This is my tenth book. The ten books
represent fifty years (1961-2010) of critical reading, research and
writing on development issues with a focus on four areas: (1)
comparative advantage and economic and social transformation; (2)
population growth and birth control; (3) population densities and
environmental damage; and (4) structural adjustment and poverty
eradication.
In
searching for the truth or completeness I have always looked for those
aspects that are absent from standard development discourse to give
readers all the information needed to make informed decisions. For
example, when someone writes about a glass half full, I research and
write about the empty part of that glass. Based on this dialectical
approach, I have drawn conclusions and learned lessons that differ from
standard positions in the four areas.
I have learnt and concluded that (1)
static comparative advantage in the production and export of raw
materials is not a wise course of action because it will not generate
sufficient resources to transform a country’s economy and society; (2)
relying on birth control alone without educating girls beyond primary
school and empowering women economically will not bring about the
desired results in fertility reduction and demographic transition; (3)
high population densities are not always caused by natural population
growth (births over deaths) and high densities do not always damage the
environment. There are cases like Kilimanjaro area of Tanzania where the
environment has not been damaged by high population density and
Machakos district of Kenya where the environment has benefited from high
population density; and (4) thirty years of stabilization and
structural adjustment programs in Africa undermined progress in social
and environmental sectors and failed to sustain economic growth, create
jobs and reduce poverty.
The Great
Lakes Region of Africa is occupied by two major ethnic groups.
Bantu-speaking people arrived in the area from Cameroon/Nigeria
border some 3000 years ago. They brought with them short horn cattle,
goats, sheep and technology. The Nilotic Luo-speaking people arrived in the
area some 600 years ago from Southern Sudan. They brought with them
long horn cattle. They subsequently adopted Bantu language, religion
and other civilizations such as Bahutu King's title of Mwami in
Rwanda.
A
dominant feature of their interaction is that political power was
achieved through the barrel of the gun especially in Southwest
Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda and increasingly in Eastern DRC. Warfare
intensified with the arrival of foreigners using European weapons.
Weaker societies were raided for slaves and colonial domination.
Since independence in the early 1960s armed struggle has remained the
main method of capturing and retaining or losing political power.
The
new breed of leaders in Burundi, Rwanda, DRC and Uganda came to power
through the barrel of the gun. Since the introduction of democracy in
part as a requirement for financial and technical aid, elections
have been won by those who control guns. Attempts to replace democracy
at gun point with real democracy using such instruments as the media
have faced serious challenges.
The cost of exercising freedom of
expression, assembly and of selecting one's representatives has been
very high. Many people have been gunned down, others tortured and
imprisoned. Their family members and relatives have been harassed and
their inalienable rights violated in many other ways.
The
purpose ofthis publication is to urge citizens of present and future
generations in the region to continue the struggle - with support of
their friends and well-wishers around the world - until the power of
democracy has defeated the barrel of the gun. With combined effort it
will happen sooner rather than later.
The
principal purpose of this autobiography is to dispel – and
hopefully forever – the myth that progress – or lack of it – is
the result of God’s will. I have heard many lament – especially
during my research when I deliberately travelled by bus many times
between Kampala and Rukungiri in Uganda in the 1980s – that there
isn’t anything that can be done to end their poverty and suffering
because they were not born lucky. As a result, instead of making an
effort, they flocked to church for consolation hoping that the
afterlife would be better. While prayer is necessary, it is not a
sufficient condition on earth. My strong belief is that no one is
genetically superior to another or born leader. My experience is that
the difference is environmental – economic, social, cultural,
organizational, etc.
I
was born and raised in a relatively poor environment in a remote
rural area of south west Uganda and in a large family with many
relatives that needed my parents’ help – within the framework of
extended family – against meager resources. From grade five through
eight, I walked twenty miles daily to school without shoes. We had a
rooster that served as an alarm clock. I could go on!
I
pulled through school, career, parenting and writing because of a
combination of factors – all of them environmental – including my
parents’ determination to raise school fees provided I performed
extremely well which served as an incentive; my strong conviction
that with hard, diligent, persistent and strategic struggle I could
go very far in achievements and distance – in the latter case from
Uganda to the United Nations in New York City – and I set goals
that I had to achieve no matter what.
I
had three broad goals – to demonstrate through writing that much of
what we were taught especially comparative advantage as raw material
producers Africans got a poor deal; to prepare my children to compete
with anyone at school or at work; and never to forget my parents and
members of the community where I grew up. Read the book and judge for
yourself.
After a series of preparatory meetings and summits, the Charter of
the United Nations was signed at San Francisco, USA, on June 26,
1945. On October 24, 1945, the Charter was ratified and the United
Nations was born.
The General Assembly which is one of the six principal organs is the
deliberative arm of the United Nations open to all member states, now
192. One of its strengths is that each member has one vote irrespective
of size and level of economic development.
Every September, world leaders convene in New York City the
headquarters of the United Nations to address the General Assembly in a
General Debate. The debate covers a wide range of issues in peace and
security, human rights and development. Most of the decisions of the
General Assembly are recommendations to member states. However, because
of the moral authority of the United Nations, some of the
recommendations have been vital in the establishment of new
international guidelines. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human
Rights which started as a General Assembly resolution became the
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
which is characterized as a crime under international law.
The General Debate provides every member a chance to be heard and
each member is given the same amount of time to make a statement; it
acts as a barometer of international opinion on many issues in all
areas of human endeavor; it provides leaders with an opportunity to
exchange views and even blow off steam on very contentious issues. Not
least the General Debate provides an opportunity for informal
consultations.
Fellow
Africans, colleagues and friends who are familiar with my work at the
United Nations and had read my books asked me to write short,
non-technical and user-friendly stories.
The young people of Africa that I met in the United States of America and Canada expressed a strong desire to know more about Africa’s past and current events.
Since
the 1980s, the world economy has been dominated by the Washington
Consensus which has collapsed in the wake of the economic recession that began in 2008 – hence the need for a new development model.
A broad range of issues has been covered from the role of leaders in Africa’s poor performance, to causes of conflicts in the Great Lakes
Region, to the abandonment of the Washington Consensus and to the
fading glory of Uganda as a ‘success development story’.
The disadvantages of geography, pitfalls of comparative advantage, and challenges of migration and the effects
of human interactions have also been reviewed with a view to
recommending solutions to secure freedom, respect, harmony, dignity and
prosperity for all.
A
chapter titled “Media Briefs” with short articles – presented
chronologically – has been provided for illustrative purposes as more
stories – updated regularly – are available at www.kashambuzi.com. Hopefully this contribution intended for a wider readership will add a new dimension to your store of knowledge.
When
Europeans visited the areas that later became Uganda, they were amazed by the
variety of cultivated and wild foodstuffs and a wide range of manufacturing
activities. Surplus food and manufactured products were exchanged in local and
regional markets. Thus, pre-colonial comparative advantage served Uganda’s
needs very well.
The
visitors were also struck by the vitality, eagerness and intelligence of
Ugandans. Winston Churchill remarked that Ugandans were “different from
anything elsewhere to be seen in the whole range of Africa”. He called Uganda
“the Pearl of Africa”.
Economic
developments since the start of the 20th century have undermined
Uganda’s development potential. Ugandans were compressed into producers of raw
materials according to colonial comparative advantage and the manufacturing sector
collapsed. Because foreign earnings from primary exports have not been enough,
Uganda has become dependent on foreign aid and remittances.
Efforts
by the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government since 1986 to build an
independent, integrated and self-sustaining middle income economy and society have
yet to produce tangible results. The ideology of mixed economy was replaced by
the Washington Consensus which called on Uganda to increase and diversify
agricultural exports, promote economic growth and private sector, control
inflation and increase savings, privatize public enterprises and liberalize the
economy. This model has bred inequality, food insecurity, de-industrialization,
environmental degradation and unemployment with serious social and cultural outcomes.
Although
irreplaceable, the market mechanism has neither brain nor heart. Accordingly, state
intervention in strategic areas is unavoidable to correct free enterprise and
free market imperfections. A balance is needed between inflation control and
employment generation as well as economic growth, equity and environmental
protection.
The
publication, intended primarily for students, policy makers and development
partners, is also appropriate for a wider readership. It is also a modest
contribution to the debate about Uganda’s development agenda for the 21st century including relevant regional issues.
Books
After a series of preparatory meetings and summits, the Charter of
the United Nations was signed at San Francisco, USA, on June 26,
1945. On October 24, 1945, the Charter was ratified and the United
Nations was born.
