Accustomed to the relative calm and quiet of the countryside, only to be hit by the noise, dust and congestion in Kampala when i returned at the weekend. I must say "Kamunyes" or bread vans cum human vans donning blue and white stripes are one of Kampala's biggest tourist attractions or repellants, depending on which side of the debate you are on.
I always tell people who care to listen that the "Kamunye" industry is the biggest employer in Kampala with hundreds if not thousands of young men acting as drivers, conductors, stage monitors, taxi park sellers, ticket sellers and taxi guides to mention a few. But does Kampala need all these hundreds of taxis that only worsen the already nagging traffic jams and pollution? The other day, Ugandan journalist Timothy Kalyegira commented that if the smoke hovering over the olympic bird's nest in Beijing is what the west calls high levels of pollution then Kampala could possibly be declared a no-go zone. This summarizes the pollution levels in Kampala.
This time round, as i was travelling, fewer passengers risked eating "nyama choma" or roasted meat on the way maybe because of the fear of unsuspectingly eating dogs. As you may be aware, a couple of weeks ago, some Kampalans were nabbed slaughtering a dog and a few days later a local tabloid reported that hundreds of stray dogs in Kyambogo-a Kampala suburb had disappeared and it was feared that this meat is on sale to unsuspecting customers.
Otherwise, it was nice returning to Mutungo after a long time in Kitgum. They say East or West....Nyumbani ni bora....
Be blessed
This is the right course if the region is to move away from hand-outs from NGOs. Hopefully WFP will be out of business by December.
Fast forward to the future....2008 today, NRM-O in power, a general in state house, the Kabaka without 3 of his ministers whose where-abouts and wellbeing remain a matter of speculation. Inevitably the two centres of power, one national/superior and the other tribal/subordinate are at the cross roads. However, nobody knows what exactly went wrong. A marriage that has lasted over a decade and a half is in a balance. On July 31st 1993, Mutebi was crowned as Kabaka in a colourful ceremony, and in the eyes of many....the NRM had re-instated the Kabakaship.
Today, a debate on land and the land ammendment act has become so passionate and tribal punctuated by accusations, counter accusations and suspicion whose end result is uncertainity. As the three Buganda ministers remain in detention, lets remember that the stick which is used to whip your co-wife will most lkely be the very stick that will be used to lash u. Could we be witnessing the 2008 Buganda crisis unfolding or even surpassing the much misunderstood and distorted 1966 Buganda crisis? I leave it to you to decipher.
However, will the promise of this anti-dote usher in actual fulfillment? Talk of Northern Uganda entering a development phase-an evolution from emergency, has become the theme-song of humanitarian agencies, government and other development partners. IDPs are gradally treking back to their original homes away from the camps and hope is rife that sooner or later life will be back to normal. However with roads like the above in their current state, development partners have their work cut out.
Social services like health have to be taken to the people and not just concentrated in under-staffed and ill-equipped health centres so far away from the masses. Mobile health services will come in handy and Village Health Teams should be evenly spread and adequately facilitated. Water facilities like springs and boreholes have to be constructed or protected. And of course psychosocial services are required to shape the mindset of the people who for two decades have witnessed the most horrific attrocities. Let monuments like the one of the 1995 Attiak massacre below, not reopen the wounds of suffering but rather inspire the masses to work harder in order to thrive and not just survive.
