Prior to the French Revolution, which begun in 1789, Queen
Marie Antoinette when presented with the complaint that the peasantry was being
racked by famine and had no bread to eat responded with a toss of her royal
curls, I imagine, “Let them eat cake.”
With that statement she became the poster child of all that
was wrong with the ruling elite of the day. How so out of touch they were with
the plight of the everyday man.
There are doubts that she actually made that comment but it
has stuck and for most of us we would rather not let the facts get in the way
of a good story.
On Tuesday the honourable MP for Buryaha County Margaret
Muhanga went before parliament to explain her role in the irregular sale of UBC
land a few years ago. When she was asked how she raised the sh10b she put down to
buy the 23 acres of land in Bugoobi, in 30 seconds of video footage that has
gone viral, Muhanga’s eyes widened as if in disbelief that she could be asked
such a question then, “I sold cows, goats and everything,” she answered.
This kicked off a firestorm on social media for the next 24
hours, with all and sundry rolling in the aisles more at the incredulity of the
answer and her attitude towards a serious issue of obvious asset stripping of a
public agency.
"It was not her finest hour. She may never live it down. This may even be, like Marie Antoinette, how she is remembered if public outcry against government poor service delivery and corruption, in the future, snowball into worse...
Muhanga’s transaction may very well be above board but it
raises more questions than answers about the way our public affairs are
conducted and the sensitivity of our public officials to the plight of the
everyday man.
Right now the man on the street is grappling with issues of
how to make his income – if he has one,
carry him through the month, expensive health and education services,
because the public system is irreparably damaged and how to better himself
generally given his training and the opportunities available in the economy.
But at every turn he is coming up empty handed.
So when public officials are suspected or arraigned before
the courts or parliament to answer to allegations of impropriety we explain the
lack of credible answers as a sign of impunity – they never thought they would
have to answer so they never got their story straight; we explain the obvious nonchalance
as evidence that this was business as usual and suffer headaches when we try to
wrap our minds around the sums involved.
Jokes aside the stability of nations depends on the
equitable distribution of that country’s wealth.
Disparities in income and wealth will always
be there, and are even healthy in motivating hard work and innovation, but too
much disparity is a recipe for social instability. The resentment of these
disparities is even worse when there is a hint that some people are getting
ahead for reasons other than diligent work.
We have said it many times, the challenge of this country is
not that we do not have resources but that our resources are not being fully
exploited and even when they are, are not being exploited for the benefit of
the majority.
"How do you raise incomes and create wealth for the majority?..
You build the social
and physical infrastructure that allows them to not only discover their full
potential but maximise it for their own benefit. A good education and health
system ensures that we develop better quality workers who can demand higher
income from the market; we lay down good laws and regulations and enforce them
objectively and transparently across the board, this ensures security of person
and property the cornerstone of strong economy; we lay down the roads,
railways, telecommunication networks to allow easier access to resource centers
and markets, which allows the private individuals to thrive.
A handful of people can subvert this by for example
diverting resources for their own personal gain and the ensuing
dysfunctionality manifests itself as widening inequalities in the general
society.
"Widening inequalities lead to hopelessness which quickly leads to desperation and eventually social disruption and instability. Think about it...
