The effects of the credit crisis have taken our leaders so long to notice but it’s slowly and surely creeping in that the country’s economists are realizing that we are not immune like they had predicted before.

The bank of Uganda governor who has always been insisting that we would not be hit by the financial crisis is now realizing that we will be affected though he is yet to fully assess and assure everybody how bad the situation will be.

Nobody wants to be caught off-guard and certainly not the governor. He has been quoted in the media, “All along I have been mis-quoted by the media about this (global financial crisis). I have never said Uganda will not be affected by the credit crisis.” Yet it was reported that during the appearance of both the bank of governor and the finance minister before parliament, they assured the legislators that Uganda would not be affected by the current financial crisis. It is amazing that so many people, in this country, believe that the financial crisis is a British and American problem and has no bearing on us whatsoever including the well educated economists.

The governor’s acceptance that the country will indeed be affected by the financial crisis, a situation that is already happening, though he is yet to notice it, leaves a lot of bewilderment at the relationship between the people and their leaders.

Most leaders in this country, certainly, have not heard leave alone felt any biting financial crisis. The plight of so many people living on one meal a day, facing starvation in the northern part of the country or rising fuel and food prices does not concern them at all as these are everyday issues that are written about almost everyday. Besides, the ministries or offices in which they work fully take care of these expenses on them. Do not be surprised that so many of these leaders will come to realize what the financial crisis means only after they are retrenched, if that ever happen anyway.