Chomg Post Three: Broken Sidewalks

They tore up the sidewalks and streets for Chogm to rebuild nicer ones. But since the repairs haven’t been finished, and the Queen and other diplomats and visitors have come and gone, they’ll stay half-finished forever. Chogm came and went without the world’s notice or most Ugandan’s participation. Most Ugandans didn’t see the Queen, air their grievances, or even learn to untangle the acronym.

But they will have to live with Chogm’s destruction indefinitely. Government spent money they didn’t have, and money earmarked for better things, on Chogm. The conference came and went without the sidewalks being repaired, and government certainly won’t have the funds or wherewithal to fix them after Chogm. Such projects are undertaken only with catalysts like Western visitors with Western wallets. Having broke the bank hoping those Western wallets would spill open, fixing sidewalks for her own people won’t be among broke Uganda’s priorities.

After all the visitors have left with the dollars firmly lodged in the pockets, Ugandans will remain, but without decent sidewalks.

Why did Uganda bother with such a conference? The answers are many, but none is as convincing as a news item buried on page 8 of Saturday Monitor, “Britain Gives Uganda Shillings 2 trillion to fight poverty.” The details of the deal were scant, as were the implications. But basically, the British have committed ₤70 million every year over the next ten years.

But how many Ugandans will see these pounds? They are supposed to help with poverty alleviation, but this wasn’t even on the agenda at Chogm. It seems like a side deal brokered by dignitaries who have more to gain than the Ugandans who probably missed the news item, buried on page 8.

While Ugandans were prohibited from coming to town, dignitaries commented that the streets seemed empty. Royals visited carefully screened and selected locations to show off Uganda’s “progress” and “need,” places that embraced both qualities at once.

Queen Elizabeth went to Kitante Primary School, for example, a school much better off than any in districts of Kampala outside of the city center or upcountry, but still one that would seem lacking to her British First-World Eyes. She saw children in old-ish uniforms, classrooms without adequate supplies. But little did she know that there are too many schools where the classrooms are overfilled, the uniforms more threadbare. Or worse, entire districts where kids don’t go to school because even with Universal Primary Education, school fees are still too expensive for indigent parents.

The carefully calculated media fiasco showed her exactly what she wanted to see: a Uganda that has improved, but is still in need.

But long after she’s gone, the children of Kitante and elsewhere will probably see none of the trillions of shillings to be pocketed by government officials.

And Ugandans will still be walking on broken sidewalks.