Corruption in Uganda

Madam, - I have no idea where David Adams (Opinion, November 25th) gets his information about Uganda but to equate the current…

Madam, - I have no idea where David Adams (Opinion, November 25th) gets his information about Uganda but to equate the current state of the country with the times of Amin and Obote is so grotesquely inaccurate that it would be laughable were it not probable that many of your readers will assume his comments are accurate.

The present political situation does indeed give cause for concern and many thinking people here are worried that much of the good that has been done over the past 20 years could be reversed. But the popular vote is likely to be strongly in favour of the present regime simply because many people are only too aware of the contrast between now and the total lethal arbitrariness of the 1970s and first half of the 1980s. I have met a number of people who owe their lives to either luck or very quick thinking in those days.

Now one hears odd stories of harassment and pressurising but the villages and roads are alive at night.There are frequent roadblocks to check on speeding and smuggling but people are not afraid when they see the police. Travellers are not taken out of sight of the road to be robbed or killed or raped.

Corruption is very serious and is perhaps an argument for a change of those in power but change could easily be an opportunity for a new group to try and get rich quick.Things in Uganda are far from perfect but the days when the President travelled with a suitcase of dollars to give to his friends are gone.- Yours, etc,

READ MORE

Dr PATRICK DAVEY, Fort Portal, Uganda.