January 2008

walking along to class bright and early this morning and what do i see but a soldier in full uniform going the oposite way and pray do tell what was it about this soldier that made him stick out from the crowd well not much apart from he having a case a really bad case of the cross eyes wow now when did you ever see a cross eyed soldier the kinda cross where his right eye be looking at his left shoulder and his left eye be checking out his right shoulder i am not making fun of the man you see i got nothing aganist people with wonky eyes my girlfriend you see has got a mild case of the cross eyes used to be bad but the specs sorted that not that by being with someone who is cross eyed even a bit i am as if absolving myself of responsibility for saying nasty things about cross eyed people its just that you see i had like a daydream where i was the president and this cross eyed jammah was the sharp shooter who had a bead on the american terrorist who was gonna blow my shit up for refusing

Lisa F. Jackson's documentary The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo won Sundance Film Festival's Special Jury Prize. Watch a clip from the movie and it is not hard to see why.

GraduatingIs a dream come truefor both graduates and parentsIt is one of those precious momentsThat tears of joy streamFor fulfilling the dream

There have been some good times, probably more to come Great thoughts, lots of laughter, heated passion that burns distractedly through time And dark moments that tear loud Thoughts e’en transient imprint a smile, however distant Excitement; digging and comparing treasure and skeletons alike Admiration, excitement, surprises, darkness, sombreness, pain Another time and another place Locks picked; healing whilst others are just not meant to be Time has come to build some; memories and skeletons alike I hear, I forget; I write, I remember; I do, I never forget Cliché is what is boring, but that is probably why it is so Out of context, that which we seek lives in a timeline, not herein The strengths we see maybe fading imprints of times past, The spark and sometimes cackle may threaten to come to life but soon smoulder and nothing but sooty smoke is left Once upon a time I loved hard, then converse came to pass each and every time; and I will keep on so Age

Andrew Mwenda has set out to create something new and compelling in Uganda's news media industry. I cannot say whether he has succeeded in print, but on the web, he has failed. The Independent launched in December 2007 with some challenges, but its the newspaper's website that I will be discussing here. And not favorably.

flickr Repoort By Silumesii Maboshe There is a story that Zambians like to tell. Some time in the late 80s Zambia's Secretary General, Mr Grey Zulu, was paying the Queen of England a routine ceremonial visit. During dinner, the lights suddenly went out. Mr. Zulu, who was no stranger to darkness emitted a boisterous cry, "Also, here, you have ZESCO!" ZESCO is the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation.

If you have never been to Kampala let me spare you the suspense; it is a poorly planned city and there is little to see in the way of architecture. The good news though is that there is a blogger who is trying to do something about this. Kampala.ver is a blog by a Ugandan architect living and working in the capital. He has been blogging about the city since November of last year and could be one of the most important bloggers in Uganda in 2008 if he can stay the course.

I cannot use his real name… Kampala is too small a town and the world seems to be converging towards one centre… like a black hole of sorts- it must be the shrinking poles… think drowning polar bears and mating penguins… north and south poles…any other thought qualifies for a not so happy one month in this new year! So I shall pick Claude. My very first introduction to Claude was as a pawn being rammed down his throat by his CD. His uninterested jaded outlook gave way to a distant gleam that was fully matured to the full tale tell signs of a amateur poker player with aces… oh dear, I really did push it this time- this wasn’t the deep end, more like we’re in the dark waters darling, think astronomy, astrology or whichever noun you think will get to shore if the sharks, or unfriendly giant jelly fish, no- sting rays don’t get you first. Then again, if you cant swim- might as well drink up and drown as fast as possible.

KAMPALA - I had hoped to complete the three-part series on walking down memory lane but the rude interruptions of the "festive season" followed by the violence across the border means we cannot fiddle while Rome burns.It might have taken a stolen election to spark off violence in Kenya but the tribal and ethnic fissures have been there for generations. The Kenyans might refer to them with the politically-correct title of 'communities' but the Kikuyu dominance, both in politics and the economy over the last several decades, have left lingering resentment and anger amongst other tribes, especially the Luo.In Uganda this resentment was, for a long time, reserved for the Baganda for the lofty position they found themselves in the colonial Uganda -- a direct outcome of geography, a bit of scheming and generally being in the right place at the right time.

screenshot Ushahidi.com A group of Kenyan bloggers has put together a Google Maps mash-up called Ushahidi, which means witness in Swahili. Anyone can report the incident that he or she have seen, and it will appear on a Google map for others to see. Those reports are then relayed to local Kenyan NGO’s to get more information and to verify each incident.

screenshot, invisiblechildren.com However you may feel about NGOs and foreigners filming the plight of locals, you have to hand it to these guys. Invisible Children was released back in 2003, so five years on you might expect that the momentum for that movement has faded...right? Wrong. IC is working its own version of the (RED) model and continuing to change lives, one hoodie at a time.

screenshot One of the best things about blogging is the opportunity to experiment with different forms of publishing. For some time now, Collated has been one of those experiments on this site, and while it has not been the most visited page, it has been one of the most fun for me to maintain.

Law School
well actually, pre-law
law development centre
2nd term
2nd week
busy time a gwan

Joey in the sitcom, friends- cracking me up… the ‘Joey learns French’ episode (if you got that you are a chick, gay, or still confused about your sexuality). Frenching up the English language as he goes on. “le fleuff!”- whatever that meant. I want to do that too! I’ve got the Chinese accent down to a Tee- the Indian one always gets me into trouble with Indian business associates, especially when you take the mimicking the body language to portray absolute attention, taking it to the next level- if you don’t speak it, fake accent it! Anyone want to join the club over a drink and we can French, Chinese, Indian, Zulu it for thirty minutes. It would be good fun; Rules there will be no incessant giggling, topics will be mailed to you a week before rendezvous to allow ample practise in body and language mannerisms. invite dates to come pick you up at the end of the thirty minute session advanced class syllabus will include frenching it in bed RSVP to LM @ comment box!

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The on-going crisis in Kenya has backed President Museveni into a corner of sorts. Uganda's economy and welfare are tied to Kenya's stability. As such, fuel shortages in Uganda have been disrupting business and causing the kinds of rumblings that are always dangerous to ignore. Museveni might have wanted to stay out of the Kenyan mess, but it was necessary for his government to open up a dialogue with Nairobi to work out a way that will ensure the flow of fuel into Uganda.