My Ranting Response to Obama's Nomination Win

This is from an e-mail response to a friend called Hilary, who was very enthusiastic about Barack Obama's victory and described it as a strategic victory for blacks [or the black race]

Obama's victory is not strategic...how strategic?...infact the guys who were strategic are the Jews he addressed...they jumping on to the wave and getting with the guy in case, he wins. while blacks everywhere were clapping and dancing....that is strategy.

Check this stats: he was the one black in the Senate that is 1% and in the House of Representatives, blacks constitute 9.2%...judging from the population of African-Americans in USA and by the fact that they have lived there for more than 200 years....it does not add up. Let's talk economy, do you think that by 2011, the spending power of blacks in US will reach $1trillion yet how many are CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies...there were 6, but now 4...one retired, another was dumped because he is blamed for the sub-prime crisis...In other words, politically and economically, the blacks have little say...compare this with, e.g. the Jews (who are another minority but with muscle in these sectors).

Having a black President doesn't empower us, it is just a token that is being waved around to show how less racist America has become...but is it?Are the blacks in America, in Africa and all over the world...a bit more empowered that Barack could be President?

For God's sake, two Africans have so far been at the helm of the UN...one of them in fact head of peacekeeping...and Rwanda burned while he couldn't do anything...compare that with Kosovo, for instance...Africans or Blacks in general have been in positions of world influence before but what benefit has Africa reaped from that...let me give you a point closer to home...for how long has an African been at the head of FAO...and contrast that with the fortunes of Africa in agricultural production...if I remember right....Africa is now at the bottom rung in this area despite its potential...

If there is any symbolic value that Barack Obama's winning of the Democratic Party's nomination brings....may be it is to the people of Obama, a town in Japan, that has jumped on the euphoria and attention to market themselves...I can bet that by the end of this year..there will be more tourists coming to Obama than to Western Kenya...

Wake up and smell the coffee...it just shows us that we need to work three times as hard...By the way, for your own information, Obama's first allegiance is to America...he said as much in his speech, if you were paying attention....If he becomes President, he may not even visit Africa...unless it is in America's interest to do so....You know as part of th elite we have to look below the surface...and show our people the things that they see because we are in position to see them....in fact, a street vendor who is at Taxi Park selling Obama pictures is strategic because he has capitalised on this hype to make some money...for the bread and butter for his family!

Note: that Obama still has a long, long way to go...this is just the small step in that long journey...remember Al Gore who won the popular vote but not the election because the formula is in winning more states..which I feel the Republicans are going to use.When that happens...it will be another has-been, almost...and that is the tag I don't want for me or my people...and what will we say...at least he tried???

Not me, I want us to eye the ultimate prize...political and economic empowerment and social emancipation of Africans all over the world...and it is not through occupying the Oval Office, it is through doing the things we do everyday in a better way...with our eyes on the end...the means are what we need to muster and focus..

I have written this as one take...forgive any errors...it is my view of all this thing goingby the way, I 'm going to put this [edited to fit] on my blog....you pass by talesfromabyssinia.blogspot.com sometime.

Marching On and Looking Back

Today marks exactly 11 years since I wrote my last university exam paper. By this time [that I'm making this post], I was already three beers up celebrating the end of an era and hopeful that the future will be better. It marked the end of a phase of my life that I had enjoyed very much...

The time in between has been on the whole a learning curve...I have learned that life has its good peaks and bad (or terrible) valleys, along the way, those that I started out with have not lived to see this day. For just preserving me [if I may call it so], I am eternally grateful to the Almighty [many times I feel guilty that I am not that religious enough to return this favour].

Ironically, this date this year finds me again parting ways with Makerere University after working there for the past two years in the Public Relations Office. This has been a great learning opportunity and I thank all those who gave me the chance to handle PR for this great and complex institution. Many [friends, family, colleagues and generally people who know me] have asked why I decided to take this step. It is hard to give a "politically correct" answer [because this side of Planet Earth, people resign when going for other jobs]. Me, I did the 'unthinkable' by leaving before I got that soft cushion to land on. So, these days my answer is tailor-made to the person who asks me...but the truth is that I made this decision from my heart because I felt I needed to move and explore my potential elsewhere in a different realm...the thing is that I needed time to figure it out.

I have reached that point in my life where I ask my questions like why? and how? and what if? In this way, though I may be viewed as crazy, I discover myself and what kind of example and lessons I would be to my sons. I feel free and not afraid of the future...

Looking back, I see the peaks and valleys that mark the terrain of my adult life thus far [leaving University I believe marked this start]. These are the milestones

Graduation on 17 January 1998 [I could feel my happiness, I treasure the photo of me, Dad and Mum at the Main Gate even more since Dad passed on].

15 February 1998 [All I can say...hmmm....I realised how important condoms are...won't add much...thank you Elsie]

4 March 1998 [The day I started to work for an organisation that I feel has been my best work experience so far and where I learnt the skills that made me professionally. I thank Ms Michelle Jeanguyot for showing me the ropes. I was there for five years...so I not a fairweather employee, in case someone out there wants to hire].

the rest of 1998, 1999, 2000 were spent just like any bachelor boy would [I think you know what I mean...I thank those who share that experience with me...my friends, my gals, my colleagues and acquittances....and all those whose lives in one way or another intersected with mine]. I kept a journal which I won't share with the world but may be form the basis of my fiction based on true-life experiences that I intend to write in future.....all disclaimers are in order here.

September 2001 [that lunch time, I walked into a restaurant in Entebbe and met this then third-year student with whom I would later share a home with...but by then, I didn't know how it would play out...I thank Grace and Zaina for keeping me 'posted' and pushing me to keep in touch]

December 2002 [which marked the beginning of my relationship with Rosie]

19 September 2004 [when I and Rosie made that step...]

8 December 2004 [the first taste of fatherhood...the birth of Muhumuza, which means 'The Comforter']

28 December 2004-28 June 2006 [I can't this trying time that tempered me in many ways and gave a perspective on life and how we live it]

25 May 2005 [When Muhumuza fell very sick and we discovered that he had a genetic condition that he will fight each day of his life]

8 March 2006 [When my father died...it was a big blow...but now I have to adjust to it and instead appreciate the time he was with us...I want to live as long until I see my children grow into adults just like he was blessed to]

11 August 2007 [The day I met Cassidy...over time, she became a very good friend of mine. I feel she helped me discover a few more things and myself. I have spent long now without hearing from her....but the question is was she a reason, season or an eon

Those are the milestones that I can remember....no more confessions, I an marching on...c'est la vie.

Have a Heart for Hearts...and Get Ready for the Next One

This post here is for my moral support for this cause, though I should be expected to attend and help contribute to the cause, I can't reconcile the concept of wining and dining at a 5-star hotel to help my people. It would be more fulfilling to me if I denied myself the opportunity of sampling SSQ music and gave the money for the ticket directly to the Heart Insitute.

In the same breath, I am putting together a plan to get 10,000 "small givers" in Uganda to raise money (at least Shs. 5,000 each, that is about US$3) for the sickle-cell clinic at the National Referral Hospital in Mulago.

My appeal is all who visit this blog is help put this initiative together...ideas and strategies are welcome, and the cash when the bowl passes by...

Heart disease is increasingly becoming a major threat among children but its significance is normally overshadowed by more pronounced ailments like malaria and HIV. The Uganda Heart Institute receives hundreds of cases of such patients but is limited by the cost of carrying out such operations.

Most of these children suffer from rheumatic heart disease, a condition still prevalent in the developing world and one which damages the heart valves and requires open-heart surgery. Besides, these children come from very poor families and cannot afford the medical fees that stand at a whooping US$5,000 per child on average. Most parents can't afford this and thus give up and leave everything to fate!

In 2005, the Heart Institute hosted the world famous Soweto String Quartet (SSQ) in a concert 'The Heart Benefit Concert' to raise funds. A total of UShs. 30 million (US$19,145 at current rates) was raised and towards the purchase of investigative monitors that have since been installed at the institute to enhance capacity.

This year we intend to once again host SSQ, for a one-day charity concert to raise funds for consumables to handle at least 50 children with Rheumatic heart disease who have been on the waiting list for the last five years. The funds will go towards payment of the Consumables to carry out open heart surgery, and are estimated at a rate of US$5,000 per child locally compared to $15,000 per child abroad.

The concert is scheduled for Friday 13th June 2008 at the Kampala Serena Hotel.

Is Obama Win the Biggest Moment in Black History?

So many people in Africa and all over the world are putting in their 2 cents on Barack Hussein Obama's win of the nomination race to represent the Democratic Party in the US presidential elections. Before I put my 2 cents in, please feel free to scan these opinions at WHYS

Briefly, I believe that Obama is just symbolic and does not in any way empower blacks [in USA or Africa] or inspire them to claim their place in the political, economic or social space in the world or in the different countries in which they live.

In full, I will explain why I think so

Is Our Education Appropriate?

I was so impressed by this article by Dr. Ian Clarke that was published in The Sunday Vision. It is kind of debate I would like raise with my friends, colleagues and citizens of Uganda. Most importantly, my sons. Read on and feel free to comment...

WE are in that season when young people are frantically trying to enrol for courses at universities and it appears that a candidate chooses a university course more on the basis of availability than preference. Universities generally find it easier to set up classroom-based courses — what is known as ‘chalk and talk’, than the more difficult to run science or engineering courses, which require laboratories and practical training facilities.

Hence such arts courses are more readily available and large numbers of students choose subjects such as social sciences. Each time I interview for an administrative position, practically all the candidates seem to have social science degrees and while many of these young people are bright, there are not enough jobs to go around.

Law is another popular degree; perhaps because there is a perception that lawyers are among the cream of society. But how many lawyers does Uganda need? I understand that the Uganda Law Development Centre spits out 600 lawyers onto our streets every year. What can a developing country do with 600 young lawyers, all looking for work?

Lawyers in Uganda are like actors in Hollywood — there are many aspiring, but few who make it to the top, while the rest are left to hustle for a living. Now if all of these bright young lawyers were trained as doctors, it would be a different story. Uganda trains less than 200 doctors per year, all of whom have a clientele of 28 million people just waiting for their services.

I asked a friend from India what were the factors which had been responsible for India’s rapid development. He attributed a large part of India’s development to IT and further pointed out that a high percentage of people working in the US, in companies such as Google and Microsoft, are Indian. He felt that Indians have an advantage over their American counterparts, because of the type of maths-based education they receive in India where they were taught to use numbers, without first referring to a calculator.

Hence their minds were trained in mathematical skills from an early age, which in turn translates into excellent computing skills. So how are we training the minds of our young people in Uganda? Our education system is based on rote learning, in which the student has to cram facts into his memory. We are not training their minds in problem solving, nor are we teaching them to have enquiring minds.

Sometimes it is quite the reverse, we are simply stuffing them full of facts and since the facts are theoretical and not related to the experience of the student, they are immediately forgotten. If we were to train those students to have inquiring minds, then we would be developing brilliant minds to be employed in solving the real-life problems of business and entrepreneurship.

So is our education really appropriate to our needs as a developing country and are we training in such a way that our young people become valuable human capital? There are two ways in which education can be useful. The first is to train someone in a profession which is useful in the society, such as being a doctor, agriculturalist, or teacher.

However, when there is a glut of certain professions (such as lawyers) we can place less emphasis on training in these disciplines. The second use of education is to train people to use their mind as a tool — to train them how to think, analyse and problem-solve.

The Indians were given an education that helped them use their minds in computing, but there are many other skills that the mind can be trained in. What we should be asking ourselves is what we are training our young people for and how we are training them. I heard about a child who was rebuked for questioning the teacher and told to keep quiet, while the teacher droned on.

The principle of computing — rubbish in, rubbish out — also applies to education. If our children are made sit through school, never question anything and dutifully copy down facts from the board, then don’t expect them to show initiative, think for themselves, or show aptitude to take responsibility when they reach the workplace.

Infidelity and the Challenge of Monogamy

I have been rather silent on the "blog" for most of this month, but every time I wanted to post something I would feel that 'push' leave me. For fear of not writing inspired, I have been leaving for another time.

However, today s I was surfing the net I came this very interesting story about a seemingly perfect husband straying from the arms of his supposedly loving wife to tempting warmth of her 'best friend'! Earlier this week, a friend who spent several minutes reading my posts on the blog questioned my sanity but in his e-mail, he sent me a link to this article.

Both have the thread of yielding to temptation running through them, reflect on these and I will share a similar experience....

By the way, am I mad?

3rd May Should Be the Day to Audit Uganda's Media

A week ago, some journalists in Uganda gathered to mark World Press Freedom Day at the offices of The Independent, a fortnightly publication owned by Andrew Muhangi Mwenda, perhaps one of the most internationally known 'scribe' from this nation of ours [the other I can think about is Charles Onyango Obbo, one of the founders of The Monitor, which is now part of the Nation Media Group].

Much as the gesture was one of solidarity with Mwenda, who had been brutally arrested a few days before by security operatives over certain articles in The Independent, it was at best just posturing and ignorance of what needs to be highlighted as regards media freedom in Uganda.

There is an attempt by Emmanuel Gyezaho, the President of Parliamentary Press Association, to present a case of the challenges of the 'scribes' [Ugandan journalists like to call themselves that] in their work. I believe that there are much wider issues that the media fraternity [another way they like to refer to themselves] needs to self-examine in their role as the fourth estate. One of them is the too-close-for-comfort "buddyness" with the corporate world as observed by this piece [just as an example]. It is so blatant that many times, I ask myself if the media is part of the PR department of these companies. My 2 cents is that this is a kiss of death that definitely comprises the fourth estate..

The other is aptly captured by this editorial by an online publication by students of Makerere University, which I have pasted verbatim below:

[Of course, there are other issues for instance, the persecution of journalists especially in areas out of the capital, the impotence of media associations like UNEPA [of media proprietors and editors], UJA, NIJU [of the journalists], I think they died a long time ago....if not, they are too ineffective that they just disappeared in the shadows of time and became irrelevant.]

Next year, we should mark 3rd May as the time we do an audit of the media against a checklist we should make this year.

World press day excitement, a mourning day in Makerere

World Press Freedom Day is marked annually by the United Nations on 3 May to celebrate the significance of press independence, wider freedom of expression through media and address challenges journalists face.

In Uganda, this day is commemorated with awarding an investigative journalist. This year, the awarding has been pushed to 24th May. An event administered by Mass Communication department of Makerere University and East African Media Institute.

In Makerere, 24th May would be a day to mourn the collapse of “University’s” Newspapers: The Campuser, The Makererean and Masscom Online. Investigations establish poor leadership and inadequate funding as catalysts to fading away of emerging newspapers. Makerere does not appreciate its own. 107 Campus FM is static with unclear signal even in some parts of the University, yet the University spends millions of shillings weekly relaying communications and adverts on external media. Campus FM depends majorly on internet in compiling its bulletins due to lack of recording equipments and the University has not considered it as its mouth piece.

In the digital world, the 85-year-old Makerere lags behind without official newspaper, yet it has quality manpower and brags to have one of the best printeries in the country. Uganda Christian University, Mukono, is proud of a newspaper it funds and manages; The Standard. Going south, University of Botswana flaunts UB Horizon and Rhodes University too, has its.

Bureaucracy and information conceal stagnate information flow. Particular information is almost impossible to get from the University systems even when it has a public relations office. The University officials do not appreciate the purpose and vitality of the public relations office. This University whines of poor publicity and ‘wrong’ things being published about it. But what happens to enticed university officials that want to make news, or, want to be esoteric sources? Some officials don’t want to face the media, or, have particular journalists they only give information.Makerere has capitalised on notice boards that are few and often badly managed. For evening students notice boards are a disservice because most of them are not lit.The university website, the events table is out of date. This is not different to the guild website that was last updated in 2005.

Focusing on the mass communication department, a huge number of her products do not feature in the local and international media. Are students nurtured and inspired?Makerere should be voracious to furnish its public relations office, 107 Campus FM and establish a daily university newspaper.