By Stephen Lwetutte
LONDON-UNITED KINGDOM/NEWSDAY:
The failed state that Uganda is means that, here, anything goes! Ironically, the vacuum has been occupied by occupied by organised criminals, who are evidently more and better organised than the moribund outfits that pass for state institutions, but in actual fact, they are conduits for the distribution of tax payers money among the ruling cabal and its hangers-on. Why else would the anarchical state Uganda is in at the moment steadily get from bad to worse each passing day.
The government has all but abandoned its obligations towards the people of Uganda, including creating enough employment to at least absorb more young people in the labour market than join the workforce every year. The country has a very young, skilled, English-speaking labour force that has been put to complete waste by this regime. It is limping from hand-out scheme to hand-out scheme ostensibly to assist the vast number of the unemployed, the latest being the so-called “emyooga” funds for investment in income-generating ventures for the youth – but the funds appear to be ending up in elsewhere in the hands of a certain class of individuals, who are supposed to be executing oversight and accountability over them.
The poverty-stricken and increasingly frustrated youth are pushed to the wall with not many other options open to them to lead a productive lifestyle. The easiest, – going to the rural areas to engage in farming ventures, has never appealed to any youth anywhere in the world, let alone in Uganda where villages lack the basic amenities such as water and power. Today’s young people are exposed to the global village via the internet and can compare and contrast what is on offer in Uganda and elsewhere.
The push and pull factors outside Uganda mean one thing – a dash for real or imaginary green pastures abroad. Need to leave Uganda has reached fever pitch – and the organised criminals have gleefully pounced to make a killing under the guise of securing employment, any job outside Uganda. With a heavy heart, our young people, for the first time in recent memory, are leaving their beloved ones to venture out in wide world to eke a living in uncertain conditions, very often on own volition. It is brisk business at the moment, but that is not the point.
The adventure can simply be perilous, fraught with all sorts of risks and dangers for their safety, health and well-being. While migrant labour is nothing new or sinister and has existed from time immemorial, the horror stories told by our compatriots are so frequent and harrowing to be ignored: they range from slavery to human trafficking to removal of body organs, often under coercion – they are at premium worldwide for wealthy patients for whom money is no object. Likewise, trade in body organs appears to be particularly rife in the country, which is hardly surprising given the levels and scale of poverty. Organs from an overwhelmingly young, healthy population would be particularly appealing. Anecdotal evidence now suggests that Uganda is the undeclared regional hub of these criminal activities. Admittedly, this concern has been raised in government circles and appears to be under the radar for a while now. It is understood and has been reported in media that a number of prominent professionals and personalities are under investigation on these matters at international level.
After at least 5 years of deliberation, the government announced at the end of 2021 that it had cleared the Human Organ Donation And Tissue Transplant Bill 2020. I for one am not holding my breath if and when this Bill becomes law. For corruption to degenerate into kleptocracy or for torture and extrajudicial executions to define political life in Uganda aren’t due to the absence of good laws on the statute books.
That law could even be abused and turned into a charter for the criminals to operate without fetters, not that there is much in their way at the moment to seriously hinder their antics! It is just that, slavery and its modern forms having been outlawed in a plethora of international instruments hundreds of years ago, leaving a scar on human conscience, it has taken root in our country in the 21st century.
The number of deaths, injuries and disappearances of our compatriots in unclear circumstances is disproportionately high, and whatever measures they have undertaken, if any don’t seem to have the desired effect. There is an exponential growth in the number of Ugandans discovered with missing internal organs. If the government is held responsible for creating the push factors for our youngsters to leave home unceremoniously, it should at the very least have the courtesy to discharge the duty of care they owe to the victims abroad – Uganda embassies abroad are said to be indifferent to the plight of these people at their point of need.
Voluntary, legal and humane migration could a great asset to the country, where the process is conducted above board and regulated for the safety and well-being of our people, but as expected in a kleptocratic society, the laws and rules are flouted with impunity, and are in place pretty much for cosmetic purposes. In such a climate, o e could only expect this crime against humanity to fester for as long as President Museveni remains in power – he simply has no capacity to reign in on the powerful actors engaged in the lucrative industry. The state institutions have collapsed.
The writer is a Multilingual Human Rights Practitioner, formerly at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London for over 20 years and now Legal and Human Rights Consultant.
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