WHAT ARE UGANDA'S DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS?

I wish to educate President Museveni and the NRM regarding what I think Uganda's development problems are:

1.  President Museveni is the number one development problem of the country.  Recently, his Government closed media houses over a situation of his own creation.  The President ought to know that schemes like his where leaders want to stay indefinitely are more often than not associated with elimination of opponents.  So, when someone in the system writes about it, this means the guy is informed, and instead of getting a cure, the Government decided to kill the media as if the media was the problem.

2. The NRM Government from 1986 has been involved in solving conflicts and other people's problems outside Uganda's borders.  Only God knows how much money has been lost which would have helped development efforts of the country.

3. The patronage scheme.  This scheme has been on for a long time.  The privatization saw some people benefit, many have got favours to their undertakings all of which have cost the taxpayer trillions of Uganda shillings that would have financed development.

4. The assumption that the President can be everything is the big undoing for this country.  There is evidence where the President has instructed the Governor of Bank of Uganda, which instructions were made because he is President.  Virtually everywhere, the President is the one to please even if a decision is wrong.  Before the President does proper delegation, Uganda has no future.   

5.  The corruption and outright theft of funds from the donor sources and revenue collections are all regrettable, moreover majority of those involved have connections with the President's appointments or the party favours.

6. The failure by the President to listen to commonsense reasoning in a number of instance, hence the reason why the country has an abnormal non - productive bureaucracy, including Presidential ad visors, over sized Parliament, RDC's name them.  The duplication of work which causes conflict are all wrong methods of state management.

7.  The country getting registered as a high cost country in the production process is most unfortunate.

8. Failure to reward labour appropriately.  This has led to the exodus to other countries where skilled labour gets what is worth the effort.

9.  Diversion of funds more so the donor funds and the inability of Government to stick to the budgets such that even if 10% of the budget were allocated to a sector, it may end up with about 5%. 

10.  Ill advised policies that keep the country's shilling depreciating.

William Kituuka Kiwanuka

Blood shortage forces heart institute to halt operation

A health worker attends to a heart patient at the Uganda Heart Institute at Mulago recently. The institute had decided to halt operations over shortage of blood until yesterday when they received Shs800m to test blood. Photo by ABUBAKER LUBOWA. 

By FLAVIA LANYERO

Posted  Thursday, June 6   2013 at  01:00

In Summary

The crisis. The director at the institute says they had decided to close for three weeks until they received a Shs800m boost from the government.

Kampala

The Uganda Heart Institute had to suspend some of its operations for about three weeks following a blood shortage that has hit the country, the Daily Monitor has learnt.

Dr John Omagino, the director of the institute, said they had been forced to halt operations because the blood they had at the time was not adequate to sustain their operations.

Over the last two weeks, several hospitals throughout the country have reportedly been hit by a blood shortage, leaving the only available blood for emergency cases. “We were not able to work at full capacity as we had planned and we had to suspend some of the operations,” Dr Omagino said yesterday.

He also confirmed that they have resumed normal operations after receiving Shs800 million from the government to purchase reagents and blood testing kits needed to test blood. “The problem is no longer that big since money has been released to buy the reagents and the first consignment has already arrived,” Dr Omagino said.

Mulago Hospital officials said they did not suspend their activities because they had resorted to the Nakasero Blood Bank for assistance.

State Minister for Primary Health Care Sarah Opendi yesterday told journalists that emergency arrangement has been made to test blood for the four remaining regional blood banks of Arua, Gulu, Kitovu and Fort Portal until their kits arrive on June 10.

The shortage has also seen several organisations hold blood donation drives to address the crisis. “We were disappointed when they said that we could not donate but they later apologised and we are happy to give blood. We mobilised our neighbours and passersby,” Ms Mpande said.

sarinaitwe@ug.nationmedia.com