Unto You

I owe it to my 'two' loyal readers for taking leave of absence from writing here. But, now that the New Year is beckoning, I should say, thanks for being my loyal readers for the entire time that I've been writing.

But, first things first, enjoy the New Year more responsibly. See you in the New Year more energised, re-invigorated and re-invented.

Son of Woman

When did you last read a popular urban thriller that kept you edged on your seat for hours on end? If you haven’t done so in months, then you better grasp Son of Woman (1971) by Charles Mangua, a prolific Kenyan writer.

The book is written on a lighter note, exploring the delicacies of crime, urban indigence, and the often deep but rarely fully unexplored subject of prostitution. Part fiction, part biography, Mangua vividly captures the travails of Dodge Kiunyu, born of a whoring mother in the slums of Eastleigh in Nairobi. His life is a living hell, his miseries compounded by his mother’s death, when Dodge is only 11 years old. What is more striking is the mere fact that Dodge doesn’t hide the fact that he is a bastard, born of a prostitute. He is so bitter about this fate and can only but accept life as it is. 

He is taken in by Miriam, his mother’s colleague in the oldest profession. Miriam also has an 11 year old daughter, who despises Dodge with a passion. But for Dodge’s ‘never say die’ attitude, he would have preferred to loiter on the streets rather than stay in a house he is openly unwelcome.

Although, he later goes to a mission school, from whence proceeding to the university, he spends much of his time in jail for an assortment of crimes. What seems pretty annoying is the inability to control his anger and his penchant for picking fights, even with law enforcers. He doesn’t hide the fact that he hates the police with a passion, blaming them for all his suffering.

In this award winning book, Mangua describes each detail, almost with a flaw, despite repetitive clauses that may once in a while appear boring. He openly vents his bitterness on his unfortunate being as a Son of Woman. The emotions, humour, sadness and anger will flow with you and through you right from the onset, from the first person perspective that the book takes. At various levels, the book contains some derogatory wordings, which is only but a societal reflection that will leave a shrilling and thrilling effect on the reader in equal measure.

Single and Searching? How to Find and Marry Mr. Right by Christopher Hart

Many books have been written about relationships, but few tell you how to do it right, or how to spot the Mr. or Mrs. Right and walk them down the aisle. 

Single and Searching? How to Find and Marry Mr. Right is particularly written with that lady, tired of the dating game, and intending to get married in mind. It delves into the dating world with a sharp razor of truths and myths. The book simply busts the myth that finding the right person to date and later marry is a matter of luck. It is an effort much like finding a job, looking for the right property or plot to buy, or even indentifying the right investment opportunity.

Dr. Chris Hart has immense experience as a psychologist, relationship expert, TV personality and popular columnist writing on relationships in one of Africa’s leading newspapers, the respected Sunday Nation newspaper, published in Kenya. In Single and Searching, he offers invaluable tips, both on how, and where to find that date you have often wanted to meet, and how to avoid possible dates from hell. In short, and in clear and direct language, he highlights the dos and don’ts of the dating world to the time he proposes.

A lady in her late twenties or thirties who would really like to settle down in marriage will find the nine chapters of the book quite invaluable in her quest for finding a date who would later propose to her. Dr Hart writes that the contemporary dating setting has undergone a seismic shift, from a time when women simply sat back and waited for the right man to come calling, to a time when women have increasingly become more financially and economically independent and have more control on when to get married, and possibly to whom. Whereas, many of them put more emphasis on their education or careers, and can get away with having many short term dating stints as they wish, there comes a time when they want a man to be around them all the time.

Now, they go out hunting, but of course, Chris Hart will tell you the right places to find the date you want. He will also tell you about different chemistries that might likely make you last longer together. For instance, he says you might feel totally compatible to your date, but in case the chemistry doesn’t work right after your first kiss, the probability that you will be together for long is low. Even such thing as smell is very important. If you don’t like their smell, you better make up your mind first on your next move.

He also busts the myth that opposites attract. He emphasises the fact the more you feel alike to your date, the more you are likely to be with each other for long. Also, but not least, he indicates that it is of the essence to find a partner with whom you are relatively compatible in looks.

All in all, he says, “a different set of skills is needed when you are dating as a successful woman in your late twenties or early thirties, compared to when you were just starting out”. And, the myth that there are no good men out there is a lie.  There are loads of them.

Single and Searching is frank, straight forward and doesn’t mice words. All in all, readers should find the book incredibly interesting and eye opening.

Joshua Masinde

The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born - Ayi Kwei Amar

In this deeply symbolic book published in 1968, Ayi Kwei Amar vividly captures the seemingly endless spiral of corruption, moral decadence and spiritual death in post-colonial Ghana.

The book tells the story of a nameless man who struggles to reconcile himself with the reality of post-independence Ghana. Referred to throughout the book, as simply, “The Man”, he refuses to take a bribe, something that angers his wife.

The Man keeps a humble job, and despite the constant naggings of his wife, he lives an honest life, even if that condemns him to a life of poverty. He represents the lot of the common man in Ghana – who has no choice but to reside in the poorest slums and live from hand to mouth.

On the other hand are Ghana’s new leaders, “the black masters” who prove to be worse than the colonialists. They partake of corruption and other vices with such impunity that it has become the way of life for some. Koomson, The Man’s friend, is one such politician. His immense wealth results from his corrupt activities.

Similar stories of corruption and moral decadence abound throughout the book. In another incident, we are told of a bus conductor who is abusive to his passengers and other road users, including a pedestrian crossing the road. The abusive conductor and his derelict bus are symbolic of the newly independent Ghana, heavily ridden by corruption and indigence.

Other notable characters in the book include “the teacher”. Like “the man” he abhors the corrupt society that Ghana has become. He chooses to stay away from it all by becoming a recluse. He has given up hope that society will ever shake off corruption, hence his symbolic exit from the society.

When a military coup occurs, there is some hope that things might change, but sadly, life continues as usual. The military officers join in and start to take bribes too.

The Man helps Koomson, the politician escape from the country through a faeces-ridden toilet-bucket crevice. Ironically, The Man also follows Koomson through the ‘shit-hole’ implying that even those who have avoided corruption are affected by those who engage in it.

Although the book focuses on post independence Ghanaian society, it is symbolic of many other developing countries, where corruption remains a major problem at all levels.

For the common man, there seems to be no end to the scourges of corruption and moral decadence. Indeed, it appears the saviors or the “beautiful ones” as Amar calls them, are not yet born”

By Joshua Masinde

The Outsider

Can a book be sad and entertaining at the same time? With his book, The Outsider, Albert Camus provides a masterpiece that just about achieves both. Irresistibly nostalgic, interesting and deeply moving, The Outsider by Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus is one of the best works of fiction to ever to come out of Algeria and the continent of Africa. It was originally written in French (L’Etranger), but later translated into English. In some English translations, it is titled The Stranger

As you read the book, it can be hard to sympathize with Meursault, the main character, whose behaviour is strange right from the opening lines of the book.

First, he is not sure when his mother died: “Mother died today yesterday. It must have been today. No, I don’t know.” He is apparently unmoved by his mother’s death, as he only requests two days off to mourn her death. He declines to watch her mother’s body but rather takes white coffee and smokes a cigar while observing other old women at the elderly women’s home mourn his mother’s death. This is absurd and against the acceptable norms in this society.

This and many other events paint Meursault as a strange character (he is termed as an existentialist), whose behaviour is worth as serious a punishment as there can ever be. Camus uses Meursault’s struggle to fit into his society’s conventionally acceptable norms to explore the important philosophical aspect of existentialism.

A series of events, from the mother’s death, to making love to Marie, his girlfriend hardly two days after his mother is buried, the killing of the Arab, and partly his defence at the court, claiming that he killed the Arab because of the environment, are sure enough to inspire the judge to hand him a death sentence by decapitation. Even more strange, Meursault is unmoved by the decision to decapitate him. He merely mulls over how the events at the guillotine will unfold.

Throughout the book, Meursault shows no emotions. He evokes no sympathy, but seems content to behave in a way that will fulfil his own fate, even if his actions or behaviour go against the grain of societal thinking and put him in the risk of being cast out of his society.

The Outsider is a masterpiece, and despite the passage of time, it remains as fresh as when it was published about six decades ago (1942). As sad as it gets a times, readers will enjoy reading the relatively small book.

By Joshua Masinde

Ejiet: A great scholar and teacher

“Without doubt, the Literature fraternity is going to miss his scholarship, consistent creativity and genuine humanity,” – Prof. Bukenya
He was a great teacher and a great scholar,” is what Prof. Austin Bukenya remembers of the late Prof. Austin Ejiet (RIP), an eminent columnist, humourist and satirist. The columnist-cum-scholar passed away at Nsambya Hospital on Saturday. According to a family source, Ejiet had been in and out of hospital for a long time, before he finally succumbed on Saturday January 2.
Aged 58, the author, professor of creative writing and commentator, died of liver and pancreas cancer at Nsambya hospital two weeks after his admission.
He was retained as a teaching assistant at the Literature Department, Makerere University where he had graduated in 1978, with a first class degree in Literature. He later obtained a PhD from the University of Iowa in the US.
Much of his writing, including his anthology of short stories, Aida, Hurray for Somo and Other Stories, focus on different aspects of life and its absurdities. He employs satire to unveil the injustices in everyday life. “You can write about the most sacrilegious thing and get away with it,” once said Prof. Ejiet.
While he was the head of the Literature Department at Makerere University, he designed a creative writing course in 1991 which he taught with late Prof. Francis Kidhubuka, though it never survived for long. This, notwithstanding its short lifespan pointed to his passion for the growth of creative writing in Uganda, which he lamented, was lacklustre and wanting.
Prof. Bukenya opined that apart from dissecting some of the most serious and risky political issues with fine humour and satire, Prof. Ejiet was also a very intelligent industrious scholar, who inspired many of his students both in literary terms and in real life.
Bukenya also credits Ejiet for having kept the department going as its head of department during the difficult period of the early ‘90s. “It was a difficult time in terms of finances and resources, but he kept the department going,” said Bukenya, himself an old hand, a senior lecturer at the department, an author and scholar.
While spewing his admiration for African authors, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Okot p’Bitek and Ngugi wa Thiongo, for helping Africa understand itself, and rehabilitating the continent’s image, he so much lamented about the dimming spirit of creative writing in Uganda. He once told this writer that there has been concerted and painful progress in African writing, but with much of such writing aping Achebe’s, Soyinka’s and Ngugi’s classics. Whereas this could actually spell doom to local creative writing, he was categorical that Uganda has a poor history of rewarding creative writers. Musicians get better rewards and most of them continue singing and living off their music. This is just besides the fact that many people are too busy figuring out ways of surviving rather than sitting down to write say, a poem. He cited his own example when he had a 25-year teaching stint at Makerere University. He would start work at 8 pm and end at 5 pm, a schedule, which was too exhaustive to allow him to create room for creative writing. The 25 years were kind of wasted in terms of his creative output.
But, for the creative writers, they “should come up with new and appealing genres to set a unique system of creative works. Most of the earlier African writing dwelt intensively on colonialism. This has been overtaken by events.
“Creative writing is different from writing a historical piece. In creative writing, especially on current issues, one should endeavour to keep in touch with current events. A short story would do better here,” he told this writer in a past interview. Whereas it takes a leisurely pace, say, a day or a week to write a short story, it takes even years to write a novel.
He cited Nuruddin Farah, whose writing dwelt on former president of Somalia, Said Barre and his tyrannical rule. “Despite being a very bright fellow, he has nothing to say because Barre is no more.” The events during Barre’s tyrannical regime were overtaken by history.
Sr. Dr. Dominic Dipio, the current head of the Department of Literature at Makerere University, fondly echoes Prof. Bukenya’s memories of Austin Ejiet. “He was a great scholar, literary critic, satirist and humorist,” she said, beside his social, reticent and self-controlled nature. Alluding to his unique sense of humour, she says whenever he was teaching, he was always making a lot of fun, and this made his lectures so lively. She also alludes fondly to his intelligence, citing that he mentored most of the current crop of figures practicing literature at Makerere University’s Literature department.
She elucidates the fact that “he made us feel very special at the time, and taught us invaluable skills like expressing oneself in a few words” and in the use of good grammar and choice of words.
Whether there could be another Ejiet in the making, “There’s something of him in all of us in creative, satirical, humorous ways,” Sr. Dr. Dipio remarked.
“Without doubt, the Literature fraternity is going to miss his scholarship, consistent creativity and genuine humanity,” summed up Prof. Bukenya.
While head of the Literature Department, Ejiet helped establish the Mass Communication Department at the same university, which department is one of the premier journalism training centres in East Africa.
Ejiet’s life was marred by tragedy, the worst being the death of his wife when he was still teaching at Makerere University. But, according to him, reading was a way to escape such misery and make him sober.
He is best remembered for his anthology of short stories, Aida Hurray for Somo and Other stories, and his weekly satirical column, “Take It or Leave It” in the Sunday Monitor. However, he also wrote three children’s books in Ateso, his mother tongue, besides editing literary works.
His acquaintances, readers, and those he mentored will fondly remember him as a dedicated scholar, humorous and satirical personality, who delivered such attributes through his writings and in the daily life encounters. With his column “Take It or Leave It”, he was one of the longest and consistent columnists in the Sunday Monitor. He also wrote ‘Reality Check’, a weekly column for at least three years, in the Sunrise weekly newspaper. At the time of his death, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the Kampala International University. He was instrumental in founding the Faculty of Education at the Kampala International University, Western campus in Ishaka. He also previously taught at Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi.
Ejiet was born in 1951 in Kumi. He was laid to rest on Monday January 4, in Atutur village, his ancestral home in Kumi district, eastern Uganda.

Mwenda among Top 100 Global Thinkers

By Joshua Masinde

The Independent Managing Editor, Andrew Mwenda, was listed by the Foreign Policy (FP) magazine amongst the Top 100 Global Thinkers, together with greats like US President Barack Obama, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Pope Benedict XI (ranked17th), billionaire Bill Gates (ranked 12th) and a host of other leaders, Nobel laureates, journalists, economists and academicians.
At rank 98, Mwenda was recognised for his vociferous criticism of all elements of the African aid structure and like the other top hundred global thinkers, for contributing to the big ideas that shaped the world in 2009.
According to FP, Mwenda, a dogged and fiercely eloquent Ugandan journalist and editor of The Independent is a vociferous critic of all elements of the African aid structure. “Frequently harassed by the Ugandan government for his outspokenness and currently facing trial on 21 charges (including sedition), Mwenda goes even further than most aid critics: The continent, he argues, needs to fail in order to learn hard lessons as it picks up the pieces on its own. He responded with fire to Obama’s July speech in Ghana, writing, ‘Obama needs to listen to Africans much more, not lecture them using the same old teleprompter.’”
At home, Mwenda has serially castigated President Yoweri Museveni’s regime on corruption, sectarianism, human rights abuses, and for vesting the country’s leadership and resources in family rule. He has also been fighting for free speech and economic empowerment throughout Africa. His belief is anchored in the idea that western aid has been largely unhelpful to African development as it fans corrupt states and sustains wars.
US President, Barack Obama, was ranked second for re-imagining America’s role in the world. Other Africans listed amongst the top hundred include Dr. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General. He was ranked 30th for his ceaseless work to create Africa’s Green Revolution. “Africa is the only region where overall food security and livelihoods are deteriorating,” he declared in 2007, vowing to create “an environmentally sustainable, uniquely African Green Revolution,” according to the FP.
Another African, George Ayittey, was ranked 76th for pushing policymakers to let Africa help itself. Sayyid Imam al-Sharif from Egypt was ranked 10th for striking a mortal ideological blow to al Qaeda. Ayaan Hirsi Ali from Somalia was ranked 48 for her provocative critique of Islam, the religion of her youth.
Ben Bernanke, the chairman of Federal Reserve in Washington, was ranked in first position for his role in staving off a new Great Depression. He topped the list for “turning his superb academic career into a blueprint for action, for single-handedly reinventing the role of a central bank, for preventing the collapse of the US economy. Having done all of these within the span of a few months is certainly one of the greatest intellectual feats of recent years.
Women bagged seventeen slots of the top hundred. They are: Zahra Rahnavard from Iran, ranked 3rd for being the brains behind Iran’s Green Revolution and the campaign of her husband, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi; Aung San Suu Kyi, from Burma ranked 26th for being a living symbol of hope in a dark place; Elinor Ostrom from US, ranked 28 for showing us that the global commons isn’t such a tragic place after all; Esther Duflo from US ranked 41 for adding quantitative rigor to assessments of foreign aid; Ayaan Hirsi Ali from Somalia, ranked 48 for her provocative critique of Islam, the religion of her youth; Helene Gayle from US ranked 52 for putting HIV/AIDS in its big-picture context; Barbara Ehrenreich ranked 59 for her relentless efforts to understand the root causes of poverty and inequality; Esther Dyson from US, ranked 70th for accurately forecasting how the Internet will shape us; Anne-Marie Slaughter ranked 79th for helping transform Foggy Bottom from the inside out; Samantha Power from US ranked 80th for moving from moral authority to government authority on human rights; Hu Shuli a journalist from China ranked 84th for persisting in the idea that public accountability is possible even in one-party China; Jacqueline Novogratz from US ranked at 85th position for helping build a new generation of social entrepreneurs; Karen Armstrong from Britain ranked 87th for advocating a truce in the religion wars; Sunita Narain from India ranked 88 for giving voice to India’s environmental conscience; Martha Nussbaum ranked 93rd for making philosophy matter; Valerie Hudson from US ranked 97th for showing that gender imbalances have global consequences and Emily Oster from US ranked 99th for her creative research into what really helps the poor.
Some former and current prominent leaders also rated amongst the top 100 Global Thinkers include: Bill Clinton, the former US president, ranked 6th for redefining philanthropy in the modern era; Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, rated 23rd for four decades of speaking truth to power; Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former Brazilian President ranked 11th for calling the war on drugs what it is: a disaster and former US Vice President Dick Cheney ranked 13th for his full-throated defence of American power.
Some Nobel laureates rated amongst the hundred include: Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladesh economist ranked 46th for proving that the poor are profitable, John Holdren and Steven Chu, ranked 34th for putting cutting-edge science back into power, Rajendra Pachauri from India ranked 5th for ending the debate over whether climate change matters, Joseph Stiglitz, from US ranked 25th for relentlessly questioning economic dogma, Paul Krugman, from US ranked 29th for proving that a Nobel Prize winner can also be a prolific pundit and unerringly correct doomsayer, Amartya Sen, a US economist ranked 58th for showing how democracy prevents famine.

FGM law offers respite to female posterity

By Joshua Masinde

Way back in 1999, during the December holidays after I had just completed my primary leaving examination, I had the privilege of attending an initiation rite of the Sabaot of Mt. Elgon region in Western Kenya. My uncle, with whose family I was staying, took me there. It was late in the night. The ghostly darkness, dancing odiously in the chilling breeze gave the night the smell of blood, incivility and abhorrence.
I had undergone my own rite of passage a year before. Practically, though not a fan of circumcision rituals, this one I was taken to attend was quite out of the ordinary.
Having expected to see brave young men, enduring the chilly night, dancing, drumming and jingling their instruments so used in circumcision rites, a surprise lay in waiting. Drama, dancing, and hullaballoo enshrined the occasion with vigour. The unexpected sight of a file of young, energetic and frail ladies, dancing vigorously, first in circles, then in one straight file away from the crowd, was to me a spectacular scene of witches dancing away their evil machinations past midnight, downloaded straight from a Nollywood script.
But, the most private details of the genitalia cut, was for us not to behold. But, my mind conceived all possible graphic details of the act itself, as I kept wondering that alas, and indeed, my unfortunate sisters had at last, mutated into adulthood, through a very excruciating exercise that was to change their lives FOR-EVER. The cut itself, blood trickling....
The lurid gory details clearly defined the blast from the past, with a sense of pity and remorse for the victims.
But, a recent parliamentary report on Female Genital Mutilation in Kapchorwa and Nakapiripit districts in eastern Uganda signalled a timely intervention, which could offer respite to the girls and women who would have undergone the crude cultural rite. This report led to the passing by the Ugandan legislature, on December 10, of a new law outlawing and criminalising FGM. The law grants a maximum 10 year-punishment for the perpetrators of the crude act, and life imprisonment for those who carry out aggravated FGM. This is a new lease of life in the female posterity who could have been subjected to the cut, much like their predecessors. Aggravated FGM is a case where the victim passes on after the cut, or is infected with HIV/AIDS or becomes disabled.
Prior to enacting the law, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, Kinkizi east MP in Uganda moved a motion in Parliament on April 29, to prohibit female genital mutilation (FGM). Dr. Baryomunsi later introduced a private bill countering FGM in Uganda parliament in September for debate and was unanimously enacted into law on December 10.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines female genital mutilation (FGM) as "the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons.
FGM is practiced the world over, and Amnesty International estimates over 130 million women worldwide have been victimised. It is estimated that 92 million of Africa’s women have been victims with over 3 million cases carried out annually on the African continent. In Uganda, the Sabiny of Kapchorwa, Bukwo, Bugiri and Nakapiripirit districts in the eastern frontier have indigenous tribes that highly practice FGM, according to the parliamentary report. The rite is performed bi-annually each year.
There are about four ways in which FGM is executed: “Sunna" circumcision is the removal of the prepuce and/or the tip of the clitoris; Clitoridectomy, or excision, which is the removal of the entire clitoris and adjacent labia; Infibulation (pharaonic circumcision), removal of the clitoris and entire labia and then joining the scraped sides of the vulva across the vagina using thorns or catgut, leaving only a small opening for passage of urine and menstrual blood.
FGM is generally performed in unsanitary conditions with unclean sharp instruments, such as pieces of glass, stones, knives, or razor blades. A single instrument is often used on many girls and/or women without cleaning, leading to the transmission of various viruses, such as HIV/AIDS.
While there are no benefits associated with FGM, the procedure is characterised with health complications like cruelty of the procedure, urine retention which is painful, short term haemorrhage, which can lead to death. It can also engender infertility, vulva abscess, clitoral cysts, labia adherences, difficulties in menstruation, fistula, disability and increased risks of HIV/AIDS infections.
In the parliamentary report, Mr Peter Kamuron, a human rights activist, opines that; “Once a girl is cut, she is cut off from enjoying her reproductive health and rights and continuing with education, and from any hope for employment and or future economic survival.”
But, an initiative like the Reproductive Educative and Community Health (REACH) began in 1996 in Kapchorwa, which has been on the forefront in helping to mitigate FGM. Using education as its primary tool in eliminating FGM, REACH formed the Sabiny Elders Association to reach the people. Ultimately, the communities made their own the decisions to stop. The Kapchorwa district saw a tremendous 36 per cent decrease in FGM between 1994 and 1996.

Poor sanitation plagues Kampala’s slums

Patrick Odongo emerges from a latrine; a one storey structure erected approximately two metres from the ground. Towering in front of haphazard, ramshackle dwellings, there is no fee charged for using this latrine, reserved for the residents of Acholi quarter in one of Kampala’s sprawling slums. Parts of the latrine’s walls are damp, with a stinging smell permeating the environment.
Godfrey Nsubuga, a resident of Kavule, in Kampala, sits outside his dilapidated shack, neighbouring an unused latrine, raised a few metres from the filthy soggy ground. He says he does not use the latrine because it is full. This and the current latrine in use are so dilapidated that he fears they may succumb to the weight of human waste, or a storm.
Many such latrines sprawl haphazardly in slums around Kampala: Bwaise, Kamwokya, Kavule, Katanga, Kisenyi and Kivulu. Some of them are constructed an arm’s length from congested slum settlements, posing grave health risks.
Frequent flooding and the swampy slum areas rule out the sinking of latrines beyond one or two feet. Erecting a latrine with a stair case is the only option despite the hazards. Many residents acknowledged having experienced cholera outbreaks, associated with the filthy surroundings.
Decent toilets are available but at a cost. A user fee of between Ushs100 (US$0.05) and Ushs200 (US$0.1) is charged, which is often too high for families, most of who live on less than a dollar a day.
Moses Mugabi, a resident of Kamwokya, mans a latrine, which is also raised two metres from the ground. Despite no charge being imposed by the landlord, Mugabi charges Ushs100 (US$0.05) user fee. He ensures the latrine is kept clean, to keep diseases at bay. He acknowledges past incidents of cholera in an area prone to flooding.
There is some respite though after Amref, in collaboration with local communities constructed a few decent toilets, which residents use for free although in some slum areas such as Bwaise, on the outskirts of Kampala, residents pay Ushs200 (US$0.1) to use them.
Joan Nakibule, a resident of Kavule slum in Kampala, says the toilets have improved sanitation in the area. “When full, Ushs20000 (US$10.5) is collected from the households, to drain it,” says Nakibule, whose mother is a landlady in the settlements.
According to James Kiyimba, a social worker and communication officer with WaterAid Uganda, latrines are raised some metres above the ground because the water level is very high. He notes, however, that these present a challenge to children, the elderly, the disabled and the sick who can’t climb the stairs. They resort to easing themselves in polythene bags, a practice called ‘flying toilets’.
However, he adds, these latrines contaminate water sources. “Most water sources are contaminated through such practices,” he says, adding that these inevitably lead to cholera outbreaks.
Peter Kato, a medical doctor, says the latrines remain potential hazards for cholera outbreaks. He says the poor drainage in the swampy areas contributes to the pollution of water for domestic use as these latrines are very close to the settlements. “When it rains, the refuse in the latrines flow out and sprawl near the dwellings,” he says.
Statistics from the ministry of health in Uganda show that over 400 people die of diarrhea and cholera complications due to poor hygiene and sanitation. Although organizations such as Amref have initiated projects to help, a lot more still needs to be done.
By Joshua Masinde

Kampala residents fall for allure of quick cash

Joshua Masinde

KampalaThe queue outside the Tripple Pride Self Help Project near the Qualicel Bus Terminal in Kampala does not seem to ever diminish as an endless stream of people wait to deliver their cash deposit slips to the company’s officials.

Many of them have been made to believe that by depositing the money and attracting three others to join the scheme could be the gateway to accumulating as much as Shs10 million without breaking sweat. Ms Winnie Apio, a Makerere University student, is one such client.

Since she registered for the project early this year and convinced three friends to sign up too, Ms Apio says she has accumulated Shs150,000. “I checked the account and saw the money,” she said.

Like a typical pyramid scheme, the Tripple Pride project depends on initial recruiters who bring in other people to “invest” money in the scheme. The new member recruits another three people, each of whom are required to invest a similar amount of money. The only requirements for joining are a bank account, an initial deposit of Shs45,000 to deposit and recruitment of three people into the scheme.

Every new member is required to deposit Shs10,000 into the project’s account and a separate Shs5,000 for each of seven already registered members. The scheme is based on the assumption that there will be a continuous recruitment of new members and even those who accumulate the maximum amount of Shs10 million will open new accounts and continue to help the scheme thrive.

But that’s where the first cracks appear in the project plan. Ms Apio says she does not plan to wait until she reaches the deposit ceiling of Shs10,935,000. “Once I get something like Shs400,000 I will stop my membership,” she said. But a manager at the Qualicel Branch of Tripple Pride, who asked to be identified only as Andrew, claims the scheme is unlike pyramid schemes or the gift circles that led to the loss of lots of money in 2003 in Uganda.

He says that unlike other gift circles where money is exchanged ‘hand-to-hand’, Tripple Pride has come up with the idea of having people exchange money through banking, which he claims reduces fraud. Like other officials however, Andrew is tight-lipped about details of the company’s operations, including the amount of money they have accumulated so far and the number of members who have joined the scheme.

A flyer advertising the project says its vision is to alleviate poverty through helping people accumulate money. “This perfect match maker connects conscious business people who are eager to integrate values with many thousands of people that are looking for their dreams to come true.

Tripple Pride has other branches in Nakivubo, Wandegeya, Mukono, Kawempe, Shauri Yako, Nansana, Mengo, Pride Theatre, City Centre Complex, Uganda House, Kibuye, Kavule and Platinum House. It has a total of 15 branches in Kampala, Entebbe, Mukono and Jinja districts.When contacted, Central Bank deputy public relations officer, Joy Kaahwa said the bank did not have details about the operations of the Tripple Pride scheme.

Kampala area MP Elias Lukwago, however, said pyramid schemes have become very sophisticated as they come as NGOs and deprive the public of all their money. “There so many such schemes in the country today but it is so unfortunate the government has not come out to do anything,” said Mr Lukwago. “Something needs to be done now”.

Kampala City Council Publicist, Simon Muhumuza, said the scheme was not recognised by the city authorities. “These are fakes,” he said. “Such people need to be arrested instead for conning the public. This is a police case. We don’t believe there is free money that can just be issued out like that.”

Last year, residents of Jinja were left in tears after Dutch International, a money saving scheme conned them of Shs11.4 billion. With promises of interest earnings of 30 per cent per month, many deposited as much as Shs2.5 million. While members expect a “Tripple” return on their investments, they are likely to end up with zero returns.

Additional reporting by Eve Mashoo

Giving hope to the sick

Jane Namala writhes in pain. She tightly clutches her temple with both her hands. She cannot even speak but mutter a few words, expressing the intensity of the pain she is feeling. She has a dental problem and has come to have her two decayed yet painful teeth extracted.
A few metres away, Aisha Nalubega has brought Tatya Nankumba, her eleven-month old baby for medical check-up. The baby has an umbilical hernia (an elongated navel), which has given both mother and baby endless nightmares.
Doctor Patrick Kaliika, a Clinical Director, who examined Nalubega’s baby, referred them to Masaka district hospital for an operation. Aisha cannot help but say she does not have money for the operation.
All this unfolds at Mulabana centre, a remote area on Ssese Islands in Kalangala district. Many of the patients suffer silently for many months as there is no trace of a hospital or clinic nearby, but a Health centre III located many kilometres away. The Health Centre often lacks the drugs to meet the patients’ health needs, according to Richard Kirule, the President of Rotary Club of Kampala, Ssese Islands.
At Mulabana centre, patients are strewn all over. Their genuine search for medical examination and attention is written on their nostalgic faces. For some, especially the women and young children, pain, suffering and destitution are hidden beneath their smiling countenances.
Their wait for the free medical examination and free drugs, even when it’s once per annum, is worth it as they are now receiving free medical care from the members of Rotary Club, Ssese Islands. The opportunity is a God-sent to the inhabitants of this almost God forsaken area.
The patients are too willing to tell the two doctors, two dentists and the team of Rotarians examining them, of their sickness, woes and names.
Richard Kirule, says the free medical outreach extended to the people of Ssese islands, is conducted three times a year. The three times are allotted to different centres of the Ssese islands, in order to reach to a sizeable population of those in dire need of the free medical care.
“Coming here quarterly is not enough but it is expensive in terms of time and money,” says Richard. He adds, “We spend a lot of money like Ushs2 million on doctors and other expenses.” The drugs alone cost them Ushs1 million shillings.
The medical outreach covers all ailments like malaria, STDs like HIV/AIDS, typhoid, flu, ringworms and conduct counselling on nutrition and immunisation.
According to doctor Kaliika, they also do HIV testing and counselling.
“For those who are positive, we refer them to Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC) in Kalangala town,” he says.
Besides, they not only de-worm the community members, but also give supplements and distribute condoms to those in need.
Despite the crowd of patients at Mulabana centre, dental cases were appalling. Most of the patients like Jane Namala and Francis Ziwa, a photographer, had their teeth extracted.
Before the extraction of Namala’s two premolar teeth, she was feeling acute headache. She was unable to express herself.
But, Francis Ziwa’s aching tooth took a dentist fifteen minutes to extract.
“It was my first time to come here for dental examination,” says Ziwa, adding “It was very painful.”
He developed the toothache a year ago, though he would not go to the Health centre in Kalangala town for check up because he could not afford the charges.
Doctor Barbarah Nabageraka, who is a dentist based in Kalangala district acknowledges many of the dental problems are due to the type of food like fish and bread accelerates teeth decay.
“Bad oral and personal hygiene, type of food like fish, which is sticky, makes teeth decay quickly,” says doctor Nabagereka.
The remedies she and her co-dentist handled were refilling, removal of scales on those with gum diseases and extraction of decayed painful teeth.
However, she says there were few cases of refilling as opposed to extractions.
By Joshua Masinde

In pursuit of an old passion

Retired Major Kaka Frank Bagyenda, who says ‘Kaka’ was for disguise purposes during the bush war, is a man who is “more less settled” on Kalangala Island in pursuit of tourism: his old passion. When he was a civil servant in the late 1970s, went for a workshop to Mauritius andSeychelles, where tourism was taking shape around 1978. The beauty and immense tourist potential of the Indian Ocean Archipelago inspired his passion for tourism. He vowed to set up a tourist business upon his return.
His passion kept burning until the 90s as there was no money to implement it in the previous turbulent years. He secured a plot of land around a hot spring in Bundibugyo and was in the in the final phase of implementing the project, which was caught up in a landslide around Mt Rwenzori. He realised there were serious logistical problems as the landslides affected even key routes to his nascent investment. He shelved the idea for about a year.
He later thought of Kiboga, which was not only lacking in tourist attraction but also had land tenure system problem.
In late 1991, I came to this Island,” he says, adding he was still a major in the army. Kalangala Islands had a lot of similarities with the islands of Mauritius and Seychelles, though Kalangala, with its natural forests, serene environment, nice beaches, was and still is very natural and unpolluted. (There were a lot of sugar plantations on Mauritius and Seychelles).
“There were few tourists those days because it (Kalangala) was virgin,” posited retired Major Kaka. “There was only one guest house called Andronicles Lodge, owned by a retired primary (school) teacher.
There were no mosquitoes then because it was very cold.” (Now, big mosquitoes are a common sight especially at night).
The local leadership was very supportive since they wanted tourist development on any of the eighty four Ssese islands in Kalangala district at any cost. The RDC (formerly Special District Representative) called Kaziibwe was particularly encouraging, not only by word of mouth but by helping in the allocation of 50 acres of land on Kalangala island, for the hotel and the golf course project retired Major Kaka can boast of.
“I am the pioneer of modern eco-tourism,” he asserts, as he takes a sip of charm from his glass. In August 1994, his Panaroma Camping Safaris was ready to accommodate guests. Yet, the political ambience at the time was antagonistic to gains in tourism: the fresh Rwanda genocide, the demonic insurgency in the DRC and the conflict in Northern Uganda.
This harmed tourism too much, although Uganda was relatively peaceful,” said retired Major Kaka.
However, the only modern linkage when he opened shop was Barbus ship, from Port Bell through Koome Island, Bukeke Island, Bukasa Island, Bufumira Island and Lutoboke pier. The Uganda railways suspended the operations of the ship, which had been charged with handling theshipping services. Retired Major Kaka regrets that Enos Tumusiime, “who was the Damaging Director of Uganda railways” indirectly damaged their businesses as well.
Hadn’t MV Kalangala, another link to and from the island come in 2006, people would have to continue braving all the difficult conditions of travel by going through Masaka. This was very tedious but it didn’t dim retired Major Kaka’s passion, acknowledging thus: “You must really be in love with the island.”
Now, at almost sixty, having been part of the first group to undergo official reduction from the army in 1993, he feels at ease for being an eye opener for those who followed suit in investing on the island.
“I am now more less settled as I see tourism taking shape.”
But, visitors are always on and off and communication infrastructure is still wanting. It is even lack lustre for the domestic tourists, whom he mainly targets for their reliability.
Besides, he still has to overcome obstacles like the land tenure system if he is to expand his passion for modern tourism. He attributes the intricate land tenure system for the sluggish economic development on Kalangala islands.
He came to the island with four other senior officers and all shared similar intentions of starting up tourist hotels. These were late Brig. Peter Kerim, late Col. Byemaro (former Director of Military Intelligence), late Lt Col Ssesanga and Col John Kasaija. However, retired Major Kaka says some of them lost steam because of the land tenure system.
“The potential for development has been in the strangle hold for the last seventeen years because of land tenure system,” he observed.
Sixty percent of the land mass of Kalangala district is Mailo land yet the owners of such land live on the mainland. Twenty percent of the other land is a forest reserve, which is coincidentally very beautiful and was curved out by colonialists in the 1930s for strategic reasons.
Twenty percent of the other land is public land, some taken by thepalm oil project.
There are few Basese who own land yet potential areas tourism are owned by the likes of Kulubya ‘Mwana wa Omwami’”.
But, he adds there will be change, given political will.
Joshua Masinde

The Day Evil Dies

Book: The Day Evil Dies
Author: Clifford Goldstein
Publisher: Review & Herald
Reviewer: Joshua Masinde
Evil deeds, just like the good ones are inseparable from human existence. Some of such evil acts, like the holocaust, engineered by the Nazis, are already confined to History. Many more are imbedded in the human heart. Just like Goethe, the German poet, acknowledges, “Two souls, alas, are lodged within my breast, and struggle there for undivided reign.”
Goldstein writes that one does not need to be chained in a Marxist dungeon to know the struggle, controversy between good and evil, right and wrong, faith and unbelief, which rage around and in us. Indeed, the fiercest and most consequential struggles unfold, not in dramatic spectacles that could be glamorised in a Hollywood script but in the quivering folds of the human heart.
Of Malcolm Muggeridge, he says he described the “human drama” as unfolding an “obvious dichotomy” between two forces: “One is the Devil and the other God.”
He elaborates his central idea of the battle between evil and good in the human heart by quoting American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, “We are all soldiers in a great campaign, the details of which are veiled from us”.
The struggles in life he elicits in the book present tough moral choices in which the human conscience is “twiddled, prodded or tweaked”. The options lie in two extremes, good and evil, truth and error, right and wrong. There’s no middle ground as with life and death.
For evil to die between the two options, one has to choose the good-life. He writes that someone asked Billy Graham if he were an optimist or a pessimist: “I am an optimist,” he answered, “I have read the last page of the Bible.”
The death of evil is also a biblical promise in the book of Revelation. John says, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away...”
Clifford Goldstein’s The Day Evil Dies is a prophecy to past biblical and historical allusions, the present day occurrences and a foreshadow of the future. He explores some forgotten milestones of the past to help us understand the future, in a world where we are all foot soldiers in an invisible war. How will it end?
Behind-the-scenes, he writes, glimpses of the hand of God in history show that centuries of heresy, fanaticism, persecution, apostasy, and faith will soon culminate in an astonishing international crisis....religious politics will shape the future of America and curtail our freedoms leading to a terrible climax of evil before the final, glorious triumph of love.
“Now, you can understand your true role before it’s too late.”
By Joshua Masinde

Benefiting from illegal electricity connections

Jimmy is the caretaker of a residence in Mukwenda Zone, Kawempe Division. For about ten years, even before he became a caretaker, the residence he is in charge of had been glorying on the blessing of illegally connected electricity. For all that period, they paid little or no bills to UMEME, since their electricity metre couldn’t indicate the watts of power used. In any case, he said that at various points, it was UMEME which owed them some money instead.
However, their day of reckoning came of age when UMEME officials came calling after someone had tipped them of the illegal connection at the residence.
“UMEME told us someone reported us, and we suspect it is the former caretaker, whom we had asked to repay the money he had swindled from us,” said a forlorn Jimmy. The money amounted to about 2.5 million but he is said to have repaid only Ush300,000.
UMEME officials estimated the illegal connection to have been in existence for at least two years. They backdated the bills to two years and it amounted to Ushs12 million, which they warned that it either be paid forthwith or a legal option would be considered. But, after protracted negotiations, at which they falsely confessed the illegal connection was just a few months old, they settled at Ushs2.5 million fine, after which a reconnection was made.
Many culprits are yet to be caught Jimmy admitted. Within the same area, there are so many residences, homes and even posho mills, which connect power illegally and have never paid a single cent to UMEME. This has and continues to cost UMEME highly as they have to grapple with operational and maintenance costs which are quite high.
Some posho mills with not only illegal connections but also operate without licenses, are situated in banana plantains, hidden within dwellings. They often operate at night like one in Mukwenda Zone in Kawempe Division, in which they mercilessly utilise the stolen electricity.
The operators of such posho mill in Mukwenda zone could at times be seen climbing the electric poles, attached to a transformer, in order to connect power directly albeit illegally. There is case when the transformer was so overloaded that it blast and many residents in the area lost most of the TV sets, computers, loudspeakers, radios, to the power surge during the illegal connection.
Though, such illegal electricity connections are costing UMEME highly, those who are in the habit claim they can’t afford the high charges on electricity. This has nevertheless, often times driven UMEME to increase power costs to exorbitant rates. At times, they are even forced to overcharge most of their loyal customers, as Abiaz attests.
“They just look at your building and set the price for you,” said Abiaz, whose family was once a victim of such exaggerated power costs, despite meeting their past bills religiously.
“Nobody was staying at home during that month but we received a bill of about Ushs1.6million.”
However, he added that when they brought up the case with UMEME officials and when the metre was cross checked, the bill promptly dropped to about Ush70,000 only!
But, Abiaz says, the owner of former residence where he had rented a room, was also surviving on illegal power connection from UMEME. But, the owner could not allow the tenants to use electric coils while cooking or boiling water, to douse any suspicion from UMEME.

By Joshua Masinde

The 48 Laws of Power

Sqoop May 23, 2009
Book: The 48 Laws of Power
Author: Robert Greene
Publisher: Penguin Books
Available at: Leading Bookshops
Price: Shs35,000
Reviewer: Joshua Masinde
Politicians or leaders who have rooted themselves in power for long are known to be shrewd, charismatic or tyrannical. Ambitious up-coming leaders or politicians have, with wit, cleverness, manipulation and unwavering determination, managed to win over the masses, outshone political incumbents and attained the heights of power.
The endeavour to attain any such power is not a bed of roses. It is riddled with risks and menaces that would scare one to death. Retaining the same power is an uphill task. It’s not easy. But, there’s a precise remedy for those whose penchant for power is an abyss. The hooks and crooks come in handy in The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene.
The book is a decisive counsel for those who want power, watch power or want to arm themselves against power. It is a book, whose research has been dug out of works that have existed for as many as 3,000 years, is a precise case of how power has been used, manipulated to win over masses, defeat opposition, and or win over or suppress the enemy.
A peek into some of the laws will present an opportunity for you to “shine”, like most of the African leaders and politicians who have almost outlived their welcome in political dynasties. If you ever wish to attain considerable heights of power, “Never outshine your master,” so goes the first law of power. Make your master feel superior by avoiding situations which will make him feel insecure.
He also cautions anyone who wishes to use power effectively and to their advantage, not to put a lot of trust in their friends. “… They will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy.” An enemy has more to prove than a friend, hence he is more loyal.
Greene dissects the laws astutely from the first to the last law, “Assume formlessness.” His research is based on the deep of the hierarchies of power in our society.
This understanding is pegged on more references to historical figures like Otto von Bismarck, King Louis XIV, Talleyrand and others as an illustration of the use of power in real life and time. Each law might seem familiar to anyone reading them.
However, there is more than meets the eye in their understanding and application. Greene argues that learning the craft and art of power, and how to use it at the opportune time is a timely defence mechanism in preventing people from manipulating you.
However weak you might be, mastering such critical laws of power and how best to use them will level you out as astute, charismatic, mischievous and a scheming leader who knows the Achilles heels of his opponents. And for any sort of success in life, the laws will help you attain it.
A graduate of classic studies, Greene gives a balanced diet of power play in different settings, drawn from his research at the art school of Fabrika in Italy in 1995, where he says in the preface, The 48 Laws of Power was born. It was at Fabrika that Greene came in contact with the writings of Niccolo Machiavelli.
He blended this with his readings of the Japanese and Chinese history. He used such literature and classic writings on power for the last 30 centuries from Ancient Asia to contemporary America. Some illustrations are also drawn from Africa, especially on former Ethiopian Emperor Haille Sellasie.