BESIGYE AND MUSEVENI NEED A FOOTBALL GAME NOW
29 Apr 2011 Leave a Comment
in Corruption, Economics, Entertainment, FDC, health, IPC, media in Uganda, Politics, security, UPDF
Gilbert Arinaitwe 'punishing' Dr.Besigye's car for moving to Kampala
Now that calm has temporarily returned to Kampala after some body from ‘’above’’ changed his mind to allow Dr.Besigye to go for treatment in Nairobi, let me try to comment on the most beautiful game called football. My team, Chelsea FC, is out of the Champions League but I couldn’t stop smiling this week on Wednesday when I watched Lionel Messi ”teargassing” the Real Madrid defense in the last minutes. It was a real thriller especially his last goal.I had never seen anything like that since Diego Maradona days. It was a beauty which even brought a smile on Jose Mourinho’s face!
Now, the real question on my mind is that ‘can football be used as a weapon to settle political and economic differences in Uganda too as it has happened in Ivory coast before Gbagbo made a mess of things after clearly losing the election?’’. Let us remember that Ivorian, Didier Drogba, did a lot to bring the two opposing sides together some couple of years ago, by organizing a football game that was played in the country’s capital, and it was attended by both Gbagbo and Quatara. Peace came back into the country and both sides agreed to have an election which Quatara won but Gbagbo refused to concede defeat. The rest is history as they say and I even don’t know where Gbagbo is after watching him on TV caught like a chicken thief by the French forces from his presidential bunker.
Kampala riots on 29/04/11
Nonetheless,with the current riots looking not to end soon in Uganda especially with Museveni swearing that Besigye will never be allowed to walk on foot in Kampala city, it is imperative that we all find a way of bringing the two sides together to find a way forward. So, I suggest that we organize a football game at Namboole stadium and invite both of them to attend. I will be happy to referee the game or be the goal keeper if both sides have got no problem with it and as long as they can meet my flight costs from England. Yes, I’m still annoyed with the way the police and army have inhumanly treated Besigye but , I promise, I won’t give a red card to the NRM side if I’m allowed to referee the game.
Back to the Real Madrid Vs Barcelona game in the champions League, It might not have been beautiful but it was sweeter than the contents of the sugar bowl for those who appreciate Messi’s talent. For me, I think the current Barcelona team is the greatest team in the history of football, and the son of a factory worker and a cleaner remains the world’s best player up to now. I don’t care what Alex Ferguston says about Real Madrid’s Ronaldo Christian because whoever watched that game now knows that Messi is way up there.
Nevertheless, I always ask myself why Uganda have not been able to turn their football into an a big business after years of listening to teams such as Villa FC, Express, KCC and others on our radios. In the UK here, teams such as Aston Villa, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were floated on stock exchanges in 1990s, and they have been realizing considerable profits for the existing shareholders for a long time.Actually, it is fair to say that football became a business model in England officially in the 1990s when I was still doing my O’levels at Kibuli Secondary school. The media industry played and it still does the biggest part in helping the clubs make money out of football.
Football’s profitability is interlocked with that of the media industry here in Europe and it is greatly associated with football celebrities. So the simple business plan I’m giving to Ugandans back home interested in this kind of business, like my OB Kasule Mujib, is that in order for a club to be successful, one needs: to go into partnership with the media, create a celebrity footballer in the country, allow fans to buy shares into the club if the owner hasn’t got enough money and get good coaches. The stadium should also be located in a populated area to target more customers. The only populated area of any size in England where there are no clubs is Cornwall, which has a strong rugby tradition.
The people running football clubs at community level in Uganda should get serious as well. It is so disappointing to hear that the football club we used to watch as kids at Kangulumira is still in the same ‘ill’ shape. Football is a joint business production that requires a lot of clubs for anybody to make money. Instead of people just concentrating on about 6 big clubs we have got in the country right now, they should also find a way of developing the smaller clubs in the rural areas. For instance, The English Premiership was formed by top clubs in 1992 because they wanted a bigger slice of the available revenue, particularly television revenue (which they were able to increase), and a bigger say in how the game was run. All clubs make money regardless of what position they finish under at the end of the season. For instance, Chelsea may finish 2nd this season but there won’t be a bigger difference with Manchester United in terms of TV money shared at the end of the season.
So may be, we should follow this formula too in Uganda and increase the number of clubs involved in the top national league. This system can, in the long run, also help the clubs to identify talent at community or village level. I’m sure there are a lot of boys in villages who are capable of becoming the next ‘Messi if given a chance to develop their talents.
Our government should do everything in its power to help people who intend to invest in football business. I don’t know what the Ministry of Sport and Culture does about this but I have a few suggestions of my own. They could subsidize the costs of stadium construction and maintenance. They could invest money in community led projects especially sports at village level.
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
United Kingdom
Does Speaking English fluently measure someone’s intelligence in Uganda?
29 May 2010 37 Comments
in 2010-2011 elections, cultures, Education in Uganda, Entertainment, social issues
Dear readers,
Some Ugandans have been criticizing Vice president, Dr.Bukenya’s fluency in the English language, particularly when he appeared to be struggling with English at a business forum in India as indicated in the YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNdb1n4MyWM&feature=related
The same groups have called for president Museveni’s press secretary, Tamare Mirundi’s head, because he cannot also express himself properly in English during press conferences. Others have also been mistakenly praising the president of one of the DP factions, Norbert Mao’s oratory skills for intelligence. Some have even, out of ignorance, said that Mao is more intelligent than the Mayor of Kampala, ‘illiterate’ Sebagala. But what is the truth in whole this?
Normally a person growing up just hearing a language will not speak it as a native speaker or someone that language is a mother tongue. However, if one begins speaking a language on a regular basis, one usually keeps an accent all their life. For instance, some of us have developed funny accents because of the regions where we live in Britain but does it mean that we can express ourselves better than Bukenya or Tamare Mirundi(presedential Press Secretary)? The answer is ‘no’.
For all practical purposes, a person speaking a language at mother tongue level is a native speaker. Therefore, Dr.Bukenya cannot speak English in the same way as an English man or like some Ugandans who have been abroad for ages. A native speaker may once have meant “native” in the original sense of the word, i.e. born in that country, but now it just means a person who grew up speaking that language – which is the only way to get perfect in one language.
Indeed, a lot of people that pass through educational institutions in Uganda can express themselves in English, but are not (and may never be) as good at English as a “native speaker” or someone who has lived abroad for years. So when Tamare Mirundi speaks English, he represents a large group of elites in Uganda, and this is ok as long as people understand what he is trying to say.
Again, it is not just about grammar. Understanding the various regional differences of English or American English can be quite challenging as well. For instance, I can bet several Ugandans would not understand a thing when they hear an English man from Yorkshire or Liverpool(UK) addressing them because of the accent. In the UK itself they accept people that know how to express themselves in good English but they don’t demand them to be from Anglophone countries, or speak English fluently. This means that Dr.Bukenya or Tamare Mirundi can get any job they want in the UK with their level of expression in English.
I am no expert on all these matters, but my personal experience is that there are really big differences between individual people. There are those who live in a country for more than 20 years and still speak the local language with a heavy accent while others are really hard to identify as non-native speakers after only three or four years. I don’t know what the reason for this is.
But of course it does not often happen that people have to be perfect in the language, and I don’t really think this is necessary. If we want an open society in Uganda, we have to be more tolerant against people not perfectly speaking our languages or any foreign language such as English. For instance, there are many people who are native Luganda speakers by birth, like me, but who speak a highly ungrammatical language that is not really rich on vocabulary. Many non-baganda beat their level of language.
It can also be proven that even a native speaker’s fluency is his/her own language can diminish given enough time in another linguistic environment. There has been several notable Ugandans example of this, but I won’t go into it.
Is Ssebagala Illiterate?
Let me also correct people one thing: Ssebagala Nasser is not an illiterate man as he can read and write. He can read and write Luganda fluently. He can read English but cannot speak it fluently. So their use of the word ‘illiterate’ is totally misplaced. But then again, history has shown that illiteracy is not in any way a measure of one’s intelligence. For instance, according to Islamic scriptures, prophet Muhammad (SAW) never knew how to read and write but he managed to spread Islam under very difficult conditions, and Islam today has got second biggest following after Christianity.
Wealth and intelligence
It is true that wealthy people are generally more intelligent than average all over the world. But this is not the same as saying that the current Mayor of Kampala,Hajji Sebagala, is more intelligent than Mao, but it is very possible. I don’t know, but it’s very possible, since intelligence is very difficult to quantify.My argument here all hinges on the word “generally,’ and I hope some people don’t equivocate on the meaning of that word. Yes, there is a distinct subset of wealthy people that are less intelligent than average but overall the rich tend to be smarter. That is a fact!
Alhajji Ssebagala, James Mulwana and most rich Kampala men are more street smart than the likes of Mao, and they are probably more intelligent than the likes of Mao. Probably, if Ssebagala had decided to invest more of his time in first acquiring more degrees before business, ‘theoretical’ elites would now be calling him so intelligent, because their definition of intelligence is on how much qualifications someone has got.
Look, Uganda, unlike USA or UK, people just don’t become rich through stockbrokers and mutual funds. One has to be ‘OMUYIYA’(creative) to make it to the top. Those who make it through straightforward means: acquiring education, getting a job, and becoming rich, are not many. But Pessimists are people who believe in elites and governments. They believe that famous college professors are smarter than ordinary men and women, which is totally wrong.
Education and intelligence
There is this false idea that education = intelligence. Education may lead to understanding of intelligence, but it can just as easily lead one away from their real abilities. We must not confuse education and intelligence with cult of education and intelligence. In many ways, an illiterate Ugandan peasant knows more about human nature, economics, and moral values than some highly educated Uganda bureaucrat steeped in Marxist theory, dialectical materialism, and historicist mumbo jumbo. A person can be highly educated with all the false ideas and idiocies. Only the CULT of education says that a person is more intelligent simply because he’s read more books, has earned a Ph.D. and given lectures.
For instance, I know a lot of uneducated men in Bugerere at Kisega Village, including my grandfather, who act more intelligent than this crop we have now got from Makerere university. For 1000s of years, the most highly educated Chinese believed that business was dirty and exploitative, and so China did not make economic progress like the West.
One can study for years and years, but if the ideas are false or misleading the educated can be more stupid, naive, and ignorant that those who learned of reality through everyday experience. Norbert Mao saw Ssebagala losing the trust of Ugandans by leaning himself more towards president Museveni and NRM, but the ‘intelligent’ Mao has been publicly praising president Museveni several times. The ‘intelligent’ Mao thinks that a fragmented opposition can stop NRM from leading Uganda for more 30 years.
That’s why I discourage people to go for postgraduate studies for the sake of beautifying their CV. One needs to find himself before going for further studies. We have all got abilities which we never exploit just because we are rushing to impress the society and those around us.
Is Mao more intelligent than Ssebagala?
Intelligence can’t even be quantified, let alone measured – and I see zero evidence anywhere that Mao is more intelligent than Ssebagala. If we define intelligence in terms of “success,” then Ssebagala has done well for himself than Mao.Speaking English fluently does not make Mao more intelligent.For instance,the computer with an NLP software understands plain English -but it is only as intelligent as its rules & database allow it to. It cannot acquire intelligence or use common sense.
Overall, we should all respect each other and never to make a mistake of measuring one’s intelligence, perfection or literacy depending on their fluency in a language. Yes, English is very important and we should all strive to learn it because the prevalence of English as a language of commerce and of technical communication easily connects us to the global village and global opportunities. It’s one of the reasons why I have been advocating for its promotion in East Africa at the expense of Swahilli.
Byebyo ebyange
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Iddi Amin
Bimeza should never have been banned in Uganda
30 Sep 2009 1 Comment
in Entertainment, Politics, Presidency, Riots and genocide
Dear readers,
I know the president is very angry at the moment but leaders of the independent media council should have come out sooner and put their cards on the table when the five radio stations were closed and Bimeza were banned. This is the meaning of promoting institutions. Just holding a public dialogue is not enough and may not achieve that much under the current political environment.
The government brought in the Press and Journalists Act (1995) and a major point of contention under this legislation was the provision on regulating media practice by restricting it to journalists only. I believe journalists have been self regulating ever since this act came into place but as a young media in Uganda, the state should not be so strong on where mistakes are made by the media houses.
The banning of Bimeeza has been on the cards for a long time and measures should have been in place from the independent council on how to protect this big part of journalism. In 2002 the government threatened to ban bimeeza, claiming that during these public debates and talk shows people were not observing ethical standards and that the broadcast licences issued were being misused. Media houses responded by starting to hold these debates within their premises apart from radio one which continued to hold public debates at its drinking joint (Club Obligato). CBS has been observing these laws very well and sometimes they could interrupt callers who appeared abusive to the president or NRMO but obviously this has not been enough. Iam reliably informed that CBS were not breaking any laws on the day of the riots. Soldiers just acted on impulse to switch off some of these stations because of what was going on, and now the president is using them as bargaining chips during his dialogues or predicted meetings with Kabaka.
Ebimeza have been banned because they are dominated by the opposition and human rights activists despite being few in numbers compared to NRM cadres. In all honesty, I think Mr.Museveni needs more of these Bimeza now than before if he can get better NRM cadres out there to sell him. The only reason he has banned them is because NRM cadres are not doing a good job. The opposition seems to have some leverage in this department and this is not good in his books.
I think the regular use of YouTube to communicate to Ugandans in diaspora is a direct result of the closure of radio stations (CBS FM and SUUBI FM).Ugandans abroad have been listening to Suubi FM online and they are missing this. People are now finding other ways of communicating to others and this is going to lead to a lot of underground rumours (OLUGAMBO) as it happened after the 1966 crisis when Obote abolished kingdoms.
The truth is that Ugandans in general are missing programmes like: Ekimeeza and Spectrum of Radio One; Capital Gang of Capital radio; Parliament Yammwe, Kiriza oba Gana and Mambo Bado of Central Broadcasting Service; Simbawo Akati and Gasimbagane ne Banamawulire of Simba FM; Hard Talk of Monitor FM; Katuhurirane of Radio West, and others. Banning all these programmes by the state was unnecessary because it drives all this communication underground which can be dangerous.
Please the government needs to accept the media as a public sphere, where all voices can be heard. Now my grandfather is missing CBS fm and his rights have been violated by the very state that is supposed to protect them. He finds other stations boring and his rights are not even fought for by the likes of vice president who supported its closure.
Please I ask the president to reconsider and reopen up CBSFM and other stations since we are told he is the only man who can do so. Bimeeza should also be allowed back on radio stations because this is some form of therapy to some Ugandans frustrated with the system.
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
United Kingdom
Suharto Vs Museveni in CBS fm AND Suubi fm saga
30 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in Entertainment, kingdoms, Riots and genocide
Dear readers,
The solution lies in president Museveni or whoever becomes the president in 2011 to start listening to the people they lead.All this arrogance of ‘i can do anything i want as long as I’m in power‘ should stop.Suharto (who came to power in 1966 in Indonesia) also had almost similar media measures as Museveni has put up in Uganda but he was brought down after three decades in power.
For instance,the Kedaulatan Rakyat daily in Yogyakarta was once ordered by telephone (typical in the then popular ‘telephone culture’) not to print reports about the collapse of a stage built over a swimming pool belonging to a bupati (regency head), who had been hosting a traditional ceremonial meal. The incident was caused by a live concert given by a group performing dangdut, a popular local style of music. The second case, also involving the Kedaulatan Rakyat, was a ban on printing news about a plane which crashed in Klaten, a town close to Yogyakarta. They were never told the reason behind the ban.
Suharto did everything in his powers to intimidate the media as we are witnessing today in Uganda but as they say:’even good or bad things come to an end’. As long as a leader does not respect the wishes of the people they lead, then you know we have got a problem.If people want their CBS and its representing the views of the people, then this should not be a problem
Radios were not spared either during Suharto:
1. The editor of CDBS FM in Bali was summoned by the local prosecutor’s office; he was even told to report to that office every day for a period of time. This was due to a prediction by the station that unrest would occur during the forthcoming elections (1997).
I can see this happening to any of the media outlets in Uganda before the 2011 elections. I put my money on Mwenda’s independent after that cartoon trouble that has led to Mwenda being charged with sedition
2. Periodically, the officials from min of information summoned representatives of all private radio stations and informed them of violations. They once accused Radio Arbes and SIPP, its sister station, of misdemeanors without giving a clear explanation or writing an official letter.
This has already happened in Uganda. The govt threatened to ban bimeza in 2002. Several FM presenters have been summoned to the police stations and by the people from the Broadcasting corporation.Radio licences have been revoked every now and then
3.Radio station Dikara Bawana was charged with producing a program that contravened the SARA doctrine. SARA stands for Suku,Agama, Ras, dan Antar Golongan, which means, ‘Ethnicity, Religion, Race, and Groups’. Any discussion of these four issues constituted a very serious taboo on the Indonesia media scene.
I think we have already seen this in Uganda. You discuss federalism as a Baganda wish only may land one in trouble because the 1995 constitution bans journalists from discussing issues that promote any form of tribalism.
The Suharto administration was very serious but the media especially the local ones resisted all these intimidation measures till when the regime was booted out of power.
Radios didn’t cause the genocide in Rwanda(part 1)
30 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in Entertainment, federalism in Uganda, international, Riots and genocide
Dear good people,
What happened to our brothers and sisters in Rwanda is regrettable and hope it never happens in Uganda but so many factors led to the genocide in Rwanda, and therefore it cannot be compared to CBS and the recent riots.It cannot be entirely the propaganda spread by the radio RTLM alone that caused the genocide in Rwanda.
That said, there is some evidence of conditional media effects and that Radio RTLM catalyzed a small number of individuals and incidents of violence, framed public choice, and reinforced messages that many individuals received during face-to-face mobilization.
On the other hand, i have received information that on the day of the riots in Uganda, CBS radio broadcasts were not racist or tribalist in nature or openly inflammatory as was the case during the Rwanda genocide. But if there is any presenter or moderator of CBS or Suubi FM who was calling Baganda/Ugandans to slaughter Banyankole, then he or she deserves punishment.
The problem with policy makers in Africa is generalizing debates on genocide.In policy circles, debates on how to contain the genocide often focus on jamming the radio which is not right. Genocides are caused mainly by long term problems in the country which leaders tend to ignore for a long time. Just closing a radio station does not remove these problems. Without sounding seditious, i think you all know why some Ugandans feel aggrieved by the Banyankole in Uganda right now. The leaders need to address the root causes of this and probably radio stations will have no reason to talk or discuss about it anymore.Closing a station just burries the issue in people’s minds and hearts.
Again, in comparison to Rwanda,Radio-Télévision Libredes Milles Collines (RTLM), which began broadcasting in July 1993, was owned and controlled by Hutu hard-liners within the ruling regime who ultimately organized the genocidal violence . Before the genocide,RTLM broadcast a steady digest of belligerent, nationalist, antirebel, and often openly inflammatory statements. During the genocide, RTLM announcers encouraged listeners to fight, and in some cases, the announcers broadcast names of individuals and places, which were subsequently attacked by citizen bands.
CBS on the other hand is a radio which is privately owned and nobody in the ruling party(NRMO) has got a stake in it. It is easy to control and close if the government wants to.It only encouraged people to go and attend the Kayunga function in big numbers and i see nothing wrong with this. This was all politics, my friend.
During and before the genocide in Rwanda,Rwandans could listen to the more state-owned station, Radio Rwanda. The government of Rwanda was mainly responsible for the genocide as they promoted the killing of the Tutsis. If the govt had no stake in it, then this genocide would not have taken place. So how can a genocide take place in Uganda if the state does not want it to take place.They have got all the mechanism to stop it from happening. So CBS should be the least problem for anybody in Uganda. It’s just CBS gets more audience than the state owned radio, Radio Uganda, and probably the government does not like it.
Let us also not forget that the Tutsi-led rebels, who were fighting the government in a war that began in 1990, operated a station called Radio Muhabur.I’m yet to find out whether their radio also promoted genocide but all indications are that a genocide is mainly caused by the government in power as was the case in Rwanda. Radio stations have got a responsibility to report what’s happening during a genocide or riots and probably this is what CBS, was doing on ,9th,10th and 11th September 2009.
Nze bwendaba
Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba
Good Videos to watch
28 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in Entertainment, international
http://freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=171
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKNzSfoKeK8&mode=related&search=
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