Why is Africa an Open Sewer?

There are few success story of any black country or society anywhere on the planet. For years the charge was imperialism and white racism. That card was played till it was dog-eared and few, except for the most ardent liberals, really take that charge seriously, except in public. It is not nice to discuss what is so obvious. Katrina exposed the problem in New Orleans. It only took a few days of a natural disaster for the entire city to collapse into chaos and anarchy. The city and society within it were incapable of stabilizing the internal chaos without federal troops. Most northern American cities have huge no go black areas and based on recent events, even liberal England has wide areas, settled by black immigrants, that have become hostile and crime ridden.

It is an obvious problem and it is a subject that most white Americans are fearful of discussing. Here is an article by an African not afraid to start asking some questions:


Uganda: Pity the Rotting Pearl of Africa

The Monitor (Kampala)
OPINION
28 September 2007
Posted to the web 27 September 2007
Henry F. Mulindwa

On the outside Uganda is a pearl whose beauty stretches and strains the minds, making all other countries in the region ugly. However, don't be fooled, the pearl is rotten egg.

The country is still on the UN list of the 50 poorest nations of the world. Most Ugandans live on less than 2000 shillings a day. That is, if they buy a loaf of bread, they cannot buy anything more.


The good news is that the LRA have stopped burning houses; the bad news is that there are no more houses to be burnt! Uganda's corruption is embarrassing but those involved are never embarrassed. Proven national thieves are just given a slap on the toe while children die of preventable diseases and people with HIV/Aids continue to have their precious lives cut short!

Kampala is a city of chaos. If you prove to me that it is not the dirtiest and most disorderly city in eastern Africa, I will be your slave forever! Illegal, eye-sore structures are built daily and are licensed to operate in front of legitimate permanent shops.

Business is all along the streets and pedestrians have nowhere to walk. Markets like Kalerwe, Wakaliga, Nakawa, Nakulabye and others along the so-called "highways" are a source of traffic jam because they have no parking space. Garbage is all over the place! Do I need to tell you how unhygienic markets are in Uganda? Check them out; how many have good and enough toilets if they have any at all!

In the new arcades, substandard, fake and sometimes dangerous Asian products flood the market. Many local producers moved strongly at first but could not endure for long. At first government seemed to support them but as we all now know the support was a mile wide but an inch deep! The Sembules, Mulwanas had no kickbacks to offer. Yet others give these across the desk envelops to build hotels in places of schools, which hotels are never built. Wait and see what that land will be used for and by whom!

One would think that the city would better be run by non-elected officials but technocrats who would do their job without fear of favour because there is no vote to lose. However, only fools cannot imagine how city offices will be filled by government supporters, relatives and friends of the appointing authority.

The solution is one: make politicians accountable. Believe me, politicians are like diapers; they need to be changed frequently. That way you can keep them honest. They will not pee down your back and tell you it is raining. But if they over stay, they suffer industrial blindness and will be happy to put their pictures on full garbage cans and life goes on without order.

What do planners go to school for? Look at the beautiful homes on Kampala hills. They are impressive mansions in a slum fashion. You can hardly see roads that lead to those homes. In case of an emergency, you only wonder how the police or the fire fighters can get there; that is, if they had the equipment and training needed to do so! Roads in towns have no walkways, and where you find some kind of a walkway, it is colonised by motorcyclists. Traffic lights work seasonally in few junctions where you can find them. Meat markets are shared with a swarm of flies then people wonder why they get sick.

In all this, your elected officials are allegedly working their butt off; working hard or hardly working? Many think that service means serve us! Leaders beware, just because people are not all powerful does not mean they are powerless.