Prof Augustus Nuwagaba, an economics don (PHOTO/Courtesy).
KAMPALA – It is extremely unfortunate that we continue to witness Ugandans that celebrate the death of fellow citizens. Is it a result of moral degeneration? The answer is probably A BIG NO; what are the reasons?
Reasons are:
INEQUALITY: We need to get concerned that while some few people are living in opulence, a big number of the Ugandan population are living in CHRONIC POVERTY. It is this deprivation, amidst luxury for the privileged few that breeds this hatred.
CORRUPTION: This has become a way of life, but in a society where meritocracy has given way to “who knows who” as a means of accessing socio-economic opportunity, any misfortunate that befalls the perceived privileged ones, will unleash happiness in the form of “GOOD FOR YOU”.
However, notwithstanding any supposed reason, we condemn the celebration of the death of any person. It is un-African, un-Ugandan, and un-human. As a country, we lost our souls, hence, we need soul-searching, and we must go back to our roots. What is our national value system?
But the message is also clear that government must resolve the issue of meritocracy, unexplained inequality, and primitive accumulation of wealth through unscrupulous means by a few individual public officers, at the expense of service delivery.
Serious interventions are also urgently required to heal current wounds and frustration that are pervasive across the country, given the recent covid-19 pandemic. Government must also toughen on criminality, otherwise, the signs are not good.
