Uganda’s Middle Class: Mired in Mediocrity by a Selfish Ghetto Mentality

Absolom Lubwama

The word “ghetto” is believed to have originated in the Venetian Ghetto, a location where Jews were imprisoned and separated by the Venetian Republic in 1527. The word ghetto was coined in Uganda to refer to slums.Poor people’s lifestyles, crime,selfishness and poverty are characteristics of ghettos. Accordingly, a person with a “ghetto mentality” is someone who displays similar traits.

Manifestations of the Ghetto Mentality

Due to a lack of resources, many people in the ghetto rely on the wealthy person.Kissing them on the foot in order to survive. Similar to this, the majority of Uganda’s middle class is devoted to applauding politicians and the “super rich,” and while doing so, they purposefully ignore the issues that the rest of the country faces.

New home settings in areas of the presumed middle class show everyone’s self-serving ghetto survival tactics, which lead to selfishness and a lack of social responsibility.

Consequences of the Ghetto Mentality

Even in the estate developers’ planned communities, this class would disobey all the regulations by building outside of their allotted land. They even dump construction waste on the streets, and showing no consideration for their neighbours when they chose to allow soak pit water to flow onto the roadways. As long as their homes are secure, they do not give a damn about water drainage, just like in a ghetto.

They litter the roads with plastic bottles from their car windows, throw trash into the waterways, and don’t care about the environment. They also detest green spaces and trees, preferring concrete pavement. Success is defined as “material accumulation” such as costly restaurants, large homes, and cars. Because this gives them a status symbol that they too “have arrived and can claim seats on the table of the ghetto lords,” some people purchase, share, or discuss expensive gadgets, automobiles, or trips due to the large price tag rather than the benefits they offer.

A Life of Torment and Delusion

They lead tormented lives, much like Obi Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s famous African novel “No longer at Ease”. Split between the western and African civilizations. When it comes to their mother tongues, their kids can barely say more than hello but speak English with ease. They take them to schools where they think they can socialise with wealthy kids in hopes of making future connections.

If offered the chance to hold public office, this is the class that will have its fingers in many pots. They experience inadequacy and use wealth accumulation as a way to mask their inadequacy and get acceptance from others.

From Riches to Rags: The Future of the Middle Class?

Kids in the ghetto may turn to drugs and toxins as a way to escape reality, making them think they are the best people in the world. In a similar vein, Uganda’s middle class places great value on their riches, academic credentials, and status to the point where they flaunt their importance and entitlement, with boda boda riders serving as their main competitors in the latter domain.

Instead of teaching their children skills they just are accumulating wealth for them to inherit, they have resorted to spoiling their offspring under the guise of “planned kids.” By doing this, they are creating a new generation of futuristic ghetto dwellers, where today’s urban residents will become slums, much like how the hippies of the 1970s, Kazo, Makindye, and Kansanga, have become “crime centres.” Then the rich people’s kids turned into the city’s inebriated youth.

The Ghetto attitude will only get worse as long as Ugandans keep complaining about how we should raise our standards but we merely do lip service. Our hearts are essentially selfish.

About the Author

Absolom Lubwama is a retired accountant and teacher who currently earns a living through event organizing, printing, and publications. His hobbies include indulging in his imaginative pursuits and running a “keep the world green campaign” to promote environmental conservation.For any communication, Absolom Lubwama can be reached via email at albwama2@hotmail.com.