COMMENT: Where did the love go?

COMMENT | Henry Rugamba | I took a walk last night in my Bbunga neighbourhood all the way down to the Munyonyo junction and back. When I got back to the Bbunga market area it was just gone 8pm and the whole area was buzzing with activity, last minute shoppers picking up stuff to take home and the street kitchens were frying up a whole assortment of foods for the hungry folk that come here for dinner. God knows I have seen strange food combo’s in my time but an omelette on spaghetti with tomato sauce was a new one that will stay on my mind for a long time.

This make shift night kitchen is not in the most hygienic place and today was even worse given the late afternoon rain in Kampala. That not withstanding, most of the food was nutritious, the matoke was steaming, fish stewed and deep-fried, groundnut sauce, meat, peas Wow! Uganda is truly a blessed country when it comes to food selection, ever green fields and mountains even during the hottest periods do not become completely bare. Yet with all this wealth and blessing we do not have love for each other.

A friend recently told me the saddest story. There is a Ugandan now well placed in an international body. When he was being considered for the job the organisation did an extensive search on the person here and abroad. What shocked them was that the most negative (unfounded) came from people in Uganda who according to the guys doing the search ‘seemed determined to block the appointment…’ What is wrong with us people? Why do we keep pulling ourselves down? Why do celebrate people hitting hard times, being fired or relieved of their appointments? Why do we pull each other down?

Allow me quote
“Strong people don’t put others down… They lift them up.” ― Michael P. Watson

If you take trouble to see how many West Africans, or Ethiopians are in UN organisations you will realise someone is looking out for them, someone is lifting them up. If you see two Kenyans in an organisation you do not see them eating each other as we do, instead you see the senior one giving opportunity to the other. But ask a Ugandan for a recommendation they would rather introduce a less qualified foreigner. If you are lucky and they do, you will spend two months trying to meet them to write the letter or make the call

Interestingly you will even see this ugly reality in the way we drive, our jams are a result of the ‘I must go first’ attitude ‘who does he think he is?’ we keep saying when someone cuts in. You will see this ugly reality in the way our government works, they are always paying too much attention to foreigners who come to invest here and none or little attention to us who have given our full commitment to our country.

Uganda First should become guiding principle, let’s cultivate a culture to celebrate everything and everyone of us. Let us not be consumed by the selfish attitude that is keeping so few so high and so many so low.

If we were proud of our country and our people Michael Kiwanuka (Google him) would be playing his guitar on our concert stages, Daniel Kaluuya and Florence Kasumba would be doing the Wakanda and motivating young people in Uganda. The gifted hands of many doctors driven out by this hopeless mind-set would be home saving lives.

We need a new mind-set people we need…

UGANDA FIRST