‘Regional ignorance’ is unacceptable

Ignorance they say is bliss. The learned ones often remind us that it is no defence each time we break a law. Others never tire to tell us how knowledge is power. As your columnist, my version will go along these lines; ignorance is unacceptable especially what I have called ‘regional ignorance.’ For those who still don’t know, we are part of a family called East African Community together with Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi. As a family we are also neighbours. It is indeed quite ‘unAfrican’ for you not to know about your neighbour. It is common practice to say good morning to your neighbour each morning and to check on them regularly just to ensure that they are fine. In the past, one would actually be despised if something happened to their neighbour and they had no knowledge. If your neighbour was ill, you were expected to be among the first to know and to inform others. Of course, this was in the days before capitalism took root and people started imprisoning themselves by constructing wall fences around their houses and not letting anyone in without an ‘appointment.’ Homes have now been turned into pseudo offices where before you visit, you have to call and confirm that you are welcome. But the same cannot be said about East Africa. Instead of barricading themselves, East African countries have instead opened up their doors to fellow East Africans. East Africans do not require a visa to move from one country to another even for work. All you have to do is appear before an immigration officer and voila! On the media scene, there is so much information about the different countries that in some cases it is not necessary to move in order to know. If you factor in the abundant information all over the internet about the different countries in the region, then one is left with no credible reason as to why they should be ignorant about the region. International media like BBC even has a channel dedicated to this region where stories in the region are dissected each day. As if that is not enough, each country currently has an EAC Minister. Under such circumstances, I fail to see why people should continue getting away with regional ignorance. According to my definition regional ignorance is not just about being blank about what is happening in the neighbouring country, but also being reluctant to find out before forming an opinion and passing it as a fact. Almost every day I hear crazy things being said about our neighbouring countries especially when I am seated in a public commuter taxi. One day I heard someone saying that all people in Uganda speak English! Two weeks ago I found someone in Nyabugogo telling his friends that Kenya has a huge factory that manufactures Mercedes Benz. You may easily brush it all off as mere empty street talk, but if you compare it to the knowledge people have of other things you will be very shocked. Ordinary people are so knowledgeable when it comes to Arsenal Football Club or Manchester United. I know several people who can name the whole Manchester United squad but will be at pains telling you the Prime Minister of Uganda or that of Kenya. When the five Finance Ministers were busy reading the budget for the new financial year, some East Africans were busy discussing whether Cesc Fabregas will remain with Arsenal FC or leave to join FC Barcelona. The joint reading of the budget was a clear sign that we are all brothers and sisters and should behave as one. At the end of the day it will be these same people asking questions about the common market and why prices have not really come down since Rwanda joined the EAC. They cannot take the trouble to find out what the EAC is all about yet they know which players Arsenal FC ‘must’ buy in order to win trophies. We are in the information/digital age where being ignorant is totally unacceptable, information is all around the place on TV, radio, newspapers and more abundantly on social media sites Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. If we are to ever achieve full regional integration then we need to start behaving like neighbours. We should not be proud of knowing about events in Libya yet we don’t know what is happening in Dar es Salaam or Bujumbura. We cannot claim to be brothers and sisters (East Africans) with all the regional ignorance around us. ssenyonga@gmail.com