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Uganda invasion threat unsettling
2005-10-03 07:05:47
By Editor
Last week’s threat by Uganda to invade the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) does not augur well for future of the Great Lakes Region and the African continent in general.
It shows that concerted efforts to bring peace to the troubled region have yet to bear fruit.
This is a matter of grave concern to all those who want to see strife in the region finally come to an end to pave the way for lasting peace and prosperity.
But Uganda’s threat is not entirely unjustifiable, bearing in mind that DRC government officials have admitted that the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has been operating from eastern DRC for several months now.
The LRA, which has been branded a terrorist organisation by President Yoweri Museveni’s government, has been carrying out a brutal insurgency for almost 20 years now and it is not known exactly what the rebels hope to achieve beyond toppling the government.
Their modus operandi cannot be justified in any way.
Killing and mutilating innocent civilians and turning young girls into sex slaves are some of the atrocities carried out by the LRA in northern Uganda.
In the past, the LRA used to launch their attacks from bases in southern Sudan and reports that they have set up new bases in eastern DRC are worrying, to say the very least.
It was thus not surprising when President Museveni warned last Thursday that Uganda was contemplating sending troops into eastern DRC to crush the rebels.
We entirely agree with President Museveni that the rebels’ presence in the DRC is a threat to Uganda’s national security, but plead with him to exercise restraint.
The DRC government has already admitted that LRA rebels are operating from the vast central African country and promised to do all it can to drive them out, saying the country’s territorial integrity has been violated.
After the installation of a democratically elected government in Burundi and recent peace overtures in other parts of the Great Lakes Region, things are beginning to look up and every effort should be made to maintain the momentum.
It will definitely be a step backwards, as far as efforts to pacify the region are concerned, if one country invades another for whatever reason.
Review unrealistic water, power tariffs
WATER and electricity companies are currently conducting nationwide disconnection campaigns targeting defaulting customers who owe the companies hundreds of millions of shillings in unpaid bills.
This is all well and good, bearing in mind that the companies need the money to enable them to continue serving their customers and improve their services.
It is also the obligation of people who have legally binding contracts with the companies to pay their bills promptly every month.
We, however, wonder whether the utility firms have taken the trouble to find out why most of their customers find it difficult, if not impossible, to settle their bills as required.
If they have not done so, we wish to inform them that the cost of water and electricity in this country is too high for the vast majority of Tanzanians who earn less than a dollar a day.
Water and electricity bills are unrealistic when viewed in the context of what Tanzanians currently earn each month.
It is expecting too much of a worker earning the meagre minimum salary of 60,000/- to pay a 40,000/- electricity bill and 15,000/- water charges each month. This explains why most people have stopped paying their bills.
Instead of carrying out disconnection operations at regular intervals, water and power firms should look into the possibility of lowering their tariffs and make them affordable for the vast majority of their customers.
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