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When I joined Senior One, our school fees were relatively high. Around the same time, a new private school opened in the area with slightly more affordable tuition. Several students, myself included, opted to move to this new school. The original school, noticing the shift, responded by reducing its fees. By the following year, more students returned—including some of us who had left. That experience taught me something important: markets respond to demand.
It's the same principle that could apply to many of the challenges we face today, from school fees to the cost of basic commodities. If more people explored and embraced alternatives, prices would begin to self-regulate. But the problem is—we often demand regulation while fueling the very systems we criticize.
Take school fees, for example. Every now and then, I hear people calling on the government to intervene and cap school fees. Yet, those same voices are often the ones stretching their finances, even borrowing, just to send their children to these very expensive schools. Let’s be honest: if you keep taking your child there, there’s no incentive for the school to lower its fees. But if one morning, a school opens its gates to find only 10 students enrolled, the administration would have no choice but to adjust.
We’ve seen this logic in practice. In Mbarara recently, some upscale bars raised the price of beer to UGX 7,000 per bottle. What did patrons do? They flocked to local bufundas instead. Before long, the bars had to reverse their prices. Again, the market responded to consumer behavior—not complaints.
At this point, it should be clear: President Museveni won’t come to fix every economic imbalance, especially not those that don’t align with his core political or developmental interests. We need to start crafting our own solutions, rooted in self-awareness and collective action.
Let’s stop demanding change from the top when real power lies in the choices we make daily—where we shop, where we take our children to school, where we socialize. Change will come when we stop enabling unfair systems and instead redirect our support to alternatives that reflect our values and budgets.
As we say in our local tongue: "Bishi itwe katwakuriire ahari muhogo, ebitakuri, omubumba n'emyate y'oburo buri kasheeshe... katutarafiire." (Let’s stick to what’s available and sustainable—we won’t starve.)
Sometimes, choosing the simple path is the smartest resistance.
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