Time and again I
hear announcements on CBS 88.8 FM Radio that people with such and such items
should surrender them to Mengo to be part of the Historical monuments or
other. This is not only wrong given that
for a person to keep any item, he/she must have attached value to doing so, and
to some, such things have historical importance, so it is very wrong for some
people in Mengo to seem demanding for these items as if they were kept for safe
custody for the Kingdom, which is not so.
Mengo is no poor entity. It is
earning from a number of avenues hence it must pay for whatever it wants from
the people. I have also not understood
the strategy Mengo is using to get materials for completing Kasubi and other
Tombs. These items should not be
delivered for free. It is public
knowledge that there is money to complete these establishments. Whoever are involved in the construction undertaking
should state the price they are willing to offer for various materials, then
those who have them, or those willing to hunt for them can be guided by the
quoted price or negotiate better prices.
Some people are so
backward and they assume that we should not come up with ideas to see better
management of Buganda affairs. To me,
this is part of backward mentality. We
have people with a lot of ideas and exposure; no one can claim to have monopoly
of ideas such that he is left to sink the institution because by virtue of his
appointment he is not supposed to be advised.
If the people of Uganda had earlier been called upon to advise Mengo,
the developments would be very great.
Everyone sees it as a taboo to advise the leaders, and this is giving opportunity
to those who can exploit the vacuum. I
want to repeat in this communication that Buganda should have fully fledged
Procurement and Audit departments to be able to undertake serious business. Where money is involved, never trust
anybody. If a man has assets, he must
have used money to acquire the assets, and he will always have a higher
affinity to get more assets, that is why the audit and procurement come in as
these are the best avenues through which resources can be saved.
The Katikkiro of Buganda
has been shown a good gesture by the people of Uganda who have contributed
money since he came to office. While
this gesture is good, some people see the continuation of this as a ‘beggar
mentality’, though some people disagree.
What has to noted is that before Katikkiro gets to any place, there are
mobilizes to see that the locals make contribution. In economics terms, there is no money which
is made to be redundant. People are now
reducing the monies they would have put to other use, while this is not bad,
but it is not developmental on the part of those who lose value or property for
the purpose. The better approach as of
now is to either open some undertaking like a Buganda Development Corporation. When a person buys shares in such an undertaking,
he is expecting to enjoy some sort of ownership in the undertaking. While the returns may not be immediate, at
least this is the best approach for Buganda as of now. I pray that the powers that be finally buy
this idea.
When Kabaka went to
Kayunga, he said that contributions of money by groups can help in seeing real
investments which are job creating. In
light of that statement is how the powers at Mengo should see the innovation of
business undertakings where the people of Uganda may buy shares. There has been a lot of blame to the NRM
Government for not creating jobs for the youth.
Mengo can show positive reaction to this problem by mobilizing resources
for investment in productive ventures with capacity to attract foreign
capital. A case in point is utilizing
land as a resource and use mobilized capital to construct satellite
cities. The returns with time to this
type of investment can be great.
We are crying that
Hydro power is expensive. Mengo can
encourage the growing of plants out of which a substitute for diesel can be
got. With the oil, the industrialization
where unit cost of production will be lower is very possible as compared to
instances where the cost of power is prohibitive. We are aware of the comparative advantage
Uganda has in many agricultural undertakings.
Mengo can venture into these and slowly the unemployment will be
eased. I don’t buy the continued blame
of the people many of who do not even have the land resource. This problem can be addressed by the Kingdom
when it gets to help those willing to do agriculture by helping them get land
which they can pay for gradually as well as get advice on better production
techniques so that they produce intensively.
That way, we shall end up with a developing Buganda.
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