Kampala lives are measured in dollars, while upcountry they’re mere shillings
All life stopped as the media cameras went to the scene of ASP Muhammad Kirumira’s death. And who did they find there? The president of the republic had also rushed there and was interviewing eye witnesses. The “Kampalaness” of Kirumira’s death made it more important than that of 13 Buyende victims. ILLUSTRATION | JOHN NYAGA | NMG
Ugandan media attaches a different value to life in Kampala from life upcountry – the same way the value of the shilling and US dollar are different.
The worth of currency and human life seem to be determined by market forces. Before we adopted liberal economics, the shilling value was fixed by the minister of finance until the early 1990s, when we went liberal and the shilling’s value was left to market forces.
