BOOK REVIEW by Paul Busharizi
Editors: Florence Kuteesa, Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, Alan Whitworth, Tim Williamson
UGANDA'S emergence from a history racked with political strife and civil unrest acts as the perfect backdrop for a book that tries to chart the economic reforms that have led to the country’s economic recovery over the last 20-odd years.
The book will be launched today by President Yoweri Museveni at Serena Hotel in Kampala at 5:00 pm.
Unlike the previous World Bank publication, Uganda’s Recovery: The Role of Farm, Firms and Government, which was penned by academics and World Bank officials, Uganda’s Economic Reform is written by government officials, the unsung heroes if you may, who were at the centre of the reforms.
Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, the Central Bank governor, Louis Kasekende, the deputy governor and Kenneth Mugambe, the budget policy commissioner, together with several other contributors, outline the reforms that have taken place in exchange rate policy, poverty eradication and privatisation.
These reforms have seen Uganda become one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with growth rates of 6.9% between 1986 and 2007, which in turn triggered a substantial fall in poverty levels to 31% in 2006 from 56%in 1992.
The book is divided according to the respective reforms. This may give the reader the mistaken impression of sequence.
Yet it can on the other hand serve to amplify the enormity of the challenges in realising many of these reforms were carried out simultaneously by a government handicapped by lack of capacity, incessant snipping from the political opposition and a sometime divergence of opinion with donor backers.
For watchers of Uganda’s economy, we remember the fuss that accompanied the liberalisation of the exchange rate, the privatisation of parastatals, the introduction of VAT and how at every turn it was political decisiveness that turned the tide of opinion.
There is very little chest-thumping to be seen in this book – it is more a dispassionate account of an era, in which normal men and women set out step by step, policy by policy to rescue an ailing economy.
In fact, there are some honest admissions of failure dotted throughout the book.
It is acknowledged that economic growth, while necessary, has not been sufficient for poverty eradication or the failure to achieve government pay reform targets in the public sector.
Add to that limited diversification of the economy, the weak state of the local business community, inability to grow formal jobs as fast as the economy and the spread of corruption.
By the end, it is evident that without an appreciation of the economics that underlay the tough and largely unpopular policy reforms and the almost blind faith in the technocrats tinkering with the system, this book would never have seen the publisher’s presses.
While the previous book on Uganda’s recovery signaled the end of recovery and the start of consolidation of the gains in macro - economic stability and liberalisation, this book, I think, signals a new phase: the wider distribution of the gains through the improvement of living standards across the board.
One may question the structure of the economy and whether it is sustainable in its present form, but one cannot take away from the solid work that has been done to create a sound basis for further economic growth and living standard improvements for every Ugandan.
This book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the processes that have lifted our economy out of the abyss to a place of hope.
