Within 24 hours of the first riots, concerned Kampalans launched Uganda Witness, a crisis reporting site where Ugandans can share news of deaths, looting, presence of government forces and other related information. As of Friday afternoon (9pm GMT) the site had received multiple reports of rioting in downtown Kampala and several of the city's suburbs.

Screenshot from UgandaWitness.net showing where riots have been reported.

Ugandan blogger The 27th Comrade has spent the past few months developing a system for sending Twitter messages and posting Facebook status updates via Uganda Telecom cell phones. On Friday, in response to the riots, he rolled out the service early, posting directions on the Kampala-based communal blog The Kampalan, ensuring the privacy of users:

Now, the situation in Kampala has caused a premature announcement (of sorts) for this service. What to do, though? The men make plans, the gods decide.
…
In short, there is no censorship, no fear, and no favour. Post away. :o) The exchanges are not cached in the system in a way that would injure privacy at all, and indeed many things are made complex (signing up, messaging) precisely because your privacy is being respected.

A tweet from Kampala resident and brand new Twitter user dgel urging others to use Twitter to spread news of the riots has been making its rounds through the Ugandan Twitter community. He writes:

@dgel: “Anyone in Kampala, please teach at least one other person how to use twitter, and encourage them to keep us all updated. #kampala“

News from Kampala's mainstream has been increasingly hard to come by as the government has detained reporters and closed radio stations throughout the city. Joe at Uganda Talks explains:

Readers last night will have been aware that popular Luganda station CBS was taken off the air last night for allegedly inciting violence and mobilising the rioters. Today the Government also suspended the licenses of Suubi FM, Radio Sapientia and Radio Two Akaboozi Kubiri on the same grounds.

Fresh Apples, who has been posting updates since the riots began, reports that the government posted guards at the CBS radio masts on Buziga Hill in Kampala:

CBS Radio station is now off air -reportedly cut of by the Government
…
CBS off air- Millitary police now guarding Masts at Buziga

Multiple Twitter reports coming in from Ugandans in Kampala indicate that the government is targeting individual journalists as well:

@mugamuya: “VoA (local FM) reporter detained in Kayunga after kampala riots. maybe in npolice cell somewhere. NTV reporter arrested briefly”

@uginsomniac: Moses Kibuuka (NTV) & Yahaya Iga Muyingo (Voice of Africa) arrested in Kayunga today are out on bond. Their equip still in custody. #Kampala“

According to residents of Kampala, the television and radio stations that are still on air are broadcasting little or no information about the riots. Tumwijuke at Ugandan Insomniac writes:

What is radio for if not for immediate news immediately? Where was the citizen talk-back? Why no discussion of the hooliganism of many of the protesters? Where are the rolling interviews with the Buganda Kingdom, the police and government? Where were the call-ins from Masaka town, Nyendo, Kayunga and Mukono where the rioting was taking place? Why no debate on media freedom? Why no discussion on why the Broadcasting Council exists?

Any news I am receiving on the situation in Kampala I am getting from Twitter, Facebook and blogs.

Sarah of The Malan Family writes:

TV Uganda is playing music videos and NTV Uganda is showing “Thats so Raven” *rolls eyes*. BBC has a man on the ground reporting on it (….from freaking Nairobi) so I'm sure he has “up to the minute updates” for us!!!!!

Twitter users in Uganda were also noting the lack of news coverage on the riots:

@CamaraAfrica: “Wow…everyone hurry and turn to NBS for a riveting report on…wait for it…how to play golf. #kampala“

@solomonking: Come on!! UBC has shown an annoying NLP short programme by Ethan Mussolini like 5 times in two hours and nothing on the riots!! #kampala“

Jon Gos, founder of Uganda-based software company Appfrica and 2009 TED Fellow, was surprised by how quickly Ugandans turned to Twitter to spread news:

One of the things that surprised me was how a handful of Twitter users drove the coverage for a lot of people. As I and others like @camaraafrica, @mugumya, @solomonking heard the latest here in Uganda, we feverishly updated Twitter and Facebook, our only means of reaching the outside world.

In another post on the Appfrica blog, Jon writes:

The mainstream news has picked up on what’s going on but local press has been shut down. Either due to too much traffic (web) or otherwise. So many of us, expats or not are relying on Twitter for information.

Photo courtesy of Sarah of The Malan Family. She writes: “We came to the conclusion that this was either tear gas or a smoke bomb because we saw people running in all different directions immediately after it went off.”

Last week, Mutebi announced that he was planning an official visit to Kayunga, a district about 45km (28 miles) northeast of Kampala. The district is part of the Kingdom of Buganda, but it is also home to many members of the Banyala ethnic group, many of whom would prefer to establish their own independent kingdom.

Banyala leaders announced they would protest the visit and warned Mutebi not to come. The central government responded by warning Mutebi to stay out of the district and arresting several Baganda people in the area who were erecting exhibition stalls and tents in preparation for his arrival.

Kampala on fire. Photo courtesy of Rhino via Solomon King.

The news of the arrests angered many members of the Baganda tribe. In Kampala on Wednesday, Flourescent wrote:

I was seated in a taxi this morning when CBS broadcast its morning news. Of course the Kayunga thing was among the top stories. There was a man in front of me who was so infuriated and this is what he said: “Ye lwaki bajooga Kabaka waffe bwebatyo? …hmmm? …Tebamanyi nagwebazannya naye. Tujakubookya! Nze singa naliyo eyo ekayunga tewali munyala yandivuddewo mulamu!” (Why are they undermining our Kabaka? …They don’t even know who they are playing with …We will BURN them! Me if I had been in Kayunga no Munyala [Note: a Munyala is a member of the Banyala tribe] would have been left alive!”)

Despite rising tensions, Mutebi continued preparations to visit Kayunga, sending his premier to the district on Thursday to make the necessary arrangements. However, the government blocked the premier from entering the district, citing security concerns. In Kampala, people who supported the visit protested the government's actions. Police retaliated, and the situation quickly escalated into full-fledged rioting.

Fresh Apples witnessed the riots, which took place throughout the day on Thursday. He reports:

Police are firing live AK rounds & tear gas at demonstrators who set ablaze a Police station in the Old [taxi] park.

I can hear the numerous gun shots. Taxis are being diverted back to city suburbs. The police is even hitting vehicles trying to pass through the city. Breaking windows.

GayUganda, who also lives in Kampala, describes the riots:

A real, bonafide people’s revolt.

Fire in the streets. Empty streets. The main roads are closed. And chaos reigns supreme. And the anthem of the uprising, the Buganda anthem. God, how many people knew it before now?

Ugandans in the capital were also using Twitter and Facebook to report what was happening:

@solomonking (20 hours ago): “Standing near our taxi stage, it's 8pm and people are crossing over with their hands up. Fire in the middle of the road.”

@solomonking (20 hours ago): “Okay. We're like running for our lives.”

Other Ugandans (with privacy-protected Twitter accounts) reported “Kampala on fire” and “trapped in the middle of a city that's on fire… police is shooting tear gas and live rounds! God save us!”

@appfrica (4 hours ago): “Going out and buying [cell phone] airtime to transfer to people who can't leave their homes. #kampala #ugandawitness”

Araalingua, an American living in Kampala, collected a number of Facebook status updates from friends in the city:

• Riots in Kampala?!! Police stations burned and people dead in the streets… What do the Baganda want to achieve-they're own sovereign state???
• is caught up in fighting that he has no role in. Bullets, roadblocks, bonfires, traffic n army soldiers everywhere. I miss home right now.
• the sound of gunfire outside my window kinda bothers me… hope u guyz r safe.

Tumwi at Ugandan Insomniac wonders about the government's role in the riots:

The number of innocents who died during the fracas has broken my heart. The destruction was uncalled for. But was it preventable…of course. Surely President Yoweri Museveni and his government should have discovered, after 20-some years, that you cannot suppress dissent by force. It didn’t work for them in the 1980s and by jove, it won’t happen now.

*Note: In many of the languages spoken in Uganda, prefixes are used to distinguish people and places. For example, the King of the Baganda tribe rules over the Kingdom of Buganda. [Return to paragraph.]

GLO-1 is Africa's newest submarine cable.
Map via Many Possibilities.

In late July, damage to the SAT-3 cable — which until last weekend was Nigeria's only link to the global communications system — crippled bank services and Internet access throughout the country. Approximately 70 percent of the country's bandwidth was affected.

According to the Chief Operating Officer of Globacom Limited, which financed the GLO-1 project, the new system will be able to meet all of Nigeria's broadband needs for the next 15 to 20 years. Bloggers are looking forward to faster speeds and cheaper and more reliable access.

From Cameroon, Bill Zimmerman writes:

The cable is expected to drive down broadband costs and provide faster and more robust connectivity for voice, data and video services. The technology sector in West Africa stands to benefit from Glo-1 as companies will be able to communicate more easily with clients and partners overseas. It equally holds promise to open Internet access to individuals and small businesses who’ve been unable to afford connections of their own.

For Yomi Adegboye of Mobility Nigeria, the improvements GLO-1 promises can't come soon enough:

Before now, the entire country depended on only the SAT-3 cable under the monopoly of NITEL for cost-efficient high-speed access. Industry watchers have been in expectation of Glo-1 for months now, as its launch will undoubtedly impact on the cost and delivery of high-speed internet access in Nigeria.

Now that Glo-1 is here, when exactly do we begin to enjoy the services?

GLO-1 is unique in that is the world's first privately owned submarine cable. Theresa Carpenter Sondjo of Appfrica explains:

Most undersea cables, including the SAT-3 that currently connects West Africa to the rest of the world, are built by consortiums of private and public (national) companies. Glo-1 is unusual because it was financed entirely by Nigeria’s GlobalCom…. Nigeria currently depends on the NITEL monopoly for access to its own SAT-3 landing station and buys extra bandwidth from neighboring Benin.

Munashe Gumbonzvanda of TechMasai adds:

The interesting thing about the cable is that unlike other ventures like Seacom [Editor's Note: Seacom, a cable connecting the eastern African coastline to Europe and Asia, went live in July 2009], this venture was entirely financed by Glo alone. The consequences of the Glo-1 are major, but will probably take a while to take effect. This as with Seacom is a great moment for African technological innovation and development.

Haute Haiku

In many Sub-Saharan African countries, homosexuality is illegal and punishable by sentences ranging from payment of fines to several years or life in prison. According to the International Gay & Human Rights Council more than two thirds of African countries have laws criminalizing consensual same-sex acts, and across the continent people are subject to both physical attacks and discrimination.

Though life in Kenya is reportedly becoming easier for gay people, there is still legislation in place that says homosexual men (not women) can be sent to prison for up to 14 years. In countries like Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania, laws like these have been in place since colonial times, while in Burundi a ban on homosexuality was only just introduced in April of this year.

Consequently, many gays and lesbians throughout Africa live in fear of having their sexual orientation discovered. A small number make use of blogs to help spread knowledge and understanding of what it means to be gay.

How did you start writing for Global Voices?

I got an email from Ndesanjo Macha our Sub-Saharan Africa editor asking if I could cover LGBT issues, and I thought why not? I was skeptical at first, just wondering how many good writers turned him down before he got to me.

How did you get interested in writing about LGBT issues?

I used to read other people's blogs in a jam when going to school. I thought: I could do this. Mostly I wanted to meet people I could identify with, and when I started, I made a vow not to write concerning hate, phobia, or gay rights. Just gay life in general; why we are single, dating etc. Some homophobic remarks from a senior person in government triggered this. I decided no more homo-ignorance.

If you had to, how would you characterize the African LGBT blogosphere?

Progressive. Every day, all sorts of people come out: young, old, confused. There are over 20 queer blogs in Kenya, and most are active. Everyone has got their own beliefs. Some believe in the gay gene, or think they run the gamut of the gay rights movement… And there are those who believe they do not have to be effeminate to be gay. It is all about celebrating diversity.

What are the African LGBT issues you are most interested in communicating to the rest of the world?

Gay marriages aside, I'd say safe sex and control. Since people of different sexual orientations exist, and African leaders have refused to acknowledge this, there should be a campaign for MSM (men who have sex with men). It is a sad fact, to them, but if they ignore this, it is going to blow right up in their faces. They shut down such clinics, and even the ones that are still open are not visited by gay people. The staff would like to help, but politicians say there is no place for gay men in Africa.

How many languages do you speak? How did you decide to blog in English?

Two: English, Swahili, and maybe three, if we are counting my mother tongue. I guess a lot of people blog in English in East Africa, and have gotten quite a lot of readers as a result.

What do you do when you're not blogging? What are some of your other interests or hobbies?

I am still in school, studying business management. My interests are practicing my slam poetry, which is spoken word poetry.

You can read all the posts written by Haute on Global Voices here.

Seacom connects the eastern African coastline to Europe and Asia

Johannesburg, Nairobi and Kampala received their connections on Thursday, and Addis Ababa and Kigali are expected to follow. The cable's arrival was originally scheduled for early July, but pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia delayed operations.

The undersea link is expected to lower the cost of bandwidth by up to 90 percent and to increase access to video conferencing, high definition television and high speed Internet along the eastern African coastline.

“Mmmh…Can't wait for the downloads to start,” writes IT Blog Kenya.

In Uganda, Josh from In an African Minute is already noticing the difference:

The widely known technique for watching YouTube videos in Africa is to immediately pause the video when it starts, wait 20 minutes (or much more) until the video fully loads, and then watch. Today I’m at the ceremony launching SEACOM…. In the corner of a conference room, Peter Moreton, a procurement manager for SEACOM, beckoned me over to a display computer with YouTube queued up. We launched Kung Fu baby and for the first time in Africa, I saw a YouTube video load completely and play in 6 seconds.

Munashe at TechMasai is equally thrilled:

Seacom the undersea cable we wrote about a while back is complete and has been commissioned, today. The initiative is revolutionary for the fact that the countries which will make use of it for now, which include Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, South Africa and Uganda.

…It is a beautiful moment for Africa, I can vouch for Kenya who until now depended on satellites for their internet needs.

Jeremy, a Nigerian blogger writing at NaijaBlog, compares Seacom to West Africa's various cable links. West Africa comes up short:

East Africa goes broadband…while West Africa is still in the starting blocks (actually, still in the changing room wondering what to wear) with useless always-cut SAT3, a phantom Glo1 (are Alcatel's contractors stuck under a sand dune?) and the two new entrants, WACS and Main1 still way off beyond the horizon (next year if we're lucky). East Africa has embraced broadband and sprinted off with it while West Africa dithers and looks around.

Twitter is also abuzz with Seacom news. Some users are excited, while others are more skeptical:

“Still absolutely amazed that you can practically download the whole of the Interwebz through one small yellow cable #seacom“
— ncallegari

“Seacom did launch _for real_ today. Lets see how long it takes for the ISPs to increase speeds and lower costs…”
— dnyaga

“is it just me or is the net in Nairobi slower today since #seacom launched? Maybe the bandwidth is enjoying the ocean view before coming up?”
— mentalacrobatic

Much of the Seacom skepticism surrounds the issue of pricing: though some analysts claim bandwidth costs will drop by 90 percent, others believe the actual cost cuts may be much smaller. Kachwanya writes:

In the ideal world the cost should go down by more than 90%, currently it cost ISPs US$6500 (around KShs.487500) per MB of bandwidth. According to Seacom they will be charging US$400 (around Kshs.30,000) per MB of bandwidth, but hold your breath, don’t expect miracles on this front. Recently UUnet CEO Tom Omariba claimed that cables will only bring down costs by 20-30 percent.

True Kenyan is concerned about transparency:

Seacom has blatantly refused to disclose to us, the consumers of the internet, which ISP’s have bought the bandwidth from them. Hence we are still on the dark and we do not know where we can buy the cheap and reliable internet from…. So the only alternative i am left with is to continue with my ISP staring at the machine as it loads pages at its own pace wishing that one day our dream will come true.

Commenting on a post by Tanzanian blogger Issa Michuzi [SW], Mdau is also worried about costs, though he has high hopes for the future:

Asanteni sana kwa huo mkonga. Sasa kutandaza fibre-optic cables kwenye miji mbalimbali tunaanza lini? Manake kuwa na inter-country connection wakati within the country hatuna connection nzuri bado gharama zitakuwa juu na kwa maoni yangu tutakuwa tuna-under utilise capacity ya hiyo under sea cable. For the moment, well done! For the future, we have to work had!

For Jellyfish, who dismisses pricing concerns by noting that such an increase in speed and quality of service would normally be accompanied by a price hike, the arrival of Seacom is a beautiful event:

In a highly publicized and coordinated event SEACOM turned on the switch which instantenously beamed Terabytes of bandwidth at the speed of light through highly polished and engineered strands of glass.

And for South African Aki Anastasiou, “This is one small MB for my laptop, one giant TB for Africa.”

Antipop criticizes the federal government for its attempts to downplay the famine by calling it a “food shortage”:

The famine in Eastern Uganda, Teso to be exact, which has claimed about 35 lives, has taken many of us by surprise. Some of us even first heard of it during the momentary gasps for air as we took a break from stuffing our already bulging stomachs. It is sad and we should be ashamed.

But not as ashamed as Andrew Bageire, Minister of State for Agriculture, and Tarsis Kabwegere, Minister of Relief and Disaster Preparedness who tried to water down this fiasco; Bageire by saying that the people of Teso were paying this heavy price for being lazy spending most of their time drinking ajon (local brew) instead of growing and stockpiling food and Kabwegere by insisting on describing it as a “food shortage” but not famine.

Eizzy notes that the famine is the worst in the north and east, while those in the west are relatively safe from hunger. She wonders if the government's failure to adequately respond to the crisis has to do with the fact that the president is from western Uganda:

As expected, these areas were in the north and east, I say this because where I’m from (the west) people may not be that wealthy, but they always have food to eat. I also can’t ignore the fact that the big shot politicians and people in government (President included) are also from the west. You just can’t help but get the feeling that they don’t care…which is a damn shame and beats the point of having a government! I mean really, if a government cannot deal with basic need such as hunger, then really what are they doing?

Karamoja, in northeastern Uganda, is one of the areas worst hit by hunger. Photo courtesy of Ruco van der Merwe.

Uganda's Daily Monitor reports that the Minister of Disaster Preparedness Tarsis Kabwegyere is “still seeking medical interpretation as to the actual cause of death” of the famine victims. Writing for Uganda Talks, university student Kyomuhendo-Ateenyi responds:

When reports of massive deaths as a result of the famine flowed to Kampala, the honourable Minister of Disaster Preparedness (in a press conference he personally convened) asked the messengers for proof of their allegation by show of graves!

According to him, this hunger thing was a smear campaign orchestrated by disgruntled opposition hotheads whose major occupation is to sound doldrums even where it is not necessary. He then reminded the people that it was not the duty of government to feed its people and counselled the famine stricken people to grow more mangoes, dry them in times of plenty and save the excess for tough times. He is a Professor of sociology from Makerere University, East Africa’s premier tertiary institution.

“Its been a dry rainy season in East Africa…Last week, newspapers in Uganda reported that 35 people died of hunger in northern Uganda,” writes Josh at In an African Minute. “Ken Banks asks us about the elephant in the room of global poverty. To me, this is it.”

A Nigerian performer impersonates Michael Jackson at a concert in Abuja. Photo courtesy of N.R. on Flickr.

The death of American pop star Michael Jackson has sparked an outpouring of emotion from nearly every corner of the world. Fans are sharing their memories of Jackson on his official site in nearly a dozen languages, and the news made the front page of papers across the globe.

In Africa, bloggers are paying tribute to the King of Pop by posting pictures and music videos. Writing from Nigeria, Oluniyi David Ajao offers a list of his 26 favorite Michael Jackson songs, while Ugandan blogger Serakelz honors Jackson's memory with instructions on how to do the moonwalk, a dance move created by Jackson.

In Ghana, Kent Mensah of Africa News collects reactions to Jackson's passing on Twitter and Facebook:

“Africa loves Michael Jackson… from birth you learn how to survive and that Michael Jackson is music… the most famous musician ever,” Rasco Patterson said on twitter @chickenwang4.

“Make this world a better place for me and you these are the words from a true legend like Michael Jackson. I will always remember you Waco Jaco,” Elton Afari, Accra, Ghana said on Facebook.

Echoing the sentiments of many African fans, Sudanese Thinker remembers the pop star fondly:

In a lot of ways Michael Jackson was my childhood. His music filled it with lots of joy and beautiful memories. It uplifted me when I was down. It made me happy when I was sad.

And as awkward and flawed as he was, I will dearly miss him and his talents.

And Ugandan blogger Dickson Wasake honors Jackson with a poem:

On the death of Michael Jackson;
The tears fill the earth,
Black or white;
The Liberian girl cries,
And so does dirty Diana,
even the stranger in Moscow,
We all scream;
“Oh it’s too bad; oh it’s too sad;
The king is gone too soon,
And I just can’t stop loving him!”

Though many bloggers are grieving over Jackson's death, others are questioning his eccentricities, including his changing skin color. In Ghana, blogger Emmanuel Bensa laments:

….the African culture tells us that we don't speak ill of the dead–and I am not about to do so anytime soon, but what I will do is to categorically state how much of a bad decision it was to become a white man.

Black is beautiful–and it will forever be so. As a Black Man, Michael Jackson had the looks, the voice; the talent. Oh what a shame.

For Ugandan blogger Rosebell, Jackson's death prompted reflections on why the news pays so much more attention to the death of a pop star than to other tragedies:

As I watched the reaction around the world to Jackson’s death I wondered if really all humans can ever be equal. Not that I don’t recognise MJ’s contribution to music and his great talent, I would be naïve to do so, but I wonder why we no longer get the shock when we see death around the world. Everyone seemed to say oh he died young at 50, and then I thought that actually in Uganda life expectancy is at 50. Do you know in many African countries dying of old age is almost history? Do you know that this shock we feel at the loss MJ’s death, many Iraqis face it everyday? The fear for the loss of their own lives and the puzzles of how their children will grow, grips people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Omar Basawad of Safari Notes dismisses these criticisms, focusing on Jackson's legendary talent:

Whatever might be said about Michael Jackson, whatever one might think of him - one thing is certain: he defined an era.

“RIP MJ,” writes Kenyan blogger WildeYearnings. “You now have the whole sky to moonwalk on…”

Since October 2007, the Katine Project has tracked the impact of a dedicated £2.5 million ($4 million) AMREF development project in Katine, a rural sub-county in northeastern Uganda (virtual tour). In addition to providing general news about Uganda and tracking developments in five key project areas, the project has been training local residents to use video cameras to document their lives:

[In February], almost 20 people from Katine attended three video workshops held in the media and resource centre, now opened to villagers at the Amref office in the sub-county.

Four Flip video cameras and tripods have been left in the centre for villagers to borrow and tell their stories….

The aim of the centre is to give members of the Katine community a global platform to talk about their lives – the challenges and opportunities, their thoughts on the work being carried out by Amref - and to offer them access to information and expertise.

The resulting videos are presented in the project's Village Voices section. In one, Katine resident John Ogalo shows viewers his homestead and attends a church service. Another video shadows bicycle taxi driver Dennis Ewalu as he repairs his bicycle, negotiates with customers and cycles nearly 80 km (50 miles) in one day.

The Village Voices section also connects readers to local residents through text. One post shares the stories of three schoolgirls who discuss their hopes for their future:

Teresa Acupo
In future, I want to study politics and become a member of parliament for my area. Members of parliament earn a lot of money and they are respected.

Susan Amweso
My dream is to be a financially independent woman. I need to control my own finances, not to depend on a husband for everything.

Magdalene Atai
My grandparents have been responsible for my entire upbringing and when I finish my education, I will buy them each a present. Because they may not be able to educate me up to university, I would like to train as a nurse after my secondary education. That is what most girls who cannot afford further education go for. It is also easy to get employed as a nurse. One can easily start a private clinic in the village for survival.

Katine's 25,000 residents live entirely off of Uganda's electricity grid. Without the Katine Project, it is unlikely that these people would ever get the chance to share their stories with the world.

Janet Museveni

February's cabinet reshuffle has Ugandan bloggers making 2011 election predictions.

Among the new appointments President Yoweri Museveni made was the posting of his wife Janet as state minister for Karamoja, a region in northeastern Uganda that has been plagued by conflict and extreme poverty for decades.

While some bloggers think the high-profile appointment could bring much-needed attention to the region, others are more skeptical. Ariaka notes:

Takinfg the cue, H.E President Yoweri finally made the cabinet reshuffle that had lingered in the grapvine for over six months. And what a reshuffle. We saw the appointment of a first lady, also MP for Ruhama county of Ntungamo district to the Karamoja portfolio. We saw Syda Bumba, transfered from Labour to the all important Finance docket. It is the first time in Uganda that a first lady is a Minister, forget that hers is a junior portfolio. It is also the first time that a women has been appointed a finance Minister.

These are not simple appointments. It is a political chess game where the master has his eye set on victory. 

Daniel Kalinaki, a journalist who often blogs on political issues and who published an editorial on the appointment in Uganda's Daily Monitor, agrees:

There is, of course, nothing wrong with Janet’s ambitions. She is a Ugandan and has a right to seek or be appointed to any office for which she is qualified. However, when a President has been in power for 23 years and begins to surround himself with relatives, friends and in-laws, he begins to look more like a village chief bent on carrying on his bloodline than a reforming democrat. 

Antipop at Let There Be Me takes a more humorous approach, speculating on how Museveni arrived at his decision. She offers several theories, including that the announcement was a belated Valentine's Day gift:

The one about Valentine's day
…The next day at breakfast, realizing that he was in trouble, and not willing to get into any confrontation, he told her that last night was a deliberate move to get her all worked up but he had a surprise for her that would sure make up for everything. And on Tuesday Feb 17th, she learned of it in her favorite tabloid. She found out just how long she would have to travel to unveil her belated Valentine ’s Day gift and was not amused. Lingerie would have done just fine. 

Not all bloggers are as critical, though. Phantom of Even Steven ends a post on the Oscars by asking:

In other news, what’s so bad about posting Janet Museveni to Karamoja? 

Commenting on the post, chanelno5 defends Janet Museveni:

There is nothing wrong with that. If she wants what everyone shuns go ahead. In fact those people might benefit from her appointment. 

Tumwijuke at Ugandan Insomiac considers this point of view, but she still questions the appointment:

Perhaps this appointment is Yoweri Museveni’s way of sending a message of solidarity to the people of Karamoja. Perhaps he hopes that the bevy of brown nose humanitarian types who support his wife’s every cause will transfer their ‘goodwill’ to developmental programs in Karamoja. Perhaps a picture of Mama Janet cuddling a snotty nosed Karamojong baby will be good PR for the Museveni government. 

Still, I can’t shake this ominous feeling…

Dennis Matanda, who recently posted the second part of a four-part series titled “Uganda's Next President,” offers his predictions on who will succeed Museveni:

Although the current President has not made an effort to groom a successor from the ruling National Resistance Movement, his wife Hon. Janet Museveni, MP who recently became appointed Minister and his son, Lt. Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba are front runners. 

Joe in Uganda summarizes the shake-up in a post titled “Dynasty?”, noting that Janet's appointment “was widely seen as a sign of things to come.” He adds:

On a personal note, having worked on Karamoja for the past two months, I was delighted to see a high profile Minister taking over the portfolio. The region is in urgent need of attention. 

Carsozy is one of the blogren's most prolific creative writers. His series, The Devil's Bonfire, is the story of Simon Katende, a young Kampalan who leaves the city to visit his grandfather and gets mixed up in things he doesn't understand:

He was halfway to the bar when he saw her, his entire body froze and his mouth opened in shock, the glass slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground.

It was her the girl from the forest, she was wearing the same skirt and blouse he had seen her in, only this time she was clean and wearing white trainers. He eyes sparkled in the disco lights, they were the same pretty eyes that had stared back at him in terror just a few hours back in the forest.

She smiled and waved at him playfully.

Each installment of Carsozy's story (there are eight currently, and a new “season” is scheduled to start next month) is commented on widely by eager readers:

Everyone at work has been reading ‘the devil's bonfire' aloud from my PC
— Mudamuli

U know this could be a book. Actually, lucky us, we get o read the manuscript before u publish on hard paper back. Yay. Seriously, nice read Caz.
— Miss Cheri

Jon Gosier, an American living and working in Uganda, is also blogging a novel. Muxtionary, currently in its second chapter, is African science fiction. Jon introduced it as follows:

I gave myself three rules for writing this story…

• It had to take place largely in Africa
• I wouldn’t sacrifice my own literary tastes
• It had to look forward

The reason for the last being that most literary works about Africa look back at what’s been, what went wrong, who caused what. The historians of African are literally writing the past for the continent and subsequently the rest of the world. In my opinion, there’s not enough dreamers. I want people to come here and let their minds wander about the possibilities of what could be. It’s my personal philosophy that if Africans don’t look ahead to what is potentially in store, they may find themselves in much more dire times in the future.

For those who prefer their literature in short form, Gay Uganda frequently posts poetry inspired by his daily life:

He is
a fast talker-

where I
with silence
an armor I
clothe myself;

he litters the air
with flak,
decoys,
noise-

and lo, behold
he’s past my defenses
deep,
down into
my fastnesses,
holding his own-

I cannot not
be in love
with him.

Owino, also known as the Nakivubo Park Yard and St. Balikuddembe Market, is Kampala's largest market and has been at the center of several controversies involving leasing rights. Recent plans to build a new bus terminal at the Nakivubo Stadium next door have sparked anger among vendors, who will lose their space if the development proceeds as planned.

Uganda's Daily Monitor is reporting that the fire started at a hole in the wall separating the market from the stadium, and many victims are accusing the bus company that wants to build the terminal of arson. Some bloggers agree.

Phantom at Even Steven writes:

The Market got burnt. I am staying with arson because those who should know, albeit having said it in the throes of grief, maintain that someone burnt down their lives. Listening to P. K. Bbosa in the evening while he hosted some traders, it came out that the Minister Matiya Kasaija and his counterpart Disaster Preparedness State Minister Musa Echeru had happened upon what should have been immediately bagged as critical evidence: a kavera (Ed.: plastic bag) and a little can that had previously obviously held petrol. That the Police did not take these items is really worrying.

Geria at Ariaka wonders if the fire department played a role, noting:

The head quarters of the fire fighting institution, the police fire brigade happens to be a stone’s throw away from the Nakivubo scene. They arrived at the scene 90 minutes late according to press reports.

Tumwijuke at Ugandan Insomniac laments the loss of so many livelihoods, claiming, “Every tragedy is an opportunity for change, but this is Uganda. Our learning curve is L-shaped.” She accuses the many politicians who spent Wednesday at the market of political posturing:

That there should be a National Day for the Caning of All Politicians. I spent much of yesterday afternoon at Owino Market. Within the space of about three hours, I counted 17 local and national politicians who visited the market to ‘show their sympathy’ to the vendors. Opposition leaders blamed the government for not investing in the safety of the people. Cabinet ministers made unrealistic promises of compensation. Members of Parliament said enough was enough and it was time for the people to demand more for their taxes. None of them mentioned he obvious: that the vendors were sitting on a time bomb, that the politicians all knew it and that they chose to do absolutely nothing.

Spartakuss also criticizes Ugandan politicians who “have the audacity to howl empty promises while hurling insults at government.” He writes:

I shopped there growing up [no i didn't stop, i just haven't bought clothes in a long time] and i was told by the guy who sold me shirts that the suits they unwrapped which were good were actually sold to the upmarket stores to go for upwards of UGX 1 million (Ed.: approximately $500)! Now this population is caught without an out. they have taken loans, borrowed, buried their life savings into this. 25,000 lives changed by one action. What of all their dependents, families, their children at campus? This is tantamount to terrorism!

…

In the end, these are the people who work and toil and sweat and eat the sewerage that runs through their workplace are the ones who pay for everything that the politicians enjoy and covet. They are the ones who vote, the ones who take loans, who send their kids to school, who buy all that investor -produced sugar and tea! who bloody buy airtime! They are the reason that most of these banks exist! These are the reason there is a tax base in Kampala! They support this city and almost this country on their shoulders! on nothing but those lean shoulders.

Bloggers from around the world are reacting to the International Criminal Court's recent recommendation that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir be charged with multiple counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Many of those bloggers are criticizing the potential indictments, claiming they are difficult to enforce and that they will bring more unrest to an already unstable nation.

Refugee children waiting with their family for a food distribution in Sam Ouandja in Darfur. Photo by Nicolas Rost/UNHCR, uploaded by hdptcar

Background
After a three year investigation, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, wants to formally accuse Sudan’s president Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir of 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the African country’s Darfur region. It marks the first time the six-year-old ICC has brought charges against a sitting president. al-Bashir and a government spokesman immediately rejected the charges and claimed they would use diplomacy to fight the case. Sudan has signed but not ratified the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, meaning it is not obliged to cooperate with the court.

Moreno-Ocampo, from Argentina, contends that for more than five years al-Bashir has ordered the Sudanese armed forces along with the Janjaweed militia to attack and destroy villages of three separate ethnic groups in Darfur, directly uprooting nearly 2.5 million civilians who now live in refugee camps. The UN estimates fighting and disease have claimed the lives of nearly 450,000 people. The prosecutor says he has evidence that government-controlled military groups used rape, hunger and fear to drive people from their lands, which were then taken over.

The case against al-Bashir comes after the United Nations Security Council requested in 2005 that Moreno-Ocampo investigate the Sudanese president’s role in the Darfur conflict, which the United States government terms “genocide.”

While al-Bashir is supposed to be arrested by Sudanese authorities, three ICC judges (hailing from Ghana, Latvia and Brazil respectively) will begin weighing the claims and make a decision whether to proceeded with a trial. This review process could take up to three months.

From Sudan
On Friday, Too Huge World, an aid worker based in North Darfur, compared waiting for news of the indictments to waiting for a grenade to explode:

The potential implications of these indictments are many and depressing. Everything from anti-Western riots on the streets of Khartoum to government-backed attacks on UN targets to the expulsion of many or all international organizations.

I imagine that this is a bit of what it feels like to wait for a grenade to explode.

On Monday another post described effects of the recommendation that al-Bashir be charged on security in the area:

So far today we have not seen attacks against international staff or facilities. The only reaction so far seems to be some large orchestrated protests in downtown Khartoum, another one in El Geneina (West Darfur), a small, half-hearted one in El Fasher (North Darfur), and none at all in Nyala (South Darfur). In fact, as you may imagine, large numbers of the Darfurian population are not too sympathetic towards the government. Therefore, we expect problems principally where there are large concentrations of Arab tribes and/or their militias.

The scarcity of negative consequences so far should not be taken to indicte that there will not be other effects in the long-term. We wait. The next 24 hours are probably the most important.

Sudanese Thinker blames the UN for the security worries and criticizes those who support the potential indictment:

The real dimwits here are the guys in the UN who coordinated things so badly with the ICC, that the ICC is now causing them trouble and forcing them to tighten security.

[…]Now please give me a reason for me to be supportive of the ICC’s move. Those Sudanese who support it are thinking sentimentally.

And Ingrid Jones of Sudan Watch breaks a ten-month blogging silence with an open letter to the ICC begging them to reconsider:

Hello dear ICC, please do not indict Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir or others in the Sudanese government as unfair charges are likely to result in desperate consequences for many Chadian and Sudanese people, peacekeepers, humanitarian workers and those who are most in need of aid and protection.

Refugee woman in Sam Ouandja in Darfur. Photo by Nicolas Rost/UNHCR, uploaded by hdptcar

African bloggers react
African leaders who have spoken out on the issue have been largely against the ICC’s move. Egypt’s foreign minister worried that dealing “irresponsibly” with Sudan will only create more chaos. The South African government admitted al-Bashir will never be arrested.

Tanzania, which holds the African Union presidency, asked the ICC to suspend its order until the situation in Darfur and the fragile peace in southern Sudan are sorted out. This brought the ire of exiled Liberian journalist Emmanuel Abalo, who argues African leaders are once again standing up for a despot:

This nonsense of “African solidarity” and “protecting its own” as espoused by the AU fly in the face of human decency and forthrightness especially when there needs to be courage to speak plainly and boldly against excesses committed by member states of the Union.

The dilemma for some African leaders who were democratically elected and practice good governance is that the AU issues statements on their behalf which do not represent their individual positions on human rights abuses and tyranny as was the recent case with Zimbabwe. And the consequence is that other world continental groupings have to openly challenge the AU's credibility to the embarrassment of some member countries.

Some issues to consider from Codrin Arsene, writing at AfricanLoft:

Sooner or later the Janjaweed will retaliate. I think the UN should withdraw its entire non-military staff from Darfur and transfer it to Nairobi.

I also believe Argentina should increase security measures to maximum alert. We are talking about an Arab state that is charged with genocide. We are also talking about an army so desperate that will make any deals to get its revenge. And that could very well include deals with Al-Qaeda.

I admire Mr. Moreno-Ocampo determination to indict Sudan’s president but he should be very careful. His life is certainly in danger. He just made the first genocide accusation in the world.

In Kenya, Nairobi Notebook ponders the UN's role in the potential indictments:

The argument carrying most support right now seems to be that Moreno-Ocampo's bid to haul Al Bashir in front of the judges will do nothing to ease the suffering of Dafuris, only inflaming the situation as promises of more “blood and violence” are unleashed.

Rewind the clock a bit and you will remember it was the UN's Security Council that gave the green light to Moreno-Ocampo to investigate the Sudanese authorities in the first place.

The Angry African, a South African currently living in the United States, reminded readers that the ICC’s potential arrest warrant may not have much teeth, a fact that can be blamed on U.S. President George Bush.

[al-Bashir] is using the same argument President Bush used against the ICC. They both claim that the ICC have no jurisdictionover anything. They don’t recognize the ICC. This was the only court that could tackle Serbian war criminals. But President Bush wants special treatment for US citizens. He argues that everyone should be equal in the eyes of the law - but some are more equal than others. He doesn’t want Americans to be held accountable to this court even if they have committeda crime against humanity or genocide for that matter. Yes, everyone else should be covered by the ICC. Just not Americans. Do you truly believe Americans should have a higher right in this world? Should Americans be above the law? I don’t think we will ever see the day an American will be charged at the ICC. It’s aimed at warmongers and despots. but we have to make sure everyone is covered by the same law. Shouldn’t we?

Come on Bush - you are either for us or against us… The Darfur blood is on your hands. What options did you leave us with? Invading as a first option? I guess you don’t like it when people first try to take the legal route? It’s easier to go in with guns blazing isn’t it? You set the precedent. Invade Sudan - even the rest of the world think he is evil and worse than Sadam used to be. Be proud - you and the President of Sudan have something in common… I hope you are proud of your legacy.

Victor Ngeny, a Kenyan journalism student living in Uganda writing at African Path, claims a warrant would be too weak to do any good:

Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo is a man on a mission; he wants to get an arrest warrant for Mr El Bashir. A small matter you might think, but if you factor the small detail that Mr El-Bashir is the president of Sudan and that China is squarely behind him, then it slowly becomes clear that Mr. Ocampo’s efforts will be in futility. Mr Ocampo’s, The Prosecutor of The International Criminal Court, case is that Mr El-Bashir has been executing genocide against his own countrymen in Darfur. There is also the small matter of Sudan not being party to the court.

Ugandan bloggers are perhaps uniquely situated within Africa to comment on the ICC's actions, given that the countries share a border and that the first warrants the ICC issued were against members of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel organization in northern Uganda. Chris Blattman, a political scientist with extensive experience in northern Uganda, compares the ICC's actions in Sudan and Uganda:

There's a temptation to say enough is enough, screw the bastard, and arrest away. But the indictments are a blunt instrument wielded by a narrowly focused and unelected body, the ICC, fighting for its existence and relevance (and trying to make up for a number of bungles). I support the idea of the ICC, but I'm worried that this risky decision was made without consideration for the big picture, including peace in the region.

The ICC's Ocampo has a reputation as a loose cannon and a publicity hound, and is said to have an eye on the Argentine presidency. This reputation accords with my impressions of the ICC's work in northern Uganda–a rash, risky, poorly informed and planned move that nearly backfired.

Is Ocampo acting rashly and alone again? I hope not. I hope that something as serious as an indictment of a sitting President would be part of a high level (probably secretive) discussion among world leaders and the UN. I hope this most of all when we are speaking of a nation with extensive UN operations, several peace efforts, several brewing wars, and an African Union peacekeeping mission (and thousands of foreign humanitarian workers) in country.

Ugandabeat describes local media reactions to the ICC announcement:

The International Criminal Court charged the Sudanese president, Omar Al-Bashir, with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur yesterday. The news rocked Uganda, with the major dailies putting Bashir's face on the cover, next to headlines that read “Wanted” or “Bashir Wanted for Genocide.” Sudan is Uganda's neighbor, and the politics of Southern Sudan and Uganda have always been intertwined.

[…]Of course, the situation is complex. Mahmood Mamdani, my favorite Ugandan scholar (actually, my favorite scholar in general), has long been critical of the motives of governments and NGOs in calling the war in Darfur genocide, particularly the demonisation of the Janjaweed.

Gay Uganda wonders what effect, if any, an ICC warrant will have on the situation on the ground:

The world is not without its contradictions. With Bashir of Sudan accused of genocide in Darfur, practical politicians are pointing out that if the president of Sudan is arraigned, that, the largest country in Africa, with the most consistent civil unrest since independence, is headed for more unrest.

The nightmare in Sudan has lasted longer than my life. Yet, isn’t Darfur enough to lead to his indictment? When will our leaders become accountable? When will they stop arguing their continued misleading of the continent in the name of ‘stability’?

Oh well. Even the Security Council could not get to grips with Zimbabwe. For Russia, did Medvedev get his wrist slapped when he returned home from the G8 summit? For China, it is simply the Platinum and Gold and other riches. The more the world changes, the more it is still the same.

Other reactions
The Social Science Research Council has an excellent guide to the controversy on their Making Sense of Darfur blog. Among the questions they ask:

Moreno Ocampo is taking a bold and momentous step for global human rights and for Sudan. It is also controversial and fraught with danger. Will this be a historic victory for human rights, a principled blow on behalf of the victims of atrocity against the men who orchestrated massacre and destruction? Or will it be a tragedy, a clash between the needs for justice and for peace, which will send Sudan into a vortex of turmoil and bloodshed?

Daniel Sturgis, a Canadian travel writer in Morocco, claims the ICC’s move may be correct but may jeopardize the chance for a peaceful resolution:

From a law perspective, the ICC decision to proceed with charges of crimes against humanity for Sudan's top brass, is definitely the right one.

From a moral perspective, the United Nations is unable to prevent the fallout if this decision enrages the Sudanese government. Isolated, Sudanese leaders are much more dangerous than the frustratingly ineffective checks and balances we have currently placed upon them.

To Ali Alarabi, writing for Mideast Youth, the charges are an unhelpful attempt to settle the political issue of Darfur. While the humanitarian costs are high in Darfur, Alarabi points out that the Sudanese government has every right to protect the integrity of its borders. However, larger and richer states are now hiding behind international law to punish the Sudanese leader.

International law however, as it appears to be, is there to punish weak and third world countries if they were deemed misbehaving according to standards of Western powers. As this issue demonstrates, International law is there to preserve the interests and the power of big powers against small helpless nations. Sudan is perceived to be not playing by the rules set forth by western powers when it comes to its energy supplies, its stand on the Arab Israeli conflict and its position on Iraq.

Written in Collaboration with John Liebhardt

The power of indigenous languages to infiltrate the thinking of the local people cannot be underestimated.

[…]Do bloggers, like other writers, have a major stake in the development of writing and reading materials in the local languages, and what is in it for them considering the Ugandan society pays little attention to the written word?

The majority of Ugandan bloggers have yet to write in languages other than English, perhaps because four distinct language families, each with multiple languages, are represented in the country. Over the last year, however, several of Uganda's blogren have forayed into the world of local-language blogging via Luglish, a blend of English and Luganda. Luganda is the local language most commonly spoken in central Uganda, including the capital city Kampala.

In one of the first Luglish posts in the Ugandan blogosphere, Tumwijuke of Ugandan Insomniac writes:

Yesterday, I was privy to a series of conversations between three 8 or 9 year olds in my neighbourhood. As the boys fought and laughed and jostled for position in their small trio, I was struck by how little we change over the years. How much we are just little boys and girls trying our best to live in this big, big world.

(Please adopt a Luglish – Luganda/English – accent when reading the following dialogue. If you don’t know what that sounds like … um, sorry move to Uganda for the experience; it’s a beautiful place … sometimes.)

She goes on to transcribe the conversations, italicizing the Luganda portions but not translating them.

For those who haven't yet had the chance to experience Luglish first-hand, several Ugandan bloggers have posted guides. Seamless‘ 21-part “UGA-SPEAK [A foreigner's guide]” gives tips like:

2. extend- move/push up, create a little space for me

3. ziwereze- pay up!

#2 and #3 are for y'all who won't be using car rentals, or the awe-inspiring boda-bodas but will be trying out our good old taxis.

4. [boda-boda]/bajaj- crazy means of transport via motorbike, which involves clinging on for dear life. Also, the heady rush of speed, a brush with death and wind through your hair.

The blog Fresh Apples reposts a guide to Ugandan English that he found on the Facebook group I love Uganda. Some choice entries on geography:

Out - anywhere outside of Uganda ie. studying from out

This side - Uganda

That side - The West (North America)

After reading the entry on Fresh Apples, blogger Buttercookie adds:

Push me to the shop.- Accompany me to the shop.

U have taken a long time minus coming. (This one is a classic.) What would the opposite be, U have taken a long time plus coming?- Yeah, I know what u’re thinking. Some people really do say that.

Come and we go.-Let’s go together.

Luglish has also been a popular topic for expat bloggers living in Uganda. Paige Anderson Bowen notes:

the official language of uganda is english, but it’s not an english an american would necessarily recognize or understand. most languages (all?) spoken in uganda are bantu languages, so the pronunciation of spoken english here often has a heavy bantu inflection and sentences can be delivered in bantu grammar. the “properness” of a ugandan’s english increases with education level and exposure to native english speakers, but the average ugandan speaks a purely (and sometimes maddeningly) ugandanized english that includes:

- “ok, please”: interchangeably used for yes and no
- “i am on my way coming”: estimated time of arrival anywhere from 5 min to 2 hrs to never
- up/down instead of left/right when giving directions

In another post on the same blog, Paige's husband Phil links to the Wikipedia entry for Ugandan English. And the Uganda wiki, an online encyclopedia on Uganda, also has an entry on the same subject.

Finally, taking the posts on cross-cultural conversation one step further, blogger Chris Mason gives his readers a lesson in Ugandan non-verbal communication:

Boda-boda [Ed.: motorcycle taxi] driver: Raises his eyebrows while making eye contact with me.

Translation: “Would you care for a lift to your desired destination, sir?”

Chris: Raises eyebrows while making eye contact with boda-boda driver.

Translation: “That would be splendid.”

Chris, uttering the only words that would appear in this exchange: “Garden City”

Translation: “I am heading to Garden City. Let us now embark on a pleasant back-and-forth negotiation of this trip.”

Bloggers and independent media outlets in Uganda are reporting that three journalists and a photographer at The Independent, an opposition newspaper based in Kampala, have been arrested and that the paper's offices have been raided by Ugandan security forces. One of those arrested was Andrew Mwenda, who was previously charged with sedition for his coverage of the death of Sudanese vice president John Garang in 2005.

Reuters and Uganda's Daily Monitor ran the story yesterday, and the Independent published a full account of what happened:

In a two-pronged operation, police and operatives from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT) and the Black Mamba squad raided The Independent again, exactly a month after the first raid.

…

At [Mwenda's] house, the police confiscated his lap-top, flash disks, 43 CDs full of information – both official and private, a manuscript of a book he has co-authored with Prof. Roger Tangri on Elite Corruption and Politics in Uganda. After that, Mwenda was driven to the offices of The Independent.

…

In no minute, other plain-clothed men, some feigning meanness others calmness, stream into the offices and start taking position as [police detective Joshua] Musede hordes the few employees already at work out of the newsrooms into the open space, saying there is something he is looking for.

Consulting editor Charles C. Bichachi then demands to know what the group was exactly looking for and the authorisation permitting them to do so.

“The ID is enough, he doesn’t have to show a search warrant,” interjected one of them, a relatively tall and light-skinned man feigning calmness, speaking Runyankole with a gun popping out of his waist.

…

Mwenda’s arrival clears the air as to what the raid this time is about; the team is searching for seditious material that the publication is in possession of; transcripts and audios of interviews of alleged torture victims in safe houses in Kampala and around the country under the wings of CMI.

Juliana at Afromusing writes:

Andrew Mwenda, arguably Africa’s most refreshing intellectual and journalist, has been arrested by Ugandan officials. More here.

This is utter injustice, and i am not even sure where to begin. For now, highlighting it on this blog seems to be one way, please highlight it on yours too, and I am sure some initiatives and online campaigns are being organized. Keep an eye on the TED blog for Updates.

Glenna at Uganda's Scarlett Lion adds:

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day. This year, Uganda was not included on the annual Reporters Without Borders survey. The web site lists no reason behind this decision.

Supporters of Mwenda have set up a Facebook group demanding his release.

Ugandans know a guy called Brenda. A gal, because Brenda is a trans person. Meaning that biologically the birth was to a male baby, but growing up Brenda was more confortable in the female role, and ultimately embraced the female gender.

…

Recently, Brenda needed travel documents. They were denied. Reason, they don’t give them to ‘people who have changed themselves’. Julie Victor Mukasa (Note: a Ugandan lesbian activist) tells of the time that she had to prove that she was biologically female at the RDC’s office in Kampala, when she went to get passport forms filled. Use your imagination how she proved that.

Our constitution states that it is a citizens right to get a passport. Brenda is apparently not included in that definition of a citizen. But that is besides the point. Fact is, those of us who are in LGBTI activism, are suddenly finding problems getting travel documents.

…

Very likely I may have problems traveling next time that I need to do so. My passport may light up or something. Happened in Rwanda last month. Apparently, LGBTI activists need permission to leave the country!

Magintu, denied a passport renewal for entirely different reasons, vents:

I have been trying to get my passport renewed for three weeks now, to no avail. Over 8 years ago when they gave me my first one, I did not even show face in the passport office. And I got it two days later.

Now I want to renew my passport and Uganda is giving me shit about it. You would think they would recognise game and offer me the damn passport before I marry wisely and blow this joint. Or maybe they would nitpick about the fact that I was not born here; but no, they are more concerned about the fact that I have an occupation. Yes, I kid you not: they say that on my first passport I am listed as a student. Now in this application, I say I have a job. And they cannot understand how this can be. Depsite the fact that 8 years have passed between issuance of said first passport and request for a renewal, they still expect me to be a student.

Meanwhile, although Uganda's New Vision boasts several features committed to helping its readers find love, its focus seems to have switched from romance to finance. The View from Kololo's Hannah laments:

Mystery Date: once a portrait of young dreamers looking for love, once filled with anticipation and over-dramatized emotions, now a business opportunity, now filled with indifference.

…

Take, for example, Julius and Stella, from the March 22 issue. Julius is a videographer; Stella an artiste. Stella has a boyfriend; Julius is married. Stella’s summary amounted to this: “When I told him I was an artiste, he was happy because he is a promoter. He said we could make good money since he knows the trade well.” Julius said, “We exchanged greetings and I realized she was familiar. I had seen her on stage, singing. She said she liked me and I was happy to meet her because, as a promoter, I can benefit from her talent.”

The trend is evident in personal ads as well, Glenna at Uganda's Scarlett Lion reports:

I'm working on a story related to personal adverts in the Ugandan daily newspapers. More details on the story later, but I thought I would share a few highlights I've found perusing “Meeting Point” in the New Vision.

I've removed the contact information from the ads, but should you want one of these winners, just leave me a comment and I'll get it to you.

UNIVERSITY drop out, 29, wants financially stable, caring, lady.

I know that most financially stable, caring ladies want someone whose only description of themselves is related to the fact that they're a University drop out.

DAN, 18 wants a sugar mummy.

Dan, where have you been all of my life??

Several other bloggers also have their minds on money. Nathan of Muzungu! Muzungu! and Chris of Caked in Red Clay both posted this month about continuing to stockpile coins and small bills after leaving Uganda. Chris notes:

I realized, while my weighed-down pockets had me swaggering down the street like John Wayne on his way to a western dust-up, that my Uganda approach to collecting small change is not as effective here in the UK.

In Uganda, small change is worth its weight in gold. It means you can pay a boda-boda or matatu taxi exact change, you can pay for your lunch without feeling bad about the server having to canvas the area for change and you can pay for phone air time without any hassles. The two largest denominations, the 20,000 shilling (about $11) and 50,000 shilling (just under $30) notes, are generally major hassles to break, since they are so much more than most day-to-day expenses. So when a group is out for dinner and all chipping in on the bill, any change and small bills tossed in are highly coveted by all others who want to break their bills.

…

The abundance of coins is mixed with a different economy, where things are of course more expensive so more money is coming and going from your pocket. In one coffee shop I didn’t have the right change for a 1.25 pound cup of tea and apologized profusely as I gave him a 10 pound note, apologizing for him having to break such a big note.

He laughed.

I was reminded, yet again, that I was not in Uganda any more.

For The-xposer's Kisiki, finding correct change presents more than a reminder of cultural differences: it is an obstacle to entrepreneurship. He explains:

A few minutes before writing this piece, I was in Wandegeya on my way to town, and need for airtime arose. I went to an airtime stand, and order for 5,000 top up. A man in his late 40’s handed back my 20,000 note because he had no ‘chengi’ (change).

I moved to a next stand that was managed by an Asian, and I flashed my 20,000. The attendant took the note, handed me the airtime, and asked me to wait as he sought me ‘chengi’ from the business neighbours. Within two minutes, I was done and I walked away.

…

In doing a random survey, if both sellers have ten customers loaded big notes within 15 minutes, the earlier seller would have nothing. The second seller would have benefited from customers. Dominance of business mentality of the second seller is what entrepreneurs in Uganda should apply for their businesses realise advancement.

Sometime back, Bank of Uganda ordered the banks not to chase people who seek for change from banks. Today, some banks sell ‘chengi’, even in the Taxi Parks ‘chengi’ vending booms, but 10% off the money need change is quite high.

It will take a long while for Uganda business men and women to notice how much they lose by chase a customer because of ‘chengi.’