How to write about Africa?

A book I once gladly picked up at the book store was the 'Dark Star Safari' by Paul Theroux. I generally love travel stories and this one was brilliant.........that is if you are not an African. It dripped with all the stereotypes and condenscention that only one with a self perceived superiority could generate, especially one who has spent so much time on the continent, that he is admired as an 'old africa hand', an expert of all things inherently native.

This is one book that really got my blood boiling.

I have recently across an essay written by Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, called 'How to write about Africa', and it really got me thinking. I have pasted the link below and I aknowlege the author. I hope it gets us all thinking.

HOW TO WRITE ABOUT AFRICA

The moral of this essay and the books we buy at the bookshop is that we need to write more about ourselves, because if we dont then someone else will do it for us.....with prdictable results. Blogging is a great start.

Is Uganda a failing state?

The Fund for Peace annually produces a survey that depicts the state of national stability around the world. http://www.fundforpeace.org/web/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=99&Itemid=140

In its 2008 Failed States Index, Somalia came in at No.1 (no surprises), and Uganda, came in at No.16! And we are in good company: 14. Haiti, 15. North Korea, tied 16th with Ethiopia, 18. Lebanon, 19. Nigeria.

Our Neighbours rank better: Kenya 26, Tanzania 75, Rwanda 42.

How did we sink so far down the food chain? The Fund for Peace calculates the score according to various factors:

Mounting demographic pressures (Score 8.7/10). My take is that with one of the highest growth rates in the world, the youngest populations under the age of 15 years of age, and a political nutcase telling us we cannot develop our economy unless we breed like the rabbits this could be a time bomb ticking as we scramble for natural resources.

Massive Movement of Refugees or Internally Displaced Persons creating Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (Score 9.3/10). No need to think to hard on this one. Hundreds of thousands in the North of Uganda have lived for decades in squalid camps and are still not fully resettled in their homes. They still live in fear of violence, suffer disease and struggle in poverty.

Legacy of Vengeance-Seeking Group Grievance or Group Paranoia (Score 8.3/10). Joseph Kony’s and the LRA have meted out vengeance on the people of Acholi for decades, is there an end in sight?
As for paranoia, we have to look westwards, where milk flows freely……… Only the paranoid and self isolated need those levels of protection.

Chronic and Sustained Human Flight (Score 6.0/10). Much better than before, but it arises from the point above.

Uneven Economic Development along Group Lines (Score 8.5/10). Look who gets all the parastatal jobs, look who gets all the top civil service jobs, look who gets all the state house scholarships, look who gets poorly secured loans from UDB and the Bank of Uganda. Look who gets bailed out when their lack of entrepreneurial skills threatens to crash their businesses.

Sharp and/or Severe Economic Decline (Score 7.6/10). The government quotes GDP growth rates of 5-8% all the time, though this does not seem to trickle down to the villages. With rising oil prices, poor road infrastructure, a power generation deficit, high costs of doing business and falling remittances from the Ugandan diaspora, tough times are certainly ahead.

Criminalization and/or Delegitimization of the State (Score 8.3/10). We have witness the gradual but steady irrelevance of national institutions. When one has a land dispute, a disagreement with a bank, disagree with a magistrates ruling, the normal rules do not apply…..you head straight for state house, or beg on TV for the presidents intervention. The police, the courts etc are mere spectators.

Progressive Deterioration of Public Services (Score 7.9/10). This is not rocket science, look around you.

Suspension or Arbitrary Application of the Rule of Law and Widespread Violation of Human Rights (Score 8.1/10). If you are rich, powerful and well connected it next to impossible to go to jail, even if you steal millions of dollars from people dying of AIDS, or get the NSSF to buy swamp land at a premium price or use your lake side mansion as a landing point for smuggled goods. How ever, if you are a regular Joe, the high court can grant you bail as many times as it wants and you will still get rearrested, in the courts corridors if necessary. You may be kept in a safe house some where, even though they are illegal under the law. You might even get yourself charged with terrorism for trying to defraud a bank with your cheque book simply because your mentor does not get along with you know who.

Security Apparatus Operates as a "State Within a State" (Score 8.1/10). Again this is not rocket science. The security services are above the law and can pretty much do whatever they like with our civil liberties. A member of the public can be arrested by just about 5 or 6 different security outfits, no need for an arrest or a search warrant. He or she can be held in just about any location, for any length of time. One’s phone can be tapped at the stroke of a faceless officials pen. And if you are well connected you can have soldiers guard you, hound you’re your rivals, harass villagers off their land or just carry your suitcases.

Rise of Factionalized Elites (Score 7.8/10). The Global Aids Fund saga and now the NSSF debacle has put paid to the image of the NRM as unified and strong monolith. The scramble for power and the need to grow in stature and wealth has revealed factions amongst the ruling elite. Currently Amama Mbabazi is in the blue corner and Jim Muhwezi is in the red corner. The sycophants are falling in line and the rest of us look on wondering where our next meal will come from.

Intervention of Other States or External Political Actors (Score 7.8). Uganda has regionally perceived to be the proxy for the West (read the US and UK). It requires that Uganda to do the dirty work: be buffer against Arab Sudan, shake up the Congo and get at the minerals, fight terrorists(?). In return the West looks the other way as the issues above grow.

Hail Maximus!!!

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius,

Commander of the Armies of the North,

General of the Felix Legions,

Loyal servant of the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius.

Father to a murdered son,

Husband to a murdered wife,

And I will have my vengeance in this life or the next.

Are You Still Holding Your Tongue?

Around one year ago the Uganda parliament passed a law that made it mandatory for all phone companies to have a permanent link to the government Communications Monitoring Centre. Reason: the security can prevent terrorism and treason by having unfettered access to the private conversations of Ugandans.

Previously, as in many other countries in the world, the police would have to get a judge to sign a court order authorising a phone tap. And this was on a case by case basis. This was obviously required in order to protect the civil liberties of the individual citizen.

However, it is commonly believed that illegal and unconstitutional phone tapping has been going on for years, only it could not be mentioned in public and subsequently such evidence is inadmissible in a court of law, as evidence acquired through an illegality is basically null and void.

All that is required now for your phone conversations to be tapped is authorisation from either:
Minister of Internal Affairs
Minister of Defence
Head of Internal Security Organisation
Head of the External Security Organisation
Inspector General of Police
Commissioner of Prisons

There is no oversight, no checks, no balances, no protection of my civil liberties.
The sad thing is that we have all said absolutely nothing!! Not a squeak. So either we are too afraid to say anything or we believe the line that Uganda is under clear and present danger of a terrorism attack.

What I do know is that everybody I talk to seems to watch their words very carefully and often we have to drive to a meeting place to complete the conversation. What goes unsaid is that someone might be listening in on our conversation. The benefits of modern communications are all lost and we are back to the basic face to face chit chat of days gone by. May be that’s not such a bad thing, but its happening for all the wrong reasons.

Am I just paranoid or are you watching your tongue too?

Investing in the Uganda Securities Exchange- 2 years on

Two years ago I took the plunge and bought my first allotment of shares on the USE. It was the stanbic Bank IPO. A novel idea for Uganda and the public was understandably not too sure what it was all about and consequently did not take up all the shares on offer. Regrettably I bought fewer shares than I should have because I thought the issue would be over subscribed and thus I would spend days trying to get a refund.

As it happened I got my 20,000 shares, at Ugx 70/- and it had appreciated to a high of 255/- at one point, well over 300%. And I was delighted, wished I had bought more, but by then the price was too high. It is profitable company, pays good dividends per share, has a large market share, I am happy to hold it as a 'blue chip' stock in my portfolio.

I have not invested much more on the Ugandan stock exchange, deciding to go for the nairobi one instead. it has more choice on offer and is far more vibrant. But that does not mean their is no money to be made in the USE.

How ever, as any shareholder will tell you there is a crisis worldwide and it has affected us too. Shares prices are down....sharply. My beloved Stanbic is trading at 150/-. I have resisted the herd mentality that is saying sell, sell, sell. And the reason is that there is nothing fundemantly wrong with stanbic, it is still worth more than what I paid for it. And compared to a savings account, shares (equities) offer a better return on investments as long as you take a mid to long term view of them (3-5 years). There may be dips in the market, but these are often wiped out over the long run, just make sure you only invest in businesses you understand, not ones that seem fashionable, read the fiancial press and take professional advice when necessary.

currently people are scrambling and selling their shares left right and centre and definitely making a loss. The savvy investor with the cash then picks up the good value stocks at low prices and makes a killing when the market recovers. That said, it is understandable that ugandans are still on a learning curve about investing in stocks and we should take these ups and downs in stride.

Can Uganda Survive the Global Economic Meltdown?

One of my favourite columnists is Sunny Bindra in the Sunday Nation. He offers simple, but damn practical insight about all things commercial. In his latest column he dissects the current turmoil in the US banking sector and its impact on the Kenyan economy.

Why it caught my particular attention was the fact that I read last week that Dr. Maggie Kigozi, head of the Uganda Investment authority, declared that the country would not be affected by the economic crisis.

How naïve indeed. Sunny Bindra did point a couple of insights, that show how inter connected our economies are, even in deepest ‘darkest’ Africa.

Our search for foreign direct investment (FDI) is likely to hit a brick wall. All global multinationals are tightening their belts and aiming to maintain cash flows. So investing in a housing project in ntinda is not likely to show up on their radar screen.

Uganda relies heavily on donor aid to support its capital and recurrent budget spending. 50% or there abouts. With the US government pouring 700 billion dollars into the black hole that its financial system has become and the EU doing the same with 30 billion dollars, there can’t be much left over for their international development commitments. So we should expect an aid cut and with it, renovation of your local district hospital will be delayed and the micro finance loan facility will evaporate…end of ‘Entandikwa’ etc.

Tourism has been a growing component of GDP. But foreign travellers are very sensitive to changes in the global economy. They tighten their spending and the easiest cancellation to make is a holiday in a far away exotic land, considering that they are not sure if they will still have a job next week and the current oil price has made long haul flights a luxury, again!

And we cant't export anything if no one is buying our fish, simsim, bananas........crude oil (I guess not yet).

All is not necessarily lost, especially if Uganda is a well managed economy (Choke!!!). The NSSF land scandal is still fresh bile in the public’s mouth and it keeps getting worse. Last sunday's East African newspaper said that there is a massive loss at the East African Development Bank (8.9 million dollars) this financial year and attributes it to loans made to well connected NRM business insiders, that subsequently are poorly performing ( Of course they are).

We need to brace ourselves for tough times and don’t expect much help from Big brother, he cant even see it coming.

Hands Off The mini Skirt!

I try to keep off frivolous chat, but this thing about banning mini skirts has got me irritated. I had to watch the Minister of ethics and integrity, Mr. Nsaba Buturo, lecture the nation about how we are conservative and thus not used to seeing women ‘almost naked’. Apparently its not our culture.

Well lets explore a little:

Since he decided to let loose the tradition genie, lets start there. Isn’t it true that most young girls in African tribes wore short skirts made of animal skins and bark cloth. The skirts only getting longer when the girls got married…..not before!

Secondly, can you just imagine a prosecutor standing before a judge , demanding that young Nakawunde needs to be jailed because her hot pants caused an accident on busy William street. Its so ridiculous it buggers belief. How idle are we?????

And for Nsaba Buturo to claim the moral high ground as the guardian of what is Ugandan is laughable. Uganda is a nation with thousands of people in north who have never been back to their homes in decades, a raging hepatitis E epidemic, a crumbling education system, ministers who steal money from aids patients and more ministers who take advantage of worker’s NSSF savings.

Instead of taking the high ground on this, the Mr. Buturo decides it is mini skirts that are a priority. Perhaps it’s the news value……he is a politician after all. Or is it a distraction…………….. Yes, I do believe in conspiracy theories.

My two cents would be:
If you have a body like Naomi Campbell then please set the streets on fire, stop traffic if you have too!

If you don’t have a body like Ms. Campbell, and instead have a body mass index greater than 30, then set us free and cover it up. There nothing worse than an out of shape woman who looks like she will have to use hedge clippers to get out of her dress.