Women’s empowerment flows from the barrel of a gun today

The scam was meticulously planned and beautifully executed.

In the rush by Kampala banks over the past decade to lend money to salaried workers for spending on “urgent needs” like secondhand cars and lavish weddings, some smart brains created a fictitious workforce of a few hundred employees at a top educational cum medical institution.

One of the conspirators from a top bank in the city then set out to “persuade” the fictitious workers to open accounts and apply for salary loans.

She must have earned a bonus, and probably had her smiling photo posted in the banking hall as employee of the month, for she brought such a huge number of new customers to the bank.

The “new customers” all applied for salary loans which they were duly advanced.

Loans were given, amounting to several hundred million shillings. The “borrowers” took the money and their accounts went dormant.

Months or probably a year later, someone noticed that all the loans advanced to the institution’s staff were non-performing.

Like closing the proverbial stable door after the horse has bolted, the bank administration contacted the human resources manager of the institution to confirm the authenticity of the borrowers.

The HR confirmed – that the borrowers did not work at the institution. Of course ghosts do not work at any institution.

The literally beautiful thing about this case, which is still ongoing, is that virtually all the perpetrators of the scam so far arrested are, smart young women.

It shows how far Ugandan women have been emancipated, taking over activities that were previously the preserve of men.

Another dazzling case that as the year came to a close kept popping up to compete with the election campaign news for the front pages involves the daring daylight sale of Makerere University’s prime plot on the city’s priciest hill of Kololo, to some foreign investor. The seller? A smart woman.

Then there was this hideout for violent robbers that Kampala police recently busted in the southern suburb of Makindye.

They arrested a dozen powerfully built robbers, along with tons of booty.

Also arrested was their commander, a middle-aged woman who also owns the hideout and has been masquerading as a beer seller.

Surely, the women of Uganda cannot continue claiming to be marginalised, when they are taking over all the professions, including the toughest and riskiest of all, robbery in the city.

There are also deeply involved the traumatising spate of commuter taxi hijackings.

Many tired passengers leaving work in the evenings have not ended up at home, but naked and penniless in deserted suburban bush after their commuter minibuses have been hijacked.

Whenever some arrests are made of these taxi-hijackers, there is a woman at the centre.

Whoever wins the February 2011 elections should appoint a woman minister for security/internal affairs.

We really need someone who can understand how the minds of the top criminals work.