View Point: West using aid to dismantle African cultures

Thursday, 13 December 2012 20:00

Written by Our Readers

5 Comments

The aid the West gives to African countries is another form of neocolonial domination and imperialism, and this aid is actually paid back in one way or another. There is actually no foreign aid that is ‘free.’

Western powers design aid policies for poor countries which are only symbolic in nature. For example, many of the donor-funded projects in Africa come with the so-called expatriates who are highly paid and enjoy an affluent life in African countries.

All this may be done in order to keep African peoples under the Western heel. Now the Uganda government is being threatened by the USA and other Western countries with the withdrawal of foreign aid if the country goes ahead to pass the anti-gay bill still in Parliament.

Western countries have considered homosexuality a human right, which is contrary to our Africans cultures. These countries fail to understand that Africans build and groom a society based on defined values.

What we should now be getting worried about is the possibility that these people could declare bestiality as another human right! The Ugandan Speaker of Parliament’s stand on gays should receive the entire country’s support if we are to preserve our society with its defined values.

Eric Wakabi,
KIU.

Only behavioural change will stop road carnage

Very many people die every year in traffic accidents on Ugandan roads. This situation could easily get out of hand if nothing is done now to stop the road carnage.
Majority of road accidents are actually preventable and the poor road safety culture in our country, coupled with the failure to strictly enforce traffic laws, are chiefly to blame.

Most accidents are attributed to human error. There have been a lot of media campaigns on drink-driving in the country but Ugandans have chosen to ignore them. Majority of accidents involve buses, matatus and now, increasingly, boda bodas.

The fact is many Ugandans rely on these modes of transport to commute, hence the need for more attention and resources to be focused on enhancing safety in public road transport.

We need a concerted effort from the ministry of Works and Transport, Uganda Police, Uganda National Roads Authority and other stakeholders in the transport sector to implement guidelines that have emerged over the years.

We could start by seeking to change our road culture. Improving road safety has to start with the individual. Attitudinal shifts are required to inculcate a culture of safe road usage.

This would entail observing speed limits, proper vehicle maintenance and respecting other road users, including cyclists and pedestrians. We must encourage the private sector to start driving schools for buses, trucks and boda bodas. The rest, I believe, will be an easier road to travel.

Stephen Asiimwe,
Kampala.

Stop censorship of the internet

At the ongoing World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai, authoritarian regimes are pushing for full governmental control of the internet in a binding global treaty. If they succeed, the internet could become less open, more costly and much slower.

The internet has been an amazing example of people power ? allowing us to connect, speak out and pressure leaders like never before. That’s largely because it has hither been governed by users and non-profits, and not governments. But now countries like Russia, China and United Arab Emirates are trying to rewrite a major telecom treaty called the ITR to bring the internet under government control ? the web would then be shaped by government interests and not by us, the users.

Tim Berners Lee, one of the “fathers of the Internet,” has warned that this could increase censorship online and invade our privacy. These countries are trying to use the meeting to increase government control of the internet through proposals that would allow for access to be cut off more easily, threaten privacy, legitimize monitoring and traffic-blocking, and introduce new fees to access content online.

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) does extremely important work ? expanding affordable access for poor countries and securing networks ? but it’s not the right place to make changes to how the internet operates.

Let’s ensure that our internet stays free and governed by the public and show the ITU and the world that we won’t stay silent in the face of this internet attack.
Use the URL below to sign a petition and then share this email widely:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/hands_off_our_internet_i/?bcNKqbb&v=20011
V. Pascal,
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