Dear Readers,

Greetings from Kampala. As you might well be aware the Galiwango sneak preview event held in Kampala is now in the past but what a colorful event it was on the evening of January 24th 2010 at the Sheraton Rwenzori Ballroom.

Special thanks to Uganda Wildlife Authority, The Sheraton Hotel Kampala, Friend a Gorilla campaign crew, Fenon Records, The Maurice Kirya experience,
and of course Xenson the creative genius and the models who put up a fabulous Gorilla centric fashion show.

The sneak preview was meant to seek new partners in Uganda to help fund the Movie project and in this regard we are glad to have achieved our aim and got some positive feedback and support from the management of Uganda Wildlife Authority.

During our short stay in Kampala we  were  able to rebuild old linkages and also establish new networks that should help us propel UNAA Times and Soreel-Mayas GraFX  Ltd ( http://www.soreel-mayas.com ) to new heights within the East Africa region.

On a positive note I was happy to see some order return to my country. For starters the killer traffic jams are now manageable as the Traffic Police seem to be doing some work to alleviate the traffic nightmare of course with their limited resources. But to this effect I felt the newly formed Uganda National Roads Authority’s first order of business apart from the newly constructed Northern By-Pass,  should have been to fix the feeder roads many of which have now become over sized gapping manholes.

The real estate in Uganda has not suffered any major impact perhaps because Uganda is a Cash economy. The pricing in dollars seems to also be driving the market.

I was last in Kampala shortly before the Commonwealth Conference in 2007 but in spite of the rapid developments some element of poor planning still loom across the many of suburbs I visited. The Malls are full of largely imported merchandise from South Africa and Kenya but many of the people lack the purchasing power. There was evidence of income inequality and some described the feeling to me using a Luganda metaphor “BALIMU KINTU” meaning that those closest to the high table and with the right connections were the beneficiaries.

As I made preparations to depart from Kampala, talk of the 2011 elections was gaining momentum and several delegates conferences were planned. The majority I spoke too seemed certain that the ruling part would win. Perhaps because of the continued splintered opposition.

All in all it was great trip that re affirmed the to me that East West, Home is Best!

God speed.

Ronnie Mayanja
Editor-UNAA Times Online
www.unaatimes.com
www.galiwango.com
www.soreel-mayas.com

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