Connect with us

Published

on

By Amiri Wabusimba. In Uganda, roads do more than connect communities; they symbolize economic potential, social cohesion, and national pride. Yet, paradoxically, some of these very roads, like the critical route linking Uganda to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda-Kenya, stand as glaring monuments to neglect. They represent missed opportunities in trade, agriculture, and the promise of better livelihoods for millions. As potholes deepen and infrastructure crumbles, Uganda’s ambitions of regional and global competitiveness remain stifled.
 
The main road to the DRC or Kenya are not merely a physical path; it is a lifeline for farmers, traders, and small-scale entrepreneurs who rely on seamless cross-border exchange to sustain their livelihoods. Their state of disrepair is a telling metaphor for Uganda’s broader challenges disconnect between political priorities and the practical needs of its people. This neglect is particularly painful for farmers in regions like Mubende, where allegiance to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) runs deep. These farmers work tirelessly to feed the nation but face an uphill battle against low market prices, poor road networks, and exploitative middlemen. Without reliable infrastructure to transport their produce, they are forced to sell at farm-gate prices, losing potential income while their efforts go undervalued.
 
The irony becomes glaring during national events or election periods where resources that seem elusive for infrastructure development suddenly materialize with remarkable speed. Ballot boxes are transported to the most remote corners, and the iconic yellow buses, symbols of NRM mobilization, ferry supporters to political rallies. However, as the events fade, so too does the attention on these communities, leaving them grappling with the same challenges that existed before the fanfare.
 
Take Mubende as an example which is hosting the 26th Liberation Day commemoration at the National Teachers’ College, the community will witness a flurry of activity: roads temporarily patched, buses mobilized, and funds allocated for event logistics. But once the curtains close and the speeches end, will Mubende be left with more than memories of a day’s spectacle? Or will it continue to wrestle with impassable feeder roads, underfunded schools, and inadequate health facilities? The plight of agriculture, Uganda’s economic backbone, mirrors this pattern of neglect. Despite employing over 70% of the population and contributing significantly to the GDP, the sector remains chronically underfunded. Farmers earn a pittance for their labor, and post-harvest losses are exacerbated by poor infrastructure.
 
Liberation Day and similar national celebrations could be repurposed as catalysts for transformation. Instead of spending resources on temporary visibility, these occasions could leave behind a tangible legacy: a refurbished road, a new health center, or an upgraded school. For example, allocating funds used for mobilization to repair the road linking Uganda to the DRC or Kenya would not only enhance trade but also uplift the farmers and traders who depend on this corridor.
 
Globally, there are inspiring models to emulate, take an example of Rwanda’s Umuganda a monthly national day of community service mobilizes citizens and leaders to work together on projects like building roads, planting trees, and cleaning neighborhoods. This initiative fosters a sense of collective responsibility and delivers measurable improvements to community infrastructure. Uganda could adopt a similar approach, tailoring it to its unique context. Imagine if every district that hosts a national event received a transformative project a repaired school, a functioning water extension / borehole, or a fully equipped health center as part of the celebration. Such initiatives would redefine the relationship between the government and its citizens, turning symbolic loyalty into genuine gratitude.
 
Revitalizing agriculture is another critical piece of this puzzle like Cooperative unions that could empower farmers to collectively negotiate better prices, while affordable credit facilities and modern farming techniques would boost productivity. Subsidized transportation for agricultural produce akin to the yellow buses used for political events could significantly reduce post-harvest losses and ensure that farmers retain more of their earnings. Countries like Kenya’s Vision 2030 program prioritized rural infrastructure, reducing post-harvest losses and enhancing food security provide valuable lessons.
 
As Uganda’s leaders gather to commemorate Liberation Day in Mubende, they have an opportunity to redefine their legacy. Beyond the speeches and political rhetoric, the government can demonstrate its commitment to the communities that have shown unwavering loyalty over the years. Repairing roads, empowering farmers, and addressing the systemic neglect of rural areas are not just acts of governance; they are moral imperatives.  True leadership is not measured by the size of the crowd at a rally but by the impact left behind when the crowd disperses.
 
The yellow buses that mobilize supporters could become symbols of transformation, ferrying not just people but also progress to the communities that need it most. Liberation Day could mark more than a historical milestone; it could become a turning point where Uganda embraces a new vision one where every celebration is accompanied by tangible progress, and every citizen feels the impact of their government’s promises. It is time to fix the roads, empower the farmers, and honor the spirit of liberation by building a future where no Ugandan is left behind.
 
Amiri Wabusimba is a diplomatic Scholar, Journalist, political analyst and Human Right activist
Tel: +56775103895 email: [email protected].

Broken Roads, Broken Dreams: Uganda’s Missed Opportunities in Trade and Development.

News

Fast-Rising DJ & Musician, Deejay Giovanni, Drops “Thank You Lord”

Published

on

Uganda’s vibrant gospel music scene has a new anthem as Deejay Giovanni releases his latest song, Thank You Lord. Known for his unique blend of Christian rap and deejaying, Giovanni is quickly becoming a household name in East Africa’s music industry.
The 27-year-old artist, born on October 9, 1996, burst onto the scene three years ago with Kusaba, a hit that resonated with many and received massive airplay across Uganda and the East African region. His latest track, Thank You Lord, is deeply personal, drawn from his own experiences growing up as a ghetto child in Nansana. Through his music, he aims to inspire and give hope to those facing similar struggles.
Giovanni describes himself as a Christian artist committed to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ through his music and DJ mixes. His passion for uplifting others and preaching through rap has set him apart in Uganda’s gospel music landscape.
With Thank You Lord, Deejay Giovanni continues his mission of using music as a tool for hope, faith, and gratitude. The song is expected to make waves among gospel lovers and beyond, cementing his place as one of Uganda’s rising gospel stars.
The singer Is Married to Salt Tv’s Presenter Dorah Jimmy  who  have been together for a while before solidifying their romantic relationship by welcoming their bundle of joy last year.
The couple held their colorful customary “Kukyala and kwanjula” ceremonies respectively ,
Keep an eye on Deejay Giovanni as he continues to shape the future of gospel music in Uganda!

Fast-Rising DJ & Musician, Deejay Giovanni, Drops “Thank You Lord”

Continue Reading

News

USAID : The Wealthiest MAN vs. The World’s Poorest Children

Published

on

In Kristof’s column today, he wrote that “to anyone with a heart, it’s about children’s lives and our own security, and what’s unfolding is sickening.”
The foreign aid cutbacks jeopardize people’s lives worldwide, including the 20 million women, children and LGBTQ people receiving HIV-fighting antiretroviral medications that are funded by the nation’s foreign aid agency, USAID.
 
The world’s richest man is boasting about destroying the United States Agency for International Development, which saves the lives of the world’s poorest children, saying he shoved it “into the wood chipper.”
By my calculations, Elon Musk probably has a net worth greater than that of the poorest billion people on Earth. Just since Donald Trump’s election, Musk’s personal net worth has grown by far more than the entire annual budget of U.S.A.I.D., which in any case accounts for less than 1 percent of the federal budget. It’s callous for gleeful billionaires like Musk and President Trump to cut children off from medicine, but, as President John F. Kennedy pointed out when he proposed the creation of the agency in 1961, it’s also myopic.
Cutting aid, Kennedy noted, “would be disastrous and, in the long run, more expensive.” He added: “Our own security would be endangered and our prosperity imperiled.”
Perhaps that’s why Russia has praised Trump’s move.
In contrast with Kennedy, the Trump administration braids together cruelty, ignorance and shortsightedness, and that combination seems particularly evident in its assault on American humanitarian assistance.

One person has already died of bird flu in the United States, and there is growing concern of a pandemic — yet Trump’s suspension of foreign aid has interrupted bird flu surveillance in 49 countries, according to the Global Health Council, a U.S.-based nonprofit.
Remember the American panic over the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014? (Trump was particularly hysterical back then.) In the end, an Ebola pandemic was averted — in part because of U.S.A.I.D.’s work in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
As it happens, another Ebola outbreak has just been reported in Uganda, with 234 contacts identified so far. U.S.A.I.D. would normally help suppress it — but now Trump and Musk have put it out of commission.
Another hemorrhagic fever, called Marburg virus, broke out in Tanzania last month. Aid workers are rushing to contain the virus, but again Trump has made the United States AWOL, leaving the world a little more vulnerable.
A disclosure: In 2012, U.S.A.I.D. made some games for India and Africa based on a book my wife and I wrote, “Half the Sky.” U.S.A.I.D. did not pay us anything for this, and the games did a good job promoting deworming, girls’ education and safe pregnancy.

I’ve seen U.S.A.I.D. operate all over the world, and it’s a mixed picture. It is fair to complain that U.S.A.I.D. is endlessly bureaucratic and that too much of the aid goes to so-called Beltway bandit American contractors rather than to needy people abroad.
Yet there’s no basis for the White House mythology that U.S.A.I.D. is an enclave of woke waste, reflected in Trump’s claim that it spent about “$100 million on condoms to Hamas” (he doubled his previous claim of $50 million).
Hmm. Male condoms cost the U.S. government 3.3 cents each, so that would be three billion condoms. By my calculation, for Hamas to use up that many condoms in a year, each fighter would have to have sex 325 times a day, every day.
That might wipe out Hamas as a fighting force more effectively than Israeli bombardment.
In any case, the actual amount of U.S. assistance spent on condoms for Gaza in recent years appears to have been not $100 million but $0.
Trump’s policies are as reckless as his rhetoric. I’d welcome some restructuring of U.S.A.I.D. But this isn’t restructuring but demolition — a blow to our values and interests alike.
The USAID Memorial Wall, which listed the names of 99 USAID employees killed in the line of duty.
These are the names of the 99 USAID employees killed in the line of duty as of May 2024. (Photo courtesy of The Foreign Service Journal)

Musk lambasted U.S.A.I.D. as “a criminal organization.” In fact, many of its employees have risked their lives in the best tradition of public service. The U.S.A.I.D. Memorial Wall honors 99 people killed while working for the agency in places such as Sudan, Haiti, Afghanistan and Ethiopia.

I’ve seen genuine improvements in U.S.A.I.D. over the years. Its public-private partnership to tackle lead poisoning, announced last year, was a model of American leadership. And so from my travels, this is what U.S.A.I.D. has come to mean to me:
I’ve seen women and girls with obstetric fistula, a horrific childbirth injury, get a $600 surgery that gives them back their lives — and this is something that U.S.A.I.D. supports.
I’ve seen men humiliated by elephantiasis and grotesquely enlarged scrotums, occasionally requiring a wheelbarrow to support their organs as they walk. And U.S.A.I.D. has fought this disease and made it less common.
I’ve seen children dying of malaria (and I’ve had malaria), and I’ve seen U.S.A.I.D. help achieve major strides against the disease over the last two decades.
I’ve seen southern Africa ravaged by AIDS. And then President George W. Bush’s landmark program against AIDS, called PEPFAR and implemented in part through U.S.A.I.D., transformed the landscape. I saw coffin makers in Lesotho and Malawi grumble that their business was collapsing because far fewer people were dying. PEPFAR has saved 26 million lives so far. (In the coming months, I’ll see if I can calculate how many lives are lost to Trump’s cuts in aid.)

I’ve seen the suffering of communities where people in middle age routinely go blind from trachoma, river blindness or cataracts — and the transformation when U.S.A.I.D. helps prevent such blindness.

Trump scoffed that U.S.A.I.D. was “run by radical lunatics.” Is it radical lunacy to try to save children’s lives? To promote literacy for girls? To fight blindness?
If this is woke, what about the evangelical Christians in International Justice Mission, which, with U.S.A.I.D. support, has done outstanding work battling sex trafficking of children in Cambodia and the Philippines? Does Trump believe that rescuing children from rape is a radical lunatic cause?
Trump’s moves are of uncertain legality, not least because U.S.A.I.D. was established by Congress, but the outcomes are indisputable. Around the world children are already missing health care and food because of the assault on the agency that Kennedy founded to uphold our values and protect our interests.
To billionaires in the White House, it may seem like a game. But to anyone with a heart, it’s about children’s lives and our own security, and what’s unfolding is sickening.

USAID : The Wealthiest MAN vs. The World’s Poorest Children

Continue Reading

News

Groundbreaking Queer Film ‘Ìfé’ Returns with Highly Anticipated Sequel

Published

on

Pamela Adie, a renowned Nigerian activist, filmmaker, and director, announced the film on X (formerly Twitter), calling the sequel “magic.” The film is currently in production and is set for release in 2025.
Poster for Ìfé – The Sequel. (Courtesy Pamela Adie via X)
Unlike the typical Nollywood portrayal of same-sex relationships, Ìfé broke barriers with its authentic depiction of love, struggles, and triumphs within Nigeria’s queer community. The first film was hailed in international headlines for its raw honesty, capturing the experiences of women who love other women in a society where such narratives are often silenced or misunderstood.
The sequel continues the story of Ìfé, played by Uzoamaka Aniunoh, and Adaora, played by Gbubemi Ejeye. While their relationship appears perfect on the surface, unresolved issues from their past resurface after a pivotal encounter, threatening their bond. The film delves into themes of love, identity, family expectations, and the courage required to pursue happiness and self-discovery.
Joining the cast are other notable names, including Ozzy Agu, Najite Dede, Binta Ayo Mogaji, Sonny McDon, Amara Nnanna, Adunolaoluwa Osilowo, and Grace Coker, promising a stellar ensemble performance.
“I watched Ìfé (the short film), and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the sequel. I love the poster already!” wrote one commenter on X.
In a country where LGBTQ+ representation in the media remains limited and often controversial, Ìfé stands out as a beacon of visibility and empowerment. Its first installment defied societal norms and sparked important conversations about love and identity. With the sequel, Pamela Adie continues her mission to tell stories that resonate with Nigeria’s queer community while challenging stereotypes and advocating for acceptance.
The anticipation for Ìfé – The Sequel is palpable, with many eager to see how Ìfé and Adaora’s journey unfolds. As queer film audiences count down to 2025, the film is already making waves, promising not just entertainment but a deeper reflection on love, courage, and the pursuit of authenticity in the face of adversity.

Groundbreaking Queer Film ‘Ìfé’ Returns with Highly Anticipated Sequel

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024