire to substantially weaken private radios. This whole melodrama typifies the fact that the government has mutated into an ogre intolerant to free speech and human rights. Further, it’s important to stress that by constantly interfering with the broadcasting industry, the government goes against its widely touted policy of liberalisation of the economy. If the government so wishes, it should reclaim monopoly over this sector so that it can freely broadcast its propaganda unimpeded.

The government has indeed embarked on a very ambitious plan to dominate the airwaves by apparently importing a lot of radio equipment to be installed in various parts of the country. By so doing, they anticipate to poach the audiences and presenters of the dominant private radio stations. But how insensitive and contradictory is this government that fights so hard to suppress an industry which is evidently a potential job creator?

Morris Komakech,
Toronto-Canada.


Are children creatures of pleasure?

With Uganda having one of the highest fertility rates in the world, a lot of questions have been asked about the trend of events. It’s interesting to note that the rich have been found to have fewer children as opposed to the poor.

In 1910, Brento argued in his population theory that a human being is a creature of pleasure and that differences in fertility are due to various levels of satisfaction available to the different classes of people in society. He said that people belonging to the poor class have limited alternative pleasures. This implies that after a long day’s work, they have nothing to do except to over-indulge in sex.

On the contrary, people from the rich class in society get most of their enjoyments outside the home and not necessarily in bed. It is also said that wives of the rich too seek their pleasures outside the home which reduces on their coital frequency, hence keeping their family sizes small. Brento further theorises that the rich limit their family size so as to take advantage of new opportunities available in our civilization.

To that end therefore, the theory of increasing property and decreasing fertility could hold water today. Think about our situation in Uganda. Is it not true that the majority of the rich have fewer children than the poor?

Habaasa Gilbert,
PopDev Consult International.


Please pass popular laws

I have a question: do you adopt laws first and then ask citizens to obey them, or do you gauge public opinion on the draft legislation first, and then adopt a law that reflects the prevailing view of the society on that issue? My hypothesis is that it would be easier to enforce the law if it conforms to the majority opinion as opposed to when it does not.

At the moment it appears there are just a few people in government who think a new land law is necessary. Consensus on the proposed law seems to be apparently absent. You may take it or leave it, but where there is no collective support or belief in the law, government would need to allocate a lot of time and resources to enforce that law because it is not widely supported.

It is indeed my prayer that our lawmakers should not only think of passing the law as desired by the promoters of the proposed law but should first count the likely cost of enforcing the law and see if the law is worth the cost. Government should work towards promoting laws that have collective support; laws that society can own; laws that would be self enforced and sustainable, and laws that would not threaten the peace and stability of the nation.
 
Dan M. Mwanje,
Makerere University.


Make new Entebbe road a priority

The stretch between Kampala and Entebbe is undoubtedly the fastest growing residential area in Uganda today.  Also because of its proximity to the lake and being the access route to strategic sites like the airport, State House, the zoo and numerous recreational lakeside facilities, the strip experiences some of the heaviest traffic flow in Uganda.

The previously 25-minute journey from Kampala to Entebbe nowadays takes in excess of one hour and on days when it has rained, it can even take three hours! A few weeks ago, it was mentioned that there was a plan to construct a new route to Entebbe parallel to the existing one.
Can the government for once break its undesirable record and deliver this road in time to save its citizens from this traffic headache?

James Taylor Mwesigwa,
Kampala.

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