The voice of Africa, from all over the world
Are you interested in the development of Africa? Do you ever wonder what the recipients of Development programmes think about development? Are you curious about what Africans are doing to develop the continent? Then sit back as we take on on a journey in Masindi NW Uganda
If you have come this far and want to learn more then head over to VILLAGES IN ACTION and better still if you can get to Masindi Nw Uganda on 14 January 2012 for an unusual conversation on development
This post marks 400 posts on Africa on the Blog and some of our contributors share their thoughts on why they contribute to this platform
Sadia Sisay- I write for the ‘Africa on the Blog’ because I was inspired by Ida Horner at the very beginning and wanted to be part of a group of people from all over the world who were willing to share personal experiences as Africans. This is different from most other african blogs out there and I hope I can take part more than I have in last few months!
Minda Magero- I believe that Africa on the Blog is a significant information hub and I don’t want to see it shut down for lack of posts.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been thinking about why I started writing for AotB and allowing that same reason to inspire me to keep blogging, even when I think I have so many things to do that I couldn’t possibly fit it into my schedule.
I started writing for AotB because I wanted to tell a different story about Africa than what was in mainstream media. I wanted to celebrate Africa; I wanted to bring to light positive things about Africa that most people don’t know about because the non-Africans who tell our stories often look for the sensational in the negatives. I started writing because I wanted to reach a wider audience with the message that Africa is beautiful, strong, resourceful, innovative, forward-thinking and full of laughter.
When I have time to do a bit of research, I delight in writing sociopolitical analysis about current events that affect the continent. But when I don’t have as much time, I fall back on a recipe or an artist profile because those are easier and quicker for me to put together.
Andrea Court- if I am to share my thoughts on why I wanted to write for Africa on the Blog it is because it infuriates me to read things about Africa written by people who have never set foot on the continent much less understand the nature of the people or the land.
Andrea Court
Africa is a beautiful, complex continent with it’s environment, peoples and resources having been exploited throughout recorded history and everyone else seems to think they know what the solution is or what Africa needs; when in truth, Africa could sustain the entire planet if the outside world just stopped imposing themselves upon her. She was doing fine before they stopped by in the first place.
I really believe a blog written about Africa by Africans: people who live and breath because of Africa is the only way for the real Africa to be shared. We can put outside assumptions and arrogance’s in their place because we know who we are and we never doubted it to begin with.
This may be slightly more curious in my case because I, like other Africans of European or Asian descent, are here not by choice, but rather as carelessly sown seeds of our ancestors, a bit like the Blue Gum Tree; we didn’t start here, but we have become as familiar to the African landscape as the Thorn Tree or the Giraffe because Africa adopted us. She took us in when no one else would, she made us one with her in a way no one other than an African could know. Close your eyes and hear her, feel her and breath in her air, if you can’t do that, you can’t write about her.
If you would like to add your voice to this platform please get in touch http://www.africaontheblog.com/about-2/join-us/
Image via Wikipedia
When I was at University one of the core modules for my area of study Housing Management and development was DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND THE LAW. Domestic violence was considered in the context of property rights but for the purpose of this article I would like to look at the impact of domestic abuse on the economy.
A tall order perhaps but bear with me whilst I illustrate my point.
The fact about domestic abuse is that it ebbs away at the confidence and self esteem of the person at the receiving end of it. It makes them question their self worth making them ineffective in all areas of their lives. As a Housing Manager I saw numerous women who had fled their homes due to domestic violence, in some cases they had to abandon everything and everyone they know in order to escape their abusers.
Imagine if you will a woman who is responsible for ensuring that the family is fed, clothed and has to work the land to grow the food to feed the family but is beaten or abused by her spouse on a daily basis!
In some cases she is indeed the sole bread-winner in the family , in some cases this is because the man’s income is spent on alcohol or the man is has no income. If there is no income in the family this impacts the family well being amongst other things such as not being able to access health care.
What sort of life would children growing up in such a household have to look forward to?
It is widely accepted well at least in the case of African countries that the economic development of these countries rests with women. That being the case what would happen if women are ordinarily unable to participate in income generating activities due to domestic abuse?
Does society owe such women the duty of care to secure the economic development of a county? What form should that care take?
How are African countries dealing with the issue of Domestic Violence? Are there facilities to support women fleeing domestic violence?
Is Africa ready for such facilities? Would women have the courage to seek support and refuge in such a facility?
What will their peers make of it?
Please share your views
photo from BLOG ACTION
Or is there? It would appear that, that rather depends on your personal circumstances for you see some folk have too much it makes them ill and eventually kills them whilst others have none at all and they die due to lack of it. Those in government- well they lie awake dreaming up new ways of striking a happy balance as far as food is concerned.
If you have followed the UK news this week you would have heard words like FAT TAX – I have not read about this but I am guessing it is meant to control how much food people eat through the tax system. I am curious as to how such a tax would be applied- would it be levied on the fat person, the supermarket/fast food outlet that sells them the food or the farmer. On Thursday 13th October Andrew Lansley the UK’s Health Secretary is quoted in The Guardian as having said that the UK must cut 5bn Calories from its daily diet because the country faces an obesity problem leading to all manner of health complications.
Now compare that news from the UK to that from the Horn of Africa. The lack of rain has meant that folk were unable to grow sufficient food to feed themselves consequently many have lost their lives whilst those that can have left their homes in search of food. Some have argued that the governments of the East African nations should have anticipated this and done something about it. But is it really that simple?
Oh and don’t get me started on our obsession with Size- in Africa it would appear big is beautiful never mind that you might actually die from being over weight, whilst here in the West being thin is what most aspire to. A new diet comes on the market almost everyday with promises to help us stay thin. We all know that the answer is EAT A LITTLE AND MOVE A LOT but we don’t always follow that simple solution and hope for quick fixes ( I am guilty as charged 
I really love being part of this team and take every opportunity to shout out about how great we are. Today I would like to share with you our readers the posts that you read the most.
Muammar_al-Gaddafi_12th_AU_Summit- Image via Wikipedia
Back in January I had a rare opportunity of being part of a delegation that got to meet Gaddafi in his compound. The reason – Gaddafi had called a Historic conference to discuss African immigration into Europe. One of the questions he sought to answer was whether we the Africans in the diaspora are afforded a decent life in Europe and if not are we better off retuning to Africa.
The outcome of this conference was the establishment of an African Union in the Diaspora with representatives on each continent with the headmaster as it honorary president.
You can read about the rest of the conference here
At the time of writing that post things were just kicking off in Libya and it almost felt like the headmaster term was about to come to end. Five months on and it really doesn’t look like the headmaster is about to role his tent away.
The West appears confused as to what should happen to the Headmaster. This week we heard William Hague the British Foreign secretary say that it realy didn’t matter whether Gaddafi left Libya or not so long as he held no real power within Libay! Or Really Mr Hauge?
In addition the Libyan diplomats to London were expelled, it was announced to that cease assets would now be handed over to the rebels whom Britain recognised as the legitimate government of Libya. The recognition of the rebels as the legitimate government has left some in the United Nations nervous.
Despite all of this Gaddafi stays
Why is this?
I sincerely do not know but here are my suspicions for what it’s worth
The man himself
Having met the man this uprising is something that he would take personally, a personal hurt/injury if you like, one he would not take lying down. One of the key things that Gaddafi was keen to emphasize during the meeting was that he is a revolutionary and is not keen on governments and doesn’t hold any power as such he would not understand why the people of Libya would want him gone. In his view the people of Libya have a good life and if you have caught some of his TV addresses you will have heard him say
You have complained that the foreigners come in and take your jobs, now that they are all gone as a result of this uprising you can go and fill those jobs
I have no position to resign from
The African Mercenaries
One of the issues that was raised early on in this uprising was the fact that black African mercenaries had been drafted in by Gaddafi to silence his people. This was soon disputed and we heard from black Africans that live in Libya on BBC Radio 4 as they told stories of being given guns by the rebels, being forced to pose for photographs and these photos were circulated around the world. But more reports of black African soldiers from Mali fighting alongside Gaddafi have continued to surface.
Why would soldiers from Mali chose to die in a war that has nothing to do with them?
Whilst in Tripoli in January I learned from one of the black Africans that live in Tripoli that Gaddafi’s mother was from Mali and that because of this he would not tolerate anyone who mistreated black Africans and that he didn’t know that black Africans were being mistreated by the Arabs. If this is indeed true I do wonder therefore if Mali sees Gaddafi as one their own and as such willing to defend him whatever it takes.
Everyone has someone that loves them
This might sound frivolous a point but one of the observation that we made during our stay in Tripoli was that on the face of it Gaddafi has a lot of support amongst his people and that some genuinely love him. I strongly suspect that this is one of the reasons why he has not fallen yet. In Egypt we saw the army simply refuse to fire on its own people that was it for Mubarak. Why hasn’t the army in Libya done the same?
In addition we learned that Gaddafi had personally secured an apology from the Italians for the time they had colonized Libya and this seemed to mean an awful lot to the people that we met. They saw their leader as someone with a great deal of courage and as such a great leader. I suspect that whatever we might think of the man some in his country buy into his ideology (contained a green a book) and will do whatever it takes to protect it.
Out in the cold
Whilst in Tripoli we observed that a huge regeneration scheme was underway, new buildings were going up everywhere including housing for the poor. Someone in our group said something that has stayed with me to date and I think it may have some bearing on why this uprising is likely to be protracted.
He said
‘For so long Libya was left in the cold by the developed world so she was forced to look within for solutions to her problems especially development type problems”
I can’t help but wonder that this has meant that Libya developed a sophisticated army with equipment to match and that these are as good as any you can find in the developed world and the irony of this is that it is likely some of the people who helped develop and build these systems are now at the receiving end of its might.
Those are some of the reasons I think this war in going to be drawn out.As things stand the moment the opposition has rejected a ceasefire as negotiated by the African Union and the coalition had not had any impact per SE so it really doesn’t look like the headmaster is about to role his tent away.
What do you think?
A version of this article has previously appeared on BIRDS ON THE BLOG
This Thursday I attended a networking event at the Houses of Parliament here in the UK organised by The All Africa Parliamentary Group and chaired by Kenyan born Kensington and Chelsea councillor Marianne Alapini
The event theme was
Communities of Faith, Agents of Change: How Diaspora faith networks can transform Africa’s Development
The meeting sought to show how Faith communities of all religions have worked tirelessly to combat poverty and improve the lives of millions of Africans and focused on the role of faith organisations in development –particularly how faith communities in the Diaspora can engage with job and wealth creation and support enterprise and entrepreneurship in Africa.
The meeting was part of a series of meetings under the AFRICA↔UK initiative which is part of the Common Ground Initiative funded by Comic Relief in association with the Royal African Society and AFFORD (African Foundation for Development).
The speakers were
Bishop Joe Aldred, Church of God of Prophecy
Imam Idris Ben Doku
Ms. Shallin Chikoto, International Programme Officer, World Vision UK
Mr. Attallah Fitzgibbon, Policy and Strategy Manager, Islamic Relief Worldwide
If I were to sum up the meeting I would say it presented more questions than answers and I will pose some of those questions here for us to discuss
Bishop Aldred had some interesting and thought provoking words for us he said,
a challenge for us in the diaspora is this- do we know what is best for the people we left behind or are were merely caught up in a benevolence that stunts the growth of those we left behind? we give them a left money and expect too much from them- a little England perhaps? Are we secretly longing for things to stand still. We need to respect people back home and stop orchestrating how they should behave or lead their lives
Hmmm, You could hear a pin drop with those words!
The Imam had this to say
before you do anything ensure that you have cleaned your house. they are enough mosques to pray but not enough business to help each other out of poverty. Why is that? Education is important and this means taking what is good out of the UK culture/way of life and applying that for the benefit of our people.
On the other hand Zimbabwean Ms. Shallin Chikoto felt that churches are not taking up their rightful role in lobbying government for the right kind of policies because in her mind
churches as too small and fragmented, are not talking to each
She called on churches to influence policy and change the view of Africa in the West’s mind through coordinated activity, capacity building of African communities. For the diaspora in general- she told us that we are creating dependency through our $45 billion that we remit each year with only 6% of that being towards investment- “Stop and think about the impact of that on Africa” Ouch!
Mr. Attallah Fitzgibbon, didn’t make the meeting but his representative had something to say that I am still mulling over in my mind as it had never occurred to me as a fact at least as far as I am concerned- that is as an African. I am minded to agree with Prof Ali Mazrui who argued in his Reith Lectures on Africa that Africa is divided/united along ethnic lines and not religious ones
As Africans we define ourselves through our faith and religion
and in view of the above
those who seek to work/develop Africa should not bring development programmes to Africa that contradict our faith/religion. They should instead seek to work with faith based organisations but not parallel to them. Religious organisations for their part should seek to end conflict and promote good neighbour relations
An interesting evening indeed!
One of the audience questions that interested me the most was
It is all very well looking out for people that we left back home what about the plight of African children in this country? 
In answer to that question a panelist called on African mothers to cut back on the cleaning jobs and spend some of that time with their children! Make of that what you will but it sends out a message of stereo typing at its worst.
My worry about “diaspora churches” is their impact on the ground. Church is big business in Africa on ym recent trip I saw some very expensive cars on the Streets of Kampala , 4×4 Porsche, SUVs etc with private number plates of biblical origin and when I asked who drives such vehicles each every one of them was a Pastor. These cars aren’t cheap and you probably would not get much change out of £80,000. How do these Pastors justify such extravagances in a country where 68% of the people do not “touch” money in any given year and 2.5million children are malnourished. If you wondering where the connection is, these churches are new in Africa and have been exported by the diaspora!
If you are really interested in know more about how rich these pastors can be head to Nigeria. I am not implying that the pastors should walk around in rags but merely calling on to them to invest some of this income into the communities they work in after all the money is actually coming from these communities.
So there you have it folk- What does God to do with African Development?
Image via Wikipedia
This afternoon I stumbled upon an interesting conversation on twitter amongst some of my fellow Ugandans. I have their permission to share their exchange with you with a view to opening a debate on some of the issues that they raise.I started the “watching” the conversation rather late and as far as I can work out it started with this tweet from Alan-
kasujja Alan Kasujja-Please join me in congratulating H.E @paulkagame who is currently in London to receive The Chello Foundation Humanitarian Award
@mugumya Patrick Mugumya@kasujja Am sure Alan if you asked Kagame if he seem something he can improve in RW he would reel off a list? @timkalyegira @primagabakasujja Alan Kasujja @mugumya @tmsruge @timkalyegira @primagaba Patrick!! Come on man. I am interested in criticising Rwanda when my expectations are surpassed@tmruge:No I don’t agree. They criticize, but it has no weight. Gov isn’t accountable 2 ppl however loud they scream @mugumya @timkalyegira-
@mugumya Patrick Mugumya @tmsruge we are in a debate, its not that we are blaming those who point out positives, we need to understand @timkalyegira @kasujja
Phew! How did that happen? Nearly a year ago now I was invited to speak at an African Diaspora conference in London. I was asked to speak about the lives of African mothers in the diaspora. I telephoned a few African women I know and got them to share their experiences with me
Having listened to several conversations and the experiences of my friends, it occurred to me that these women need a space to discuss these issues. A quick call to blogging Supremo Sarah and Africa On The Blog was born. Although the original idea was a space for African women in the Diaspora specifically here in the UK, the idea evolved swiftly to include men but also Africans worldwide. I think that was a great decision.
If we had not widened the criteria we would have missed out on
We have heard from those UK based mothers too
The platform has grown beyond our wildest dreams, contributors have come and gone but incredibly the core group that was here from the word go have stayed put. We have built up a firm following with an average of 10,000 readers each month.
Some of contributors such as Jimmy, Eliza and Teddy (guest blogger) also contribute to the Guardian’s Poverty blog, whilst Tony’s post on MDG’s is often cited on Global voices and Nigel has contributed to the Africa Good news blog.
There are a variety of topics here and as such something for everyone-I can’t imagine what this is like for Babs the Blog Mistress who sorts out all of our techy stuff, she never complains.
Personally speaking I have made some superb friends along the way thus far. It is also very humbling that a group of people agreed to come on board to share in this idea and continue to do so. It is an achievement for which I am proud. I don’t enjoy athletics much but used to watch Kriss Akabusi running with real pride- can you imagine what it felt like when he agreed to join Africa on the Blog! Thank you Suze for the introduction
I am grateful to Sarah for the continued support Ces- who is responsible for our makeover, to the whole team for showing up month after month with new and interesting blog posts. A big thanks too, to our guest bloggers who drop by and share their views of Africa.
To you our readers we value you but here is a challenge for you
In November 2010, the day before I hit the road to Uganda I received an email inviting me to a business luncheon organised by the Uganda Manufacturer’s Association (UMA). I had never heard of them and the lunch was the day after my arrival, so I was a little apprehensive about going but the person who sent me the email insisted that I go. the Reason- as you are thinking about coming back to Uganda to live, it is best you get an insight as to how society is organised and this is the best place to start
I couldn’t argue with that, I fought back the jet lag and joined the good folk at UMA and must say I was impressed and glad that I had gone.
The highlight for me was the presentation from the Deputy Prime Minister Eriya Kategaya on the East African Integration and the opportunities that presents for both consumers and provider of services and goods.
At the event I didn’t get a chance to speak to any of the organisers to get a clear understanding of UMA so I recently emailed them some questions to enable me to do just that and here is that conversation
What is UMA and what role does it play in Ugandan business
Uganda Manufacturers Association is an umbrella body for all industrialists and manufacturers in Uganda. It represents the interests of manufacturers and lobbies Government for policies that favor a conducive business environment. UMA also offers other services to industrialists and members i.e. marketing opportunities through organizing International trade fairs, regional trade fairs and trade missions, business information through publications, training, amongst others.
How is it structured?
UMA has an Advisory council of 6 members which is Headed by Mr. Abid Alam. Under the council there is a Board of 18 Directors, below which is the secretariat with 6 departments. The Secretariat is headed by an Executive Director Mr. Sebaggala M. Kigozi. UMA also has Sub committees that focus on specific areas namely: Marketing, Education and Skills, Membership and Networking and Economic Sub committees.
When and how did it get started?
UMA was originally formed in the 60’s but due to political unrest in Uganda, it was not sustainable. It was later revived in 1988 by Dr. James Mulwana.
Who can join and why.
Any industrialists, manufacturer, service provider can join UMA. UMA offers a wide range of benefits to her members including a very good platform for networking. For this reason, any business entity can benefit from UMA membership.
What are the benefits of being a member?
UMA mainly does advocacy for a conducive business environment and every members benefits from this. UMA members can also obtain tax waivers from a range of raw materials and industrial machinery.
Why should the man on the street be interested in UMA
Anyone can become a manufacturer! Many potential manufacturers come to UMA to find out about business, manufacturing and some eventually become manufacturers. It is not out of place for a man on the street to be interested in UMA.
What about young manufacturer’s? Can they join too? Is there a programme to mentor them to become successful manufacturer’s?
Young Manufacturers can definitely become UMA members at Small Scale level. Anyone who joins the field of manufacturing realizes that manufacturing has challenges and some cannot be tackled on an individual company basis. They need to come together and form a stronger voice that is audible to Government. UMA provides a range of training courses to enhance the skills of her members.
What advice would you give them (young manufacturers)?
Young manufactures need to embrace best management practices right from the start. They also need to know that they are better off united for a stronger voice rather than tackle their problems by themselves.
What are your views about cheap imports from China?
They are a challenge to us to improve our efficiency and innovate ways to lower cost of production while producing good quality.
How do you protect the Textile producer’s interests against the second hand clothing market and cheap imports from china.
Uganda is a liberalized economy and any one from without can compete.
What advice would you give to Ugandan diaspora wanting to return home?
There are still many investment opportunities in Uganda that they can take advantage of.
Something that I find interesting about this and perhaps a question for African in general
Do you buy African products or are African Manufacturers wasting their time?
I didn’t get the sense that anyone was overly concerned about the Chinese dumping products in Uganda and the impact of this on the members of UMA.
What is the situation in other African countries?
Should producers and or the likes of UMA fight back or are cheap Chinese goods good for Africa?
