Should Terrorism Have Been on the Agenda? Or Been Part of A.O.B?

At the recently held African Union (AU) Summit in Kampala, Uganda, the issue of terrorism took centre stage completely wiping off the scene, maternal and child health, which was the focus for the event. Thanks entirely to the bombings that occurred at a rugby club killing up to 80 people who had gathered there to watch the World Cup final on 11 July. Shortly afterwards, the al Shabaab militia (or whatever it is) claimed responsibility and warned Ugandan troops stationed in Somalia to quit. Al Shabaab claimed to have brought the war home to Uganda, who together with Burundi, is part of an AU peace keeping mission—AMISOM.

Naturally, the AU Summit that started barely a fortnight later focused its attention on Somalia, terrorism and al Shabaab. The prickly issue of changing the mandate of AMISOM from peace keeping to peace enforcement, increasing numbers to 20,000 from the current 6,000 or thereabouts was hotly debated. This view was advanced by IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development). Of course, geopolitics and other wider interests drove the goings on, pouring cold water on IGAD’s proposals. May be the winners here are the soldiers whose pay will be bumped upwards.

While the big men discussed, debated and disagreed, in one of the ill-equipped hospitals in the host country, yet another woman was dying while giving birth or from complications as a result of inadequate care or the lack of access. Statistics from the Ministry of Health indicate that there are 435 deaths per 100,000 live births. Other figures show only 41% of births are attended by skilled personnel while 13.7% of children die before they make five years and 7.6% of infants die before their first birthday. Against this backdrop, in general, Uganda has made some progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but it is unlikely to achieve them by the 2015 deadline. By the way, the MDG 4 is “Reduce child mortality” and MDG 5 is “Improve maternal health”.

Compare the above with this! Data compiled by NationMaster show that between 2000 and 2006, there were 29 incidences of terrorism in Uganda with 450 fatalities and 299 injuries. In the same period, using the MOH stats, about 30,000 mothers died while giving birth and thousands of babies passed on before marking a year of life. So, I wonder whether terrorism should be the issue #1 on the 2010 AU Summit agenda and not part of A.O.B—Any Other Business?

PS: Shouldn’t we be thinking of how to improve our emergency response or disaster preparedness? Does anyone like the way the dead and injured were carried on police pick-ups? Or how the two hospitals were overwhelmed by the sheer number of people suddenly flooding their casualty wards and operation theatres.