MAK TO CELEBRATE 20 YEARS OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM
The Makerere University Department of Mass Communication will on 10th July set to celebrate 20 years of professional media and communication excellence in Uganda.
The two day event, under the theme 20 Years of Professionalizing Journalism and Communication in Uganda will be aimed at commemorating and celebrating the contribution of mass communication department to journalism and mass communication in the country.
The celebrations are planned to commence with an annual media convention on 9th and a procession from the mass communication department to down town, and this will be climaxed by an academic exhibition and a dinner for all stake holders and media practitioners at the Serena hotel.
In a press conference on 3rd June, the Head of Department and pioneer student, Dr. George W. Lugalambi said that mass communication was the first program to offer professional degrees in journalism and Mass Communication in East and Central Africa, and its contribution to the profession is worth celebrating.
“Many students have come from East African countries and our contribution is innumerable and has been felt in all media and communication organizations in the region especially in areas of public relations, marketing, advertising and main stream journalism,” he said.
Dr. Lugalambi said that the anniversary will be a spring board in the quest for an independent faculty and in the plans to overhaul the course curriculum to match with the swiftly changing technology demands in the field of journalism and communication.
“Over the years, there have been enormous changes in technology and media and we are looking at the anniversary as a starting point to redesign the curriculum and the entire program and the entire program [mass communication], he said.
He added that the department is in discussions with the university administration to accord Mass Communication a school status [School of Journalism and Media Communication.]
Mass Communication started in the academic year 1988/1989 as a unit in the department of literature and according to department records; it has so far produced over 1400 professional media and communication practitioners. It currently has 400 undergraduate students and 40 postgraduate and masters students.
With the help of United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], the department alongside the University of Rhodes, Namibia and Lagos school of journalism was identified as a potential centre of media excellence in Africa.
It [department] has an students’ run online news paper, The Ivory Post and a community/training radio, Campus fm 107, sponsored by the American embassy and UNESCO.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
MEET MAK’S JAZZ MAESTROS
This year’s much hyped Bayimba Festival was their first stage performance (even though they have played at friends’ functions), but this does not make them any less of a force to reckon with at the Festival. Even though they do not flaunt themselves as maestros at what they do, the Milégé Afro Jazz Band, whose tunes are a fusion of traditional jazz and African beats and chimes, arouses fascination and allure through its harmonious melodies.
Milégé is a Luo word for a rattle-like bell worn around the ankle by Luo males (read Jamilege people) of West Nile during their traditional dance. The band chose this Afrocentric name to draw emphasis to its fusion of classical jazz music, which they realized was not universally enjoyed, with African rhythms which even those not interested in jazz could sway to.
A Christian band, Milégé Afro Jazz Band started out in January 2009 and was initially desired to be an all girls’ band. However, there was little success this way as ladies showed little commitment and clearly had other priorities opposed to playing drums and guitars. The team came together after realizing the missing link in jazz music and the nature of bands in the country. “Many bands play for a while, then become a one-hit-wonder, others cannot keep permanent members and so the tunes keep changing. Milégé wants to create a family where people are not exploited and love what they play”.
Aside from the youthfulness, charisma and visionary fanaticism that Milégé carry into their music, what does not meet the eye immediately is the mélange of professionalism behind the instruments. The group’s Music Director, Andrew Ahura is an I.T student, Elaine Obbo (Rhythm guitar) and group’s Legal Officer is a practicing lawyer, Dinah Oundo (Base Guitar) is an accountant, while Francis Manana (Manager) is a student of Sports Science and Management. The band prides in this professional consortium to thrust itself as a registered entity, an investment venture for members to develop talent and also use their professions. “We want people to know that music is not for failures or school drop outs like many people would want to believe”.
This seven man band promises to bring a new meaning to jazz by incorporating African culture and tunes and showcasing a regality of originality in its compositions.
The band also has a management structure through which it hopes to provide flexibility of members to join or leave the band. The four founding members are Partners while Associate Partners assume the title after showing commitment, consistency, tireless input, and willingness to grow in the band. Temps occasionally join the band for a gig or two, or more and can leave at will. Members even get a monthly allowance. The management structure is in place to avoid exploiting members.
Milégé’s rhythm is fast and fiery, its drums resonate a celebration of joy, love and happiness and its harmony is soft, delicate and melodious. Like many musicians, Milégé’s players discovered their giftedness in church and some of them even still play in their local churches i.e. Deliverance Church Makerere, Kampala Pentecostal Church, All Saints Cathedral, Rubaga Miracle Center Cathedral, and St. Francis Chapel Makerere. Their message is the message of the church: love and tolerance for all mankind.
Their eyes are set on higher things like playing at international conventions like the Sauti Zabushara and the Zanzibar Film Festival while still looking up to good players like the Blood Brothers and Soul Beat Africa.
This year’s much hyped Bayimba Festival was their first stage performance (even though they have played at friends’ functions), but this does not make them any less of a force to reckon with at the Festival. Even though they do not flaunt themselves as maestros at what they do, the Milégé Afro Jazz Band, whose tunes are a fusion of traditional jazz and African beats and chimes, arouses fascination and allure through its harmonious melodies.
Milégé is a Luo word for a rattle-like bell worn around the ankle by Luo males (read Jamilege people) of West Nile during their traditional dance. The band chose this Afrocentric name to draw emphasis to its fusion of classical jazz music, which they realized was not universally enjoyed, with African rhythms which even those not interested in jazz could sway to.
A Christian band, Milégé Afro Jazz Band started out in January 2009 and was initially desired to be an all girls’ band. However, there was little success this way as ladies showed little commitment and clearly had other priorities opposed to playing drums and guitars. The team came together after realizing the missing link in jazz music and the nature of bands in the country. “Many bands play for a while, then become a one-hit-wonder, others cannot keep permanent members and so the tunes keep changing. Milégé wants to create a family where people are not exploited and love what they play”.
Aside from the youthfulness, charisma and visionary fanaticism that Milégé carry into their music, what does not meet the eye immediately is the mélange of professionalism behind the instruments. The group’s Music Director, Andrew Ahura is an I.T student, Elaine Obbo (Rhythm guitar) and group’s Legal Officer is a practicing lawyer, Dinah Oundo (Base Guitar) is an accountant, while Francis Manana (Manager) is a student of Sports Science and Management. The band prides in this professional consortium to thrust itself as a registered entity, an investment venture for members to develop talent and also use their professions. “We want people to know that music is not for failures or school drop outs like many people would want to believe”.
This seven man band promises to bring a new meaning to jazz by incorporating African culture and tunes and showcasing a regality of originality in its compositions.
The band also has a management structure through which it hopes to provide flexibility of members to join or leave the band. The four founding members are Partners while Associate Partners assume the title after showing commitment, consistency, tireless input, and willingness to grow in the band. Temps occasionally join the band for a gig or two, or more and can leave at will. Members even get a monthly allowance. The management structure is in place to avoid exploiting members.
Milégé’s rhythm is fast and fiery, its drums resonate a celebration of joy, love and happiness and its harmony is soft, delicate and melodious. Like many musicians, Milégé’s players discovered their giftedness in church and some of them even still play in their local churches i.e. Deliverance Church Makerere, Kampala Pentecostal Church, All Saints Cathedral, Rubaga Miracle Center Cathedral, and St. Francis Chapel Makerere. Their message is the message of the church: love and tolerance for all mankind.
Their eyes are set on higher things like playing at international conventions like the Sauti Zabushara and the Zanzibar Film Festival while still looking up to good players like the Blood Brothers and Soul Beat Africa.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Mak Guild Elections 2009
GUILD ELECTIONS KICK OFF, CANDIDATES TO UPLIFT UNIVERSITY IMAGE
“This is the time to save Makerere from the drip it’s on in Mulago and have a pro-student management. I have come to deliver Makerere from the vampires of high tuition, from the horrors of privatization, and the terrorists of poor sanitation,” said Mr. Robert Okware, one of the candidates vying for Guild Presidency at Makerere University.
Okware and seven other candidates fired up Makerere with marching bands, branded, cheering supporters, and promise-filled manifestos, at the start of the campaign rallies held at the Makerere’s University Hall, on Monday, ahead of the Guild Elections due March 16th 2009.
Kinyanjui Phillip “Philo” Kimani, the first and only international student to contest for the highest student leadership position at Makerere, promised ‘fireworks’, as he urged students to co-operate to influence change.
“Makerere’s degenerating goes without saying, and we should work together as Ugandans, Kenyans, Tanzanians, Sudanese, Rwandese and Burundaise, to revive student activism,” he said.
The only female candidate in the race, Ms. Husnah Natukunda, contesting on the FDC party ticket, cautioned students about those who shake their hands and make empty promises.
“Makerere needs better leadership, and if you want to see that being done, you should entrust the job to a woman,” she said.
Seemingly the crowd’s favourite, Mr. Kisuule Robertson “Castro” , vowed to break the bureaucracy in the processes leading up to getting Identity Cards and transcripts. He also pledged to loby for advanced serviceds like internet hotspots in all halls of residence. Previously only Africa Halls had an internet hot post. Quoting South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, “If you remain silent against injustices, you are on the said of the oppressor,” Kisuule, the NRM candidate said.
With Samuel Ariiho in the driving seat, female students will be assured of a bigger representation on the Guild Executive, while a Legal Team will defend students against illegal detention and present an offensive against the privatization of halls.
Although many of the candidates were backed by different political parties, some were independent. Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) however did not field a candidate after failing to raise the money needed to register their candidate.
Students and academic staff of Makerere University can only hope for the best man to win, to help revamp the collapsing image of the 86-year-old institution, which has been mired with inefficient management, students’ riots, academic staff strikes, bureaucratic systems, and shortage and misuse of resources.
“This is the time to save Makerere from the drip it’s on in Mulago and have a pro-student management. I have come to deliver Makerere from the vampires of high tuition, from the horrors of privatization, and the terrorists of poor sanitation,” said Mr. Robert Okware, one of the candidates vying for Guild Presidency at Makerere University.
Okware and seven other candidates fired up Makerere with marching bands, branded, cheering supporters, and promise-filled manifestos, at the start of the campaign rallies held at the Makerere’s University Hall, on Monday, ahead of the Guild Elections due March 16th 2009.
Kinyanjui Phillip “Philo” Kimani, the first and only international student to contest for the highest student leadership position at Makerere, promised ‘fireworks’, as he urged students to co-operate to influence change.
“Makerere’s degenerating goes without saying, and we should work together as Ugandans, Kenyans, Tanzanians, Sudanese, Rwandese and Burundaise, to revive student activism,” he said.
The only female candidate in the race, Ms. Husnah Natukunda, contesting on the FDC party ticket, cautioned students about those who shake their hands and make empty promises.
“Makerere needs better leadership, and if you want to see that being done, you should entrust the job to a woman,” she said.
Seemingly the crowd’s favourite, Mr. Kisuule Robertson “Castro” , vowed to break the bureaucracy in the processes leading up to getting Identity Cards and transcripts. He also pledged to loby for advanced serviceds like internet hotspots in all halls of residence. Previously only Africa Halls had an internet hot post. Quoting South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, “If you remain silent against injustices, you are on the said of the oppressor,” Kisuule, the NRM candidate said.
With Samuel Ariiho in the driving seat, female students will be assured of a bigger representation on the Guild Executive, while a Legal Team will defend students against illegal detention and present an offensive against the privatization of halls.
Although many of the candidates were backed by different political parties, some were independent. Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) however did not field a candidate after failing to raise the money needed to register their candidate.
Students and academic staff of Makerere University can only hope for the best man to win, to help revamp the collapsing image of the 86-year-old institution, which has been mired with inefficient management, students’ riots, academic staff strikes, bureaucratic systems, and shortage and misuse of resources.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
MAKERERE TO ABANDON BALLOT BOX FOR ONLINE VOTING
Students of Makerere University will soon bid farewell to making long queues under the scorching sun, when the institution reverts to online voting, as opposed to the traditional ballot box system of casting votes, previously used.
This was revealed in an interview with the Guild Minister of Information, Mr. Onesimus Twinamasiko, who said that the proposal for students to go to the polls via the internet was in the offing and would begin in March 2009, when the students vote for their next Guild president.
“We were using ballot papers to vote previously, which was tiresome and time wasting, but come March 16 2009, Makerere will have a hassle free voting system,” he said.
In the online voting system, students who show up to cast their votes, will get a password from the electoral officials. On punching the password into a computer, a student will be able to access the university network, the voter’s registry, a list of names of the candidates. Only one vote can be cast, and once that is done, any other vote cast using the same password is invalid.
Although Guild Presidential hopefuls and some students are optimistic about the new voting procedures, members of staff who talked to Daily Monitor are not so enthusiastic about the online voting.
“I do not think this online thing is going to work,” said Mr. Agaba Issa Mugabo, a lecturer of Mass Communication. “With a student population of about 30,000 students, many of whom do not know how to use a computer, it can’t work. Besides, how many computers are you going to provide,” the Don added.
The university has a population of over 30,000 students and the Faculty of CIT, which is spearheading this innovation, has about 700 desktop computers, some of which will be used for voting.
Mr. Kisuule Robertson, one of the contenders for Guild Presidency, however believes that the online voting system will increase speed, efficiency, and transparency in the voting exercise.
“We are only going to try this out for the first time and I believe it will work. Any problems may be only technical but not with the process,” Kisuule, also Chairman of Livingstone Hall said.
Voting will be done at computer stations which will be communicated prior to Election Day, and students who may not wish to use the online system, can opt for the traditional ballot box, availed at the Freedom Square.
Mr. Twinamasiko said the purpose of introducing the online method of casting votes is to eliminate cases of election malpractice and vote rigging, which students previously complained about, making the electoral process more transparent, and increasing student participation in the voting exercise. He noted sadly that many students had been exempting themselves from exercising their voting rights with the excuse of long lines and a generally slow process.
Online voting is an initiative from the Faculty of Computing and Information Technology at Makerere and will be supervised by the Directorate of Information and Communication Technology (DICTS).
The innovation is hoped to ensure peaceful and complaint free transitions of power of the leaders and increase the community’s trust in the students as intellectuals, an image the Guild believes has been tarnished by election related violence.
“We are intellectuals and we want to reveal this to the world through a streamlined voting process,” Twinamasiko said.
He further revealed that a survey conducted by the Guild showed that 80% of the student population was in favour of online voting.
Although the Guild would like Uganda’s Electoral Commission to adopt a similar method, the possibilities are minimal, given the low literacy levels and uneven distribution of ICTs throughout the country. Makerere University will be the first university in Africa to hold online elections for its leaders.
‘GOVERNMENT GIVING PRIVATE SECTOR A RAW DEAL’
The government is putting Uganda’s economy in a possible economic trap by excluding members of the private sector in negotiations on policy making for Uganda and the East African Community, the Chairman of the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda has said.
Mr. Gerald Sendaula, who is also the former minister of Finance, told Daily Monitor in an interview, that policy makers have continuously denied the private sector the chance to participate in talks on formation of a customs union and other trade agreements, which may result in unfavourable terms for the country.
“We are looked at as unsuitable or incompetent, assumed not to be capable of making any contribution to the formation of policy and yet these policies affect us,” Sendaula said. “The officials seem to know it all, yet they do not,” he added.
The embittered former minister accused the government officials of always putting off meetings with members of the private sector, and yet other countries in the proposed East African Community have greatly involved theirs private sectors in the negotiations.
“In fact we were supposed to have a meeting last Monday. And if we keep waiting, we may reach the time to implement EAC policies, and find that they will not work for Uganda, merely because government excluded us,” he said.
In August 2008, before the second round of negotiations on a regional Common Market in Nairobi, the government of Uganda rejected pleas by the private sector for protection in form of tariffs, compensatory mechanisms, and regulatory frameworks to address imbalances in areas such as construction, education and insurance, to allow the local industry to catch up with its regional counterparts.
Mr. Sendaula, who revealed that the president, who confessed that government is not the best business operator, and so decided to privatize, however applauded the current government on its various achievements in the economy, citing that nonetheless, much improvement is still needed.
“The work of government is to regulate and so far it has done a good job, but government doesn’t know how a customs union can be formed and made to work, how do you pay it? But the private sector has the experience,” Mr. Sendaula said blaming government officials for traveling all over the world to make trade and economic deals and agreements, without consultation from the private sector.
With the persistent financial melt down, Uganda’s economy is beginning to feel the crunch, with foreign companies like GTV closing shop, and many more to follow. More than ever, members of the private sector believe that agriculture remains the narrow escape route for our vulnerable economy. However, government policies are still impractical and elusive.
Recently, government formed a partnership with some agro-based private sector companies, which it would give seed, to sustain the country’s agricultural production.
However, to Mr. Sendaula, what the government ought to direct more energy to, is value addition to agricultural produce.
Uganda continues to export agricultural products like bananas in their entirety, even with innovations like the possibility of making banana flour. Dr. Florence Muranga, a lecturer at Makerere’s Faculty of Food Science and Technology, conducted a research in which she showed that banana can be turned into flour, a possibility of earning more forex than raw banana.
The ex-minister, now an established farmer, urged government to return to the drawing board and design policies that will work for Uganda, with consultation from the private sector.
PROTECT CHILDREN IN KONY OPERATION- STUDENT BODY URGES
Children in the combat zone, where Uganda’s national army is hunting rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), should be a priority for the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, a student rights body has said.
Addressing a press conference at Makerere University on Thursday, the students said the vulnerability of children in conflict zones was a serious matter comprising the first ever offence to be formally tried by the International Criminal Court.
The Uganda Law Students Society, an inter-university body of Law students, said the trial of Thomas Lubanga should show both the LRA and the army how important protection of children is, and should therefore make the rescue of child soldiers in Kony’s camp, top of the agenda in the operation Lighting Thunder.
Thomas Lubanga, once notorious rebel leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is on trial at the International Criminal Court, for war crimes and enlisting children below 15years to fight in his army.
Since the beginning of Kony’s warfare in 1986, over 30,000 children have been abducted in the past 18 years, and many are still remnant soldiers carrying rifles and, fighting in his army.
“The government should be concerned that children are victims being used as child soldiers in Kony’s camp, and should therefore not attack indiscriminately, but be conscious of protecting these children,” said Brian Bamwesigye, the association’s president.
The students, who criticized the laxity of government involvement in protecting children, said rigorous child protection rights and, an efficacious children’s court should be put in place to settle crimes committed against children, including, child sacrifice, child labour, abduction, child trafficking, and defilement.
“Children’s rights in Uganda have been abused. Uganda subscribes to the International Convention on Children’s Rights, and so if we have a legal framework, why is not working,” Bamwesigye added.
Addressing the problem of child sacrifices, the students’ body called on the government to stop merely making rhetoric statements about children’s rights and proposing what they called shoddy procedures like the court martial to handle such, but implement operational judicial procedures against child sacrifice.
In Kampala alone, about six children were reported to have been killed in cold blood in ritual murders.
Students of Makerere University will soon bid farewell to making long queues under the scorching sun, when the institution reverts to online voting, as opposed to the traditional ballot box system of casting votes, previously used.
This was revealed in an interview with the Guild Minister of Information, Mr. Onesimus Twinamasiko, who said that the proposal for students to go to the polls via the internet was in the offing and would begin in March 2009, when the students vote for their next Guild president.
“We were using ballot papers to vote previously, which was tiresome and time wasting, but come March 16 2009, Makerere will have a hassle free voting system,” he said.
In the online voting system, students who show up to cast their votes, will get a password from the electoral officials. On punching the password into a computer, a student will be able to access the university network, the voter’s registry, a list of names of the candidates. Only one vote can be cast, and once that is done, any other vote cast using the same password is invalid.
Although Guild Presidential hopefuls and some students are optimistic about the new voting procedures, members of staff who talked to Daily Monitor are not so enthusiastic about the online voting.
“I do not think this online thing is going to work,” said Mr. Agaba Issa Mugabo, a lecturer of Mass Communication. “With a student population of about 30,000 students, many of whom do not know how to use a computer, it can’t work. Besides, how many computers are you going to provide,” the Don added.
The university has a population of over 30,000 students and the Faculty of CIT, which is spearheading this innovation, has about 700 desktop computers, some of which will be used for voting.
Mr. Kisuule Robertson, one of the contenders for Guild Presidency, however believes that the online voting system will increase speed, efficiency, and transparency in the voting exercise.
“We are only going to try this out for the first time and I believe it will work. Any problems may be only technical but not with the process,” Kisuule, also Chairman of Livingstone Hall said.
Voting will be done at computer stations which will be communicated prior to Election Day, and students who may not wish to use the online system, can opt for the traditional ballot box, availed at the Freedom Square.
Mr. Twinamasiko said the purpose of introducing the online method of casting votes is to eliminate cases of election malpractice and vote rigging, which students previously complained about, making the electoral process more transparent, and increasing student participation in the voting exercise. He noted sadly that many students had been exempting themselves from exercising their voting rights with the excuse of long lines and a generally slow process.
Online voting is an initiative from the Faculty of Computing and Information Technology at Makerere and will be supervised by the Directorate of Information and Communication Technology (DICTS).
The innovation is hoped to ensure peaceful and complaint free transitions of power of the leaders and increase the community’s trust in the students as intellectuals, an image the Guild believes has been tarnished by election related violence.
“We are intellectuals and we want to reveal this to the world through a streamlined voting process,” Twinamasiko said.
He further revealed that a survey conducted by the Guild showed that 80% of the student population was in favour of online voting.
Although the Guild would like Uganda’s Electoral Commission to adopt a similar method, the possibilities are minimal, given the low literacy levels and uneven distribution of ICTs throughout the country. Makerere University will be the first university in Africa to hold online elections for its leaders.
‘GOVERNMENT GIVING PRIVATE SECTOR A RAW DEAL’
The government is putting Uganda’s economy in a possible economic trap by excluding members of the private sector in negotiations on policy making for Uganda and the East African Community, the Chairman of the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda has said.
Mr. Gerald Sendaula, who is also the former minister of Finance, told Daily Monitor in an interview, that policy makers have continuously denied the private sector the chance to participate in talks on formation of a customs union and other trade agreements, which may result in unfavourable terms for the country.
“We are looked at as unsuitable or incompetent, assumed not to be capable of making any contribution to the formation of policy and yet these policies affect us,” Sendaula said. “The officials seem to know it all, yet they do not,” he added.
The embittered former minister accused the government officials of always putting off meetings with members of the private sector, and yet other countries in the proposed East African Community have greatly involved theirs private sectors in the negotiations.
“In fact we were supposed to have a meeting last Monday. And if we keep waiting, we may reach the time to implement EAC policies, and find that they will not work for Uganda, merely because government excluded us,” he said.
In August 2008, before the second round of negotiations on a regional Common Market in Nairobi, the government of Uganda rejected pleas by the private sector for protection in form of tariffs, compensatory mechanisms, and regulatory frameworks to address imbalances in areas such as construction, education and insurance, to allow the local industry to catch up with its regional counterparts.
Mr. Sendaula, who revealed that the president, who confessed that government is not the best business operator, and so decided to privatize, however applauded the current government on its various achievements in the economy, citing that nonetheless, much improvement is still needed.
“The work of government is to regulate and so far it has done a good job, but government doesn’t know how a customs union can be formed and made to work, how do you pay it? But the private sector has the experience,” Mr. Sendaula said blaming government officials for traveling all over the world to make trade and economic deals and agreements, without consultation from the private sector.
With the persistent financial melt down, Uganda’s economy is beginning to feel the crunch, with foreign companies like GTV closing shop, and many more to follow. More than ever, members of the private sector believe that agriculture remains the narrow escape route for our vulnerable economy. However, government policies are still impractical and elusive.
Recently, government formed a partnership with some agro-based private sector companies, which it would give seed, to sustain the country’s agricultural production.
However, to Mr. Sendaula, what the government ought to direct more energy to, is value addition to agricultural produce.
Uganda continues to export agricultural products like bananas in their entirety, even with innovations like the possibility of making banana flour. Dr. Florence Muranga, a lecturer at Makerere’s Faculty of Food Science and Technology, conducted a research in which she showed that banana can be turned into flour, a possibility of earning more forex than raw banana.
The ex-minister, now an established farmer, urged government to return to the drawing board and design policies that will work for Uganda, with consultation from the private sector.
PROTECT CHILDREN IN KONY OPERATION- STUDENT BODY URGES
Children in the combat zone, where Uganda’s national army is hunting rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), should be a priority for the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, a student rights body has said.
Addressing a press conference at Makerere University on Thursday, the students said the vulnerability of children in conflict zones was a serious matter comprising the first ever offence to be formally tried by the International Criminal Court.
The Uganda Law Students Society, an inter-university body of Law students, said the trial of Thomas Lubanga should show both the LRA and the army how important protection of children is, and should therefore make the rescue of child soldiers in Kony’s camp, top of the agenda in the operation Lighting Thunder.
Thomas Lubanga, once notorious rebel leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is on trial at the International Criminal Court, for war crimes and enlisting children below 15years to fight in his army.
Since the beginning of Kony’s warfare in 1986, over 30,000 children have been abducted in the past 18 years, and many are still remnant soldiers carrying rifles and, fighting in his army.
“The government should be concerned that children are victims being used as child soldiers in Kony’s camp, and should therefore not attack indiscriminately, but be conscious of protecting these children,” said Brian Bamwesigye, the association’s president.
The students, who criticized the laxity of government involvement in protecting children, said rigorous child protection rights and, an efficacious children’s court should be put in place to settle crimes committed against children, including, child sacrifice, child labour, abduction, child trafficking, and defilement.
“Children’s rights in Uganda have been abused. Uganda subscribes to the International Convention on Children’s Rights, and so if we have a legal framework, why is not working,” Bamwesigye added.
Addressing the problem of child sacrifices, the students’ body called on the government to stop merely making rhetoric statements about children’s rights and proposing what they called shoddy procedures like the court martial to handle such, but implement operational judicial procedures against child sacrifice.
In Kampala alone, about six children were reported to have been killed in cold blood in ritual murders.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Prison changed me – Rwakasisi
After 24 years in Luzira Maximum Prison, former UPC die hard, Mr. Chris Rwakasisi says he is a changed man , and is ready to preach the values of love, tolerance, and reconciliation, which he learnt in jail.
The former Minister of Security in the Obote II government was released from Luzira, where he was on death row, following a presidential pardon from president Museveni.
Speaking at a church service organized for him by his family and party, UPC, at All Saints Cathedral yesterday, Rwakasisi said that he will promote reconciliation and love throughout the country.
“I am back and I am here to stay this time,” he said while recounting his prison experience.
“I got expensive salvation while in prison and am going to continue preaching the same throughout the country, especially in the prison,” he added.
Speaking with his shoes off, Rwakasisi thanked the president for his concern, “belated as it was”, but denounced the death penalty, which he said only increased crime rather than curbing it.
Chris Rwakasisi was arrested in 1985 by the NRA
Soon after the afternoon service, UPC held a press conference at its headquarters at Uganda house, where it revealed its intentions to use Rwakasisi to garner support for the party in Bushenyi, his home town, and among the youths, who are ecstatic about his release.
“We want him and we shall use him effectively to propel the party, mobilize new members, and be the leader that his is already,” said UPC president, Mrs. Miria Obote.
She however declined to say if the party would use Rwakasisi to lead the party or even stand for presidency in the 2011 general elections, saying it would be his personal decision.
The UPC leadership, which thanked president Museveni for returning “their son” however called upon the government to set up a commission of reconciliation to right the wrongs it has done to UPC.
“ NRM has for long used UPC as a shield, telling young people that we are responsible for the Luweero massacres, but now is the time to tell the truth,” said Mr. Chris Opoka, UPC’s Deputy Secretary General.
“UPC has suffered a lot because of these lies and now we are starting to see our image cleansed,” he added.
After 24 years in Luzira Maximum Prison, former UPC die hard, Mr. Chris Rwakasisi says he is a changed man , and is ready to preach the values of love, tolerance, and reconciliation, which he learnt in jail.
The former Minister of Security in the Obote II government was released from Luzira, where he was on death row, following a presidential pardon from president Museveni.
Speaking at a church service organized for him by his family and party, UPC, at All Saints Cathedral yesterday, Rwakasisi said that he will promote reconciliation and love throughout the country.
“I am back and I am here to stay this time,” he said while recounting his prison experience.
“I got expensive salvation while in prison and am going to continue preaching the same throughout the country, especially in the prison,” he added.
Speaking with his shoes off, Rwakasisi thanked the president for his concern, “belated as it was”, but denounced the death penalty, which he said only increased crime rather than curbing it.
Chris Rwakasisi was arrested in 1985 by the NRA
Soon after the afternoon service, UPC held a press conference at its headquarters at Uganda house, where it revealed its intentions to use Rwakasisi to garner support for the party in Bushenyi, his home town, and among the youths, who are ecstatic about his release.
“We want him and we shall use him effectively to propel the party, mobilize new members, and be the leader that his is already,” said UPC president, Mrs. Miria Obote.
She however declined to say if the party would use Rwakasisi to lead the party or even stand for presidency in the 2011 general elections, saying it would be his personal decision.
The UPC leadership, which thanked president Museveni for returning “their son” however called upon the government to set up a commission of reconciliation to right the wrongs it has done to UPC.
“ NRM has for long used UPC as a shield, telling young people that we are responsible for the Luweero massacres, but now is the time to tell the truth,” said Mr. Chris Opoka, UPC’s Deputy Secretary General.
“UPC has suffered a lot because of these lies and now we are starting to see our image cleansed,” he added.
'We want Simeo"- Journalists
JOURNALISTS BOYCOTT POLICE PRESS BRIEFING
Journalists who had gone to attend a press briefing at Central Police Station on Monday, stormed out of the police building in protest, after Police Public Relations Officer, Judith Nabakoba, failed to address them.
After waiting for over an hour for a press briefing, the journalists were informed that the Police spokesperson was not around to address them, but had delegated her deputy, assistant spokesperson, Central region, Mr. Kafeero to talk to the journalists.
The journalists, who had converged at CPS for the briefing scheduled for 11:00a.m, got rowdy and agitated when a police constable informed them that Mr. Kafeero was also out of office, and that the briefing had been postponed to 2:00p.m.
Attempts by Kampala Extra Regional Officer, Mr. Edward Ochom, to calm the journalists, and fill in for Nabakoba were futile, as the angry press people accused Nabakoba of disrespecting them.
“How do you call a press briefing, and then fail to show up, moreover without an excuse. That is disrespecting us,” said one Kirabo from Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.
“Public Relations Officers should be trained in the working of the media,” he added, claming that Ms. Nabakoba did not deliver as effectively as former police spokesperson, Mr. Simeo Nsubuga.
Other journalists claimed that Ms. Nabakoba had foregone the CPS meet, and called just a few journalists to Kiira Road Police station to address them. They claimed that she had sent phone sms texts to some journalists who quietly walked out of the meeting room.
The journalists, who numbered about 30, chanted Simeo Nsubuga’s name, saying he should be returned as Police spokesperson.
When contacted, Ms. Nabakoba said she could not make it to CPS because she had a meeting at Kiira Road, after which she was asked to parade a suspect who was due for court on accusation of making counterfeit money, .
“Presenting the suspect at Kiira Road was done at short notice that’s why I could not get all the journalists here,” she said. “Besides, I had asked my deputy to direct the press briefing,” she added.
Ms. Nabakoba said she had asked the journalists to return at 2:00p.m, but Mr. Ochom told her they had already left.
“I was told you people were just quarreling. If you have a problem, we should meet on Monday and you tell me what it is,” she said. How can I be at CPS every Monday, even when there is no news,” she added.
She said the only news at CPS was about a stolen vehicle, and the usual traffic reports, which can be got from any police station.
Ms. Judith Nabakoba is currently filling in the post of spokesperson Kampala Extra, which Mr. Simeo Nsubuga held before he was transferred to Kyambogo as the Chief Security Officer on December2 2008. .
Journalists who had gone to attend a press briefing at Central Police Station on Monday, stormed out of the police building in protest, after Police Public Relations Officer, Judith Nabakoba, failed to address them.
After waiting for over an hour for a press briefing, the journalists were informed that the Police spokesperson was not around to address them, but had delegated her deputy, assistant spokesperson, Central region, Mr. Kafeero to talk to the journalists.
The journalists, who had converged at CPS for the briefing scheduled for 11:00a.m, got rowdy and agitated when a police constable informed them that Mr. Kafeero was also out of office, and that the briefing had been postponed to 2:00p.m.
Attempts by Kampala Extra Regional Officer, Mr. Edward Ochom, to calm the journalists, and fill in for Nabakoba were futile, as the angry press people accused Nabakoba of disrespecting them.
“How do you call a press briefing, and then fail to show up, moreover without an excuse. That is disrespecting us,” said one Kirabo from Uganda Broadcasting Corporation.
“Public Relations Officers should be trained in the working of the media,” he added, claming that Ms. Nabakoba did not deliver as effectively as former police spokesperson, Mr. Simeo Nsubuga.
Other journalists claimed that Ms. Nabakoba had foregone the CPS meet, and called just a few journalists to Kiira Road Police station to address them. They claimed that she had sent phone sms texts to some journalists who quietly walked out of the meeting room.
The journalists, who numbered about 30, chanted Simeo Nsubuga’s name, saying he should be returned as Police spokesperson.
When contacted, Ms. Nabakoba said she could not make it to CPS because she had a meeting at Kiira Road, after which she was asked to parade a suspect who was due for court on accusation of making counterfeit money, .
“Presenting the suspect at Kiira Road was done at short notice that’s why I could not get all the journalists here,” she said. “Besides, I had asked my deputy to direct the press briefing,” she added.
Ms. Nabakoba said she had asked the journalists to return at 2:00p.m, but Mr. Ochom told her they had already left.
“I was told you people were just quarreling. If you have a problem, we should meet on Monday and you tell me what it is,” she said. How can I be at CPS every Monday, even when there is no news,” she added.
She said the only news at CPS was about a stolen vehicle, and the usual traffic reports, which can be got from any police station.
Ms. Judith Nabakoba is currently filling in the post of spokesperson Kampala Extra, which Mr. Simeo Nsubuga held before he was transferred to Kyambogo as the Chief Security Officer on December2 2008. .
Friday, January 23, 2009
From:
NO MORE SECURITY THREATS AT MUK – GUILD MINISTER
Makerere University community is soon to enjoy maximum security and protection as the university’s police post undergoes transformation from a police post to a fully fledged police station with more police officers, the university’s Guild Information Minister for Information has said.
Mr. Onesimus Twinamasiko revealed that the change process, which started last week, has already seen 60 police officers deployed in preparation for the 59th graduation from 19th-23rd January, following permission from the Inspector General of Police Maj. Gen Kale Kayihura. Initially, only about 15 police officers attended to the entire university’s security.
“We shall be safer now, and so will our property because the police will patrol the university day and night, 24hours a day” said Twinamasiko.
In addition to the heavy police force, Mr. Samuel Mission, an Assistant Superintendent of Police has been appointed as the Officer in Charge at the soon to be elevated police post.
“The Students’ Guild aims at ensuring maximum visible security 24 hours at all students’ halls of residence, and in the so called dark corners at campus,” Twinamasiko added.
The decision to transform Makerere’s police post comes after the Students’ Guild, led by Guild President, Robert Rutaro, met Maj. Kayihura on 5th Jan 2009, over the alarming security concerns at Uganda’s highest and oldest institution of learning.
However, the challenge that remains is to create office space and space to accommodate the officers and their families.
In a letter dated 12th January 2009 addressed to the Guild President Robert Rutaro, Samuel Mission, the new OC requested for at least two rooms in the Guild office, to be used to keep police records and for other official work, as the University prepares to allocate them offices.
Twinamasiko said the Guild would be willing to allocate 2 rooms to the security officials, and had designated the extension building formerly housing students of Nsibirwa hall to be used to house some of the officers and their families. He however noted that the Dean of Students would have to register his approval.
When contacted, the dean, Mr. John Ekudu confirmed knowing about the meeting of the Guild with the police boss, but said he knew nothing of the transformation in progress.
“The Guild President informed me of the January meeting but I did not know that Kayihura had approved of anything,” said a puzzled Ekudu.
The Guild President said University Council will discuss the security issues as soon as graduation ceremonies are over.
Last year, a student was attacked in Nkrumah hall and killed in his room, only to be discovered dead after two days.
However, when contacted, University Dean of Students, Mr. John Ekudu said he had not received confirmation from the IGP concerning the overhaul of the police post.
Makerere University’s security has in past years been jeopardised by students and lecturers’ strikes and riots which turned violent, leading to loss of life and massive destruction of university and student property. Last year in November, Kenyan students at Makerere staged a series of demonstrations against the administration, in which the police discovered a locally made bomb.
Also, Statistics from the Records department at the police post at Makerere reveal that a total of 100 students were conned of their money and property last year, the most affected being female students.
“Such cases will now be history with such a force at campus,” Twinamasiko, said.
NO MORE SECURITY THREATS AT MUK – GUILD MINISTER
Makerere University community is soon to enjoy maximum security and protection as the university’s police post undergoes transformation from a police post to a fully fledged police station with more police officers, the university’s Guild Information Minister for Information has said.
Mr. Onesimus Twinamasiko revealed that the change process, which started last week, has already seen 60 police officers deployed in preparation for the 59th graduation from 19th-23rd January, following permission from the Inspector General of Police Maj. Gen Kale Kayihura. Initially, only about 15 police officers attended to the entire university’s security.
“We shall be safer now, and so will our property because the police will patrol the university day and night, 24hours a day” said Twinamasiko.
In addition to the heavy police force, Mr. Samuel Mission, an Assistant Superintendent of Police has been appointed as the Officer in Charge at the soon to be elevated police post.
“The Students’ Guild aims at ensuring maximum visible security 24 hours at all students’ halls of residence, and in the so called dark corners at campus,” Twinamasiko added.
The decision to transform Makerere’s police post comes after the Students’ Guild, led by Guild President, Robert Rutaro, met Maj. Kayihura on 5th Jan 2009, over the alarming security concerns at Uganda’s highest and oldest institution of learning.
However, the challenge that remains is to create office space and space to accommodate the officers and their families.
In a letter dated 12th January 2009 addressed to the Guild President Robert Rutaro, Samuel Mission, the new OC requested for at least two rooms in the Guild office, to be used to keep police records and for other official work, as the University prepares to allocate them offices.
Twinamasiko said the Guild would be willing to allocate 2 rooms to the security officials, and had designated the extension building formerly housing students of Nsibirwa hall to be used to house some of the officers and their families. He however noted that the Dean of Students would have to register his approval.
When contacted, the dean, Mr. John Ekudu confirmed knowing about the meeting of the Guild with the police boss, but said he knew nothing of the transformation in progress.
“The Guild President informed me of the January meeting but I did not know that Kayihura had approved of anything,” said a puzzled Ekudu.
The Guild President said University Council will discuss the security issues as soon as graduation ceremonies are over.
Last year, a student was attacked in Nkrumah hall and killed in his room, only to be discovered dead after two days.
However, when contacted, University Dean of Students, Mr. John Ekudu said he had not received confirmation from the IGP concerning the overhaul of the police post.
Makerere University’s security has in past years been jeopardised by students and lecturers’ strikes and riots which turned violent, leading to loss of life and massive destruction of university and student property. Last year in November, Kenyan students at Makerere staged a series of demonstrations against the administration, in which the police discovered a locally made bomb.
Also, Statistics from the Records department at the police post at Makerere reveal that a total of 100 students were conned of their money and property last year, the most affected being female students.
“Such cases will now be history with such a force at campus,” Twinamasiko, said.
Here comes the Lantern Meet of Poets
UGANDA’S POETRY GETS FACE LIFT
In a developing country like Uganda, it is now common place belief that only education and the opportunity of having well-placed friends and relatives will guarantee one’s success in the future. Often, talent is undermined and several people do not dare to explore their God-given abilities, fearing that taking such a direction would be a dead end.
Every two weeks on Sunday evening at the National Theatre, a group of enthusiastic and fiery youths meet to share with the public some of what God gave them, in the hope that they will inspire more talent exploration in Uganda.
They have passion. They have zeal. They have charisma. They are young and energetic. They are the Lantern Meet of Poets, and they have what it takes to change Uganda’s poetry fraternity, while inspiring more talent.
Like oil was discovered in Uganda in 2006, you can never know how rich you are until you explore. Maybe Uganda will also be rich some day. Today, the Lantern Meet, a poetry lovers’ club that started out with just five members in April 2007, boasts of over 40 full time members.
The Lantern Meet of Poets is a meeting place for light minded individuals from different walks of life, sharing their love and passion for arts, poetry, music and visual arts. This group of creative minds professes one uniform belief, the belief that they can help other youths to explore their talent and hidden potential, especially in performing arts, despite the fact that the group is composed of mostly students in the science field.
We want to break the stereotypes that poetry, music and dance are for people with academic prowess in English Language and Literature,” said Edgar Kangare, a member of the group.
The Lantern Meet of Poets started as a small group of friends, all interested in poetry and writing, and realizing that people did not have the space to freely express their thoughts and emotions. Three university students, Raymond Ojakor, Colin Asiimwe, and Guy Mambo, put their talent and ingenuity to use two years ago, pooling a group of other interested students to write, recite and critique each others poems, finally birthing The Lantern Meet of Poets in April 2007. The three are students of Law, Mass Communication, and Architecture at Makerere University, and hope to promote literature throughout Uganda and Africa.
“We knew so many talented writers and poetry lovers who had no platform to express their views, and we wanted to give them that space,” said an enthusiastic Edgar Kangare, a member of the group. The Lantern Meet has since become a vehicle of expression for people, giving them the space to put their message across through poetry, music and dance.
The most recent addition to the group’s enterprise is the depiction of thoughts and emotions written in poems through artistic impressions, leaving a visual imprint of poems in the minds of their audience.
The group, which to attract as much talent to create a new breed of poets, considering that Africa has had few noticeable ones since the likes of Chinua Achebe, chose to focus on poetry other than prose and playwriting, which they consider more demanding for the casual writers they are, most of them being students with taxing courses. Despite their heavy classwork loads, this group of self driven, committed artists meets each fortnight at the National Theatre, to listen to members’ poetry recitals, exchange written poems, and critique each other’s work.
Believing that poetry is a universal language, and with only a few members studying Literature, members have self-taught themselves to analyse poems and enhance their writing by reading and doing research.
And even for those who joined with none or meager knowledge on writing poetry, the experience is so enriching that some write better than those who were initially considered crème de la crème. Here, everybody is a teacher, and everybody is a student.
During the group’s meetings, members read poems they have written, using a common theme as prior discussed, and then critique them.
“We want to address everyday issues that affect us, like poverty, human rights, and freedom of expression,” said Jason, a university graduate and member of the group.
Aida Kawuma, a Pharmacy student at Makerere, says critiquing a poem is very important because everyone can get different ideas. She recalls misinterpreting a poem during her first meeting, saying “I thought the poem “The Twin Almonds was about a woman’s breasts, and yet the poet meant eyes.”
To join the group, no subscription is needed, only five poems from the interested party, submitted consecutively at each meeting. Dedication and commitment are also cherished by the Meet.
This year, the Lantern Meet is inviting the public to join them on this journey of celebrating talent, at a grand recital at the National Theatre on January 30. During the grand recital, held twice a year, the group showcases the best poems, incorporating art, music, dance, and humorous drama to colour the event.
Members of the Meet believe that the fire for poetry may have been tucked under a bushel, but they are determined to keep the spirit, as clearly revealed in this year’s recital theme; Camp Lantern.
Ojakor, one of the founders, assures the public that Camp Lantern will be something different for the audience, like ‘walking through the wood’. He says that even though people have discarded the traditional ideology of gathering around a fire to tell stories, the Lantern Meet will enhance this on stage to keep the fire for poetry alive.
Initially, the group had no partners but has since its first recital in August last year, teamed up with the Uganda Commission for United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural organisation (UNESCO) to sponsor its events. The Meet has also performed at the National Book Trust of Uganda (NABOTU) literary awards ceremony, and alongside Maurice Kirya.
This group of youthful men and women are destined to transform Uganda’s poetry stage from what many have called something for losers, lonely people or introverts. With dance, art, and music to complement their poetry recitals, members of The Meet want to stimulate interest for poetry among Ugandans by starting up Poetry Clinics in secondary and primary schools. Here they hope to encourage students to explore their talent through writing poetry. Also on the group’s agenda for 2009 is compiling an anthology of some of the best poems that made it to the Lantern Scroll. The group is also looking at becoming a publishing house someday. For The Meet, the sky is the limit.
“We want people to think poetry in Africa and immediately think Lantern Meet,” said Kangare. The group’s members feel it is upon them to bridge the gap that they say has been created between older and younger generations of poets, and resurrect the past glorious epoch of poetry.
Readers and poetry lovers can also interact with the Lantern Meet though its Facebook page or its blog seam-less.blogspot.com.
The lantern Meet exists to motivate and inspire talented writers to become better.
In a developing country like Uganda, it is now common place belief that only education and the opportunity of having well-placed friends and relatives will guarantee one’s success in the future. Often, talent is undermined and several people do not dare to explore their God-given abilities, fearing that taking such a direction would be a dead end.
Every two weeks on Sunday evening at the National Theatre, a group of enthusiastic and fiery youths meet to share with the public some of what God gave them, in the hope that they will inspire more talent exploration in Uganda.
They have passion. They have zeal. They have charisma. They are young and energetic. They are the Lantern Meet of Poets, and they have what it takes to change Uganda’s poetry fraternity, while inspiring more talent.
Like oil was discovered in Uganda in 2006, you can never know how rich you are until you explore. Maybe Uganda will also be rich some day. Today, the Lantern Meet, a poetry lovers’ club that started out with just five members in April 2007, boasts of over 40 full time members.
The Lantern Meet of Poets is a meeting place for light minded individuals from different walks of life, sharing their love and passion for arts, poetry, music and visual arts. This group of creative minds professes one uniform belief, the belief that they can help other youths to explore their talent and hidden potential, especially in performing arts, despite the fact that the group is composed of mostly students in the science field.
We want to break the stereotypes that poetry, music and dance are for people with academic prowess in English Language and Literature,” said Edgar Kangare, a member of the group.
The Lantern Meet of Poets started as a small group of friends, all interested in poetry and writing, and realizing that people did not have the space to freely express their thoughts and emotions. Three university students, Raymond Ojakor, Colin Asiimwe, and Guy Mambo, put their talent and ingenuity to use two years ago, pooling a group of other interested students to write, recite and critique each others poems, finally birthing The Lantern Meet of Poets in April 2007. The three are students of Law, Mass Communication, and Architecture at Makerere University, and hope to promote literature throughout Uganda and Africa.
“We knew so many talented writers and poetry lovers who had no platform to express their views, and we wanted to give them that space,” said an enthusiastic Edgar Kangare, a member of the group. The Lantern Meet has since become a vehicle of expression for people, giving them the space to put their message across through poetry, music and dance.
The most recent addition to the group’s enterprise is the depiction of thoughts and emotions written in poems through artistic impressions, leaving a visual imprint of poems in the minds of their audience.
The group, which to attract as much talent to create a new breed of poets, considering that Africa has had few noticeable ones since the likes of Chinua Achebe, chose to focus on poetry other than prose and playwriting, which they consider more demanding for the casual writers they are, most of them being students with taxing courses. Despite their heavy classwork loads, this group of self driven, committed artists meets each fortnight at the National Theatre, to listen to members’ poetry recitals, exchange written poems, and critique each other’s work.
Believing that poetry is a universal language, and with only a few members studying Literature, members have self-taught themselves to analyse poems and enhance their writing by reading and doing research.
And even for those who joined with none or meager knowledge on writing poetry, the experience is so enriching that some write better than those who were initially considered crème de la crème. Here, everybody is a teacher, and everybody is a student.
During the group’s meetings, members read poems they have written, using a common theme as prior discussed, and then critique them.
“We want to address everyday issues that affect us, like poverty, human rights, and freedom of expression,” said Jason, a university graduate and member of the group.
Aida Kawuma, a Pharmacy student at Makerere, says critiquing a poem is very important because everyone can get different ideas. She recalls misinterpreting a poem during her first meeting, saying “I thought the poem “The Twin Almonds was about a woman’s breasts, and yet the poet meant eyes.”
To join the group, no subscription is needed, only five poems from the interested party, submitted consecutively at each meeting. Dedication and commitment are also cherished by the Meet.
This year, the Lantern Meet is inviting the public to join them on this journey of celebrating talent, at a grand recital at the National Theatre on January 30. During the grand recital, held twice a year, the group showcases the best poems, incorporating art, music, dance, and humorous drama to colour the event.
Members of the Meet believe that the fire for poetry may have been tucked under a bushel, but they are determined to keep the spirit, as clearly revealed in this year’s recital theme; Camp Lantern.
Ojakor, one of the founders, assures the public that Camp Lantern will be something different for the audience, like ‘walking through the wood’. He says that even though people have discarded the traditional ideology of gathering around a fire to tell stories, the Lantern Meet will enhance this on stage to keep the fire for poetry alive.
Initially, the group had no partners but has since its first recital in August last year, teamed up with the Uganda Commission for United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural organisation (UNESCO) to sponsor its events. The Meet has also performed at the National Book Trust of Uganda (NABOTU) literary awards ceremony, and alongside Maurice Kirya.
This group of youthful men and women are destined to transform Uganda’s poetry stage from what many have called something for losers, lonely people or introverts. With dance, art, and music to complement their poetry recitals, members of The Meet want to stimulate interest for poetry among Ugandans by starting up Poetry Clinics in secondary and primary schools. Here they hope to encourage students to explore their talent through writing poetry. Also on the group’s agenda for 2009 is compiling an anthology of some of the best poems that made it to the Lantern Scroll. The group is also looking at becoming a publishing house someday. For The Meet, the sky is the limit.
“We want people to think poetry in Africa and immediately think Lantern Meet,” said Kangare. The group’s members feel it is upon them to bridge the gap that they say has been created between older and younger generations of poets, and resurrect the past glorious epoch of poetry.
Readers and poetry lovers can also interact with the Lantern Meet though its Facebook page or its blog seam-less.blogspot.com.
The lantern Meet exists to motivate and inspire talented writers to become better.
News
DO MORE RESEARCH AND IMPROVE RANKS, MAKERERE TOLD
Makerere University has been advised to invest in more research and capacity building projects if it is to improve its international rankings, and remain a top academic institution, and centre of excellence.
Dr. Katunguka Rwakishaya, who was speaking during the launch of a five-year research project on sleeping sickness at Hotel Africana on Thursday, said the university administration needs to inject more into health, animal, agriculture, education, and economic research, so as to be maintain its highly credible international image.
The project, which will be directed by Makerere University, in partnership with scientific research organs in Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville, and Sudan, yesterday received UShs 17billion from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to kick start.
“This is a plus for Makerere which is still a leading university in Uganda, because it will attract development” Rwakishaya said.
The don also called upon the administration and government to ensure facilities and finances to train people in research, proposal writing, budgeting and accounting, and prompt report compilation and delivery, which will increase the 86-year old institution’s competitiveness.
“The people in authority don’t care about anything except how they can benefit,” Dr. Rwakishaya said, cautioning Makerere’s administration to put more effort in maintain the university’s performance.
Last year in August, Makerere University dropped to its lowest point on the rankings of the top 100 universities in Africa, from 54th position to 59th, according to Webometrics, a Web Ranking website which measures activity and visibility of the institutions as an indicator of impact and prestige of universities.The findings of the 5-year project, which started in November last year, will be used in the control sleeping sickness, scientifically known as trypanosomiasis, monitoring, informing, and guiding national control programmes to combat the disease which plagues both human beings and livestock, promoting food security and rural welfare.
“We want to improve the quality of lives of our people and animals,” said Dr. John Enyaru, the project’s co-ordinator.
“We also must publish, because if we do not, we shall perish,” he added.
Sleeping sickness has in the past greatly affected parts of Uganda including; the West Nile region, , Kumi, Soroti, Mukono, Kayunga, Jinja, and Pallisa districs.
In 2003, tsetse flies spread to 70 percent of the country, putting 5.1 million people at a risk of catching sleeping sickness.
The Department of Biochemistry at Makerere University, which is hosting the regional programme, will also produce research journals of the findings, one area which has also contributed to Makerere’s poor international rankings.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Demands grow for Gaza war crimes investigation
Chris McGreal, in Jerusalem
The Guardian, Tuesday 13 January 2009
A freelance filmmaker in Gaza shot this material for Save the Children at a UN-supported school for pupils displaced from their homes by the Israeli bombings.
Israel is facing growing demands from senior UN officials and human rights groups for an international war crimes investigation in Gaza over allegations such as the "reckless and indiscriminate" shelling of residential areas and use of Palestinian families as human shields by soldiers.
With the death toll from the 17-day Israeli assault on Gaza climbing above 900, pressure is increasing for an independent inquiry into specific incidents, such as the shelling of a UN school turned refugee centre where about 40 people died, as well as the question of whether the military tactics used by Israel systematically breached humanitarian law.
The UN's senior human rights body approved a resolution yesterday condemning the Israeli offensive for "massive violations of human rights". A senior UN source said the body's humanitarian agencies were compiling evidence of war crimes and passing it on to the "highest levels" to be used as seen fit.
Some human rights activists allege that the Israeli leadership gave an order to keep military casualties low no matter what cost to civilians. That strategy has directly contributed to one of the bloodiest Israeli assaults on the Palestinian territories, they say.
John Ging, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza, said: "It's about accountability [over] the issue of the appropriateness of the force used, the proportionality of the force used and the whole issue of duty of care of civilians.
"We don't want to join any chorus of passing judgment but there should be an investigation of any and every incident where there are concerns there might have been violations in international law."
The Israeli military are accused of:
• Using powerful shells in civilian areas which the army knew would cause large numbers of innocent casualties;
• Using banned weapons such as phosphorus bombs;
• Holding Palestinian families as human shields;
• Attacking medical facilities, including the killing of 12 ambulance men in marked vehicles;
• Killing large numbers of police who had no military role.
Israeli military actions prompted an unusual public rebuke from the International Red Cross after the army moved a Palestinian family into a building and shelled it, killing 30. The surviving children clung to the bodies of their dead mothers for four days while the army blocked rescuers from reaching the wounded.
Human Rights Watch has called on the UN Security Council to set up a commission of inquiry into alleged war crimes.
Two leading Israeli human rights organisations have separately written to the country's attorney general demanding he investigate the allegations.
But critics remain sceptical that any such inquiry will take place, given that Israel has previously blocked similar attempts with the backing of the US.
Amnesty International says hitting residential streets with shells that send blast and shrapnel over a wide area constitutes "prima facie evidence of war crimes".
"There has been reckless and disproportionate and in some cases indiscriminate use of force," said Donatella Rovera, an Amnesty investigator in Israel. "There has been the use of weaponry that shouldn't be used in densely populated areas because it's known that it will cause civilian fatalities and casualties.
"They have extremely sophisticated missiles that can be guided to a moving car and they choose to use other weapons or decide to drop a bomb on a house knowing that there were women and children inside. These are very, very clear breaches of international law."
Israel's most prominent human rights organisation, B'Tselem, has written to the attorney general in Jerusalem, Meni Mazuz, asking him to investigate suspected crimes including how the military selects its targets and the killing of scores of policemen at a passing out parade.
"Many of the targets seem not to have been legitimate military targets as specified by international humanitarian law," said Sarit Michaeli of B'Tselem.
Rovera has also collected evidence that the Israeli army holds Palestinian families prisoner in their own homes as human shields. "It's standard practice for Israeli soldiers to go into a house, lock up the family in a room on the ground floor and use the rest of the house as a military base, as a sniper's position. That is the absolute textbook case of human shields.
"It has been practised by the Israeli army for many years and they are doing it again in Gaza now," she said.
While there are growing calls for an international investigation, the form it would take is less clear. The UN's human rights council has the authority to investigate allegations of war crimes but Israel has blocked its previous attempts to do so. The UN security council could order an investigation, and even set up a war crimes tribunal, but that is likely to be vetoed by the US and probably Britain.
The international criminal court has no jurisdiction because Israel is not a signatory. The UN Security Council could refer the matter to the court but is unlikely to.
Benjamin Rutland, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said an international investigation of the army's actions was not justified. "We have international lawyers at every level of the command whose job it is to authorise targeting decisions, rules of engagement ... We don't think we have breached international law in any of these instances," he said
Chris McGreal, in Jerusalem
The Guardian, Tuesday 13 January 2009
A freelance filmmaker in Gaza shot this material for Save the Children at a UN-supported school for pupils displaced from their homes by the Israeli bombings.
Israel is facing growing demands from senior UN officials and human rights groups for an international war crimes investigation in Gaza over allegations such as the "reckless and indiscriminate" shelling of residential areas and use of Palestinian families as human shields by soldiers.
With the death toll from the 17-day Israeli assault on Gaza climbing above 900, pressure is increasing for an independent inquiry into specific incidents, such as the shelling of a UN school turned refugee centre where about 40 people died, as well as the question of whether the military tactics used by Israel systematically breached humanitarian law.
The UN's senior human rights body approved a resolution yesterday condemning the Israeli offensive for "massive violations of human rights". A senior UN source said the body's humanitarian agencies were compiling evidence of war crimes and passing it on to the "highest levels" to be used as seen fit.
Some human rights activists allege that the Israeli leadership gave an order to keep military casualties low no matter what cost to civilians. That strategy has directly contributed to one of the bloodiest Israeli assaults on the Palestinian territories, they say.
John Ging, head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza, said: "It's about accountability [over] the issue of the appropriateness of the force used, the proportionality of the force used and the whole issue of duty of care of civilians.
"We don't want to join any chorus of passing judgment but there should be an investigation of any and every incident where there are concerns there might have been violations in international law."
The Israeli military are accused of:
• Using powerful shells in civilian areas which the army knew would cause large numbers of innocent casualties;
• Using banned weapons such as phosphorus bombs;
• Holding Palestinian families as human shields;
• Attacking medical facilities, including the killing of 12 ambulance men in marked vehicles;
• Killing large numbers of police who had no military role.
Israeli military actions prompted an unusual public rebuke from the International Red Cross after the army moved a Palestinian family into a building and shelled it, killing 30. The surviving children clung to the bodies of their dead mothers for four days while the army blocked rescuers from reaching the wounded.
Human Rights Watch has called on the UN Security Council to set up a commission of inquiry into alleged war crimes.
Two leading Israeli human rights organisations have separately written to the country's attorney general demanding he investigate the allegations.
But critics remain sceptical that any such inquiry will take place, given that Israel has previously blocked similar attempts with the backing of the US.
Amnesty International says hitting residential streets with shells that send blast and shrapnel over a wide area constitutes "prima facie evidence of war crimes".
"There has been reckless and disproportionate and in some cases indiscriminate use of force," said Donatella Rovera, an Amnesty investigator in Israel. "There has been the use of weaponry that shouldn't be used in densely populated areas because it's known that it will cause civilian fatalities and casualties.
"They have extremely sophisticated missiles that can be guided to a moving car and they choose to use other weapons or decide to drop a bomb on a house knowing that there were women and children inside. These are very, very clear breaches of international law."
Israel's most prominent human rights organisation, B'Tselem, has written to the attorney general in Jerusalem, Meni Mazuz, asking him to investigate suspected crimes including how the military selects its targets and the killing of scores of policemen at a passing out parade.
"Many of the targets seem not to have been legitimate military targets as specified by international humanitarian law," said Sarit Michaeli of B'Tselem.
Rovera has also collected evidence that the Israeli army holds Palestinian families prisoner in their own homes as human shields. "It's standard practice for Israeli soldiers to go into a house, lock up the family in a room on the ground floor and use the rest of the house as a military base, as a sniper's position. That is the absolute textbook case of human shields.
"It has been practised by the Israeli army for many years and they are doing it again in Gaza now," she said.
While there are growing calls for an international investigation, the form it would take is less clear. The UN's human rights council has the authority to investigate allegations of war crimes but Israel has blocked its previous attempts to do so. The UN security council could order an investigation, and even set up a war crimes tribunal, but that is likely to be vetoed by the US and probably Britain.
The international criminal court has no jurisdiction because Israel is not a signatory. The UN Security Council could refer the matter to the court but is unlikely to.
Benjamin Rutland, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said an international investigation of the army's actions was not justified. "We have international lawyers at every level of the command whose job it is to authorise targeting decisions, rules of engagement ... We don't think we have breached international law in any of these instances," he said
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Generous January
The economic crisis is biting hard into the business fabric of Uganda, fuel hoarding is the order of the day, and child sacrifice seems to be fashionable. But 2009, I insist, will be a great year. Its only January and I can attest to that, in faith that the other 11 months will not produce a pivotal anti climax.
Okay, so I made ..........years yesterday. Let's just say it's safe to say am 17. And as the birthday gifts streamed in, the big one was yet to be unwrapped. 8:00pm. Anonymous call. "You're talking to someone young, rich and handsome." Don't we all wish!!!!!!!! Long story short, I was offered internship at Uganda's leading daily, the Daily Monitor. Watch this space, the next time you read the paper, my name shall be used in the byline.
Its not just me there you know, but five other writers from the Ivory Post. We shall continue to propel more gifted writers to bigger fish.
Long live Facebook 'cause without it I would not have received the tonnes of birthday messages and gifts I did yesterday. One of the messages came with a special attachment, an invite to visit China. Beijing, Xinghua, Shanghai....................here I come.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Happy New Year Ivory Post
Happy New Year to all our dear readers. The Ivory Post completed another great and opportunity-generous year, thanks to your readership. We are all eagerly anticipating what 2009 will bring with it, and, while you make those resolutions, we recommend it safe to call 2009 a year where nothing is impossible. Barrack Obama, will be the first black president of the United States of America, a country where the race issue; Black vs. White, has always been an issue that raises dust. Hopefully, and with God’s grace, Joseph Kony will be smoked out of jungle and mankind will hurt no more at his hand. Uganda has recently discovered oil and maybe, if corruption takes an annual leave, we shall be looking towards the wealth of our Saudi brethren. Uganda is now a member of the United Security Council, at least for one year, and maybe we easily influence international decisions like illegally dumping toxic waste in African countries. Back to our locality, registration will not be a problem any more, as deadlines for registering were scrapped, all thanks to the solidarity of our Kenyan mates. And our mothers, fathers, grand parents and other folks who missed the chance to join Makerere, will do so, now that the Mature Age entry scheme was reinstated. Although the campus roads have been under the guise of being re-constructed for close to two years, we hope that Mak will save the money after it stops feeding students in halls of residence, to fix the patch-field, pot-hole riddled, dust filled roads.
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