ASPIRATIONS

“We want to develop this into a bustling town – and that is why, we have constructed the district offices a little away from where this town is actually located”, said Moses, a senior district official of Napak district. He was very sincere, and there was ambition in what he said. Even if it was difficult to fully be convinced about it – a glance out of the several windows in his office did not give a clue on how this wide, open space, beautiful as it was with some trees and open grazing land, could ever be transformed to a bustling town. 

Napak has population of 200,000 and is located in the north-eastern region of Uganda called Karamoja. The people of Karamoja faced several challenges – conflict, disease, flooding and poverty being some of them. One did wonder what would be the economic base around which a bustling town could develop. But the intention was very clear.

In a way, Moses was just reflecting a growing aspiration that is so evident in Uganda. This country with a population of 34 million and known as the ‘Pearl of Africa’ for its beauty, aspires to be a middle income country over the next decade or two. While it is predominantly agricultural, very poor and near the bottom on the Human Development Index, the newly found oil and gas is providing immense hope to this landlocked country, and combined with relative peace and political stability, the hope is very alive and real. It was thus interesting to also hear the Executive Director of the recently established Kampala City Corporation Authority (KCCA), a body that brings together various authorities, departments and organisations responsible for Kampala’s development, talk about building a Kampala ‘that every Ugandan can be proud of’.

Meeting the local community in some of the informal settlements in Kampala, there was a different kind of hope and aspiration. May and Care are two such community leaders who have grown up and live in the local community. Articulate and passionate, they dream of a better tomorrow. “We now know our rights”, said May. “The threat of eviction from our houses is still very real, but we know how to negotiate. We cannot just be taken for granted”, she said. “We are at war with our local community to get them to address internal challenges instead of waiting for others to come and solve our problems”, said Care. “We want to make sure that our surroundings are clean and our children are educated. We want the local community to engage with the municipality so that our issues can be addressed”.

But the most heartening cause for optimism came from a group of women, all of whom were HIV positive, who had come together as a mutual support and solidarity group. Initially, their focus was on HIV/AIDS, on improved awareness, education and treatment. But gradually, they realised their strength in just being together and providing peer support and counselling. They started working with a local NGO on housing issues and soon, started addressing issues of water and sanitation. Many of them also made a range of lovely handcrafted products which they sold in the local market, right outside the room where we met them. Oh yes, we had to make a mandatory visit to the market and yes, we did spend quite an amount during our impromptu shopping.

“We now have a bigger vision”, one of the women said. “Because we know our rights, we can talk, we can negotiate, and we are free”.

Well, if a nation is built on the aspirations and hopes of people, then surely Uganda is on the right track. We also had the opportunity of meeting the Prime Minister in his office together with a number of ministers and other senior government officials. Clearly, Uganda was open for and ready for business and one does hope that the Pearl of Africa can truly become a thriving and prosperous country !