On Sunday, 30th Jan 2020, I pathetically read in tears a story in the Daily Monitor on page 22 where a renowned Journalist, Namiti Musaazi claimed that “Uganda is Suffering Rotten Leadership”
When a writer runs out of topics and continues to write anyway, is the direction Namiti is taking. It appears as though he is looking to call for the attention of the top most leadership of the land in vain.
As usual, this was not so shocking per se but rather betraying for a fairly well-informed Journalist like Namiti who is fully aware of the government’s commitment to create jobs and eradicate poverty to blatantly lie and spread misleading content using his platform.
In his article, Namiti desperately labored to claim that for one to be successful in Uganda, he or she must be highly skilled professional, employed, or must hold political offices, or close to state power holders, this is certainly not just wrong but a rotten mindset.
Selfish as he is, Namiti further claimed that as a result of too much poverty in Uganda, several people have resorted to seeking employment in countries like Iraq, Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, etc.
Again, this is not only misleading but exposes his self-pretense and blindness to various international laws that allow free movement for various reasons.
In Uganda, one can prosperously make his dream come true and become a member of the money economy without owning a traceable academic achievement, political or state power background but except with the strength of hard work and dedication.
Many Ugandans had either been ignorant or unwilling to embrace mindset change campaign which is often conducted by President Yoweri Museveni and government support to empower residents to eradicate poverty in the country.
But those who listened to these anti-poverty messages from 1990 when the government first introduced Entandikwa, have since made money and said bye-bye to the poverty line.
In fact, to President Museveni, poverty eradication messages seem to even have replaced his daily “The Lord’s Prayer”.
Even in countries with well-grounded economic standards including the US, China, Germany, etc, their people usually export labor to other countries, and because of this, in Uganda, we have several workers, managers, and CEOs of many companies who are foreigners.
There is a local proverb that says, “A juicy bone is useless to a dog with no teeth and a puppy can never be excited by the milk enjoyed by another,”
As a patriotic Uganda, I no more get panicked by this kind of egotistical outburst by a section of Journalists and writers like Namiti whose quest for foreign money to facilitate his agenda of discrediting our strong leaders is far from ending.
Security Intelligence network once established that there is a group of journalists in Uganda who are often paid heavily by the West to frustrate, blackmail, and discredit our leaders.
It was also further established that there were some groups of NGO workers who are paid to undermine efforts by the government of Uganda to create more jobs.
I also need not remind the likes of Namiti and his cohorts that with all the current peace and stability guaranteed in all corners of the country, indeed it is a sin for one not to struggle to be among the money economy.
In Uganda, it is considered normal when a section of journalists like Namiti gets to concentrate on blackmailing political leaders instead of mobilizing and educating the masses on how to eradicate poverty using government programs.
When it comes to fighting against poverty, and the struggle to create jobs in Uganda, I must say thank you to President Yoweri Museveni for his continued action against the vices.
In February 2021 while meeting a group of spiritual and women leaders drawn from all parts of the country at State House Entebbe, President Museveni told them that it is a sin to live with the poor.
President Museveni is on record to have once said it is useless to have a small fraction of rich people in a sea of largely poor people.
Just on Sunday, President Museveni revealed that 39 percent of Uganda’s 41million population lives from hand to mouth.
“When we involved the soldiers in the fight against poverty through the distribution of piglets, poultry birds, seedlings and heifers, the figures have changed and now 61 percent of Ugandans are in the money economy but 39 percent still working for the stomach,” Mr Museveni said.
Mr Museveni said his government will on February 26 launch the Parish Development Model as part of the efforts to increase household incomes in the communities. The government has committed Shs42 trillion for the implementation of the model of which Shs100m will be given to each parish across the country every year.
Before the Namiti of this world continue to make claims of self-importance, I think there is need for them to criticize the parties that always fight against genuine and effective poverty alleviation programs in the country. Interesting enough is that these include political figures with selfish interests, NGOs with agendas from the International enemies who want Uganda to remain dependent and some journalists who are sponsored by politicians and foreign bodies to keep the country in bad shades.
I look forward to the day when one of the journalists investigates and publishes the rot in the media houses and Journalists scramble for bribes and yellow envelopes.
The writer is Parish Chief from the Eastern Part of Uganda
