Nyamutooro’s 'Brilliant' Advice to the Poor: Get Promoted and Dump Charcoal!

Ladies and gentlemen, something is fundamentally wrong with the way some ministers in the Museveni government understand the lives of ordinary Ugandans. Last week, when the Leader of the Opposition raised concerns about the rising cost of living, the collapsing shilling and skyrocketing fuel prices, Kiryowa Kiwanuka’s response was essentially that Ugandans should stop making unnecessary movements. In other words, when fuel becomes too expensive, the solution is apparently to move less. Now comes the charcoal debate. When Joel Ssenyonyi raised concerns about the government’s crackdown on charcoal, State Minister for Energy Phiona Nyamutoro explained that she had stopped using charcoal after becoming a minister and urged Ugandans to embrace alternatives. Think about that for a moment. The message ordinary Ugandans hear is simple: if you want to stop using charcoal, become a minister! Because ministers can afford alternatives that millions of ordinary citizens cannot. Gas costs money. Electricity costs money. Refilling a gas cylinder costs money. And when a family is already struggling to afford food, telling them to switch fuels without addressing the cost is not a solution. It is a lecture from someone who does not face the same financial choices. The problem is not that Uganda should abandon environmental conservation or stop looking for cleaner cooking methods. Protecting forests matters. The problem is demanding that poor people change how they survive before making the alternatives affordable. First, citizens are told to reduce unnecessary movement because fuel is expensive. Now they are told to abandon charcoal while affordable alternatives remain out of reach. Apparently, the government’s answer to every economic problem is to ask the poor to adjust. But where is the adjustment from the people in power? Where is the affordable gas? Where is the accessible electricity? Where is the practical plan that allows a struggling mother to cook for her children without choosing between food and fuel? You cannot govern a country as though everyone has the income, privileges and options of a minister. And that is the disconnect: leaders are offering advice to people whose daily realities they seem unwilling to confront. Before telling ordinary Ugandans what to stop using, the government must explain what they can realistically afford to use instead.