Memory of Solomon Akugizibwe in Holland

Hague city

When I got a job in Fort Portal doing development work, I was this adventurous young man who had a lot of appetite to tour the world. I used to apply for any travel opportunity available. I vividly remember in a very short period of time, I had toured Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Holland and Sweden.

Touring those countries was a very exciting experience because I was able to make new friends, meet new people, see new great cities, and experience new cultures. The adventurism also radicalized my opposition against the Uganda dictatorship because I went to countries where governance institutions were working. You could see no traffic jams in cities far bigger than Kampala.

While travelling to Holland for a two weeks (16th – 27th September 2013) training in journalism at RNTC, I made an arrangement to meet a Dutch lady I had heard of from friends in Uganda called Ms. Marije Boot to discuss more on the projects she is implementing in Uganda. Fortunately, when I was in Holland, I kept in contact with the Dutch lady. I remember, I had no phone in Holland, after class I sent the Dutch lady a message that I was going to board a train from Hilversum to Utrecht where the Dutch lady was.

Utrecht city

In Hilversum I boarded a train to Utrecht, I wasn’t even sure of reaching since I had never travelled to Utrecht. I found the Dutch lady waiting for me at the train station in Utrecht. She was really happy, I was also very happy meeting her for the first time. I remember seeing her giving five Euros to a homeless person at the train station.

She took me to a storied house in Utrecht built in the 14^th century. Again, we went to a restaurant next to a canal and had a nice dinner. I remember we also went to a bar where I took hot water and a beer because it was very cold.

Utrecht city had a lively night life because the city has many universities and always full with university students. Utrecht had many canals and highly organized just like most cities in Holland which made the city’s scenery much more beautiful.     

Amsterdam city

I had never been to Europe before and Holland was the first European country I stepped in and stayed there for two weeks. I was staying in a hotel next to Bussum Nord Railway Station in Hilversum and I was chauffeured to the hotel in a state of the art Mercedes Benz chauffeured by a white gentleman. In Uganda, I have never seen such a Mercedes Benz being used as a special hire taxi. I was staying in a community of internationals from Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Peru, Kenya, India, Mozambique, Pakistan, Netherlands and South Africa among others.

I remember my first day to fully visit Amsterdam & Hague was when our school organized a tour of the two cities. In Amsterdam we travelled almost the whole city via the so many canals. I saw landmark buildings, the red-light district (legal prostitution areas), the coffee shops (legal marijuana shops) which was an interesting experience.

Hilversum city

In Holland, I had many colleagues with diverse cultures because they were coming from different countries across the world which was interesting for me because, I would always learn something new.

Even the rich, superstars, politicians ride bicycles in Holland. I think this bicycle riding culture was created by the geography because the whole country is flat and swampy. In the whole country, there are only one or two very tiny hills which people are so much proud of.

Dutch people are always fast in everything except responding to emails because they walk very fast, do work fast and on time. The Dutch society looks like a nonsense society and I think that partly explains why it’s a developed society.

I will soon be publishing a memoir titled, "From Holland to Uganda."

Why I will still vote for Dr. Besigye in the 2016 Uganda Elections

I have been supporting Dr. Kiizza Besigye ever since 2001 when he started contesting for the Uganda Presidential Elections. I never liked him because he is was a Medical Doctor, Westerner like me or because he was a high ranking military official at the rank of a Colonel. My reason for liking him is very simple, “he is terribly a honest man” and has the best vision for Uganda manifested through his consistent political actions over the years.

Dr Kiiza Besigye comes from a very wealthy family, his father [Kifefe] was a very rich business man in Rukungiri District during those days [owning a petrol station in Rukungiri Town]. In addition, Besigye was one of the bright minds at the time who went on to pursue a Bachelors Degree of Medicine & Surgery at the prestigious Makerere University, Kampala [by that time - even today - medicine was for the brightest minds in the country].

After his studies, Besigye went to work as a medical Doctor at Agha Khan Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya which is one of the best health facilities in the world at a time when medical education was highly prized and medical Doctors were in short supply.

He never stopped at that, he left the comfort of his well paying job at Agha Khan Hospital in Nairobi in the early 1980’s to join Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in the Bush and liberate the country from a dictatorship of Obote II.

In 1999, as a high ranking military official, he openly broke ranks with president Museveni for diverting from the core objectives that took them to the gruelling 5 year bush war that left an enormous destruction on people’s property and caused an enormous loss of life to the country.  Since then, he has sustained the struggle against the Museveni dictatorship, not on personal hatred as some people would like to assume but on principle.

Despite his status, he has constantly suffered enormous public humiliations at the hands of a brutal regime through constant arrests and torture but remained on track. I had spent long without meeting him physically, but recently on his campaign trail in Western Uganda, I had an opportunity to have a long chat with him at Travelers Inn Hotel, Fort Portal on 15^th December, 2015 at night.

Together, with the District Executive headed by Ms. Nyakato Rusoke and the national FDC campaign team including FDC President, Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu, Ms. Ingrid Turinawe, Hon. Nzou Stephen (MP) and the Rukungiri Municipality MP among others we discussed wide ranging issues like the progress of the 2016 campaign, FDC manifesto among others.

Dr. Besigye was still the same person I met in 2011 with the same zeal and determination to liberate the country from dictatorship and create opportunities for Ugandans.

    

A centre where Uganda youth get friendly health services

I felt touched, shocked and sympathy finding many young pregnant girls and many young people unwell because of suffering caused by STDs like HIV/AIDs which are preventable and manageable although considered a curse in many of our communities. The interesting things were also quite many.

This was during a visit to Naguru Teenage and Information Centre (NTIC) in Kampala, Uganda with other African journalists from countries like Nigeria, Zambia, Uganda, etc on Monday, 19^th May 2015. The Centre is located in an upscale Kampala area of Bugolobi.

However, on the other hand, the visit was interesting and quite surprising because it was new to me since I come from a rural area finding many entertaining activities like games for many young Uganda girls and boys in a health facility.

In many health facilities especially in the rural areas where I come from, many health workers are not friendly and the environment looks intimidating in addition to lack of adequate facilities like drugs which was not the case at NTIC.

The many entertaining activities are aimed at making them feel at home when accessing the health services according to one of the staff we found at the reception.  

Naguru Teenage Information Centre

We were ushered in the centre by the centre coordinator called Martin Byamugisha who was very friendly. I noticed many interesting things which are youth friendly like a TV screen playing the latest movies, many indoor games like darts, a big hall capable of accommodating between 50 – 70 people at a time.

The centre is also well located in a hideout just behind Kiswa Health Centre III to ensure the privacy of the young people when accessing health services.

Another interesting observation was the many condom boxes which were pinned on the notice board of the centre for the youth accessing the centre to use for free whenever they needed them.

I also found the darts board very interesting because it had all the information about the centre and the services that it offers to the youth meaning that you would ‘kill two birds with one stone’ by playing darts at the same time understanding the many services offered by the centre.

Also, most of the walls at the centre were covered with posters with great pictures of celebrities like Bobi Wine taking about sexual reproductive health, like HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, condoms, etc.

Amazed by the interesting services offered by the centre, I decided to venture further and had a discussion about the centre with one of the beneficiary who had come to access treatment.

“They have good treatment for many diseases and communicate well with us, besides, I don’t need to pay any money to access services.” Said one of the Teenagers called John, not his real name

John adds, “I fear to tell my parents when suffering some diseases like gonorrhoea because they will think I play sex. However, I don’t fear sharing my problems with the staff at the centre.” 

The trip was supported by Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC)

Tangible actions needed to uplift the livelihoods of the minority communities

The 1995 Uganda constitution (Chapter 4) clearly defines and protects the rights of the marginalized and minority population groups because inclusion of the minorities in governance is a fundamental requirement for any democratic society.

Article 36 of the 1995 Uganda constitution goes ahead to clearly state, “Minorities have a right to participate in decision making processes and their views and interests shall be taken into account in the making of the national plans and programmes.”

The Basongora cultural leader.

However, no clear affirmative action has been instituted by both the local and central governments to ensure effective participation of the minority groups evidenced by earmarking specific resources for particular marginalised/minority communities, having representatives of the minority communities in the local government planning, budgeting and decision making processes, etc.

The Uganda Local Government Act (1997) which aims at decentralising power from the central government to the local grassroots to ensure good governance and democratic participation doesn’t provide any position in the district or Sub County councils for a representative of the minority community.

In many cases, since the minority communities remain outside the mainstream governance institutions at both local and central governments, they have remained poor, are landless and ignorant and hence not organised to lobby for any fruitful action from the government.

The dominant communities have even tried to forcefully grab their communal land for the benefit of their own kinsmen for instance in Kasese District conflicts have been widespread between the Basongora indigenous minority tribe and Bakonjo dominant tribe over the later tribe trying to grab communal land for the Basongora tribe.

Such conflicts have even claimed the lives of people and have led to the invasion of an environmentally sensitive area like the Queen Elizabeth National Park. Elective politics has worsened the situation in a country where politics are mostly based on tribal affiliations.

Government has not made any effort to ‘ring fence’ certain positions for the minority communities like it has done for women, youth and the disabled. For instance in Budibugyo District both Sub County councils and the district councils are not represented by the minority Batwa Communities.

In kasese district, the Banyabindi are not also represented at all on both the District and Sub County Councils. Still in Kasese, in a district council of over 50 councilors, the Basongora are only represented by one person whose impact is almost negligible in a council where voting on vital service delivery and other governance decisions is based on numbers.

Since government provides all the necessary services necessary for improved well-being of its population, areas with the highest concentration of the minority tribes have been suffocated of basic service delivery like roads, schools, health centers, safe water, etc. There have been so many instances in Kasese district where health units, roads, water points, etc are constructed in areas with the highest concentration of the dominant community suffocating areas settled by the minority tribes of vital service delivery.

Surprisingly, the minority communities especially in Kasese (Basongora, Banyabindi, Banyanyanja and Bakingwe) faced both colonial and post-colonial injustices because their ancestral lands used for communal grazing were taken up by the government to set up Queen Elizabeth National Park, Mubuku and Ibuga Prison Farms, Ibuga Refugee Settlement Scheme, Hima Army Production Farm, Mubuku Irrigation Scheme, Hima Cement Factory among others.

The indigenous minority communities were displaced from their ancestral lands without compensation and prior preparation to enable them tap on the projects/initiatives which were set up by the government of the day.

All the above injustices which were against both national and international legal minority rights frameworks for minority communities rights like the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights which Uganda is a signatory and the Uganda Constitution (1995). The above injustices have also rendered the minority communities poor, illiterate and hence vulnerable to more governance injustices.

To uplift the livelihoods of the minority communities, there is need for an affirmative action to ensure minorities are included in all the democratic engagements at both local and central governments. This can be done through ‘ring fencing’ some political and maybe civil service positions for the minorities similar to what Tanzania has done for the Albino community.   

Negligence of Uganda medical workers causing thousands of deaths, government needs to improve on their motivation.

Like all young ladies who are giving birth for their first time, in the month of June, 2012, Nancy Kabanyoro shifted from her place of work in Masindi district to the comfort of her mother in Kabarole District to give birth. She wasn’t aware that the journey was the beginning of her end.

She finally managed to give birth after an operation at Virika Hospital, Fort Portal. However, the operation was the actual beginning of her end because it was done badly due to negligence of some health workers at the hospital. Virika is a private hospital owned by the Catholic Church but partially supported by the Uganda Government.

Nancy Kabanyoro

After a long struggle for over 2 months as a result of bad operation, she had her last breathe on the night of 15^th, August, 2012. On Friday, 17^th June, 2012, we laid her to rest at her ancestral home in Kibiito Sub County, Kabarole District.

Actually, rumor which has not yet been confirmed has it that she was actually operated on by an intern student without proper supervision and the family is gathering more information to sue the hospital for such negligence. Five more other operations were conducted at Nsambya Hospital but it was too late to save a life of a 29 year old lady who was just starting a family. Fortunately, the baby is well and healthy.

This case is just a tip of an iceberg and portrays a true picture of the state of Uganda health sector; there are thousands of such cases in many Ugandan Hospitals and health centers causing thousands of deaths every month. Stories of a nurse leaving a patient on a drip, patients bleeding to death as a result of medical workers negligence among others are very common in the Ugandan media today? Mind you, it is not only negligence of medical, many are much more committed even with the little pay but lack basic facilities to enable them do their work.

For the record, I was born at Virika Hospital during Obote II and the stories I hear from people who are much older than me say that the hospital services especially the care were quite better compared to now. Health workers were much more committed to their work than today, their attitude towards patients and work was also much better. Even during the first ten years of President Museveni government, you could really see the commitment; you could feel much more care in such public health facilities like Virika Hospital.

Today, you can really see negligence by health workers in almost all public health facilities, I was not surprised when Bidandi Ssali appealed for medical help from government to allow him go abroad for treatment because he has been in government and is much aware of the state of the health sector, he can’t trust his life with Ugandan Doctors and Nurses because he knows they are not happy with the meager pay and funding to the health sector.

Ugandan leaders have no care because they are sure of better services abroad, everyone has been complaining of brain drain of Ugandan medical workers even to countries like Rwanda. Those who have remained in Uganda actually spend 80 percent of their time in private health facilities trying to make ends meet which leaves them exhausted with no time to concentrate and make proper prescriptions, treatment and even basic surgeries.

In addition to meager pay for medical workers by the government, Ugandan health facilities lack even the basic facilities to enable mothers deliver comfortably like surgical kits. The American diplomats were not stupid to question the impact of the $ 400 million the US government donates to the Ugandan health sector since the country’s health sector remains in a deplorable state.

Young mothers like Nancy are the future of this country, they have a lot to contribute to the development of this country but they are not well connected and have no resources to access better medical treatment and care from abroad.

The Uganda government therefore needs to wake up and increase on the national resource allocation to the health sector, improve on the salaries and other welfare of medical workers to avoid young mothers like Nancy who are bread winners to their families die at such productive years and as a result of negligence by medical workers due to lack of motivation as a result of a meager salary and limited resource allocation to the health sector to enable it properly function. 

How rich is Sam Kuteesa?

Sam Kuteesa

When the Ugandan tabloid The Red Pepper sometime back alleged that the Ugandan foreign affairs minister (Sam Kuteesa) had 60 billion Uganda shillings lying idle on his account in Crane Bank, everyone thought it was a joke.

However, his recent oil scandals have made a very convincing defense for The Red Pepper’s claims. Everyone can now believe that the man is a super thief and mega rich.

Imagine! In a period of 4 months, Sam Kuteesa had received a bribe of 17.5 million Euros an equivalent of 64 billion Uganda shillings from Tullow oil for oil exploration and production contracts.

This is enough money to pay 22 million Ugandan primary school teachers for a whole year at a salary of 250,000 per month. Uganda doesn’t even have 22 million primary school teachers.

It is enough money to fully fund the Uganda ICT ministry for 5 years. It is enough money to fund Mulago referral hospital for 2 years. It is enough money to fund all the district hospitals for 12 years.

Since joining this government, Sam Kuteesa has been involved in every corruption scandal starting from privatization, Chogm and now oil.

This is the man who even failed Uganda Airlines for his own personal interests. He now has a monopoly called Entebbe Handling services (ENHAS) which makes millions of profits everyday.

If you want to know Kuteesa’s monetary worth, count his ‘salary’ and the number of years he has been in government as an influential figure.

For further information to help you in your calculations, the recent oil scandals has proved that Kuteesa earns a ‘salary’ of 64 billions every 4 months and he has been in government as a highly influential and senior figure for more than a decade - The day his daughter married the first son – Col. Muhoozi Keinerugaba.

How Besigye’s walking legs fell down Museveni

When the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) President Dr. Kizza Besigye started the walk to work campaigns months after being defeated by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in the February 2011 Uganda Elections everyone thought it was a joke.

Even people within the FDC circles including the Crème de la crème like Gen. Mugisha Muntu was highly opposed to it because he though it was just a joke although he later joined when the winds of change finally directed him to follow the direction of the winning strategy.

Dr. Besigye (middle)

Outside Uganda, some people like Jerry Okungu – a respected East African Columnist could not even understand how a respected opposition party president like Dr. Kizza Besigye could shame himself to that level by participating in the highly demeaning protest.

The walk to work, walk to pray campaign started as a very simple thing with Dr. Besigye and a few of his aides walking from his home area in Kisangani to the FDC party offices in Najjanankumbi – a Kampala suburb.

The reasons for walking were simply to push the Uganda government under president Museveni reduce the prices of basic commodities like fuel and also protest the fraudulent elections which handed victory to the NRM government.

Soon Dr. Besigye was joined by thousands some within the NRM and security circles called crooks, thieves, terrorists, economic saboteurs and all kinds of bad names.

The small walk to work protest soon turned into a big international riot attracting international media networks like Al-Jazeera and BBC.

Significant foreign missions like the US and European Union embassies started criticizing the Uganda government for violently cracking down on the protestors.

Professional bodies like the Uganda law society, Uganda Womens Network, teachers and other signification organizations like Kampala City Traders Association joined the protests.

The walk to work exposed the weaknesses of the ‘immortal and visionary’ president Museveni and his government to an extent that even people within NRM have started directly attacking the president without any fear.

Everyone knows how a whole senior presidential advisor John Nagenda rebuked the president in broad day light in the media without even the government rebuffing the criticisms; it was only the insignificant presidential press secretary Tamale Mirundi (he meets the president only twice a year) who made his usual noise that Nagenda is out of favor.

Mike Mukula NRM Vice president for Eastern Uganda who is also a former minister seemed never concerned with the wikileaks releases which were highly critical of the president.

A top Kampala NRM cadre and MP for Kampala Central Muhammed Nsereko and a host of other NRM ‘rebel’ MPs have become more critical than the people within the opposition and no one seems to have capacity to silence them. It was only president Museveni who recently made threatening remarks against the ‘rebel’ MP’s which ended in a dustbin.

The walk to work protests have thoroughly exposed the Museveni regime, weakened it that people within NRM have started fighting themselves for power. The battle now is who is going to replace Museveni, former VP Gilbert Bukenya is in prison because he seemed to challenge Amama Mbabazi for the presidency.

Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kuteesa and Government Chief Whip John Nasasira are soon joining ‘Mahogany’ in Luziira so that Mbabazi remains the only single candidate in the queue for the presidency.

Power has already slipped away from President Museveni because he no longer controls the parliament, his son Muhoozi has failed to control the army, the economy is in shambles and his days are surely very, very numbered.

What began a simple walk to work campaign will soon fall a whole sitting long serving Ugandan president who was right to remark that guns can never dislodge him from power but simple things like Dr. Besigye’s walking legs might actually do the magic!