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Ugandan Diaspora vote

January 24, 2011 By
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Ugandan Diaspora vote

http://www.petitiononline.com/OurVote/petition.html

The first Uganda Diaspora solidarity convention UK was held in 2008 chaired by Mr Sam Lubega. It was attended by key note speakers like Prof Walimba and the then Kenyan High Commissioner, H. E Joseph Muchemi.  The audience consisted of persons from all walks of life.  This was on a background of years of dissatisfaction amongst Ugandans living in the Diaspora UK  on the issue about having a right to participate in the voting processes in Uganda or their respective homelands. This grievance is not only restricted to the UK Diaspora alone.

So far almost a dozen African countries including Burkina Faso, Mali and South Africa allow their citizens living abroad to cast their votes. And Ghana and Morocco are in the process of giving their expats the same rights. But in 2000, Zimbabwe stripped its nationals living abroad of their right to vote.  That’s a story for another time…

Background insight. In 2010, Rwanda faced its presidential elections which could be seen as a pace-setter for the rest of the East African Community and Africa at large. The Rwanda Electoral Commission and government allowed their nationals in the Diaspora to exercise their fundamental rights to vote.   In the same year, a proposal was put to the Uganda Parliament and Electoral Commission (EC) to make provisions for Ugandans in the Diaspora to exercise their constitutional right to cast their votes from their respective locations as absentee voters.  The suggested criteria to EC to do this were very simple and fraud-proof: Only Ugandans with valid Ugandan passports and those who have naturalised into the citizenry of the adopted country of residents should be allowed to vote. The second suggestion was to set up a Uganda Diaspora Electoral desk in Kampala. But with the Eng Badru Kiggundu led EC apparently mired in chasing its own credibility shadows, it looks set to be that Diaspora Ugandans may never even register on the EC radar. Thing is, there are some Ugandan Diaspora who do vote – much depends on which party the vote is for!

A number of hypotheses may explain EC’s silence on Diaspora Ugandans voting. First of all, since the NRM party has the majority in Parliament, the onus of passing a Bill to affect this solely rests on the ruling party. As separate opinion polls by The Daily Monitor and New Vision newspaper (government owned paper) put NRM ahead of opposition parties if votes had been cast last September 2010, this may have given the ruling party the impression that they can win the 2011 elections without the Diaspora votes.

Secondly, there is a general perception among ruling party leaders that Diaspora Ugandans are unpatriotic and agents of opposition parties.

This misconception may have evolved from a number of anti NRM/Museveni demonstrations by Ugandan nationals in European and US cities in recent past during some of President Museveni’s foreign trips.

The ability to vote or not should never be pegged to desired expectations of a particular political group or individual.

So why is it that the Diaspora Ugandans are without official or Ministerial representation? One might refer the answer as lying with the Ugandan High commissions or embassies abroad – however this would make the issue become too convoluted and or too simple.  If there is one thing one comes to learn when doing business or dealing with the Ugandan diplomatic missions is that theory is a far cry from practice. The answer might be that since most Ugandan political leaders are “uncomfortable” with public demonstrations and take them to be a sign of opposition, instead of citizens having the right to express their constitutionally mandated opinion, the possibility of branding majority of Diaspora Ugandans as “opposition elements” cannot be ruled out.  You might well ask – but what of the opposition politicians in Uganda.

Where do political parties in Uganda stand on the Diaspora vote? Two of the prominent opposition members and indeed the incumbent presidential leader Yoweri Museveni, Mao and Besigye have at some point in their lives been part of the Diaspora.

Yoweri Museveni Ruling NRM and incumbent – as cited previously, they do not believe it is necessary to have the Diaspora vote as they feel confident in winning without it. To the NRM party it would appear – the Diaspora vote is more of a hindrance than a priority.

Kiiza Besigye:  The Inter-Party Cooperation announced that Kiiza Besigye, leader of the Forum for Democratic Change, had been chosen to take on President Museveni in elections this coming February. Besigye ran against Museveni in 2006 and 2001.  In 2006, he officially won 37% of the vote, though there were allegations of vote-rigging and intimidation. No mention of Diaspora vote.

Olara Otunnu Despite efforts to unite the opposition, the Uganda People’s Congress pulled out of the coalition on Monday over a dispute on the Electoral Commission, and Olara Otunnu will continue to run for the presidency. No mention of Diaspora vote.

Norbert Mao There is no question Mr. Mao has demonstrated a cunning ability to garner the most followers on Facebook more than any other Ugandan politician. And this is not because he is the youngest, but because he is the most adept and fully engaging politician on this new social networking platform. This palpable ambience resonates among his followers. Albeit his stint at one of the world’s greatest academic institutes (Yale -USA) cannot equate to similar time as those above him were resident out of Uganda, still there is no clear definition on the Diaspora vote in his current manifesto mandate aside from promising to engage in forums that could utilise the legal framework of bringing it about.

Where does this leave the Ugandan Diaspora? The burning issue that remains amongst some Ugandan Diasporians heightened over the recent couple of months leading up to the presidential elections which are taking place, has been their  denied right and access to voting.   In addition to the reasons cited about, the fact remains that the Ugandan economy is heavily subsidised by those in the Diaspora.  Irrespective of official government figures that put the net percentage to 1/3 in direct equivalent to that also received from donors, the reality is actually much higher I suspect.  Why? In summation right now, one need to realise that not all funds come through official channels of identifying as reported by the Bank of Uganda (BOU).  Persons at times take funds on their persons directly or use other channels of money transfer which offer them better personal dividends from that accorded by official channels like the bank.

Examples of Ugandan Diaspora’s impact on the Ugandan economy

  • Building industry.  Many houses have been built by Diaspora persons funding.  This has resulted in jobs for the average person.
  • Healthcare industry. Private owned clinics and hospitals benefit from visiting Diaspora in addition to sustained funding for relatives on ground in light of lack of a national healthcare programme other than charitable organisations.  Healthcare from non-government owned hospitals or clinic (where regulated) in most cases tends to be better and in some instances has seen an increasing number of Uganda Diaspora seeking to utilise it more.
  • Education industry. Ugandan Diaspora contribution to school fees (family support) alongside donor agencies and international charity organisation in comparison to government investment in this industry is not something to be scoffed at or brushed aside as a non-entity.  I would estimate this percentage to be at 75% if not more given first-hand experience such as close to my own family support given to extended relatives at home.  For example a brother of mine spends over £10,000 in fees for 2 nieces and 1 nephews a year who in theory should be on government sponsorship.  We also have have to bear the heavy tax burden for doing so in addition of also being responsible to our immediate committments in our adoptive country.
  • Export and Import industry. Most Ugandan owned business (indigenous persons) find it “challenging” to access government owned programmes by financing companies – but instead look to external support for their start up capital.  In addition, and just as important, Ugandans abroad do a lot of networking with various agencies to assist and support projects that can be replicated and or sustained with Uganda – something that in theory should be done through Embassies or High commissions.
  • Entertainment industry. The financial support given to entertainers from Uganda is immense with promoters for this industry now operating predominantly from out of Uganda.

I might have left out some areas where Uganda Diaspora contributes greatly to warrant a case for recognition and value that could even be cited as a human rights abuse to the International courts!  Albeit, surely the above would more than enough for the Ugandan parliament and her ministers to agree on a ruling that allows her citizen abroad to exercise this right.

What we need first is the recognition that those in the Diaspora are making a significant contribution to the Ugandan economy.  We need a voice and representation in government, and to allow us to exercise our right to vote transparently without favour to a given political pressure but for the progressive development that benefits Ugandans as a whole.  Lack or failure to engage Ugandan parliament/government leads some of us to consider taking steps such as ones below.

  • Sanctions.
  • Combined lobbying of both passive and active targeting donors to withdraw their “donations” combined with sanctions.

The challenge lies in the Uganda Diaspora finding a unifying cause they can all agree upon as each person has their reasons for being out of the country and might not put much value to carrying out a sacrifice that defeats their reasons for being abroad.  Indeed some are out of the country because of political persecution and the very idea of having to register their whereabouts to the very regime they are escaping or hiding from fills them with horror.  However, the great majority is out of the country because of “economical ill-health” and thus need to be able to continue to work from abroad to support their families who the Ugandan government has failed.  In addition, they may be illegally residing where they are in the Diaspora that even accessing debating forums or information that can alleviate their situation is not a priority.

Either way – We the Uganda Diaspora inadvertently perpetuates the continued cycle of dependency and exploitation which keeps the status quo and indeed contributes to the very regime that milks us indirectly.  We are the bridging gap or “filler” in-between the non-election months when all the election gifts have dried up.

Perhaps the Uganda Diaspora should quit wanting to change things on ground for those who by their voting hand continue to show they are “happy with things as they are” and instead focus on integrating in their respective adopted countries.  The sacrifice Uganda Diaspora makes in order to ensure their relatives are taken care of impacts on their own lifestyles and relationships towards their immediate family members and career development abroad.   For starters – the identity of Ugandan youths borne out in the Diaspora is a major concern to me…

Filed Under: AFRICAN DIASPORA, African Politics, Grace Nakate, Latest, Out of Africa Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buganda’s celebrated dining

December 13, 2010 By
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My first encounter with this celebrated dish (luwombo = steamed or casserole, in banana leaves) happened about 24yrs ago. What I actually mean by this, is that it was the very first time an opportunity presented to me to actually participate in preparing such a revered dish within the tribe I hail from in Uganda.If I may say, the end product is one whereby the banana leaves intensely flavour everything, no other seasoning is necessary. The beef is soft and pliable, but still chewy, not a stew, but a steamed meat with peanut sauce dish.

I had flown to Uganda to mark the wedding of my then to be sister-in-law.  I have to say I didn’t take in much of the preparation tutorial – simply because I was more excited by all other traditional ceremonies taking place and ended up leaving it to my elderly tutor to finish off my task.    This dish I recall in vague recollection of my early childhood at the two big gathering I attended  was mostly served to elders and mostly men, the females tended to have the vegetarian version of it if served.  My mum (adoptive) did away with tradition on most things as it were and on occasion had this dish prepared for her in all dietary takes whilst we still resided in Uganda.  I only learnt later on in my teens whilst here in London that it was initially a dish for men mainly.

It wasn’t until I returned to Uganda much later on in 2006 that I actually was put through the ropes of preparing this dish by my brother’s wife at our ancestral home. My brother’s wife is simply amazing and hopefully I will share more stories of what I have learnt from her.  First of all she took me through to the banana plantation to obtain the banana leaf I would need.  Then showed me how to prepare this leaf (usually a smaller of the larger leaves) ahead of placing the mixture inside it.  As with most things, practice makes perfect and preparation of most traditional dishes I found took more than just throwing stuff in a pan, tossing it around whilst adding various ingredients before adding stock and letting it simmer… Did I mention, we prepared all this on an open fire which had to be lit from scratch?

To simplify this is what luwombo is about.

Oluwombo or Luwombo is a traditional dish from Uganda. It is both a classic dish of royal dinners and a dish popular throughout Uganda, especially at holiday time.

It is often said that oluwombo dates to 1887 when, during the reign of Kabaka Mwanga, the dish was introduced by his chief cook, Kawunta.   The basic banana-leaf cooking method has been common across tropical Africa for centuries and is also much used wherever bananas or plantains are grown.

It can be made with beef, chicken, goat, pork, or mushrooms.

What you need

  • cooking oil
  • beef, chicken, goat, or pork (any one or two or more in combination), cut into serving-sized pieces
  • peanuts/groundnut paste (roasted, shells and skins removed) or peanut butter (natural, unsweetened), about a half-cup per serving (optional)
  • onion, chopped (half an onion per serving)
  • tomatoes, peeled if desired, chopped (one tomato per serving)
  • tomato paste (one tablespoon per serving)
  • one chicken or beef bouillon cube (optional)
  • salt (to taste)
  • black pepper (to taste)
  • banana leaves (one per serving)
  • mushrooms, cleaned (optional)
  • smoked fish or meat (optional)
  • plantains (one per serving)

What you do

  • In a hot, lightly-oiled skillet or on a hot outdoor grill, briefly cook meat until it is browned but not done. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • If you are using peanuts:
    Crush or grind the peanuts with a potato-masher, rolling pin or with a mortar and pestle.
  • Heat a spoonful of oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook for a minute. Then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, bouillon cube, salt, pepper (or other spices) and crushed peanuts or peanut butter. If necessary, add water to make a smooth sauce. Cook briefly until it is heated completely.
  • Briefly heat the banana leaves over the grill or in a hot oven. (Heating the banana leaves makes them more flexible.) Remove some of the fibers from the central rib of the each leaf — these will be used to tie the leaf-packets closed (or use kitchen string).
  • Place a portion of meat and some of the tomato-onion sauce (and mushrooms and smoked meat or fish, if desired) in the center of a leaf. Fold the leaf in from the sides, drawing all the sides together, being careful not to break the leaf. Tie tightly closed at the top. Cut off any extra leaf above the tie. Repeat until all the leaves have been filled. Use any extra leaf to double wrap the packets.
  • Place a wire rack (or similar) in the bottom of a large Dutch oven or similar cooking pot. Add water to fill the pot up to the bottom of the rack. Place the banana-leaf packets on the rack. Cover and bring to a boil on the stove (or better yet) over the grill or an open fire. Steam the packets for an hour or longer. Add water to the cooking pot as necessary to prevent it from becoming dry.
  • To serve: Remove the plantains from their packets and lightly mash with a fork. Top with the meat and sauce. This can be done before serving, at the table, or each diner can be provided with a both a plantain packet and a meat packet.

Plantains cooked unpeeled are a popular staple dish in Uganda.

Mushrooms and peanuts (without meat) can be cooked together luwombo style. Unfortunately the full flavour is lost when conventional cooking is used over the electric hob or gas cooker – firewood would appear to encompass the whole process of building the overall character of the dish as well as flavour.

Oluwombo can also be made without pre-cooking the meat and sauce before they are wrapped. The steaming time should increased to well over two hours.

Filed Under: African Food, Grace Nakate, Latest, Out of Africa, Popular posts Tagged With: , , , ,

The real issues with healthcare in Uganda

November 1, 2010 By
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“Student dies during tooth extraction in Iganga. Electric shock used as anaesthesia!” – read a status on one of my associate friends off a social web page.  My initial take was to laugh at the black humour of the statement but just as I laughed I also started to get quite angry at myself.  This was manslaughter down to medical negligence and a parent(s), sibling(s) was mourning the life lost…

Not long earlier on in the day I had read yet another status comment on the deplorable situation of patients in another hospital in another part of Uganda’s hospitals – Mengo.  This was talking about the suffering of TB patients amongst all else…The comments which followed on to that statement left me sick to my stomach at how low human life is graded and to question how persons have come to loose empathy for others to such an extent where they make such callous remarks in the face of real suffering.  Such comments are not restricted to persons in cyber space who most often use pseudo-names to hide their identities in order not to be held accountable for what they type.

Such comments I’ve often heard healthcare workers on ground speak openly on my walkabouts whilst in Uganda.   For instance it is not unusual for a labouring woman in the throes of giving birth to have one hand holding on to a packet of cash (in what should be a free hospital) that will ensure the midwives around give her the attention she requires.  Without this, the woman better pray she has no complications that would hinder her giving birth naturally without much assistance from the so-called professional medical staff present.  On occasion, I’ve witnessed trauma victims arrive at the national hospital (Mulago) and if lacking in private funds, not get seen by a medical officer until almost a day following their admission- at which point, they are critical or dead.  It would appear to be an accepted fact amongst a great deal of the public that if one is taken to Mulago – it is like signing their death warrant.  And as the comments reflected on the posting made by someone passing through a TB ward found out, the general take is “…so what if they die – would they be the first to go? Or such as “…they die –make way for others to live, after all, there’s too many of us around anyway!” are often common retorts.  Empathy is definitely not something some health professionals keep in their brief.  It is little wonder that one 45yr old cancer suffer (Joshua Kato) decided to end his life at Mulago after being frustrated by all he saw around him in late September of this year!

Returning back to my opening and for those not familiar, Iganga is a rural town in eastern Uganda.   Of recent this sub-county has also made headlines far reaching internationally albeit not for good news, but for the re-emergence of an infestation of jiggers .  The irony of this is that when the story first broke out nationally, as has been the norm, plenty of well-to-do or seemingly educated individuals tried to hush it up as they saw it as an embarrassment whilst others blamed the sufferers for what they saw as deserved results of their (sufferers) ignorance or stupidity.  However, by bringing such an issue to the foe and perhaps also because of the current presidential elections that are taking afoot and are at a fever pitch, government officials were forced to act.  Whatever their motives, I for one I’m glad that at long last such health issues as these which affect the everyday person on ground more than what the cabinet ministers demand for four wheel drives etc… for whatever else their priority in being elected to office is.

Now the student that died whilst having dental treatment brings yet another long-term problem within the healthcare system in Uganda observed on many of my trips over there.  Malpractice, albeit now starting to be addressed, (http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/706834 5 medics arrested over illegal practice) has been prevalent in most government run institutions across the board.  However this is not to say private-run clinics too are safe havens!  I once had to deal with a nephew of mine who had the tip of his finger cut off by a bogus nurse at a privately operated clinic simply because she thought it would cure the abscess that had developed.  She realised what she’d done and made a run for it before any investigations or charges could be made.  Sadly – my guess is that this nurse went to set up shop in another area where her past was not known…This kind of thing happens most of the time because there are no regulatory laws in place for healthcare workers to be monitored or even held on registration and accountability. Hence you get someone who may have been a porter in hospital for a brief spell setting up a clinic and claiming to be a doctor or a nurse prescribing and treating persons or should I say, murdering them.

Also if regulations were to be set up, chances are pretty high, corruption would eat in to the system, however this is not to say regulations wouldn’t be welcomed as a starting point of a legal framework at least.  It starts from the very top of governance where the big cats siphon off large shares of what is allocated, and it spreads out like a virus to the small cats.  The practice of corruption of this nature has been ignored for decades by a succession of governance – only to be touched upon in political rhetoric during electioneering by the incumbent government officials who no sooner than the vote is cast go back to business as usual. There are many challenges still to overcome on a lot of levels.

Corruption and poor governance are both a cause of poverty and a barrier to overcoming it. Poor governance undermines poverty alleviation efforts and increases the risk that funds intended for social spending are lost, misused, or misallocated. Where transparency and accountability mechanisms are weak or lacking, the needs of the poor are marginalised and development outcomes in basic service sectors such as education, health, and water suffer. Systems of checks and balances, including civil society monitoring, need to be strengthened to reduce such abuses of power and diversion of funds for private interest.

Filed Under: Africa Matters, African Development, African Politics, Grace Nakate, Out of Africa Tagged With: , , ,

Is black history month becoming a rhetoric?

October 13, 2010 By
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Black History MonthBlack history month! For some years now I personally find this has become rhetoric, not least helped by the current dissafection of persons in the world globally.

Every year in the weeks leading up to the month of October if you have children in school, all you get to read from the school letters shortly after the autumn term has started in September, is Black History month, prompting you to submit something or other towards’ a showcase of being black or citing an influential Black person that can yet again be fed to presumably unsuspecting school children.  Bearing in mind, your kids have been attending school with these very same Anglo-Saxon/white children since they could recite the alphabet or Beatrix Potter books. Nobody has yet stopped to ask why there isn’t an Asian history month by the way… just Black.

I am not sure if it is something aligned with the education system in a sense that they have to appear to be seen to do “something”  or “anything”  in order to pacify or tick off some boxes for political correctness .  Not sure what is worse, the past years before Black History month was recognised and/or after it became the “New Age” thingy within the mainstream education system.  At times I wonder if being black or the evidence of being black along with the challenges that a person in a black skin faces, only comes to light in the weeks just before October.  I mean, I’ve been black since I can remember being on this planet and so have my children – so why wait until a given month to acknowledge this fact?  Why does the October month take precedence over my existence over the rest of the months in the year when I meet with all sorts of challenges which in effect have to wait until October to be showcased, or draw upon a famous Black historian or personality to give it credit or providence?  In some aspects the challenges are compounded by the colour of my skin but that’s not to say they are unique to just me as a black individual. Must it be like the old ages when an artist had to die first in order to be recognised?  The stubborn gene in me reacts against such…

Let’s for instance take the example of looking for rental property. True, as a black person, getting accommodation within the council cannot be equated to that of my white counterpart, it is especially challenging were I to be male and black.  Getting to rent a place as a single black male is not easy I can testify to.  Many a times, I’ve had to pretend to be an intending cohabitant to a male friend in order to get him a place to rent privately.  To ensure he got the place, I had to set aside time to go with him or in his stead and talk nicely to the owners… yes life can be doubly tough for a black male in these parts of the “developed world”.  It is little wonder most are often signed off as being schizophrenic! Sadly the drugs given them, just compound the situation and result in eventually inducing them to become ga-ga.   Returning to the point I was trying to make, an Asian person will not have difficulty renting a place simply because most property is owned by Asian landlords or that Asian person will most likely bunk with family until they raise the necessary capital to buy their own property.  Belive me on this. The back garden  or quientencential rose black British garden is a thing of the past – it has become an extension to the main house in most areas of Britain. Chances are also high; being Asian, that person will be housed and employed within the “family business” in that shop that sells you grocery or sweat-shop you never quite get to see, in some part of UK. Something which is lacking in the black community where we get too busy reporting on each other’s immigration status or otherwise.

Returning to my black brothers and history: It is little wonder some opt to marry our white sisters in order to speed up or avoid society headaches.  That’s not saying much for the black footballers…they are just working through hormonal issues coupled with varying insecurities.

For the last 35yrs I’ve lived here in the UK, I have met with all sorts of ignorance about my skin colour, race, assumed stupidity etc…, country and continent and that’s not mentioning the fact that I happen to be of small stature and raising three kids on my own which most often gets confused to that of me being a teenage black girl spewing out kids at every god-given opportunity whilst relying on state benefits.   In the past this often earned me dirty looks from the predominantly white folks when using public transport ferrying my kids to school etc… I guess it fulfilled the tabloid reports of single black teenagers who did nothing but smoke weed, have kids in order to get council accommodation yet be able to dole them selves out in designer outfits with matching jewellery, nowadays commonly known as” bling”. (I often have to remember the web search engine of the similar name to keep abreast of the changes.) Now whilst battling the tabloid induced stereotypes of my being black and copiously draining the welfare state of fringe benefits that should only be legit to white folks or afro-Caribbean – yes, some if not most Afro Caribbean folks also suffer from left over issues  about slavery and Africans in general , I had the added battle of my so-called African heritage.  My own African folk gave me just as much hell but in a different measure. I just didn’t understand my folk nor behaved as expected but I’ve long given up the ghost having come to terms with the personality that I am.  Ye siree!  Whilst I’d initially walked under the umbrella of being Afro-Caribbean at the time when being African was not seen to be cool, nor on the ethnic minority section of forms which sly put across “to tick where appropriate”.  See this is another interesting chapter.  Ethnic minority.  Now that’s a term that makes me truly ponder.  If being in the minority; and we are considered ethnic, we sure do give a lot of problems to the white majority in how they rate what goes out to apparently appease us.  I have long come to the realisation that being ethnic equates expense or something expensive but not mentioned outright in the same sentence – just hinted at alongside the charity column.

So when all the publicity about the October month being Black History comes to the fore, I often ask  myself, is it only in October that as a Black race we  need reminding of who is who to keep us in perpetual hope that we still factor in the global stakes?  Perhaps I’m crazy, but I would be of the school of thought that encourages our children to aspire to positive role models in whatever race whilst also maintaining and appreciating  their genetic skin tones in their everyday experiences to equate balance of the rainbows of the human race.  This brings me to another contraversial topic of sking toning. Whilst we spend the most part of October acknowleging past and present Black historians etc…, we fail at some level to address some of the everyday issues such as the inferiority complexities that lead most of our black children or people  to bleach their skins in order to fit into the perceived requirements for beauty, perpetuated by peers and media houses - globally.  We exist as a race and should be able to command our own market that trains or educates in order to service our race instead of perpetual reliance on consumerism.  As a resident within UK faced with the floodgates of Eastern Europeans coming into Britain versus black children/population in competition for jobs etc, is it not time to rethink our strategies on the future of our offsprings as opposed to trailing the Black history exercise yearly?

Perhaps we ought to be doing or undertaking  something beneficial and practical to our Black communities in acknoweledgement of our history.

Filed Under: Africa Matters, AFRICAN DIASPORA, Grace Nakate, Ida Horner Tagged With: , , , ,

The Peacock Effect

September 13, 2010 By
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As a child, I recall the peacock bird as one that got all the attention due to its beautiful display of its feathers and elegant stance.  Male peacocks display their iridescent feathers for prospective female mates. Females may check out the feathers of a number of different males before deciding on a suitor. The length and quality of a male peacock’s feathers can indicate his age, vigor, and status.

As human beings we appear to imitate or display similar actions to animals or birds – yet most often than not when such comparisons are made, it is akeen to being insulted.  Having outgrown the zoo-trips to watch the carry-ons of animals or birds, I progressed on to the human theatre of observation.  Most of you that have watched cabaret shows or attended carnival displays would probably see the influence the peacock has had on the design for costumes worn. However these were and remain artists and this is their job to keep the audience captivated by both their beauty and the beautiful display on show.

I admire the beauty of the peacock bird in itself, for the reasons it goes about displaying its feathers is primarily for self preservation – to attract a mate.  This said, I also enjoy the carnival costumes and cabaret performances in their respective format.  It is when human individuals take to a kind of addiction to what I’ve come to see as a peacock effect that I start to ponder if their actions are based on inner insecurity or something else altogether.

The BBC went on a documentary trip to Nigeria a couple of months back and returned with a fascinating if not poignant and quite enlightening programme on life as seen through the eyes of ordinary Nigerians living in various sections of Nigeria.  I saw a different kind of Nigeria which made me fall in love with the people and the country as I’d never could have imagined. Many times in the past, all I’d come to know about Nigerians was from the many movies that come out of Nollywood depicting mostly very wealthy Nigerians in huge mansions that you never quite get to learn how they made their millions, versus those who are obsessed with witchcraft in all shapes and forms.  Very little wonder therefore for those who take what they see in the movies to try to imitate. It was very refreshing to see the human spirit hard at work in places I would have passed by or even written off as just derelict and worthless.  It was a moving documentary because it did not show these persons as looking to just put out begging bowls, but proud persons, contented persons; in the life they’d been dealt to live and hassling to realise their dreams.

Esther's residence

Still Home

One thing in common did keep coming out though – the need to look good and show off.  I observe that the need to show off or impress, akeen to what a peacock does, was not limited to just those who were wealthy or residing abroad in developed countries.  The kind one cannot help but notice at social gatherings or functions trying to out-do each other on who drives the best or latest model of car, who owns the flashiest jewellery, home interiors, clothes , the list is endless. It appears to be a form of identity that I am yet to fully grasp the meaning.  It was somewhat in contrast to the exposure I’d had from the culture I had grown up in where wealthy persons are discreet about their incomes or wealth; the exception being of course in regards to pop or music icons/celebrities in the entertainment business.  It was normal for instance for people considered within the brackets of wealthy means or rich,  to use public transport; or even see them riding bicycles or walking.  If anything, being wealthy in some parts of the developed nations makes a person more determined to  minimise attention to themselves from the public.
Mike EzraIn Africa, to be wealthy it would appear that you have to show and constantly put it on display, kind like a peacock.  This came to light with a citizien in Uganda who felt the need to display $3million to a media audience in the hope perhaps of alleviating those who were concerned his wealthy status was becoming a contentious issue.

Yet I find myself asking this: In the midst of such abject poverty in our continent where the gap between poor and rich becoming so wide, is it in good taste to carry on with this peacock attitude?

Filed Under: Africa Matters, African Culture, African People, Grace Nakate, Latest, Out of Africa Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Diasporian marriages ending in divorce

August 5, 2010 By
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Being a queen for the day as a bride is almost every little girl’s dream. At least that was the case 40yrs back…Nowadays, the dream is that of appearing on any reality show going, as a shortcut to fame – at any cost. I was of the school of belief that soon as I’d qualified in my nursing studies, the next step was to get a work placement, marry and have children then return to working full time; and in that very order. All I had to do was find a fitting candidate that would be acceptable to my goals of what was expected from me. I didn’t spare much thought for the reasons of the candidate’s acceptance of my offer – he basically opted to exploit what was availed him.

I still have fond memories of my adoptive Dad even after they had divorced with my adoptive Mum. (I would just like to remind you – I had been adopted by my biological paternal aunt from the age of 2. Both my biological mother and father are very much alive) In my childhood eyes I felt like my world was disrupted when I returned from boarding school in my first term holiday to find that Dad was no longer living with us. I couldn’t cuddle him or be spoilt by him anymore – he appeared to have just vanished off the face of the earth. I didn’t see him again until much later prior to his death when he visited London. Sadly, I’d lost any connection with him by then. I guess this is what drove me to ensure my children have free access to their father no matter how much I personally would’ve preferred to migrate to Australia and cut off ties with him. I had missed my dad or a father figure – even though I loved my mum dearly, and did not wish that my children should ever experience that sense of loss because of divorce.

Following the divorce or separation, mum had moved house and we now lived in a flat in town next door to some white persons that kept a monkey for a pet. I found it strange…monkeys were the bain of my school life at primary. They were definitely not the cute pet that this family had – no, the monkeys at my boarding school could often be very horrid. You see we had a borehole near the school, but use of this was limited. On the very special occasions when it was unlocked for rations to all, there had been a tendency to use the borehole as a cage-fighting venue that in the end access to the borehole ceased to exit. This meant that we had to head down to the well located in a forest which was about 6miles downhill from the school, hence the confrontation with monkeys who felt they had every right to tease and torture us. We had taken to washing ourselves by the well to save on the water we would eventually have to fetch and carry back to school. The monkeys would wait until we had soaped ourselves all over, including our shaven heads and face, before pouncing. Sneakily they would take our clothes and simply leave them hanging up in the trees before creeping up and tipping all the basins holding the water on the ground. With soap in your eyes and no immediate water to wash it out, I guess you could see the predicament, if not for having to walk back to school in your birthday suit.

I digress, so shall return back to the change of residential home brought about by the divorce of my parents, which was met with bewilderment on my part anyway. I missed my dad, missed the big house, and my step siblings – albeit maybe not so much, I recall they had not been very nice to me…My mum never re-married albeit she had very set opinions on marriage and discipline as a whole. I owe a lot to her and miss her dearly with every passing day…I recall a time in my teenage years when all my girl friends had started talking about dating and boyfriends. On the topic of boyfriends, she had simply told me – “in our culture, there is no term for boyfriends, just husband”. So if I so much as wanted to date – then marriage would be the resulting step. That had cooled my teenage head and made me focus on my books. I’d seen my older biological sisters’ marriage unions…their partners or the treatment met out to them by their husbands, didn’t leave me wanting to rush to join such a club any time soon.

Still, when your peers all but start inviting you to their weddings, marriage starts to take on a new meaning and before you know it, the fever catches you before you can even care to find an antidote. The thing about marriage whilst residing abroad and marriage within Uganda is that the pressures of remaining true to the union no matter what, are somewhat at different parallels. Perhaps because in Uganda, society is still very much male dominated and indeed access to positions etc is commonly dependent on being married or reference still aimed at the “Mrs so-and-so”, most women would walk on hot coals to get married irrespective of the character of the man or even whether he already has a 1st wife or various mistresses. Financial security too plays a huge factor – albeit this trend would appear to be changing as more and more women have either outlived their spouses or come to inherit many financial assets, or the Dubai-business women effect (DBWE) that has seen a rise in so-called sugar-mommies.

In a similar fashion to what has been a subject to debates in the USA whereupon American males have travelled to the Philippines or European males heading to Thailand in search of so-called economical wives, a similar parallel is seen with Ugandans in the Diaspora who will for reasons varying from nostalgia of set roles to genuine romantic notions head back to Uganda to find wives. The similarities would appear to end here in this parallel. The thing that continues to puzzle me is why so many marriages or relationships of Ugandan Diasporians to fellow Ugandans appear to head down in the divorce courts? Is it a case of too much freedom threatening the known set roles of either gender or pressures of living in the Diaspora yet having to account and be responsible for the extended family members back in Uganda? For a certainty living in the Diaspora is akeen to having a person who commutes to work in the city but having to return to the village at set times to check on his family. The difference here being that the city worker might take on a mistress but retain his homestead and wife in the village with the understanding that the mistress does not bear him any children – is merely there for his physical and occasional emotional needs. Such arrangement would allow him to focus on putting in hours to make money for his family back in the village without the added pressures of caring for a second family in the city. It gets messy when the mistress decides to change the roles… So I’m left wondering if being married whilst residing abroad yet somewhat still committed to taking care of the extended family could be one of the major causes of so many divorces by Ugandans in the Diaspora. Or is it simply the case that we just fail to work on marriage as our fellow persons on ground in Uganda.

Filed Under: African Culture, African People, African Tradition, Grace Nakate, Out of Africa Tagged With: , , , , ,

Nursing – saving Grace

July 29, 2010 By
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Returning back from the warm embrace of Uganda to the cold grey reception of Gatwick airport in March ’86, found me a very irritable 17yr old lady – as most people, I’m not at my best when deprived of sleep.  My ticket back to the UK had been an award from a family member who worked as a minister in Education after checking to ensure I was truly a student and resident in the UK. Other than getting my travel itinerary sorted out, I had not looked much further than this although given the state of our relationship with my mum who had now opted to officially state that she was my paternal aunt.  It made a pig’s ear of the whole situation and according to rumours that went rife amongst the family members; it almost cost her residence here!  As usual, the blame was placed squarely at my feet.

I recall the immigration officials asking me who was meeting me and where I was going to stay. My response that I was going to strike out on my own and rent my own place whilst I finish my A-levels didn’t somehow wash – so I was placed in detention. You see I’d been working Saturdays at Littlewoods since getting my NI card and managed to save up quite a fair sum alongside my baby-sitting jobs. Relations between myself and mom had hit a low so I’d figured, once I had enough for a deposit on a bedsit, I’d move out and finish my studies before applying for a place a university.  Contrary to what mom had thought of my teenage rebellion, I really hadn’t gone off the rails; I simply didn’t agree with her perspectives on how I should pursue my life along the culture lines here in London.  She had opted to believe my rebellion was a preliquiste for getting myself a boyfriend and basically not respecting her wishes. There had been a lot of external influences from the extended paternal family members on who had long-term issues with my place in mum’s life – namely my paternal grandmother. Over the years, I’d witnessed a fair number of unfair acts that in the end, I’d given up trying to point them out and opted to bite my lip and bid my time instead.  As it were, my mum had given in to possible pressure and had opted to follow through advice given her and send me back to Uganda – perhaps to teach me a lesson in humility or reminder of my position in the family hierarchy. Whichever it were, the gods were on my side and truth always triumphs no matter how much one tries to hide it.

So there I was the youngest detainee in a detention place some place in Gatwick or thereabouts.  After repeated conversations with various immigration officers, one of them asked me if there was anybody here in the UK who could come and lay claim as my guardian. Going through my little tatty address book making calls to various family friends, relatives – all refusing to come to my rescue, I resigned myself to being returned on the next flight back to Uganda.  At least it was warm there and my biological mum had appeared to be so welcoming and loving in addition to my biological siblings.  I was missing them already.  The poverty and hardships I’d witnessed in my three months stay didn’t sway my love for the country. I’d seen persons who even in the very little they had, being willing and generous in all they shared. But as I was about to hang up, I remembered I’d not called my school friend who’d been in touch with me throughout my short stay in Uganda. I’d not even called her to tell her I’d arrived!  So I asked the immigration officer if I could just make one final call just to let her know I’d arrived but would have to return back. This was the turning point. When I called her, she was so overjoyed to hear my voice that we chatted about everything silly that I almost forgot to tell her I’d be returning back! It was the immigration officer who tapped me on the back and reminded me to bid her goodbye that when I did and she asked why that saw my whole situation change. Claudia, my friend, alerted our headmistress, Mrs Martin, who by the crack of dawn was in the detention office like a lieutenant demanding to know why they had kept a minor in an adult detention centre – it was somewhat comical to see were it not serious.  What transpired between her and the immigration officers after her arrival I was not privy to, but all I remember was being escorted out and being driven to my friend’s house whilst a permanent solution was reached.

In the three months that followed, I attended school from Claudia’s house to finish my A-levels. Unfortunately, I’d missed some of the critical exams and this meant University entrance was to be postponed.  Instead, I opted to attend Croydon College to at least get the grades I needed as advised by my headmistress in order to try and gain entrance to nursing school.  I couldn’t stay with Claudia’s family for long, she had decided to elope to marry her school sweetheart and relocate to Hong-Kong. Besides, her family aside from her mother, all spoke Spanish – having been posted here on diplomatic duties from Chile. Whilst I made good use of free Spanish lessons from Claudia’s grandmother, long-term stay was out of the question.  I initially stayed at a refuge hostel before acquiring my own bedsit.  Throughout this time, I’d attend courses in-between jobs in order to raise the capital I needed to send to back to my biological mother for a proper building to call home.  With the help and advice of Mrs Martin again, I attended my first interview at Ealing School of Nursing after finishing a volunteer’s nursing assistant course at Mayday Hospital in December ‘86 and commenced my student general nursing course in March of ‘87.  Nursing as Mrs Martin had advised me would provide me with a residential in addition to an earning whilst gaining the training that could help me towards any course later on in life should I opt to not to stay within its’ discipline.  She was so right, nursing was my saving grace and an eye opener to a childhood echo of mine when I recall way back at primary answering saying I wanted to work for the Red Cross.  Well I’ve not exactly worked for the Red Cross, but I’ve ended up working within the medical profession and learning all there is about the health of the human body.

Filed Under: AFRICAN DIASPORA, Grace Nakate, Health, Latest, Out of Africa, Popular posts Tagged With: , , , , ,

Education in Uganda- Educating us out of our culture

July 20, 2010 By
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A few days back I was sent a video clip of Sir Ken Robinson talking to TED whereupon he makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.  The video clip run for about 24mins and my initial thought when I got this clip was to ignore it – purely because I felt frugal of my time committments at the time it was sent.  However the person that had sent to me, had requested me to give him feedback and ignoring such a request was not something that comes easy to me. I always think that if someone takes the time to pass something across adding a request that you let them know your take, it is somewhat rude for me to ignore.  Also if I say I will get back to them, I know myself enough now to view this as a binning excuse on my part.  Simply because even with the intention being that I will get back, I never do – something else crops up, something more demanding and requiring just as more time consumption, that in the end the prior requests get forgotten and end up in my mental bin.

Returning to the subject of Sir Ken Robinson’s talk whereby he challenges the way our children here in the UK are educated.  He champions a radical rethink of the school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence. He argues that “it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers.” Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences.

Well his words struck a chord. They took me back to the time of my primary education in Uganda which still operates along the lines of streaming pupils in to classes dependent on academic ability of conforming to the written and stipulated curriculum.  The system in operation was and still is – you were tested every final term and moved up a class depending on whether you attained the required pass rate.  Whether or not you fully understood what you gave in the answers to the questions was incosquential — for all that mattered you could’ve crammed robotically the answers as long as they tallied and you got the required pass rate.  As a result of academic streaming, it was not surprising therefore to find younger aged pupils in a class or form that housed older aged pupils.

Now one thing that puzzled me and still does in fact is what appears to be an inherited form of formal education in all the academic institutions back in Uganda.  Just like Sir Robinson states about “educating people out of their creativity” – I find a comparison of teaching in Uganda in the sense of that we were educated out of our culture. The situation remains because of inherited teaching methods and curriculum vitae.

Namunyumya girls school-Uganda

An example which up to this day that I can cite is that of a rural farmer who scrapes and saves to put his child through the formal education system.  After excelling in his/her studies at a secondary level, the youngster soon enters university.  In Africa, one is not considered to have made it academically if he or she has not passed through University or have letters after his/her name.  In fact most jobs in Africa are geared towards the service delivery industry favouring graduates.  Problem is, mass unemployment is like a cancer that is spreading and not all graduants will  be able to be placed with an office job.  Herein lies my puzzle.

This the photo my old primary school. It has since been taken on the English name,  St. Michaels’ girls primary school – but I still prefer the Pre-colonial name Namunyumya girls School

Returning to the farmer’s dilema, after years of saving and scraping to put a child through the formal education system, the farmer (parent) is puzzled why it is that his child is not willing to return and work or help him out on the farm but would instead prefer to roam the city roads touting for business.  In extreme cases, the young person soon resorts to short-cuts which sadly may cost him/her their life or assets.    Well I guess, the fact that farming – be it animal husbandry or agricultural farming was not so readily availed to this young person to tie into his founding roots in the formative years of his formal education might shed some light to the youngster’s predicament.

For the young person, taking up farming is a last resort considered to be for losers or failures, since he/she most likely grew up being told that if he/she wasted the fees on returning poor grades, his/her education would be cut short and he/she would return to the farm to till the land instead.  So farming in this young person’s eyes was ingrained to equate failure.   Besides, the youngster might have studied law – and in a rural village setting, such skills might not be economically viable…

I look at the education system and think along the lines of what Sir Ken Robinson raises.  Are we pushing our children to attain academics simply because they will look good to show off on paper or should we nurture our children’s educational developments along the lines of complimenting the abilities or skills that can give them a balance in the society around them?  Should the model of education be along a set curriculum globally and if so who is to determine what is viable to teach?

Filed Under: African Culture, African Tradition, Grace Nakate Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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