war against graft...what a joke

Uganda’s fight against graft has received a huge body blow. Tingey county MP Herbert Sabila was convicted of corruption after offering a magistrate a bribe of UGX700,000 to have case against an associate of his dropped. he was not sentenced to any jail time, but got off with a laughable fine of 4 million shillings because it was deemed the amount he is said to have offered is not a significant enough amount to have a bearing on national interests. come on guys. if a thief steals a sweet or a car the fact remains they are a thief and should face the full wrath of the law. wether Sabila offered 500 shillings of 1 billion the fact remains he broke the law. the courts of law have confirmed that but where the problem lies is in the lenient punishment that Sabila is facing. there thousands of petty criminals who are serving time in jail. why should this guy get away with this crime. if we are saying as nation that corruption should be tackled head on then why not set the biggest example by getting a “big fish” and showing that no one, no matter which office they hold or which political party they belong to, will be punished if they are corrupt. this sentence now sets a very bad precedent for future corruption cases because future convicts will argue that they should also be let off with a fine. what i still find the hardest to fathom about this whole story is that Sabila has the audacity to attend parliamentary sessions...amazing has he no shame?

Second chances

Yesterday (March 2, 2010) Eastern Uganda was yet again the location for another humanitarian disaster. At least 50 people have been confirmed dead in a mudslide that swept away and submerged three villages. Some 300 people are missing and feared dead.

The Eastern part of the country is prone to flooding and other rainfall hazards as evidenced by the destruction caused by El Nino flood waters a few years back. The effects of heavy rainfall have always wreaked havoc on the agricultural activity of the area and thus impacting on food security.

Last year, villagers in the East faced starvation due to low food output as a result of crops being destroyed by the rainfall. How ironic, that life giving water can be the cause of the loss of life…

The Government’s response to the crisis was farcical. The Minister responsible, Tarsis Kabwegyere, gained notoriety by making insensitive statements about the situation and plight of the starving masses. What was clearly evident was that the Ugandan Government was ill-prepared to address the effects of that disaster, this despite having a dedicated ministry responsible for Disaster preparedness.

As the tragedy in Bududa now unfolds the spotlight will be yet again trained on Government and its capacity to meet the needs of the survivors and those who are still at risk. Governments repot card during its last test was an embarrassing failure, let us hope they can do a lot better this time round. Here are a few thoughts

1.     1. A string of Government ministries have been requesting supplementary budgets. How about we use that money which was supposed to fund some of these requests (including the one for defence to chase down and finish of LRA) to help the villagers in the east who are still at risk and those who have lost their loved ones and livelihoods

 

2.    2. How about all the resources and efforts that are being wasted on campaigning for the Anti homosexuality bill being redirected to assisting the affected families and communities and those who still remain vulnerable.

May God be with the people of Bududa at this most trying time. 

This is Africa :(

I am now convinced that government offices across the African continent are all the same. Remember how it felt waking up at the most ungodly hours to queue up at Harare’s passport or birth certificate office? Remember how rude and uncooperative those civil servants were? I know countless stories of people having their paper work dropped instantly because “it’s tea-time” or “lunch time”. Absolutely amazing how inconsiderate some of these people were. Whatever happened to empathy?

Anyway back to my point. Over the past four weeks I have been trying to help a friend process an identity document for their daughter who happens to have been born in Uganda to Zimbabwean parents. Now the parents wish to return to Zimbabwe and need a one-way travel document for their daughter. Simple enough??? I wish.

What was supposed to take 48 hours and cost 15USd has ended up in a month long ordeal involving multiple visits to multiple offices at the immigration offices, several investigations and all at a grand total cost of USD215! All through this we have had to deal with the most uncooperative people. If I thought I had left the typical civil service mentality in Zimbabwe, I was wrong. On many occasions I made appointments with people who either came late or did not even turn up. The most frustrating was the day before the end of the ordeal. The counsel who was representing us was not in the office when we arrived at about 10am. We were told he had gone for prayers. All well and good.

I enquired how long he would be away for I was told “I am not one of them (his fellowship) so I don’t know. Try after 2 hours” I went away and returned after the prescribed two hours. The counsel was still out. I was advised to wait and dutifully did so in the sweltering heat, competing for space under a makeshift tent with many others (at least they are considerate enough to provide this given the punishing sunshine in Uganda). Needless to say an hour later and the man I wanted to see was yet to appear. Still at prayers????

By this time it was approaching lunchtime and from previous experience I was wise enough to know that nothing constructive can take place during this “sacred” hour. So I left and returned at 2:30pm. Still no counsel. He eventually arrived (from prayers) at 3:00pm and because I did not have a piece of paper (there were many I have had to carry around lately) I would have to come back and see him the following day. Absolutely brilliant!

What I still can't figure out is what sort of prayers take place from 10 am to 3:30pm. And what sort of employer, regardless how God fearing, would allow you to be away from work for that long. I wonder how things get done in Africa when we spend so much time on tea breaks, having lunch, in prayers, at burials or in traffic jams (my experiences in traffic jams is a story for another day and what a story it is!)

Eventually as I said we did get the document. Thankfully!

If I was a girl...

No its not a response to Beyonce's hit song.

Just a thought that came to me while i was listening to the song this morning. what would life be like if i was a girl? i think there would be many more demands on me and a lot more responsibility. i admire many of my female friends who are mothers, wives employees, students all wrapped up in one. by their nature women are more level headed, grounded and disciplined. if i was a girl there certainly would not be all this partying i get up to, no junk food coz i would cook for myself, but there would also be worrying about clothes, buying a million pairs of shoes etc. 

just imagine though if for just a day we could be the opposite sex...men would finally understand women and women would figure out men. would make life a lot easier coz we would appreciate our unique complexities and differences.

i admire women but would i want to be them? they say the grass is always greener, but i don't think i would want want to be a girl. there has to be reason why i was made a man. there is grand plan and things i must fulfill and i have been manufactured this way in order to do so. 

a good friend of mine (female) always says she is a human being, period. i guess she is right we are human beings before we are boy or girl. thats all that should matter!

Love what you do and do what you love

Love what you do and do what you love…simple advice, but perhaps the hardest to follow. How many of us can actually say that they truly love what they do. Be it professionally, socially, romantically?

 

Hard advice to follow mainly because we do things for others and not because we really want to do them let alone love what we do. it is the the nature of human beings to do things in order to create an impression, keep up appearances or keep up with the Jones'. sad but true.

Lets take it from a professional perspective. There are millions of us who have taken a specific career path because our parents or relatives said we should. So we end being lawyers and doctors not because it is our passion but because we were guided towards that profession. I know countless friends who have taken up a particular job or stay in one because their spouses or friends think it is the best thing for them. So they spend years feeling frustrated, resenting their work mates just because they don’t love what they do. 

Earlier this week I had a chat with a workmate. She told me how she can’t wait for August to arrive so that she could start University and do her masters. She hates her current job and is merely passing the time and going through the motions. I feel for her, really and I told her I noticed how sad she looks.

 

Socially and romantically how many of you do things just to keep up the appearances. I see many guys, in fact I have been one of them forced to go on a shopping spree with a woman. I don’t want to be there, but I am forced to be. To keep the peace, to make the other party happy, to score some points. For whatever reason, truth of the matter is I was not doing it for myself. I didn’t want to do it, let alone love doing it. 

Countless people will buy a particular car, outfit, move into a particular house or attend an event, not because they want to but just because everyone else is or it is expected. Classic example was Kampala, UB40 rolled into two. everyone and their grandma wanted to be there. Yes UB40 is a great band, but i certainly have never felt their much that much save for a couple of songs. so i did not jump onto that bandwagon, but trust i know loads of people who did. and why so they could be see or say there were at the show. (funny enough is that some of them wanted me to pay for them. that's a story for another day!)

So what is the solution? 

Do you bury your head in the sand and ignore the rest of the world? not possible. we do not live in isolation and so we cannot get away with doing things just for us cases in point: parents, boyfriends and husbands. However, this should not deprive us of some happiness. I say carve out that space that makes you happy then maximise on it. There is no way we can be happy 100 percent 24-7, however we can find some portion of time or some place where we truly do something that makes us happy. that time where you are uncompromising, selfish and self centred. Do things for you and you alone. No-one else! indulge in these moments, times, places and then get back to trying to please the rest of the world, who knows you might find you love it so much you end up doing it entirely. 

Do you think Tiger Woods, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, 50 Cent love what they do? 

Sure they do and there is no reason why you shouldn’t. maybe not now but certainly at some point. i am determined that once i have made my fortune, i will retire and study psychology and own and manage my own football team. i will also open up a nightclub and fulfill my fantasy of being a DJ. 

at that time i will be able to say i am truly doing what i love. I cant wait!

The beautiful ones are not yet born

Two days ago the death of Omar Bongo, the former president of Guinea was confirmed after days of speculation. Many may not have heard of him but his greatest claim to fame was being Africa’s longest serving leader. In an age where we have been under the rule of “big men” for decades, Omar Bongo’s reign of 42 years is not remarkable, but is still a record that will take some beating. 

Just days ago, leaders of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) concluded a meeting in the Zimbabwean town of Victoria Falls. At this meeting the attending heads of state and government elected President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe to the
chairmanship of this grouping. Mugabe, man who is well known to the world for overseeing the collapse of one of the continents most impressive economies, is fast closing in on Bongo's record. Mugabe has been in power for 29 years now, albeit controversially over the last decade. It is well known how he and his party have stolen the last two elections through violence, intimidation and electoral fraud. Yet despite all this his peers chose to elect him to lead COMESA a move that he will boast as further endorsement of his legitimacy but more importantly an indictment of fellow African leaders who are standing by and watching as the continent disregards the principles of democracy and respect for human rights. 

These actions will beg the question how and why, right thinking mean and women
continue to allow their fellow leaders to stay in power well beyond their “best before” dates and certainly beyond the time that the majority of their citizens would still want them to remain in office. However this is fairly easy and simple to understand. Birds of a feather flock together and this saying does not ring true more than it does in Africa. 

Most African leaders think like Mugabe . They have come to power through violent means (coup or liberation struggles) and believe that they cannot relinquish that power through less violent means. While they hold elections, the outcomes of these are not respected or upheld. They despise anyone who is a threat to their continued stay in power. 

After a while I think that the absolute power they are accorded or that they amass, gets to their heads and they feel invincible and that in fact it is their God given right and duty that they should lead their respective countries. Such delusions characterise leaders across the African continent who are often heard saying that they are making a huge sacrifice by staying in power. 

Who are they kidding?

Sadly the African tragedy has cascaded below the Presidents, the first families and the cronies and sycophants who surround them. At all levels we as Africans have been poisoned by the love of power, money, greed, corruption. This is why businesspeople, employees, government officers all engage in some corrupt dealings at some level to further their own cause or that of one of their own. Nepotism and tribalism will continue to be the scourge of the continent and it has been fueled by African leaders who have shamelessly displayed these traits as they seek to consolidate their powerbases and remain in power.

Many years ago I ready a novel by Ayi Kwei Armah, titled "The Beautyful ones are not yet born"(deliberately spelt with "y") it is a sad but accurate depiction of the decay and rot in african societies wrought by corrupt leaders and officials. it goes on to highlight that this indeed is an African problem because we all have in one way or another become part and parcel of the decay.

two days ago, one of the leaders passed on to the next life. a message that this is purely transitory and will not last forever. while they are dying off one by one, sadly, the beautiful ones have not yet been born! 

we are not safe anymore

Technology with all the convenience it brings can be a nuisance sometimes. the age of the digital camera means that images can be captured and instantly distributed all over the globe thanks to the world wide web. Great if you are out to sell something and need to show visual samples, bad if you are caught doing something "goofy" at a party and just like that the embarrassing and undesirable images are plastered all over the world.

Just yesterday I received an email with photographs of a person I know, a certain high ranking business executive, "caught in the act" with a workmate. Firstly just by looking at the photos they were not caught. caught would imply the photographic evidence was captured without their knowledge. These were photos they took of each other in the bedroom, bathroom and other places while they engaged in various intimate acts.

Nothing out of the ordinary, these days. I have on several occassion seen similar types of photographs that lovers often take of each other. I suppose just a mental memory is no longer enough, we now need digital images to reminisce. Or could it be our egos at play. A guy will want to prove to his "boys" that indeed he is the one who is "in the mix" so to speak.

The problem comes in when their parties access this content and use for their own purposes, often not good. just ask Michael Phelps who suffered a terrible PR crisis and lost millions in sponsorship for an image released showing him having a little fun at what was supposed to be a private party.

Granted people, and especially those in prominent positions, should not be acting irresponsibly, however we are all human and what I do in the "privacy" of my own home or hotel room or anywhere else private should be respected. Sadly due to the advances in technology, this is becoming harder. The world is becoming smaller due to technology and so too is the scrutiny we are all under. They say big brother watching. Indeed he is, and so too is little sister, the cousin, uncles, aunts, the neighbours and lots more.

Technological advancement...Gift or Curse?