Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi has requested the media to report on the development progress of the country.
The former university lecturer made the request while addressing members of the Uganda Parliamentary Press Association during a budget training event at Hotel Africana.
In his address, Ggoobi accused the fourth estate of joining the bandwagon to report on only the challenged projects, especially roads. According to Ggoobi, the media takes a lot of time reporting on the potholes in Kampala while sidelining the marvelous upcountry projects.
He cited an example where a member of the UK’s House of Lords confided in him that Uganda had better country roads than her colonial masters.
“The other day, there is a Lord in the United Kingdom, who was in my office. He sits in the House of Lords. He told me, I have been in your country, I have been to Karamoja, I have been to Kisoro, I have been in Kasese. And he told me, you are now having better country roads than the United Kingdom. A country road means a road moving from the city to the district.” said Ggoobi.
According to Ggoobi, journalists should influence the narrative of Uganda. This should be done by reporting about the good roads since they use them.
However, the Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary also acknowledged that the country still has challenges.
“Of course there is still a big chunk that we must work on. But just compare where you were 10 years back as far as tarmac is concerned. But now you join the popular noise in Kampala, that these Kampala potholes. Of course, we need to interrogate that too.” Ramathan Ggoobi.
While at the same event, Ramathan Ggoobi also hinted at the debt problem facing the country. Much as the economy is recovering from the shocks of the pandemic, it’s no secret that the situation is still tight.
According to Ggoobi, we should be worried about the ridiculousness with which Ugandans borrow money. Despite acknowledging that the public debt is worrying, he called for scrutiny into personal debts.
“But now we have a crisis, where every business is highly indebted. We need to also be mindful of personal debt. There are so many types of debts in Uganda, personal loans, kyanjula loan. People borrowing for weddings. How can you borrow for a wedding? What is the collateral? Is it the bride? How will you pay back? Are you going to earn from the wedding? From the marriage? Because actually, the outcome of the wedding is more expenditure. You find someone is so stressed because they borrowed for the wedding.” Ramathan Ggoobi.
Discover more from Ugandan Exclusive
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
