Moot Resources
The Moot is the name of the Editorial Board that supports The Round Table journal, as well as organizing occasional seminars, meetings and conferences on themes of Commonwealth interest.
Report: Kenyan Riots Badly Hit Uganda
A Reportage by Eva Lubwama, Kampala, Febuary 2008
Thanks to the New Zealand International Review for allowing us to reproduce this article which first appeared in Vol. 33, No. 2, March/April 2008
Soon after a successful Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala, none in Uganda expected the destructive effects of the political riots that followed the Dec 27th presidential elections in Kenya.
Ugandans were just concluding what seemed like a good "wedding" only to be intertwined in Kenya Politics that have caused an economic setback of some proportions given that Uganda is a landlocked nation and relies heavily on the Mombasa/Nairobi route for most of its imports and exports.
The disputed elections that returned Mwaki Kibaki to power triggered off an unforeseen violence in which to date close to 1000 people are said to have lost their lives. Opposition Raila Odinga rejected the results and his followers turned on the Kikuyu people (of Kibaki tribe) and the two tribes have since witch hunted each other and violence erupted that has led to gross lose of life and property.
Those who had little knowledge of what was going on or how it would affect them, were rudely woken up when the transport system got paralysed. Within a few days after the Kenyan riots, fuel costs escalated to unknown figures that could only be termed as totally ridiculous. Petrol went from 2500/- to 10,000/- a litre. This caused outrage and scuffles at petrol stations as motorists tussled it out with the motorcycle riders, commonly known as boda-bodas who ferry people in and around the city for as little as 500/- a ride.
The situation at one point got bad as boda-boda cyclists threatened to torch those petrol stations that refused to sell them fuel at the normal rate of 2500/- a litre. At one point the police cars and fire brigade trucks were moving up and down the city as calls came from one petrol station or another of imminent threat of being burnt down by enraged customers many of whom were boda- boda cyclists.
Time came when the commuter taxis, hiked their fare and people resorted to staying at home. The streets of Kampala become bare of traffic as people decided to park their cars and also stay at home as the situation became worse. Given that it was around Christmas time, it was easy for all to take the extra time off and wait for the "cloud" to clear.
Those who had gone for Christmas in their home villages upcountry got stranded as the long haul buses charged between 4-5 times the normal fare. As of 4th Jan 2008, a trip from one point in the western region would normally cost 15000/- to Kampala, but time came when they charged anywhere between 40000/- and 60000/-. This prohibitive fare left many Ugandans stranded in their villages for a longer period after Christmas than they had anticipated.
Meanwhile, as the riots continued in Kenya, more and more Ugandans began to feel the pinch as fewer and fewer goods were coming into the country. Trucks carrying goods could not make the journey from Mombasa through Nairobi-Eldoret as the route was rendered impassable by ensuring violence along the way between Luo and Kikuyu people.
As a result, business in Uganda started to suffer as trucks completely failed to come through. There was a shortage of merchandise stock. As some goods became scarce, prices short up which caused an outrage among the population. Some businesses have had to shut down for the time being as their stocks have run out.
The bigger effect of all this is that some small and medium factories have started to make their workers redundant as there are not enough raw materials to keep them busy. The end products have reduced in quantity as staff are being trimmed and soon there will be total shut down of some businesses if the situation doesn't let up.
As of now the government has tried to make use the alternative route through Tanzania via the Mutukula- Uganda border, getting fuel and other goods that way. It is a much longer route but safer for trucks and fuel tankers. Otherwise, there has been an arrangement where for a few days, police could escort trucks carrying goods from Mombasa through the black-spots, via Eldoret and to the Uganda border of Busia on the eastern side of Uganda. Both the Tanzanian route and the police escorting of trucks have somewhat lessened the problem. Right now the cost of fuel has gone down and there are no more queues at petrol stations. Fares have also gone down to normal.
However, the container goods that have piled at the Mombasa port are still there as private businessmen fear to bring their containers amidst the ensuring violence. Because of this a lot of goods/ merchandise have not come into the country. However, as of now Kampala city seems to be running normal as people are getting on with their business. Traffic movement has also gone back to its usual pace.
On January 23rd the New Vision News paper reported that manufacturers had lost over $30m (about sh54b Ug shillings) as a result of the unrest. This was mainly brought on by the disruption of movement of raw materials and delivery of goods.
As time went on there were over one hundred trucks stranded at the Eastern side of Uganda as they couldn't get through. In the ensuing riots, crowds disrupted roads by putting large stones, or digging trenches in the roads. Security at one time has been offered to Ugandan trucks, but the results were such that they were randomly attacked as policemen looked on. A number of Ugandan bound trucks and other vehicles were torched and occupants beaten up. Subsequently, the route to Uganda became more dangerous for Ugandans and their vehicles.
However, as the opposition leadership in Kenya continue to call for demonstrations, things are likely to go from worse to worst. The number of Kenyan refugees that are flocking into Uganda has increased and the Uganda authority has to take care of the problems that are cropping up as they keep on arising.
On Tuesday 22 January, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda went to Kenya to meet President Kibaki and the Opposition leader Raila Odinga. Museveni being the Chairman of the East African Community, it was hoped that he would help mediate between the two and bring the situation to normal. Uganda is badly affected by the events in Kenya and so are the other smaller nations that make up the East African Community, namely Rwanda and Burundi both landlocked. The results of Museveni's mediation are therefore crucial to the region.
The fact the Museveni was one of the first people to congratulate President Kibaki, did not go down well with Kenyans. His visit there was seen as more suspicious than welcome. He was viewed as one who is already biased and so his so called mediation was watered down. This in fact is one of the reasons why Kenyans have started seeing Ugandans in bad light and hence the roughing up of those in Kenya as well as Ugandan bound trucks and vehicles.
The opposition in Uganda has used the situation in Kenya to its "advantage", partly blaming Museveni's congratulation of Kibaki as something that sparked off the hatred against Ugandans in Kenya. They also went ahead to spread rumours that the Ugandan army (UPDF) was in Kenya and taking part in violence meted out to Kenyans. At the same time, the opposition here also predicted that the imbalance that has existed in "sharing" the national cake in Kenya, will soon be the cause of violence in Uganda as well, seeing that the cake is not well shared out here in their eyes.
As the situation goes from bad to worse, President Museveni has now asked the Cabinet to draw up a rescue plan to help evacuate Ugandans who are suffering as result of all. The First Deputy Premier, Eriya Kategaya flew to Kenya to hold talks with Kenyan authorities as to how best the Ugandans can be protected or even evacuated from there.
At the same time, the Private Sector Foundation held a meeting to lay strategies for the safety of Ugandan businessmen/women stranded in Kenya and bringing their goods over Although the business community has at times hired security agencies to escort them, this however has been hindered by the closure of both the Malaba and Busia borders. The business community feels that the Ugandan government has not done enough to help them.
All the above are working towards the slowing down of business in Uganda, halting the manufacturing of some goods, getting workers laid off and creating a general scarcity of essential items. On top of this, if things get worse, Uganda might experience yet another period of fuel shortage this time longer than before.
As a number of international personalities flock to Nairobi for peace talks, let us hope that things will soon go back to normal and all the small landlocked nations affected will get their lives back together. There has been some glimmer of hope recently after the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who has been mediating between the two factions said that a solution is in the pipeline as Kibaki and Odinga can agree on power sharing.
It has been sometime now without a call for further demonstration called by Odinga. It is hoped that he and Kibaki will give dialogue a chance to produce peace as it is evident that violence simply tears the nation into two.
As of now Uganda seems to be back on track amidst hope that all will end well in Kenya but the business community that still has sleepless nights as much of their merchandise is still stuck in Mombasa. However as long as Uganda gets fuel through, by whatever route, the situation will remain calm for most Ugandans. Political eyes are nevertheless still trained on Kenya as peace in Kenya means peace and economic stability in Uganda.
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