ARIAKA

Dennis Muhumuza of the Daily Monitor wrote an unflattering article on Uganda bloggers in the edition of September 1st 2008. When the article made it in blogsphere, the world tumbled down as blogger after blogger ran rings on the poor chap, berating, haranguing, demeaning him, it must be exhausting. In the article, Muhumuza is disappointed by the character of the Ugandan blogs that he has read so far. This dejects him as he expected to find stirring posts that compare or simply outpaces the articles in the main stream media. His example of the American blogs that scoop The New York Times justifies this disappointment.

Well there are many Ugandan blogs that feature politics, advocacy and professional matters. Our blogs are simply not positioned to synergize with traditional media so as to enter into public domain. This will happen. But until it does, we will not expect a star post causing trouble for establishment. Muhumuza forgets that the infrastructure to deliver blog content is still maturing in Uganda. We need an information using and consuming society. We are yet to get there, but that is the future.

Nevertheless, we need to understand the national psyche and how this has been created over time to understand the habits and behaviour of dorminant blogs, that so spiffed Muhumuza. It has everything do with the politics which disappoints Dennis as most attested to this fatigue. It seems to me that our society has high expectations of us bloggers. To champion societal causes and make this country a better place to be in. Afterall we have the access to internet, the fees to pay, the information, the drive and the passion to write. That is where the problem lies. Society. That is the society that is aware of blogging expects a lot of us. But that is a small if growing society.

You start a blog as a….!!! a play thing, a leisure thing. A hobby for example. You love writing, you blog. Sometimes you read the newspapers, and they have missed important information so as to ah, toe the line correctly. So you wish to mention that on your blog and hope society will stray in somehow, to know some more truths. It is true that there is an interest in what Ugandan bloggers have to offer. The Americans are here and many will come to understand the impact of face book, blogging and other internet social networking phenomenon. The Danes where here last year to interface with the happy hour; and many more will come. They want to understand this phenomenon, which as you all understand will explode in future. They want no surprises. Or rather, they want to contain it, influence it or and benefit from it.

Is the expectation too high? No it is not. We are writing our hearts out on our heart, to look for Ernest Bazanye’s new post and read Dennis Matanda’s http://dennismatanda.blogspot.com and roam through other blogs, then post a comment and /or post a new article.  That’s rather effortless and easy, is it not? You never know what monster this blogging thing will be in 10 years. And in the case of Uganda, maybe up before 2011?

The governments and big parties in the West have taken note on the perils of citizen journalism. For example, last month the Obama campaign was forced to make a press statement regarding an off the cuff remark made on the campaign trail. An Off the Bus citizen journalist had reported about Barack Obama’s “bitter” small-town Pennsylvanians remark during a fund-raiser in San Francisco — the remarks were supposedly “off the record.” The Barack Obama Campaign responded by acknowledging the responsibility of accountability and transparency and stated that despite the meeting being closed to the press; in this age, of – any one can be a reporter (read blogging) – any statement made in front of a group of people is on the record. So you can quote Barrack Obama, even though it was not a press conference.  

If you are following the 2008 American presidential campaign you will notice that a few key media flash points have helped shape the narrative of this race. Citizen journalism is an active ingredient in conveying the American election to November when the country will decide the 45th president. We see how organizations are responding to the force of blogging. Many news organizations – recently our own The Daily Monitor - and companies have blogs and interactive avenues through which to seek feedback or deepen news contents. This may be a different ball game from blogging but the spirit is informed by this new phenomena. The Daily Monitor has introduced a new interactive feature to their on line editions. You can comment on the stories they carry and deepen it or give it more perspective. This innovation is a standard practice on BBC on-line for example and many international news organizations. Whereas this initiative targets the online traffic, bloggers are the most active and likely participants.

You have got to understand the people to understand the content of most blogs in Uganda, and in Africa. Some bloggers satirize their posts to take care of social and political sensibilities. Of course many of us prefer personal issues and not politics in particular or advocacy in general. But it seems to me that the ethos of our readership culture for over 20 years has meant that the circulation sales of our main newspapers is about 60,000 daily, just below what The Standard in Kenya sells. Funky that? That disregard for reading has crept into Ugandan blogsphere. Now do not hang me. It is okay what you want to do with your time on-line. Is it not?  And yes, bloggers score high on reading habits.  But we do not need hard stuff; have been conditioned to shun hard stuff as a country any way.

The President once remarked that Ugandans spend too much time on politics. And that that explained the poverty in the country. What a huge contradiction from His Excellency. We have the biggest civil service with commensurate political jobs in 20 years. As I write, parliament is considering giving more districts to deserving but underserved (sic) people. In terms, politics is the single largest employer outside the civil service. Whereas this is expedient in elections; big numbers in parliament and of course presidential re-elections - it simply concentrates the energies of us ordinary folks in to politics: at the bar, seeping coffee – hmmm, the aroma - at the bimeeza, radio and TV talk shows, on the road, in the homes. There is so much talking. But is that not that ingredient in a democracy? The accountability and transparency as an important hallmark of democratic governance? Yes. We are talking to understand how our affairs are run. Ours is not an aristocracy but a democracy. That is why we spend so much time on politics.

But the message is clear. Focus on issues of production, investment and development and steer clear of politics. Now, in order to manage the emerging trends in presidential elections – the courts have twice ruled that the erections, sorry the elections were not free and fair – we have seen militant activities embedded in politicking all the way to 1996. We are yet to see what will happen in future. Oh! Forgive me, we have the Israeli trained Black Mambas inaction and; the Special Police Constables who by the way are now skilful in martial art. Maybe, just maybe this is a peep in the future.

Well we saw Kalangala Action Plan in action in 2001, we saw the drama at the high court and at Bulange in 2007. And we have seen many robust actions in election years. The actions have not been in vain. There have been losses of lives. We have also seen the Black Mamba, the Save Mabira Forest demos, the Nakasero and Kiseka Market demos and countless other demos where the price has been death. We have seen the government handling of the press. We saw The Monitor closed down in 2000, KFM in 2006; radio Veritas in 2006, and the threats. We have heard the threats on CBS; CBS the broadcaster and not the CBS the platform. We saw the establishment of the Media Centre and how a Canadian journalist was shipped out of the country in the heat of an election. We saw the changes at The New Vision. You see the trend.

Life is good. We must preserve life; it is a duty to posterity. We must stay alive. So, the daily menu served by the main stream media is boring? That the lonely if spontaneity of blogsphere is the ultimate repose. Yes, because we do not want the wrath of establishment on us. This is not a weakness, rather a strength, a survival instinct. So we should be the alternative media? Not yet. But now is the time to create the foundation so that the institution will be strong in future. Agreed we have a largely rural population, with a weak reading culture. But for those of in the towns and those who will migrate to towns, our lives revolve around new media. Cell phones and computers with the emerging habit of sms, mms, blackberry, laptops etc, digital satellite TV, we must be heading on the right path to the information super high way. 

Our folks prefer bimeezas! Have some not closed already? Listen in on Radio - European football leagues and such whimsical stuff. Do you not agree? So Muhumuza is on the rallying call. Reporting from society that; arise, and that we should join the main stream media as another dimension of the fourth estate to check and balance government and; society.

Now a digital news pioneer Steve Yelvington from the United States talked about the Bluffton Today project in Kuala Lumpur recently. He noted that newspaper readership in the United States have been declining since the 1970s, long before the advent of the internet. But we have the internet now. Steve and his team at Morris Communications downloaded the numbers about the decline and noticed that it was a generational decline. Younger people aren’t reading newspapers, and this behaviour of is determined when they are in their 20s. There. There. Without pointing out this problem in Uganda, Muhumuza’s story seems to have the fears Steve Yelvington’s research unearthed; the decline of newspaper readership and he should have added, the emergence of on-line reading culture.  Admitted, this problem is minuscule in Uganda but the trend into the future suggests we should take necessary measures to shape in and not ship out. It occurs to me that our behaviour in blogsphere is to steer clear of the risks.

You have to read about the folly of the Bill Clinton, the former president of USA to understand the risk we bloggers in Africa face if we cross the redline.  A disguised reporter, (reporting as citizen journalist) caused a media ruckus in South Dakota on June 2, on the night of the final primaries, when she stood in a rope line and asked Bill Clinton a question about a Vanity Fair hit piece. Clinton gripped her right hand while she recorded the conversation with her left hand, allowed that the reporter was a “scumbag.” For the next week, cable news had a field day, first wondering about the stability of the former president and his penchant for verbal slips during the campaign and then castigating Fowler for deception — for not announcing that she was a reporter. Do now wonder why Hillary did not make it?

“The pro-journalist fraternity went crazy because she didn’t play by their rules,” Rosen said. Rosen wrote about the second episode on his blog here. These are some of the risks that we have to encounter. Writing to be a journalist – main stream journalist and suffering the consequences. Are we ready to cross the line as Dennis would wish the world to believe? As it is, we are insulated by a host of structural and policy inadequacies. Remember Uganda has an ICT ministry, with an oversight committee in parliament to deal with ICT related legislation. So we are subconsciously, playing it safe, using common sense as the guiding principle. As the frontiers is pushed every day, we will broach the line one day. Until that happens, Muhumuza can be assured that blogsphere will continue to be that passive platform on which young people write about trivialities.

 Next month
Africa swoops in Kenya to battle in a game of scrabble, competitive tournament scrabble. The former winners are Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.  Since introducing this version of scrabble in Uganda, the country has participated in two editions, in Nairobi in 2002 and Dar –es – Salaam two years later.  The 8th African Scrabble® Championships will take place between the 10th and 13th of October at the Kenya Commercial Bank Training Centre just outside Nairobi.

After three qualifying rounds, the final list of Team Uganda to the bi-annual Pan African scrabble championship is up.  On the last count Rose is up, seeded one and Kainga seed two. 

We will carry the Uganda flag to Nairobi Kenya to tussle teams from Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania, Cameroon and; other countries that are yet to confirm participation. 

Uganda did not make it to Abuja, Nigeria in 2006 owing to reasons to do with logistics.  But this time, there are no excuses.  However, we still need the helping hand of a sponsor.

We have slots for 15 players and three officials who need an average of USD 250 to cater for transport and registration.  That totals USD 3125.  ASC2008 is tournament to die for as the organizers have prepared to give players and officials a run for their money (sic). Accommodation and meals is free and on top of a USD 5,000 top prize, there is a matrix of prizes throughout the games.

Now to the profile of Team Uganda players:

Rose Kisembo:  Has been very consistent this year: winning the first Mbarara tournament in March, another in Kampala and a most excruciating win in Iganga.  She is on form and is set to win the most bizarre word ategory, best lady player, best player; ouch that tires.

Philip Edwin – Mugisha: aka Kainga, is that young man who has turned scrabble in Uganda upside down.  He debuted in 2005 during the independence scrabble tournament where he took such a trashing from Fred Magu that he swore never, never again to be a punching bag.  He quit soccer from Express Football Club to concentrate on scrabble.  Edwin is dreaded so much so that, in Mbarara you could smell the fear his opponents as he drained them of points after points with word power. 

Kainga and Rose are the reason many senior players are back to the drawing board to improve word power and game strategy.

Geria Richard:  Is off form but can rise on any day to claim his rightful place in the fraternity.  He has won countless National Tournaments, knows a thing or to about beating the Nigerians, Zambians and Kenyans. Zenithal is his highest score in one single move (246), and that is his place.  He will be back.

Chris Ntege:  Is the chairman of Scrabble Association of Uganda. Has represented the country in two World championships in Bombay and Londaon; is a boa constrictor.  Has not won many tournaments.  But once shocked East Africa at Delice Hotel in Dar in 2002 when he crushed the Kenyan party and finished inside the top 10. He of the large heart, takes his inspirations from the bible.  Cool natured, but a deadly predator.  Waiting deathly silently in the shadows, letting the breeze settle in for a deceptive serenity; suddenly pounching without warning and crushing every nerve, sinew, tendon, muscle and bones………….aarrghh………….. aarrghh; leaving you for dead.  He will lead the team to Nairobi.

Kamugisha Greens: The man from Kabale has been out of top three for too long.  He once went to Eldoret and raged like a bull, scattering the home folks to snatch their prize.  He did not, but left the brothers over there panting like chicken.  Kamugisha took the heed from Bernard Amuke, he of the Kenya’s  young turks.  ”Do not fish the bag, as if you have sojourned to Lake Nalubaale at Ssese”, Bernard Admonished.  But play to score and score. That sounds like a winning move.  Does it not? So Greens took heed.  They say the rest is history.  He is the defending champion in Mbale.  He once went a full stretch of 10/10 in a one day tournament.   That is before Kainga and company showed up.  Recently, Greens is shy of winning, prefering to bask in mid-table.

Davis Kinene: Davis is an old hand of Scrabble in Uganda.  He would terrorise us with syndromes and hooks; an eye opener.  He was the word expert.  He looked up your rack and gasped at (SATINE + I, with a hanging R).  He committed those words from memory while you  cursed the misfortune of two “i”s on the rack and; prepared to dump them. Answer = ISATINE, with a free R = INERTIAS or RAINIEST.  On a good day, he is a player to take any tournament.  He has won tournaments in the past.  He can win in future. But these days, he runs up the winner, or running up the runners up.  However, he is living in the shadows of the new kids on the block waiting to pounch.

Stephen Ssali:  Steve is that player who says never die.  He is faithful to the game, gifting Chris every weekend at the jungle for hours on end grueling battles of tiles and words, and challenges and ebigenderako.

Sennoga Ahmed: He of the former winners club, on the receiving end of the jabs from Rose and Kainga.  Also in hibernation, talk of sleeping giants, should have proved himself at SACO over the weekend, but the Rose could have none of it.  Plays with a quiet charming princely demeanour.  His undoing sometimes. Has promised this country of  a performance of tsunamic proportions.  We wait with muffed breaths.  Has a collection of winner’s trophies. 

Chris Kalibala:  He is the chairman of Mbarara Scrabble Club.  This is his second international outing.

David Musinguzi:  From Mbarara Scrabble club.  Plays with Kalibala.  This will be his first foray into international scrabble tournament.

Ochaya George: He of the Joseph, Jasper and Emma scrabble playing consanguinity.  He is playing his second international tournament.

Okot Newton:  Comes all the way from Mvara S. S in Arua district.  A very ardent player; keen to shine on the international stage.

Joseph Okuda:  Okuda is Ochaya’s elder brother.  Formerly of Mbarara Scrabble Club but now of Wandegeya.  He is rearing to go.

The reserves include Kayondo Hamdan, a former national champion, Maggie the heart breaker (sic) - {ask Kainga}, Dr. Meko Godfrey, a former national champion and ECASA Kampala no. 6, Baleero David – SAU Vice Chairman and Chairman Iganga Scrabble Club, Jonathan Towada from Mbale – A former national champion, Julius Ahimbisibwe and Robert Muhumza from Mbarara and; finally Dr. Allan Mpairwe our indefatigable former national executive.

As you can see.  Team Uganda is full of former national champions who are keen to win on the African stage.

The full list is below:  for information and support,

<TD style=”BORDER-RIGHT: #ece9d8; PADDING-RIGHT: 5.4pt; BORDER-TOP: #ece9d8; PADDING-LEFT: 5.4pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: #ece9d8; WIDTH: 11.8pt; PADDING-TOP: 0in; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ece9d8; HEIGHT: 12.75pt; BACKGROUN

Rose Kisembo came to Nankulabye Scrabble Club in 2003 soon after playing in the Inter-University games in
Nairobi where, untried, untested, recently from the hills and thrills of the Fort, she tussled to a respectable number two.  She had no known knowledge of competitive scrabble.  She relied on what we call scrabble B.  Playing four people a game and using the manufacturers rules to guide the play.  Although scrabble B gave most of us the introduction to the game, where it was simply a leisure activity; we now have an organization in Uganda,  Scrabble Association of Uganda (SAU), whose objectives include  transforming the country into a scrabble kingpin.

That August evening in Nankulabye Scrabble Club, we welcomed the petit girl to competitive scrabble.  We taught her anagramming, hooking, blocking, stems, board strategy, game plans and; yeah; many more.  Joash Manyasa, the regional scrabble hawk gifted her with word lists.  As she worked her way through university, twinned with her responsibilities as a teacher and monther; she embraced information technology and invested in the game. Talk boards, books, flash disks, computers, softwares and now? She is embedded in the game.  Loves it lives it plays it and wins it.

Very soon we noticed that she regularly finishes close to the top, mainly top of the middle.  Some times in the bedroom; but with her sights at the top.   After finishing University with a degree in computing to boot, after winning Makerere Interhall Scrabble championships, and one Open games, she is priming for the very zenith. Early this year, Rose intimated to Greens Kamugisha, the Kabale monologue, that she is ready to take the scrabble scene by storm.  She designed her own readers guide, published a scrabble travelers companion book. When team Uganda went to Dar for this years edition of East Central and Southern Africa Scrabble (ECASA) tournament in April, she was rearing to go.  She ended ahead of every Ugandan.  In Busia Kenya, Joash Manyasa remarked of her as that lady who has proved that on crossing the Uganda border, she finishes on top.  She has won major qualifiers including a recent one in Iganda this July where she equalled my record of 17/18 games.  She was lucky that I was not on hand to defend my record. At this rate she will better it.  It is my duty to stall this meteorite, to keep her in check.  Kainga and Chris, do you not agree?  Please join me.

Our Chairman, (Chris beware, you are next on line) has this nark of organizing impromptu teaser tournaments.  He called one in July, just after the Iganda Africa Scrabble Championship qualifier; and termed it, the jungle challenge.  Well, rattling tiles in the jungles and wilderness of mailo eight, Gayaza road; with delicious food, serenity, intensity and cash aplenty, we took heed to his call.  You do not turn down an invitation from the Chairman. So he takes six of us in this jungle and proceeds to conscript and strangulate the hell out of us.  Who could win in the jungle other than the jungle king.

But the point is that Rose is miffed by the idea of jungle dozen play.  Despite a most abysmal performance in the jungle, where Rose was turned upside down and shaken thoroughly so that she was the crestfallen and disgraced tailender. Rose was preparing us for a huge surprise. She called it Rose’s challenge.  Chris inspired her into his jungle mania.  What with winning on home turf and an uproarous home support.  Chris had shown Rose the way to do it. You tend to know the territory.  Is it not?  Lure some luckies into your den and play the hell out of them.

As we travel back from an Philip Edwin – Mugisha (aka Kainga) bruising in Mbarara last August 31^st; this idea of a jungle de javu floats in her mind. Kainga is in seventh heaven after winning the last ASC qualifier also on home turf, after dethroning Rose of the honours. In between bites of roast cow liver, roast meat (dog meat?) sips of mineral water and the very tasty gonja obtained from the industry of Lukaya folks and fertility of the equatorial soils; Rose invites us the following weekend, Saturday September 6^th to her realm.

We are in for a feast.  Drinks aplenty; fruity drinks; passion…. Hmmm yeah! Passion, pawpaw, watermelon and; some Rose magic. The food is so plentiful that after the meal your place was in slumberland, and not a grueling game of scrabble.  In the afternoon, I was squirming, so that it is impossible to win a game, since all the blood had made a beeline for the stomach, to disgest the food.  As it descended from the head, I grappled to stay awake.   

As you play, the struggle between your brain and the stomach is so intense that words simply do not make the mark.  Your hooks miss, the anagrams disappear and the game is upsides down. You can not win a game.  I could not.  My solace was abye who gifted me with three wins.  Just fancy that.  Three free points.  Oh the pain! The agony.  This can not and should never, never happen.  This idea of jungle play is fabulous. You learn to play anew.

I draw a with Rose (0.5 points). I should have won this game. I should have played ZINKES/SCRAW on tripple premium square.  However, my head was empty of oxygen.  The blood had sojourned down to reinforce the enzymes, hydrochloric acid, peptide acid etcetera so as to deal with the massive burden of digestion. But Sennoga loses to Rose. Chris loses to Rose.  Kainga loses to Rose.  Ssali loses to Rose. Greens loses to Rose.
 
Rose wins her challenge, the Rose Challenge in St. Augustine College Wakiso and earns all the bragging rights. Kisembo has risen to the top.  Rose has Risen. We have a problem.  How do you solve a problem like Rose? 

In the run up to 2005 elections, Prof. Gilbert Bakaluba Bukenya, the vice president of the
Republic of Uganda took on an ambitious personal project.  He embarked on a poverty alleviation project whose main theme was upland rice growing in rural Uganda.  The good professor was in the news 24/7 for months on end.  The effects of this media exposure were not lost to the powerful people in the country as very soon, the old man was haunted, is it hunted?

Without much ado, the vice president upped the momentum, called Conrad Nkutu then the Managing Director at the then The Monitor Newspaper and gave him the media scoop of his time; an exclusive and fodder to feed the country for eons.  In the interview, the professor bemoaned the haunting by certain senior colleagues who are hiding under the leadership code to probe into his wealth by taking pictures of his chicken, papaya etcetera, yet, they have hidden mansions in Kololo.  He then introduced another allegory to our national lexicon (others have included past leaders, chicken dung, six feet, grinding stone, pumbavu) etc.  He said he was as hard as a Mahogany tree and will not flinch nor cower and; wrapped he up by claiming the existence of a mafioso (sic) in cabinet that is bent to finish him politically.  Do read the rhyme and rhythm?

A special session of cabinet meeting sat to resolve this matter to allay the fear in the country that the vice president is unfit and unable to discharge his duties, especially because the president was away at the time.

When we saw a beaming vice president, then minister of defence – Amama Mbabazi and the foreign affairs minister in a photo op a few days later?  A glance on the front page picture would suggest that perhaps, perhaps the spectacle before us included some members of the mafiosi as claimed by the vice president; and that the pictures wer…/ well, so we understood that there was no schism in cabinet; and that the vice president told a lie.

Anyway the damage was done to MAHOGANY; he coiled his tail and lay low, absent from the public.  This repose was a welcome respite for the third term strategists or agitators as the opposition was wont to call them. The point had been made that the only activity of paramount importance was looming. It  is the amendment of the constitution in which the tone of article 105 of the 1995 constitution would tuned for the president to assume another term in office.  A third term.  Some people cried that this was a sad term../..chuckle/…hmmm.

Certainly the minister of Defense and the heir apparent was to play a central role in this soap opera.  In the forthcoming party primaries, Mr. Amama Mbabazi would clinch the powerful position of secretary general of the ruling NRMO party.  Although that election ended in acrimony, with some hopefuls like Kahinda Otafiire crying foul; it was not lost on observers that the man from Kinkizi, with a reputation of winning unopposed was the favoured candidate for the post.

Amama Mbabazi did not fight in the bushes of Luwero triangle during the insurrection that ended with the fall of Kampala in January 1986, he made his mark in the diplomatic circles; giving the NRA rebellion an acceptable face and winning sympathies for the cause abroad.  He has served in Key positions of the party and government including among others: long stints as Director General of External security, long stints at the helm of foreign affairs ministry and that of Defense, and now minister of security.

He has the credentials so enviable that it is as fore gone as painlessly understood who makes the mark to succeed president Yoweri Kaguta when his term (sic) is up.  Until very recently, his public record was squeaky clean.  Now, as the general elections loom in the horizon, we are beginning to notice some action on the economic and political podium.  The whirlwind of Temangalo.

The National Social Security Fund is in the eyes of a vicious storm.  The parliamentary oversights committee is questioning the manner in which the public retirement benefit company acquired an investment to the tune of 11 billion Uganda Shillings (6 million USD).  As the details of the deal emerged, we learnt that the NRM party Secretary General is thickly involved through a surrogate company ARMA ltd.  He was quoted in the press to have something to the effect that there is a rationalization in a bank, the  National Bank of Commerce, where he wishes to consolidate his share holding.  Therefore a large tranche of money is most needed for him to achieve this objective.

When the public scrutiny of his involvement, possibly influence peddling took the better of him, the honorable minister sought to explain himself to the party caucus in parliament.  When he did this early in the week in a 28-page statement, he asked members to remember his part in the revolution.  He was rather, ah arrogant, saying the reason he needed the money is not for the committee to know.  And that the revolutionary is not corrupt, is it corruptible?  Instead of engendering, rather embedding his colleagues to his cause, I think he did the opposite.  For a number of caucus members rose against him, asking him to step aside so his conduct can be investigated with the killer punch of censure a grim prospect.

Looking at the behaviour of several individuals and certain activities trailing this saga, I propose the following hypotheses:

a)      The fires of 2011 general elections are beginning to stoke.

(i)                  That the party secretary general is already jostling to play an important part.

(ii)                That the president may not seek another term

b)      The damage on the Mr. Clean is done through this deal

(i)                  He is no longer  suitable for public office

(ii)                He needs to recover his reputation

To answer the first hypothesis, scroll up and read the preceding 17 paragraphs again. That done?  Now, to add onto that, consider this. The army commander, General Nyakairima, while addressing an association of university guild presidents was quoted in the media to have said that the army will respect the choice of the people in the forthcoming general elections.  Then yesterday, he was quoted to have said that the army would not support wrong elements, should they assume the high office. All this said within hours of each other while the NSSF broth is raging.

But wait a minute, is it not a favorite pastime of the NRM bigwigs to pass the opposition off as a party of worthless liars, saboteurs, anarchists?  So, what is the army commander telling us?  Rationalise a little bit.  Sigh and think.  Now.  Read. We will accept your election of someone from a certain party.  And, the good secretary general makes the billing, does he not?  He is not a wrong element, but part and parcel of the revolution that spawned UPDF and bore, bred and nurtured General Nyakairima and his chiefs.

In hypothesis number two, we see a flurry of activities to cleanse Mr. Clean.  First a comment in the press when this saga begun to take centre stage in our media.  The Secreatry General said, he needed the money to buy out some shareholders in the National Bank of Commerce.  So he owned up to the deal and we surely should see that it is a willing buyer, willing seller scenario.  But, some players in the NSSF land deal are said to be shareholders in the bank.  Rumours suggest, that Finance minister and Mr. Amos Nzeyi are directors in this; which spins a most interesting yarn.  That a clique of powerful power-broker shareholders, in a private bank are about to transfer a huge amount of workers savings into their enterprise.  Anyway, we need another day to deal with this new scenario.

Do we not see any influence peddling? As clearly as a sunny morning the media reports paints that picture.  Second in the line of defence is a sideshow from the Managing director of Akright Projects, a real estate company that claimed to have offered to buy the land at Temangalo at 28 million UGX per acre.  You see, ARMA Ltd did not overcharge NSSF as it declined a better offer from Mr. Alex Kamugisha. 

But you have to question Mr. Kamugisha on this; crying more than the bereaved or a case of crying over spilled milk?  Once a deal is lost, surely you do not call a press conference to bemoan your loss? The premise of this sideshow ought to be elsewhere, probably cleaning an image that is atrophying or is it atrophied???? Very putrid and disgusting!  Remember, any news on this scandal is carried on all national media; print, electronic, radio, television, word of mouth every time at prime news time.  The reverberation spreads far and wide and impropriety or more importantly, the lack of impropriety is known as far as much to the net effect of cleaning the mould.

Last weekend, in the Sunday Vision, it was the turn of Minister of finance to cleanse the bad odour.  He spoke exclusively to the reporter of Sunday Vision, explaining his approval of the proposal to buy the Temangalo land.  The blame for any wrong doing lies elsewhere and not the Finance ministry. Oh! There was nothing wrong really. As the procedures were followed, the job was done.  But you have to ask, for the Fund to shift to the ministry of finance for oversight, surely, surely, the minister must not only approve proposals from management, but question and veto where necessary, in public interest.  As it is, the Finance minister failed the public; klutzy is what they were.  He should have vetoed this deal.

Reading the Q&A, certainly there was no wrong doing.  The minister did his job.  But a shoddy job at it.  But a good job at clearing the bad air about the deal.  All this posturing helps the Secretary General and it should. Should it not? 

About two weeks ago, when it became obvious that this story will make a long and winding presence in the media, we read a brief to the auditor general, first from The Red Paper and The New Vision.  It was written by the management of NSSF explaining the circumstances that led to the purchase of the land at Wakiso.  We learnt why exceptions were made in this deal so that there was no competitive bidding; the opinion of real estate valuers, paid by Fund was lost, even when the three of them returned less than UGX 20 million per acre for this land; why the advise of the legal counsel was ignored, or rather that the legal counsel is actually retained to advise the client (the Fund).  That is a handful, and a mouthful already.

So will the good Minister of security resign as he promised to the parliamentary caucus, if his impropriety is proved?  If the suggestion from General Saleh is a tall order, he should look no further than across the front bench….., up to Major General Kahinda Otafiire who once almost killed somebody. 

Back in the late 80s’, about 1988, Otafiire was riled by the wife of a senior colleague.  Ota fire (you’ll die).  He whipped out his .000 calibre spitfire and (……) did not squeeze the trigger.   That was a precedent.  For that grave offence, the minister resigned from cabinet.  Of course he made it back into cabinet in the next cabinet reshuffle. But that is quite an example.  No nonsense people match their words with deeds. 

The secretary general is a no nonsense man.  We all know that. He should just resign.  He should not wait to be pushed. For the rewards of valour is huge. And a revolutionary he is. He will reap big time.  He will shore his standing in the Ugandan psyche that will stand him in good stead as the race for the top job hots up.  He will reclaim his very important face and be suitable for the highest office.

We must ponder the bad luck that wafts from honey.  NSSF holds our honey.  All sorts of predators are keen on their share of the booty. Our funds. Where does this leave the savers?  Me and you and our future?  I think we must find some answers.  There have been too many questions. We need a stronger board, with workers and employers representatives on board the board.  We must shift the supervision of the Fund to parliament.  Or we must break this monopoly? Oopen up the industry to competition and let the true forces of demand and supply determine a successfully company.

We must remove the temptation of government or powerful interest groups from dipping their hands in the honey pot.  We must delineate the precious workers’ money from the fiddling hands of politics.

National Social Security Fund was established by an act of parliament in 1985 to provide social security to the workers of Uganda. The Fund has grown from workers contributions into a monolith in the country. The life insurance sub-sector in Uganda is constricted by the law establishing NSSF that it is now time for this segment to flourish in the sun. If the sentiments about the NSSF’s monopoly are rife, sooner than later, for the good of Uganda’s workers, we should break this monopoly.

There have been too many concerns about the safety of workers savings year in year out. How long can this possibly go on? When NSSF bought UDYAM house from Mehta group, there were murmurs in some quarters about impropriety in this deal. Earlier than that, in the ‘90s a row erupted between NSSF and Alcon contractors about the quality of the Workers House then under construction; a case still in court but recent news suggesting NSSF want to settle out court to a tune of UGX 31 billion. The management of NSSF is in the eyes of the storm again for buying to the tune of 11 billion Uganda shillings (over 6 million dollars) land in Temangalo, Wakiso District.

This deal comes three years after a similar one in Nsimbe Estates in Mpigi district involving property mogul Isabirye Mugoya which roused such a tumult that the entire NSSF board was expelled, the chairman and the MD fired and tried, the line minister committed to court as well and; the company moved from ministry of Labour to that of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. As the President told parliament, “for better supervision”.
 
A new board was constituted and, a new Managing Director selected to be deputized by a technocrat and veteran politician, Mondo Kagonyera; we gasped and looked forward to better times for our funds. Thankfully, we thought, two years down the road, the Fund had thrown off the mud and turned round to post over 100 billion shillings in profits as reported in the statement of accountability last month. In a subsequent press conference, a booming Managing Director, Chandi Jamwa announced a 14% interest on savings. We should be proud, should we not?

The fund has been doing business quite aggressively as the results have shown. They have invested in the hospitality industry in excess of USD 30 million. As listed companies have shown us, there is money to be made at the stock exchange. Everyone is making money at the stock exchange lately so that we should laud the exploits of the Fund. They actively trade in the stock exchange, mopping up government bonds and other securities; such that at the end of the accounting year, the Fund gets dividends. And! The monthly contributions. Yes, there is this monstrous painful monthly mandatory deduction that is filed into NSSF accounts from millions of employees.

So it is a happy day at NSSF. A lot skip the eye, and I should say, the mind. But some things are not doing well at the Fund. First, a personal experience that tells tale about this fund. Three years ago NSSF upgraded its data systems and required members to visit the nearest branch to get on the new platform, by taking biometric pictures and signing new papers to get a new card. I did that at the Workers building on Pilkington road within the deadline and wished for a statement. I could not access my account to get a statement, as I was told by one beauty at counter. Try in two months as the upgrading is ongoing. So I went back in three months and, yes you guessed right, no statement. Now, when I finally got my statement almost a year down the road, it is missing entries for some months, a frightful number of months; and the customer care guys curtly told me to return in August. That was in March. I have not gotten back. But I will.

The fund is managed by a former partner of the prestigious audit firm, PriceWaterHouseCoopers, an accomplished accountant with the credentials to run a company at the highest level. His deputy is a professor of entomology and a former government minister and ruling party functionary. At 36 years, Chandi Jamwa is young and exuberant, and very daring.

The land in Temangalo was bought from Arma ltd, a company owned by the secretary general of the ruling party (NRMO) and the powerful minister of security in the government who is seen in many circles as the man most suitable to succeed the president of the Republic of Uganda at some point. He is remembered for admonishing Kizza Besigye for the bad habit of queue jumping.

Last week, the Managing Director of Arkright Projects, a real estate company in town called a press conference to complain that NSSF beat it to the deal in Temangalo at a cheaper rate of 24 million Uganda Shillings per acre. Oh! Mr. Anatoli Kamugisha has actually proposed to buy this land at an extra million per acre from the fund. So when the minister has a nagging problem in a local business, National Bank of Commerce where he is director, his solution is to raise resources through a deal with a public company supervised by his co-director; the minister of finance.

That is a crazy thought; it just occurred to me. But the Hon. Minister of Security is no mere citizen; he is ahead of the queue to the job to run this country. Are we now seeing another development in the succession battle? Three years is short time in politics. We will delve deeper in politics of succeeding Kaguta and the power plays in this NSSF saga soon.

Let’s instead delve into Buganda folklore. A long, long time ago, the kings of Buganda (bassekabaka ba Buganda) were buried 10 miles from Kampala, a place we know as Wakiso (read kiso for knife); and it is claimed that the hands of the late king would be chopped (temangalo – read cut the hand). It is amazing how NSSF and its associates in this land deal could ignore this folklore; for knives are sharpening.