A region in crisis: From sugar to teachers

The proponents of the East African Community have often glorified the prospects of the bloc promising nothing short of paradise. Phrases like fast tracking the integration process and the numerous summits have now become common. The common market and customs union were touted as developments that would make our borders and troubles less evident. Away from the statements from the secretariat in Arusha, life seems to be getting really tough for the people occupying the community. This year has not yet come to an end but there is already enough evidence to prove that it has been a tough one and as the Americans would say, we aint seen nothing yet! A keen look at what the regional newspapers are reporting and it becomes obvious that something is really not right. A few months back, Tanzanians were facing an energy shortage that made many in Dar es Salaam regular witnesses to unwanted darkness. The same energy crisis soon moved to Kenya where even the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was not spared. The authorities in Nairobi called it power management. In Uganda the return of load shedding has seen many cursing UMEME the company charged with providing electricity on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. By the time of writing this, the papers in Uganda were reporting that the power shortage was set to double! As if living in the dark is not bad enough, sugar seems to have become the most precious commodity in the region. The price of the sweet crystals has gone up for various reasons that I don’t seem to understand. Some say the demand has outweighed the supply. Is that not so obvious? Other providers are blaming it on the fact that they have reduced production to carry out regular maintenance of their plants. Interestingly, in Uganda this inconveniencing process of maintenance was done at the same time. If you were looking for a conspiracy then join me. In Rwanda the pain had been cushioned by government setting a price to avoid suppliers from exploiting the consumers. Although Rwf800 for a kilo is still high, the pain of reading in Thursday’s paper that Kabuye sugar works was going to cut its production by, wait for this, 50 per cent was the true definition of shock. The explanation was that the supply of the sugarcanes had gone down. Why is all this happening at the same time in the same region? Is the big Man up there trying to get us off the sweet crystals? I really don’t get it. I have heard a number of people laughing off the sugar crisis by saying they long stopped taking sugar to live healthy lives. But if you do not take sugar anymore, I am sure you cannot say the same about your energy demands. And even if you say you are using solar there is more to come. Our education sector is also in crisis. I am not talking about Rwanda but Uganda, Kenya and even the Democratic Republic of Congo where teachers are on strike, have been on strike or are planning to start striking. In Kenya, talks between the government and the Kenya National Union of Teachers had failed to avert a strike by the time I sat down to write this. In Uganda, the teachers seem to have half heartedly started teaching as negotiations continue over their demand for a 100 per cent salary increase. Yes 100 per cent is what they want and if you think it is too much then you should know that MTN Uganda recently doubled its call tariffs. Both MTN and the teachers have the same reason. Inflation. In Uganda it’s now hovering around 21 per cent! As if that is not enough, the dispensers of knowledge at Makerere University also failed to resolve issues concerning demands for salary increases as well as a pension scheme squabble between the university and National Insurance Corporation. The result, the university council declared the university closed indefinitely. Sugar has affected all of us, while energy has affected the big economies that are supposed to produce for the whole region. The teacher’s crisis may appear to be a problem facing just Kenya and Uganda but in essence it affects the whole region. The closure of Makerere for instance affected several students from Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda who are enrolled at the region’s oldest university. In times like these, I think our region needs serious prayers if the dream of the EAC is to be achieved. Email:ssenyonga@gmail.comBlog: www.ssenyonga.wordpress.comTwitter: @ssojo81