Simon Muliisa

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@qataharraymond @SpireJim Moral sceptics outrightly reject the idea of "moral right" or "wrong". They argue that moral statements are merely preferences that aren't truth-apt i.e. they don't have the quality of being true or false just like colours don't have the quality of being long or short.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@chocoprossy @Samwyri There are government programmes that subsidise irrigation systems for farmers. Failing that, you can exchange those cattle and minerals for irrigation systems.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@Samwyri This is primarily a cultural issue. You can't have one of the largest livestock herds in East Africa, significant mineral deposits, share a border with Kenya and South Sudan, and insist on government intervention for your food security. Less endowed regions have fared much better

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@amronaldo "Hunger in Karamoja is not a new phenomenon; it is historically the most famine‑prone region in the country."

What are the the people who live in Karamoja doing about this?

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@qataharraymond The use of cherrypicked problematic cases from the 1980s to mid-2000s is not only a clear case of selection bias, but it also puts this paper over 20 years out of date!

Make your case with *contemporary* examples of these conditionalities and their effects *in Uganda* tulabe.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@qataharraymond An interesting paper with several weaknesses, one of which is that it is explicitly an advocacy paper rather than a neutral academic study. The paper lacks a systematic methodology for establishing causality, and relies heavily on like-minded secondary sources (confirmation bias)

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@qataharraymond I am fair but firm.

Many foreign actors and DFIs *outwardly* care for Ugandans more than its current government. This is demonstrably true in many sectors ranging from infrastructure, governance, human rights, social development, etc.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@qataharraymond The "local circumstance" in Uganda is that compensation is done at market rates. So why are you making appear as though development partners are foisting undue requirements on Uganda? They're simply asking you to follow your own laws to avoid the inevitable backlash.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@qataharraymond Karuma + Isimba are examples of how government uses this "agency" to mismanage projects without consequence. You should be glad that some lenders are willing to keep governments accountable, else these banana republics would run amok and citizens would complain about odious debt.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@qataharraymond Most of these "conditionalities" *for infrastructure loans* are often commonsense requirements that are already mandated by the country itself i.e. right of way, ESIAs, proper feasibility studies, etc.

Countries (like Uganda) want "agency" to break their own laws!

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@qataharraymond What, in your estimation, are the top 3 instructions that accompany concessional loans and *are designed* to dysfunction said loans?

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@qataharraymond In general, low income countries like Uganda receive *more* concessional loans and grants than lower middle-income countries like Kenya. As such, Uganda is incentivised to remain "poor" if it's looking for the fiscal space that grants and cheap debt could bring.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@qataharraymond @jmagoola You'll wait aeons for that market correction simply because (a) a lot of legitimate and illegitimate money seeks refuge in real estate, and (b) there's no external force (e.g. a massive mortgage default) to pop the "bubble" because most people buy/build real estate with cash.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@shaaka777 That reasoning is dead on arrival. The Chinese were asked to present their proposal in full and it turned to be a farce.

KJE is not viable as a PPP in the hands-off format the president wants. The viability gap is too wide and government must take the revenue risk.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@PathyKlinn @jptorach @AusbelMumbere Very unfortunate that the president was hoodwinked into such a scandalous error, not to mention harassing some of the most competent highway engineers in the ministry.

In the Ugandan civil service, the professional hardly benefits from their skill, and neither does the state!

[Pathy. @PathyKlinn]

@SimonMuliisa @jptorach @AusbelMumbere Short answer; they're being scape-goated. They're nowhere near powerful enough to make the unilateral decision to change road alignment.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@PathyKlinn @jptorach @AusbelMumbere After all, you can never have something good, fast and cheap; choose 2 attributes and the third is fixed against you. At any rate, design-bid-build has proven to be slow and expensive, so we should jettison this method for serious projects.

[Simon Muliisa @SimonMuliisa]

@PathyKlinn @jptorach @AusbelMumbere Design-and-build should be the default way to go for large and complex projects. It won't be cheap but the chance of getting something good and fast is much higher than with the traditional design-bid-build method.