Uganda is a madhouse led by Bushmen
By M. Suleman
9th July 2012: No Ugandan can fail to appreciate that Uganda is a living disaster – and the third Bududa landslide catastrophe that befell the country on June 25 gives us the perfect premise to examine this indictment. The Bududa landslide literally buried two villages, Bunakasela and Bunamulebwa. As expected, the government response was dramatic and militaristic.
It immediately deployed soldiers armed who are not trained to deal with such emergencies. Armed with nothing but hoes and other rudimentary garden tools, the military men descended on the disaster scene to reinforce rescue efforts mounted by the local community. No ambulance, no earth moving equipment, and no helicopter emergency services.
Three days after the mudslide, June 28, to be precise, the first government official in the form of Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi arrived on the scene. Again, as expected, Mbabazi arrived empty handed and promised that government assistance was on the way before quickly warning that the government has “limited capacity”.
When he was asked what the government was doing to arrest the situation, the Minister of Disaster Preparedness, Dr Stephen Malinga, laid bare the government’s un-altruistic mindset of paying little or no attention at all to the welfare of vulnerable citizens. “…the mudslide is not a disaster”, Malinga allegedly said. [Uganda Correspondent couldn’t verify this, therefore give the Minister the benefit of doubt, Ed]
It eventually emerged that government had sourced earthmoving equipment from Masaka, 380km away, and that they were on the way to Bududa. By Friday, (fifth day) no earthmoving equipment had arrived yet, and the army was withdrawing with their hoes without recovering a single body from the buried villages.
Bududa has had landslides in the past three consecutive years, and the drama has been the same. We all remember Museveni’s warrior-general arrival in Bududa – complete in full military attire and an AK47 assault rifle strapped to his chest – perhaps ready to shoot the mud away!!!
In 2010, a similar disaster occurred when a bomb exploded, maimed, and wounded world cup soccer fans. The drama was the same. No ambulances. The injured were driven on the back of police pick-up trucks and dumped on the floors of Mulago hospital due to shortage of beds.
Similar helplessness has been witnessed when unexplained fires gutted Kampala markets and traders had to watch their wares perish helplessly. More drama unfolded when a joint UN and AU team that visited UPDF troops hunting LRA leader Joseph Kony found that the soldiers had no ‘uniforms and boots’.
When heavy rains pounded Kampala recently, the drama was the same. As expected, most of Kampala flooded – people needed boats to move around. Residents continue to complain about the drainage system. But to be sincere, the problem is bigger than that.
Kampala floods because it is basically a “posh slum”. But like all other slums, buildings are primitively erected everywhere and anyhow without proper drainage guidelines from KCCA. Wetlands and vegetation cover have been destroyed, so much so that even without floods, the daily dust that covers Kampala is an environmental hazard that citizens have to endure every day.
Again, like in any slum, one finds some rather good looking structures, but rotten. This explains why as a result of the downpour, Grand Imperial Hotel and Hotel Africana hotels started leaking. Many Kampala buildings are as good as mud houses.
While the central business district is nauseating, it is even worse in the outskirts like Bwaise, Ndeeba, Katwe etc. These are not even slums. They are more like refugee camps that are inundated with people living under horrible conditions. No roads, no drainage, few toilets – even fresh breathing air is in limited supply.
I short, for the 26 years, the country has virtually stood-still. It has no capital to be proud of, and most definitely no government worth writing home about. Simply put, Uganda is a madhouse led by Bushmen with bush oriented ideas. END. Login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories mid-week for our updates
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