In a commentary published on 20 November 2018, Frederick Golooba-Mutebi argues that Uganda’s security response reveals a state more willing to shield foreign investors than ordinary citizens.
His central point is that the government has moved quickly to protect Chinese industrialists after a wave of attacks, while families in Kampala and elsewhere continue to face night-time criminal violence with far less effective protection.
The writer links that imbalance to a broader political problem: leaders spending too much time and money on regime maintenance instead of building a strong state that can reliably carry out basic functions. He says that, in Uganda, this has meant repeated promises and measures that have not yet brought the security situation under control.
Golooba-Mutebi also points to a recent school fire in which several students died. He says the tragedy exposed official failure to enforce safety rules that already exist, including the ban on burglar proofing in dormitory windows and the requirement that dormitories should not be overcrowded with beds.
According to the article, those rules are meant to make escape possible during a fire. The fact that the school had barred windows and too many beds, he argues, showed that the government had not enforced its own regulations.
The commentary says the same weakness is visible in the handling of insecurity in homes. It notes that criminals have killed some victims and stolen property from others, while the state has continued to announce solutions that have not fully solved the problem.
He then turns to the government’s response to attacks on Chinese investors, saying the authorities have adopted a special protection plan for industrial parks where Chinese investors own factories and live. Under that approach, army and police personnel are to guard those areas, and security cameras are to be installed later.
The article contrasts that protection with the wider public’s experience and asks why similar resources are not being directed toward non-palliative measures that would make all citizens feel safer.
Golooba-Mutebi closes by revisiting the argument that stronger opposition can force governments to perform better. He says Mobutu’s Zaire and Museveni’s Uganda suggest different lessons, but concludes that many Ugandans now believe the best years of Museveni’s leadership were before Uganda returned to political competition.
Frederick Golooba-Mutebi is identified in the piece as a Kampala- and Kigali-based researcher and writer on politics and public affairs.
