The business culture in My Uganda flows in two parallel streams. One stream can be described as those people pursuing their dreams and passions. These are people that have adopted a trade and built on it from a respectable start-up to a high-end setup at some of the best business locations the country has to offer. The fashion industry has a good example in Sylvia Owori. The second stream can also be described as dream chasers, but I prefer to refer to them collectively as businessmen and women. The dream being pursued here is one of hope; hope in a better future for their families. These people are characterised by their location in markets and at trading centres around peri-urban and rural communities. However, in My Uganda these people are not restricted by these locations, some polish up their appearance and graduate through a series of locations until they have a business space right at the high-end locations competing with best. The key here is to sell whatever product that shows the highest potential of profit for the businessperson, from the banana (or matoke), to second-hand clothing, to charcoal, and to all sorts of Dubai imports. A common phrase heard here is that the money is ‘seasonal’.
Stream two has a few key problems; it purports to tackle poverty when I’m not so sure it does. It also appears to encourage a high rate of school-dropouts, and here I may be wrong, but I think it does. Furthermore it creates, potentially, a high rate of credit defaulters and all the problems that usually accompany that in this brave new world of Microfinance. One other aspect about it that I have a problem with, is that the businessperson can switch from business to business depending on which is the more profitable to them. As a result profit becomes the pursuit, which can lead to business activities that are corrosive to the social fabric of My Uganda, My 'Uganda Waragi loving' Uganda.
..........THAT BRINGS ME TO THE NEXT TOPIC: The Business of Homosexuality!
Homosexuality in My Uganda was a bit of an eyesore and at the same time an eye-widener for me, especially in the world of business in My Uganda. ‘Human rights’ as a concept APPEALS for the freedom of expression of My Ugandan, among other things, but what was happening in My Uganda that would lead Mr. President of My Uganda to “halt the madness”.
It is well known that the prostitution industry exists in My Uganda even though prostitution is not legal. It seems that My Ugandans are being told at every turn to sell something: jobs are few in the government and private sector, so don’t be idle burdens to society, setup shop and SELL SOMETHING! Butt, as many of My Ugandans are opportunists, there seemed to be a spike in the number of MALE-prostitutes... which may have raised some concern among the parents of these young men, and parents of young men that p o t e n t ia l l y could be lured into this trade. Also there may have been a spike in the number of foreign customers seeking this particular service and we all know how My Ugandan loves the dollars. Many parents at the grassroots, making the votes, felt that their sons would go into this trade because that is where the money was. I think in the end the bill simply had no chance amongst the electorate.