Safari Notes

Not In My Country   Of all places, no where else is corruption as abhorrent as when it happens in institutions of learning and education. Any one who knows the workings of East African secondary and high schools, colleges and universities - would most likely know, too, how corrupt those working in them can be. Headmasters, principals and heads of colleges and universities are known to take bribes or ask for other forms of favours which can be: financial, material or even sexual. Many know how some one was admitted in a certain educational institution because he/she gave bribes or provided some form of favour  Many, too, know of favors being given to teachers or instructors or lecturers for the benefit of a student. I recall, years ago, while in a boys' boarding school of hundreds of students - there was this fat matron who used certain of us sexually for her to give us some favour or extra stuff. She would either aggres...

Bena Nakijoba, fondly and respectfully called Jaja ba all - is seventy two years old. Very few life stories are as touching, as moving and as dramatic as Jaja's. She went to school up to the 6th grade; she got married at age fifteen; she was barren, could not conceive and so her husband broke-up with her; she then got a job looking after children of expatriates; and after three years looking after the children, she left and moved to Katanga, Kampala in 1971. In 1971, Katanga was small and had very few people; but through the years it has grown up too fast, become over-populated and is one of the worst slums in East Africa. For the last forty or so years, Jaja has been opening her doors in Katanga and her heart to abandoned children and caring for them. At first, it was those of working parents who would live their children with her, for a little pay, while they worked. Then, in the early 1980s - with war raging around Uganda, people, mainly young girls who mistakenly got pregnant,...

I recall, as a young boy, when I first visited Mweya National Park with an uncle in late 1978 during Idi Amin's  rule, just when Amin was about to be ousted. The Park, was pristine but I was told that most of the animals had disappeared or had moved - due to poaching and the ongoing war to oust Amin. There was a war raging on around the Park. For the first time, there were whispers that Idi Amin's forces were loosing. That his forces were retreating  All the way, by road, on our way from Kampala to the then Zaire border and back to Kampala, we could see military trucks and personnel moving.

According to Internet World Atlas , as of 2012 second-quarter, of the top ten African countries, as of population percentage, Uganda is ranked ninth in Internet usage. And as in Kenya , that number is rising fast. Considering its recent history, the many conflicts it has had and how unstable the country has been - this is an encouraging achievement. Ugandans too, as are Kenyans - are very much active in social networks. Of blogging, there are very few blogs that discuss Uganda. The problem with most Ugandan bloggers, they start one, and after a short while give up. Of the very few active ones, very few are serious or deserving of praise. Of these, most are managed by non-Ugandans living in Uganda or interested in the country; or managed by Ugandans living abroad.

Ebola With the recent Ebola outbreak killing at least 17 people and causing over 400 to be hospitalized in Uganda, in Kibaale District in particular - one wonders if the country, or any other country for that matter, can manage a serious Ebola outbreak. During the outbreak, public rallies and the shaking of hands in Kibaale District were banned. Would such measures help? How can they be enforced?

Stephen Kiprotich When John Akii-Bua won the gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games in the 400m hurdles in Munich , at the same time setting a world record, Uganda celebrated and rejoiced. As a little boy, I remember seeing him driving around in his Peugeot 604 - then, the only 604 in Uganda. Akii-Bua was pampered and cheered wherever he went. Idi Amin , the then President of Uganda, multinational and international companies, and people showered him with gifts. In 1978, Amin was deposed and Akii-Bua's life slowly started disintegrating. In 1997, he died, at only 47.

It is interesting and yet, very pathetic and disgusting to see how not only countries around the world make news and profits from Africa's misery. Case in point is that of one of the most cruel, most merciless and most brutal man Africa has ever known: Joesph Kony. To make news, news medias - especially in Western countries, continue to give this most evil of men, headlines and coverage; many times, in very insensitive, very annoying and very hurtful ways. Even sadder and vexatious, is that some of the so called humanitarian NGOs are a part of this profiting using Kony and Africa's tragedies. Not to be left behind, are the so called 'celebrities'. 'Celebrities' who, in most cases, for one selfish, self centered reason or another - we many times read about or watch - 'campaigning' or 'protesting' or 'demonstrating' or 'speaking out' for one African cause or another. 'Celebrities' who have no knowledge or education or sens...

Uganda's Great Lakes In Africa, no other country is as rich with as many incredibly, stunningly, beautiful and picturesque lakes as Uganda. Except for the North Eastern, Karamoja region which hardly has any lake, almost every part of the country, the central and southern parts in particular - has a lake. Some of the lakes are so magnificent that it is hard to believe that they are real. Those who have had the luck of traveling around in the mountainous, and in many parts - forested, South-Western Uganda, will have seen such incredibly, wonderful lakes. Lakes: Bunyonyi, Kyaninga, Mutanda, Mburo, Nabugabo and many other smaller ones; all unbelievably beautiful and picturesque. Making these lakes even more attractive and delightful, are the many varieties of wildlife in and around them: trees, flowers, birds and animals of many kinds - small and large. In central and eastern Uganda, lakes Kyoga and Kwania, on an almost flat land, are as wonderful and picturesque; east of Kyoga ar...

African Gray Parrot With the Ugandan Wildlife Authority last week releasing over 200 African gray parrots back into the wild after being confiscated from poachers near Kasese, many animal lovers in Uganda and around the world were and are still celebrating. Just six months ago, a woman trying to smuggle over 130 parrots was arrested by Ugandan authorities.  African grey parrots are so prized and so highly valued by 'pet lovers', especially in the West, that, these birds are in danger of being wiped out completely from the wild. The African gray parrots are considered among the most intelligent of birds. Several sub-species of this very loveable birds have been identified, but it is only the Congo African Grey Parrot or CAG ( Psittacus erithacus erithacus ) and the smaller Timneh African Grey Parrot or TAG ( Psittacus erithacus timneh ) that are universally recognized as Gray Parrots . Grey parrots habitat, range from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola all the way to Ivo...

While, it was most pleasing and uplifting that a few days ago, Uganda Wildlife Authority and Posta Uganda used the World Post Day to launch a series of stamps dedicated to the mountain gorillas in the country - mainly found in Bwindi and Mahinga; in the last few weeks, there have been some very disturbing and disheartening news on Ugandan wildlife. Hundreds of gray African parrots have been seized while being smuggled out of the country; while in Luweero, tens of baboons were mercilessly slaughtered.  A team of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officials and the Police have seized 140 African Gray parrots from Wakiso district. This brings the number of parrots seized to 272 in just a fortnight. New Vision An Uganda Wildlife Authority official says more than 270 African grey parrots have been seized from smugglers in the past month, which suggests there is a syndicate illegally exporting Ugandan wildlife. The Canadian Press .....a week after Luweero District authorities launche...

What a disheartening news: it has just been reported that due to global warming, the ice cap on the Ruwenzori has split. THE remaining ice cap on Mountain Rwenzori covering Margherita, the second highest peak in Africa, has split, creating a crevasse of 6 metres, according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). Rwenzori has about six peaks but Margherita is its highest and most popular the world over. It provides a unique experience to mountain climbers. The peak was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO and it was recently gazetted as a Ramsar site requiring protection . More on the disaster: The ice cap on Uganda's highest peak has split because of global warming, Uganda's Wildlife Authority (UWA) says. The glacier is located at an altitude of 5,109m (16,763ft) in the Rwenzori mountain range, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The BBC Ugandan wildlife authorities say the ice cap on the country's western Rwenzori mountain range has split after...

At last: Uganda bans female genital mutilation! Last Thursday, the Ugandan parliament unanimously passed a bill banning the very risky and cruel circumcising of females . Unlike Kenya, circumcision, both for males and females, is not widely practiced in Uganda. Anyone convicted of the practice, which involves removing all or part of the female genitalia, will face 10 years in jail or a life sentence if a victim dies. Eastern Uganda is where the cruel, traditional rite is practiced most. Female circumcision is practiced in many parts of Africa and Asia. Reasons given for the practice vary from place to place. They include : Sexual: to control or reduce female sexuality. Sociological: for example, as an initiation for girls into womanhood, social integration and the maintenance of social cohesion. Hygiene and aesthetic reasons: where it is believed that the female genitalia are dirty and unsightly. Health: in the belief that it enhances fertility and child survival. Religious reas...

Biofuels are produced from plants and plant-derived materials. They reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions when used to power engines, cars and other road vehicles. Can biofuels be the answer to a greener and more sustainable future for our Planet? With huge oil reserves lying under it , Uganda is still going after greener energy resources. It has embarked on a project to test the viability of biodiesel from jatropha, a drought resistant crop : The government energy policy advocates increased research and use of modern renewable energy sources which it expects to increase from the current four per cent to 61 per cent of the total energy consumption by 2017. The East African A mature jatropha tree can produce three kilos of seeds annually and continues to yield for up to 40 years. An acre of land can take up to 1,000 trees of jatropha. AllAfrica Unlike: wheat, corn, oil palm, sugar cane, sugar beet and soy - which would only bring more misery than good if used to ...

I spent most of my childhood in Northern Uganda; and still regularly spend time in Uganda. While growing up - be it in Lango or Acholi, not once did I witness any homosexual tendency or behavior . Boys and men grew up as men - we learnt from an early age, that handshakes have to be firm. No holding hands or hugging or touching or kissing between boys or men; that was unthinkable and impossible. Any one who has been in Northern Uganda, would know that even women there are masculine in many ways. They are strong; a woman can ride a bicycle with a baby strapped on her back and more load carried on the back of the bicycle; with no problem at all. In Kenya, it is the same. Most of my youth and early manhood was with Luos. They too are very similar to Northern Ugandans. Masculine; Luo women are masculine too. It is only when I visited and later lived on the coast of Kenya, that I openly saw homosexuals. I even saw homosexual prostitutes in Mombasa. I was shocked and was rather nauseated. ...

1969 : UPC was in power and Apollo Milton Obote was the President. 2009 : NRM is in power and Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is the President. 1969 : The population of Uganda was about 10 million. 2009 : The population of Uganda is about 30 million [Reference: NationMaster ]. 1969 : HIV/Aids did not exist. 2009 : About 1 million Ugandans are living with HIV/Aids. 1969 : Makerere University was the top university in East Africa and one of the best educational centers in Africa. 2009 : Makerere University is still one of the best in Africa but has declined and is not the top in East Africa. 1969 : The Ugandan railway system extended from the Kenyan border to Kasese, near the DRC and to Arua, near Sudan. 2009 : The Ugandan railway system has very much been destroyed and extends from the Kenyan border to only Kampala and Port Bell. 1969 : Uganda's urban centers were some of the best and most advanced in Africa, with excellent infrastructure, schools, hospitals and golf cou...

I don't think so. I very much hope not so. The latest reports say the oil discoveries in Uganda are unquestionably the largest onshore discovery made in sub-Saharan Africa in at least 20 years, possibly ever . And that one might safely consider production in the order of 150,000 barrels a day over a period of 15, 20 or even up to 25 years. In terms of comparison.......Uganda (would) in the top 50 of oil producers in the world . And this is a report by Al Jazeera on the Ugandan oil: As exploration and work still continues in the oil fields, so much hope and expectations are being put by Ugandans on the oil discovery. As I said before , the focus now is on how Uganda can both benefit from oil and at the same time take care of its magical, natural wonders. The problem: most of the oil so far discovered in Uganda are in the very environmentally sensitive, Lake Albert region . The priority is that: Uganda, with oil, manages to take care and protect its real wealth : its land, its wat...

'Nandi'! That's how she is called. The ten year old rhino has just given birth. Due to instability and wars, for decades now, rhinos - which were completely wiped out in Uganda in the 70s - have never given birth in Uganda. Southern White rhinos that are now kept in sanctuaries in Uganda, were all imported from Kenya, South Africa and the United States; Nandi is one of those from the Sates. In 1968 more than 100 Northern White rhinos lived in Uganda, but as of the early 1980s, no white rhinos were seen. Originally, Eastern Black and Northern White rhinos were present in the Murchison Falls and Kidepo National Parks; a recent survey failed to locate the only known surviving population of about 4 remaining individuals of the Northern White rhinos in the Garamba National Park in the DR Congo. A few remaining Northern White rhinos, a total of maybe 8, are in captivity in the US and Europe. Rhinos , which are said to have existed on Earth - in Africa, Asia, Europe and North Am...

Lack of electricity ! That's what one of Uganda's ministers says: A leading Ugandan economist — who is also a government minister — discovered why the country had one of the highest birth rates in the world. The minister of State for Planning, Prof Ephraim Kamuntu, told a planning workshop a few days ago, that Uganda’s high population growth rate was the result of electricity shortage and outages, which compelled couples to go to bed early. The good professor buttressed his argument, adding that a related reason for the high population was that in Uganda, like most of Africa, one could argue, people don’t work in shifts. “While the rest of the world is working in shifts, we in Uganda are going to bed early. Then we complain that the population is growing; why not?” he said. >>>>> more from Daily Nation Uganda has the world's youngest population and is one of the fastest growing. In 199o, the country's population was estimated at 17 million people; and now...

This sad and shocking report from The New York Times , shows how tragic the African Great Lakes Region is, and how super powers - right from the time the Soviet Union supported Congo's Patrice Lumumba, the US supported and funded Mobutu and continued to prop up his regime through out his dictatorship; and Britain, initially, strongly supporting Idi Amin - how all this meddling by foreign powers, has, many times, only caused tremendous suffering and blood in Africa. On the failed operation, I quote: "The American military helped plan and pay for a recent attack on a notorious Ugandan rebel group, but the offensive went awry, scattering fighters who carried out a wave of massacres as they fled, killing as many as 900 civilians............" "The Lord’s Resistance Army killed tens of thousands of people in northern Uganda, slicing off lips and terrorizing children, before the Ugandan Army drove it out about five years ago. Mr. Kony then marched his prepubescent death sq...

Very rarely do mountain gorillas give birth to twins; that's why, we celebrate, the birth , a few days ago, of the twins at Uganda's Bwindi Forest. Bwindi is home to an estimated 340 mountain gorillas, around half the global population . What a great way to look forward to, to next year! To save one of humankind’s closest but critically endangered relatives , UNEP, so concerned about the dangers that Gorillas face - has deemed 2009 the Year of the Gorilla. Many experts are warning that without urgent action gorillas will become extinct in the wild within the next few decades and the Year, launched at the opening of a UN wildlife conference in Rome by Prince Albert II of Monaco, aims to boost protection of the great ape and its habitat by increasing the livelihoods and incomes of local people from managing their conservation . " It is time for us to pool all of our resources toward saving these magnificent creatures (and toward) ensuring a future for this close cousin of h...