NESTOR BASEMERA, PhD: Power, Not Pity: Rewriting Uganda’s Economic Deal for Women

Tomorrow, July 28, 2026, marks a historic moment for communities across Uganda as voters line up to choose their grassroots leaders. It is a powerful day to see civic participation translate into direct community action. Women’s participation in these elections shows a strong readiness to drive socioeconomic transformation through grassroots mobilization, as evidenced by their active involvement in the July 2026 Women’s Councils and Local Council I elections. This shift is not just a matter of equity; it is a massive economic driver. 

In fact, a report by the UNDP (2024) shows that closing Africa’s gender gap could boost GDP per capita by 10% to 26% and inject $7 trillion into the continent’s economy over the next decade. Without a systemic overhaul, any progress celebrated at the local ballots will remain a hollow victory that fails to alter the material reality of Uganda’s disempowered majority.

This demand is firmly anchored in the 1995 Uganda Constitution, which guarantees gender equality and mandates affirmative action. Yet, a stark disconnect remains between constitutional ideals and economic reality. While the government has implemented key socioeconomic initiatives—notably the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP), Emyooga, and the Parish Development Model (PDM)—these interventions focus primarily on localized financial credit, basic business training, and livelihood support. 

Consequently, these recurring institutional failures explain why over 60% of Ugandan women remain locked in multidimensional disempowerment and severe poverty. A profound asset gap underpins this exclusion: while women supply over 70% of agricultural labor, restrictive cultural inheritance norms limit their land ownership to a mere 20% to 31% (UBOS, 2024). Furthermore, acute human capital deficits trap women in low-value work, as 41% of adult women lack formal education and two-thirds of employed young women operate without technical training. Because programs like the PDM and Emyooga do not challenge these foundational asset and educational deficits, they merely throw microloans at macro-structural problems. 

Moreover, when women are economically empowered, they reinvest heavily in their households and communities, directly reducing poverty and fostering peace. True development is not a zero-sum game where women gain at the expense of men; rather, it is a symbiotic framework that lifts the entire nation. True development demands that we stop treating women’s empowerment as a microfinance charity project and start funding it as a macroeconomic necessity.

Ultimately, women form over 51% of the population. Ignoring their economic exclusion while attempting to drive national progress is like an ostrich burying its head in the sand—it leaves the country’s entire socioeconomic fabric exposed to failure. Much like Charles Dickens’ character Oliver Twist in Oliver Twist asking for more, Ugandan low-income women need more, and they deserve nothing less than substantive, expansive empowerment.

I wish you all a happy local council I voting day!

basemeranestor3@gmail.com

 

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