I ordinarily do not do my hair
cuts in Jinja but this time I did it. I usually also do not want my presence to
be known so I go for ordinary saloons as long as I feel they are safe and
hygienic. I visited a small saloon in Jinja town over the weekend andthe topic
in the saloon was the Jinja East by-election. The discussion among the people
in there was well balanced to my surprise. A Mwiru supporter was crying saying
the Besigye- Muntu divide will rob Mwiru of votes because of the current schism
in the FDC. A Nabeeta supporter whose voice could not be heard well because of
the various arguments was urging the people in the saloon to vote for Nabeeta
because Jinja would have another Minister.But he said that Busoga politicians
should know what they want because if they don’t they will continue to be
marginalized. Let them come together and forget about party differences. I
thought this was the smartest proposal I heard about Busoga in a long time but
guess where it was coming from. These are the voices of the unheard, people you
never invite to make a contribution to a discussion. There is a story about the
decision to locate a lift on several buildings in the US, all the educated
engineers were unable to find an ideal location it was recommended by a
Janitor. He was on the ground. When he spoke to his bosses who were lamenting
about the costs that had gone into locating the lift, hardly anybody wanted to
listen to him because after all what do Janitors know about such issues. The
statistics indicate that the greater Busoga region is the third poorest in the
country, if u went to villages now you would be amazed at the levels of
poverty. Busoga is performing poorly in education, the production of goods and
services other than the maize is very low. During the harvesting of maize
people eat boiled maize for meals, the prestigious schools like Mwiri, Butiki
are nolonger what they used to be, infact the number of a Basoga in there is
low. So probably it is true that Busoga does not need a group of people tearing
each other apart, Busoga should vote a consensus candidate as abasis for
negotiation not only within the parties but also for purposes of sharing the
national cake. I have been impressed by the Bakiga, it seems they have a big
religious drive among them but when it comes to Bakiga interests they forget
their divisions. They have a Prime minister, a Governor of the Central Bank,
they have controlled the Ministry of Finance, and their University is now
funded by government. Thanks to their coming together as a group.
You may say Busoga has a
secretary General and the Speaker of Parliament. That is true and thanks to
them, Busoga enjoys certain benefits but we could do with a little more. I
would have been happy if my young brothers Mwiru and Nabeeta could come
together to decide what Jinja wants, where should Jinja go, and this should be
the basis for a combined manifesto for the Busoga political group. Busoga is
ready for a teaching medical school, Busoga is ready for a refurbished source
of the Nile, Busoga is ready to improve maize production and storage, Busoga is
ready for a major investment in cassava growing and a creation of industries
related to cassava. This is a major production factor that no one has talked
about. Busoga is ready to exploit its minerals to benefit Abasoga. Hon. Edward
Kafufu and team has been talking about this. If you do not know where you want
to go as it has always been said any road will take you there but most
important you are likely to remain in the same place. Busoga is changing but
the change is bringing more poor people in the Busoga region. Busoga needs more
positive change to bring more wealth among the people. ISE BANTU AFUVUWE.
