Today I had to run a couple of errands around town. I needed to drop my money for the Murchison Falls trip off AND needed to go to the NSSF (National Social Security Fund) head office to determine how NSSF payments would affect our taxes. Exciting stuff.
Since I didn’t want to take a boda all across the city I asked Mad Max to pick me up at 10:00 and drive me around.
He picked me up at 10:00 and we went.
“Where are you going anyways?” He asked me after we started driving.
“To pay for my trip to Murchison under Iguana’s (the home office was located beneath Iguana’s – one of the more popular expatriate hang outs in Kampala) and then to the NSSF office.”
“Ah! Why are you going to NSSF?” He asked, surprised.
“I need to figure out how contributions will affect taxes.”
“Why are you doing that?” He asked.
“Our employees asked for it so we’re setting them up on it.”
“It’s a scam. I’m surprised your employees want it – everyone knows you’ll never get your money back.”
Max went on to tell me horror stories about getting the money you’d saved for back from the NSSF. Apparently it’s almost impossible. IF and I mean IF you ARE able to get your money back it usually takes several months and a very healthy bribe to the local officer. I recalled reading an article a few weeks earlier describing NSSF employees taking (and I paraphrase) “large swaths of money from the NSSF funds and using it to fund luxurious lifestyles.”
Can you even fathom how difficult life would be if we had to worry about similar things with our social security funds? I mean – our social security system has its own problems, but those problems revolve around a mismatch of funds deposited and funds received – not petty or major corruption.
“Can you imagine having to bribe someone just to get your money back?” Max laughed. “What a joke.”
“Petty corruption undermines society.” I said. And I think its true – when you know the NSSF officer holding your funds, or the police officer pulling you over for no reason, wants a bribe you begin utterly resenting and distrusting the organization as a whole. A small bribe here or there might not seem like a big deal – but it has the ablity to undermine vast organizations and government programs.
“Well, the people aren’t responsible for the petty corruption.” Max said. “It comes from the top.”
Hmm – that’s a different thought. I’d always assumed corruption was a grass-roots type disfunction that gradually seeped to the upper tiers.
“Yeah” he continued, “for example – the traffic cops get paid almost nothing. They need to subsidize their income, but they also need to pay their superior. Each superior demands that their direct reports give them a specific dollar amount of bribes each month. If an officer doesn’t come up with the money they will be fired and the boss will hire someone else capable of coming up with the money. This “trickle up” mentality goes all the way to the top. It’s not really the faults of the people at the bottom of the pyramid.”
Hmm.
How interesting and sad. Corruption is SO rampant here. It’s honestly (and sadly) a way of life.
I paid the money for the trip to Murchison and then took care of the NSSF question and then went home.
I stopped at Mercy’s on the way home to say hello (we’ve developed quite a friendship).
We discussed the recent death of Major Kazini. Major Kazini was the top military commander during Yoweri Museveni’s coup d etat on Milton Obote. He’d battled Joseph Kony in the bush of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the deserts of Southern Sudan. He’d secured Uganda during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. He was basically a revered military tactician although his reputation had been marred by a 2003 (I think?) UN report that said he’d robbed the DRC of tons of natural resources for personal gain. He was also known to be a heavy drinker and altogether rowdy fellow. Despite his flaws, however, he was something of a Ugandan hero.
His girlfriend claims he got drunk after visiting three bars then he went to her house and accused her of having another man (Kazini himself was married to another woman, by the way). She claims he threatened to shoot her and then she hit him on the head with a pipe in self defense.
“Can you imagine?!” Mercy said. “He survived all those years in the bush and all those bullets only to be killed by a woman?!”
That was an incredulosity (is that a word? Ha) I’d hear countless other times throughout the day.
“I don’t know whats happening to our society today.” Mercy shook her head. “Africa used to be a good place to live. Now its so violent.”
“Its even more violent in Kenya.” I said.
“Yes.” She nodded. “The Gods of Kenya are powerful and violent”
I nodded.
“I think its all these Nigerian movies people are watching nowadays. They are too violent and they condone witchcraft and ‘get rich quick’ schemes. Nobody wants to work hard anymore.”
I nodded again.
“So so violent. The other day my friend told me a story about a man that beat his wife to death. When the neighbors found out they started beating the man to death (mob vengeance). But the man yelled to the crowd – ‘Why are you beating me? She was MY wife! She didn’t belong to anyone else! She was my wife and I killed her with my two hands. I even buried her myself! I didn’t ask for any of your help! Why do you beat me?!”
Wow.
The more I venture into social causes the more I am compelled to stand up and fight for two groups of people – women and homosexuals. I have noticed that in every single place on this earth those two groups are consistently prejudiced against. Its bass ackwards and it infuriates me.
For example they are actually trying to pass a law in parliament whereby anyone participating in homosexual activity can be jailed for 7 years. If you KNOW someone who is gay and don’t report it to the police you can also go to jail for 7 years. If you commit “aggravated homosexuality” (whatever that means) you can be sentenced to death.
Its sad that only a few weeks after Barack Obama signed into law the first federal act protecting the rights of the LGBT community Uganda would introduce legislation like this.
It truly makes me sad because it’s a sign that the society is not only moving forward, but its actually moving backwards.
To make things even more ridiculous the main politician advocating for this law is a “reformed gay person.” He claims he used to be gay, but renounced it. Like the dude is talking about quitting smoking or something.
Reminds me of Sarah Palin’s ignorant statements in the past, “I have friends who CHOOSE to be gay.”
Some people really have it twisted.
Now I’m not a woman and I’m not gay but everywhere I travel those two groups are biased against and it drives me mad. Sorry for the rant.
Anyways…
“In a way” Mercy continued, “the people here really liked Idi Amin. I mean, he was illiterate and he did terrible things, but he was also a very fair ruler. If you stole the government executed you. If you raped the government executed you. If you killed the government executed you. It was an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. People were deterred from breaking the law.”
Mercy said Uganda was actually much safer during Amin’s rule.
Hmm. Interesting.
The whole world thinks of Idi Amin is a cruel despot (and I know the perception is correct) but it’s interesting to hear of a Ugandan’s perspective.
It reminds me of when I travelled to Romania and Bulgaria.
I met an older man on a bus who was maybe 70 years old and had lived his entire life in Romania. Romania got independence in the late 80’s so basically this man had lived his entire life under communism and the brutal regime of Nicolai Cecescu. I was interested to hear of his perception of Cecescu and communism.
“How do you feel about Cecescu?” I asked. I was expecting him to tell me that he was terrible, that he oppressed the people, that ie violated human rights – the answer I got was quite different
“He could be cruel if you crossed him. But he was good for Romania at the time.”
Hmm.
“What about communism?” I asked further. “What was that like?” I expected him to tell me that it also oppressed the people, that it was bad for the economy, that it stalled capitalistic growth.
“Ahh communism was great!” He laughed. “There was no greed, there was no coveting your neighbors possessions because we all had the same salaries and goods. Life was good.”
Interesting. Now, I want to be clear I’m not saying Idi Amin or Nicolai Cecescu were good rulers, good people or were good for their country – but its just interesting to hear the perspective of people that lived through these things. There is no way to hear something like this unless you go to Uganda and ask Mercy how life under Idi Amin was or unless you go to Romania and ask an old man about life under Nicolai Cecescu.
The media has an awful lot of power over what we see. The reporters may be the eyes of society, but the media companies are the neck that focuses the eyes.
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