Why has life become worse for us after COVID yet we thought the worst was over?
Life out of the COVID nightmare seems worse than when we lived day to day, checking our temperature and fearful of the implications of the first sniffle.
Locked in our houses and compounds, most of us anyway, the already high fuel prices did not hurt so much. At the time of Uganda declaring a lockdown in March 2020, average fuel prices ranged around UGX 4,500. Out of the lockdown, fuel prices are hitting new highs of UGX 5,200 a litre.
Keep Reading
Initially, we were urged by the leader of government business and new Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja to “bear with the situation” as fuel trucks resumed normal entry into the country from the Kenyan coast. Three months out of the lockdown since January, we are now being told to blame external factors like the war in Ukraine, eastern Europe for the continuing high prices.
Isn’t it strange how the world did not even pause to catch its breath before lunging into the next existential crisis? That war in Ukraine concerns us all not because we care for Ukraine itself but because of the “real protagonists” in the struggle. Two super powers, the United States and Russia are battling for supremacy and the unlucky playground is Ukraine and a possible descent into the world’s first nuclear war.
Only with this war that broke out in March 2022 have we come to appreciate what a vital cog in international trade Ukraine has been. Ukraine, it turns out, is an invaluable conduit for oil and gas to the rest of Europe and the world from Russia. Ukraine is one of Europe’s major food baskets for products like wheat that go into making everything from bread to snacks on our breakfast table. All that has come to a screeching halt and as you can expect, we will all be paying higher prices for years to come.
But that is not the only concern that the war in Ukraine has raised. The sudden sanctions slapped on Russia for President Vladimir Putin’s decision to “defend national interests” by entering Ukraine has reminded leaders around the world that maybe relying on “global financial systems” is not such a wise decision.
At the snap of a finger, the USA has convinced its allies to terminate all sorts of trade agreements that associations with Russia that one would have thought would be unaffected by a political fight. Airlines have had to ground their flights to Russia, international payment companies like Mastercard, Visa, banking payment systems like SWIFT, food chain giants like MacDonalds have all abruptly pulled out of Russia. Communication platforms like Facebook, Twitter which had taken on a truly global character have rediscovered their geographical birthplaces and declared their allegiances and gone dark in Russia.
The exhortations we used to laugh at from President Museveni and Evelyn Anite that Uganda should build its own versions of Facebook, Twitter and even the internet now do not seem so outlandish when you have seen how quickly the plug can be pulled on these communication platforms not owned by the country. And there is nothing you could do about it but vainly protest.
Now would be the time for Anite and Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) advocates to come out strong remind the system that cultivating such self sufficiency is critical. Will they, let’s wait.
The country continues to hold its breath waiting for news on the health of Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah who has been receiving treatment for unnamed condition in Seattle, Washington DC for more than a month now. The house he left behind, as is usual around this time after a general election, is more obsessed with its members jockeying for juicy parliamentary positions than actual legislating.
Outside of parliament, Democratic Party (DP) president general Norbert Mao has declared a one man war on newly emergent main opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine of National Unity Platform (NUP). Why? Mao claims that Kyagulanyi has displayed dictatorial tendencies like the incumbent President Museveni.
The grasshoppers (nsenene) in a polythene bag blocking each other’s escape among the Ugandan opposition remains alive and well.
Until next time!
