An Ugandan Opinion about a Population Control Policy in Uganda
By Charles Okecha, 30 May 2013
Lately I read a publication that Uganda will be the first African country to benefit from a new multi-million dollar global campaign to increase demand for family planning services and information.
I wondered whether our country is at the moment suffering from overpopulation.
Rather, the rankling sore afflicting Ugandans is the vast quantities of natural resources lying idle and the high incidence of corruption that impedes service delivery and empowerment to generate wealth. A typical example is the high demand for cotton fabrics in the world market yet Ugandans are withdrawing from cotton growing.
It is the sale of raw cotton that makes the cotton industry less viable. Research, planning and processing of more products from the cotton crop can industrialise and prosper our country.
A large portion of the population is already infected, dying or living with HIV/AIDS. Given the prevalence of this plague and other curable diseases, we are not sure about the average life expectancy of each citizen and how many children are born HIV positive. India, China and other nations that adopted myopic birth control policies and cultural practices are now experiencing adverse consequences of their folly.
China's one child policy of 1978 has led to an imbalance of a large portion of ageing population. While for India, prejudice against the girl children is now blamed as the root cause of gang rape and polyandry (men many marrying and living with one woman).
There are many other undesirable implications of unrestrained birth control which we should be cautious about and regulate the tempo of such campaign lest the population joins the bandwagon to an oblivious destination. The upsurge in unwanted pregnancies implies that people indulge in unprotected sex which exposes them to the risk of HIV/AIDS.
This plague causes death and makes our nation unproductive and dependent on donors for drugs and other handouts. Why can't those developed countries concerned about the welfare of Ugandans and promising to dish out billions of dollars facilitate and empower them to exploit the idle resources, trade favourably and achieve economic independence?
Why can't those very funds be used to construct housing units; let us say sky scrappers and much more! That obscene campaign money will sidetrack us from pursuing our national Vision 2040 by propagating the perception of striving to survive on the available little jobs and exports.
My question is:- Who are those eligible to receive birth control apparatus? Married women or sex workers? Won't pills be peddled among school going youth and children?
Unrestrained practices of birth control has the propensity to multiply prostitution; negative attitude towards child bearing; abortion; and sears peoples' conscience not to respect the sanctity of life.
We should maintain family planning programmes currently in place with utmost caution and carry out more sensitization to dissuade people from creating families they cannot sustain. But we must take heed never to be hoodwinked like Judas Iscariot to be paid to massacre the African children.
The countries in question are imploding due to high population. They are not willing to establish industrial development projects in Africa at a time when the population is still high because this will deny their 'expatriates' jobs.
This should be an ulterior motive to reduce population in the continent so that when they launch their projects, job will readily be available for them. Take care don't say I never warned you!
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My Answer:
Charles, first population control is a must in order to improve standard of living of African people. This is a scientific fact; we cannot do it without it. However, we have to learn from the mistakes of others while implementing population policies in our countries. The imbalance between man and women in India is created by selected abortion and therefore abortion should be banned in African population policies. The imbalance of a large portion of aging population in China is not really a big problem as the western media is talking and exaggerating it, you can see that most Chinese today are very content with the One Child Policy and recognize it as the main cause of the improvement in the standard of living in their country. I don’t think African countries will be as drastic as China; most probably a 2.1 to 2.4 or so child policy is very good at a start. Stabilizing population is first aim.
“Why can't those very funds be used to construct housing units; let us say sky scrappers and much more”
Charles, how much housing units are you going to build with these money? Sky scrapers? People are not finding what to eat and you talk about building sky scrapers. That is the wrong way of dealing with it. The right way is, a population control policy that is going to bring gradually a better saving for both families and the government with which will be invested in improving the standard of living of the population. This cannot happen otherwise believe me.
“We should maintain family planning programmes currently in place with utmost caution and carry out more sensitization to dissuade people from creating families they cannot sustain.”
Look what Charles, you want to maintain the current family planning program? This program which have led to the destruction of the economy of your countries and consequently the destruction of the human lives in Uganda and almost everywhere else in Africa. Family planning is a failure and only brought us miseries here in Africa and I am speaking to from the most exemplary country which has adopted family planning in Africa: Tunisia. The people won’t be persuaded if you tell them: don’t bring a many children. It is the government which has to decide how much children each family has to have and implement that by law and while doing so, the governments have to launch kind of awareness campaigns about the motives and the benefits of the Population Policy.
I invite you to read my e-book here: Africa Overpopulation Trap When God Balance is Broken
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