The ruling elites have found 2024 to be one of the most challenging years of Museveni’s 38-year rule, and I believe they are eagerly anticipating 2025.
In an attempt to search for an answer to our question, where is the government?, we need to reflect on some major events that occurred in 2024. Many Ugandans lost their lives and property as a result of these events, which we could have avoided if we had a functioning government.
What if we start our search for the answer by examining the latest national population census conducted by Ubos, whose report remains controversial to this day. According to the report, Uganda has a population of 46 million people, with half of them under the age of 30. This looked fantastic since the youths are seen as the future of every nation.
But when it comes to the details regarding the census, some regions experienced negative population growth, while some ordinary people reported that they were not counted. Then how did the government come up with those numbers?
The Kiteezi landfill occurred on August 9, resulting in the deaths of more than 50 people and the destruction of property. This also raised our concern: where is the government? Many reports suggest that environmentalists have been sounding warnings against dumping garbage as early as 2014.
However, the government ignored these warnings, despite KCCA allocating money every financial year to support Kiteezi. However, no action has been taken, which has significantly contributed to the deaths of innocent people when Kiteezi decided that enough was enough.
On October 22, a fuel truck exploded, killing 11 people. It took hours before the police fire department arrived at the scene, and it was too late to rescue lives and property. If the government had known that Bobi Wine was in the area, they would have taken swift action.
On October 29, suspected cult members killed eight people in an attack in the village of Mizizi A in Kagadi district. If there are only concerns about political intelligence pertaining to the opposition, then who bears responsibility for the lives of ordinary citizens?
Heavy rains in Bulambuli district on November 27 resulted in more than 30 deaths and hundreds of missing people due to landslides, marking the latest event in our search for the government’s whereabouts.
Don’t ask me what happened to the government’s relocation program under the Office of the Prime Minister. Overflooding in Pakwach district claimed the lives of 11 people, including one Unra engineer.
Bank of Uganda has operated without a governor since Professor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile passed away in January 2022. Only in Uganda does the state function without a governor for nearly three years. Then, young people will take to social media to express their distress over the poor economy, characterized by high interest rates and rising inflation.
However, we discovered the government’s presence by dispatching military tanks to apprehend protestors. This led to the arrest and detention of over 60 protestors who spent weeks in prison for helping their government fight corruption. I hope readers have been able to locate their government and its priorities.
The writer is a political scientist, realist, certified foot soldier, revolutionary, and a PhD student at Northern Arizona University.
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