Evelyn Lirri
At 31 million people, Uganda's population is not big, State Minister for Planning, Ephraim Kamuntu has said.
Speaking at a regional meeting on population and development organised by Population Secretariat and the United Nations Population Fund in Kampala last week, Prof. Kamuntu said emphasis should instead be put on the quality of the 31 million people.
"In absolute numbers, 31 million people are not many people for Uganda. What you want to address is the quality of these people," he said.
Uganda has one of the fastest growing populations in the world, with a current growth rate of 3.2 per cent. This means, every year, there is an addition of 1.2 million people, a growth rate which is the third highest in the world after Yemen and Niger, respectively.
Prof. Kamuntu said people are the engine of development and transformation.President Museveni has also publicly advocated for a larger population, defending it as the cornerstone for economic growth.
But a development expert, and lecturer at Makerere University, Prof. Augustus Nuwagaba argues that, at the moment, Uganda cannot benefit from its high population because it is characterised by highly dependent and poor people.
"This kind of population does not create demand because it's not educated, skilled, healthy and gainfully employed," Mr Nuwagaba said.
He said high unemployment, coupled with 56 per cent of the population below 18 years, has resulted into high dependency burden.
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