The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Two or three years ago I watched a documentary titled `The Men Who Built America’. It was a story of business titans such as Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Tom Scott, and Henry Ford who built businesses that transformed America. There is no mention of presidents except towards the end; and even then only as puppets of these business titans. So why is Africa waiting for Carlyle’s great hero of history to save it from backwardness?
I am reminded of Karl Marx’s argument regarding capitalist transformation being possible only through political action. But Marx’s own political action came not from politicians but from the national bourgeoisie who, through the development of a shared class consciousness, created collective organisations to advance their interests politically. Watching the transformative power of American business titans confirms the Marxian view that poor nations need national (or even indigenous) capitalists to build successful capitalist societies.
Yet capitalists vary in terms of their individual and/or collective capacities across nations. These capacities can be in terms of the amount of capital they command, the organisational and technical skills they possess, their social cohesiveness as a class, the political power they wield, and most critically the ideological influence they have over society. In discussing failure at capitalist transformation it may be more profitable to study the capabilities of our national capitalist classes, especially indigenous ones.
This study is lacking in our books and in our debates on social and traditional media. Instead the dominant ideology for our development is the one advocated by international capital through its arms – IMF and World Bank. It is an ideology that argues that our development is only possible through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) yet, except for city states like Hong Kong and Singapore, I do not know of any nation that has been developed by FDI.
For most nations, the early presence of multinational capital has been a major constraint to the development of a national capitalist class and thereby its ability to transform.
The dominant ideology in our countries promotes the interests of foreign capital often at the expense of national/indigenous capital. State and non-state elites in Africa share this ideological bias – that you need FDI and international competitive bidding to develop. So the commanding heights of our economies are taken over by foreign capital while our roads, dams, airports and railways are built by the Chinese.
This faith in FDI and international competitive bidding has undermined the development of policies by governments in Africa to actively cultivate domestic/indigenous capital by protecting them from the cold winds of international competition.
I admit that the little of what exists as a national bourgeoisie in Africa is poorly organised (if organised at all), is ethnically divided, and financially weak. Lacking social cohesion and, therefore, a shared vision of national transformation, the divided capitalist elite come to the state in search of particularistic advantage. Politicians exploit this to win over individuals by giving them preferential access to state benefits.
This has subverted the development of a common class consciousness and the construction of effective organisations to promote their interests politically.
More than anything else, the relationship between the state and business in Africa could provide a much richer explanation to the challenges to economic transformation. Our single-minded focus on politicians without understanding their relations with both local and foreign capital is misleading.
Unfortunately, anyone who says the dominant ideology among our elites, and not our political leaders, is the major obstacle to our development risks being accused of excusing the rapacity of these political leaders. It is the proverbial act of grasshoppers which, once put in a bottle, begin eating themselves.
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editor@independent.co.ug
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amwenda@independent.co.ug
Yes you are excusing the sorrow state of leadership in Africa. They play the most important role in setting the agenda and shaping the future of these young countries. That is the very definition of leadership. Look at South Sudan, do you really think it is a lack of a business class that is responsible for the barbarity that is unfolding now? Hardly. Even a relatively developed (in terms of your business class hypothesis) South Africa has quickly descended into the barbarity of killing African immigrants in their midst, at the prompting if not acquiescence and prompting of the political leadership. In the USA Washington was instrumental in setting the tone of what was expected of an American president. He could have easily chosen to rule as long as he wanted. The other founders who were always constantly bickering amongst each other (sounds familiar isn’t it?) wanted him to lead for ever, probably as a solution to their in fighting. He thought otherwise and handed over power peacefully. The political leadership is key especially in the initial stages before the formation of a strong(er) business class. To suggest otherwise is to put the cart before the horse.
Africa is just an unfortunate continent events that happened in the 17th Century in Europe & America are still happening in Africa now yet the world was created on the same day but some how we have that convenient scapegoat of ” our leaders are the problem”
Because of winter in Europe and America the citizens there are forced to think hard coz the cold there alone can kill e.g if one has no warm clothing and heating systems in the home they can freeze to death,2ndly they need to plan how to preserve their crops and livestock thats why incidences of famine are unheard of instead they donate food to Africa yet most of its parts have relatively good climate.
When the Chinese come to Africa they really salivate coz of the abundance of redundant resources.
Africa is trapped by the views of international activists and NGO on issues of climate change and environmental concerns.There is no way Europe would have developed if these concerns were raised during their time of industrial revolution that’s why industries were established in peace .Back in Africa international activities must have a say in every project. of recent ,the Chinese were being condemned for sand mining yet i see Ugandans extracting the same sand from the lake for construction one wonders why its ok for Ugandans to mine sand and its a crime for the Chinese to do the same 2ndly fish is from water bodies doesn’t that also affect the “environment”
1. When govt heard of the death of Kaweesi they were trembling with rage; every horror had its definition. if the assassins wanted to hurt ugandans they really did. Those who killed Kaweesi should know that the Justice of the church is not a mockery.
2. The way Kaweesi was killed showed the dangerous power of the assasins.
3.The assasins panicked when they 1st shot Kaweesi’s semi bullet proof car (Coz the front and behind screens did not break)so they thought they had been trapped thats why they acted that way 2ndly, The person who shot Kaweesi had unresolved issues with him coz a trained assasin will hit you once and take off once he has confirmed that you are dead but it appears that the guy who killed Kawessi did it while saying some words otherwise why spray all those bullets?
4.If Govt ordered FBI to investigate his death they would 1st begin with his friends,workmates and business associates.they can be trailled espacially if one all over a sudden is seen with huge sums of money.
5. Since purchasing bullet proof cars is costly,All top ugandans should at least have a camera installed in their cars.
6. i dont like it;There are no secrets in the intelligence unit any more back then, the Luo and Baganda were the top intelligence officers then they can be trusted with secrets not our brothers from western Ugandan 2ndly intelligence is the best avenue for generating wealth once misused.
7. I strongly believe that Kaweesi’s death is linked to ivory deals and drug dealers who were netted of recent Kayihura should immediately follow up this up.