Uganda is a gifted country with a lot of natural resources, favorable weather conditions and an admired tourist centre. One would expect all of these opportunities to yield increased incomes among households, which would be essential in meeting household basic needs and improving on people’s wellbeing. In fact, the Uganda economy profile for 2013 shows that purchasing power among Ugandans increased from $49.98 billion in 2011 to $51.27 billion in 2012. This can be seen with increasing trends in consumption of goods with Uganda becoming the ‘champions’ of alcohol consumption in Africa and ranked 8th in the Globe in 2013. Uganda is also gifted with a high number of persons who believe in the existence of a supreme being. Over 90% of Ugandan citizens are religious people and thousands of Ugandans can be seen flocking to places of prayer and actively participating in religious development activities. One would then expect low crime rates and reduced incidences of child abuse and gender based violence against women– these are the most vulnerable groups in our society.  The African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) Uganda chapter, however, reports that about 600 children get defiled every year. According to the Uganda Demographic Health Survey of 2011, 56% of women in Uganda have experienced physical violence at some point since the age of 15 years. 28% of women aged 15-49 have experienced sexual violence and 16% have experienced violence during pregnancy.

These social injustices are mind boggling in a country where one would expect moral decency and increased economic empowerment due to its natural endowment. Some of the victims of these vices happen to be persons with special needs who are targeted because of their vulnerability. The Uganda Demographic and Household Surveys (UDHS) of 2006 and 2011 put the numbers of disabled persons at 7% and 16% respectively. This shows that the number of people with disabilities (PWDs) is increasing and many more children continue to be born in poor families where parents have been subjected to stigmatization and varied forms of social, cultural and economic neglect. The special attention shown for PWDs, if paid at all, is always inadequate with the education, health services provision and economic empowerment among the most wanting social services. Why then would the whole of the Teso sub region in Uganda (with a population of over 5 million people) have only one school for the deaf–the one located in the Ngora district–and only one primary school and one secondary school for the blind in Madera, Soroti? Would it be considerate to ask peasant farmers (over 70% of Ugandans) earning less than $20 a month to look for schools as far as 50 Km away for their children and cater for the boarding fees required by these schools? (Special needs persons require being within the school).

We can harness the fruits of our hard work as a country only if we start to value the lives of all Ugandans regardless of who they are and what they believe in. Government and its supporters ought to revise its priorities to tackle the detororiating standards of wellbeing among the vulnerable groups. Only and only then will the “Pearl of Africa” shine again!

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