Dear Readers, welcome to October the month that here in the northern hemisphere officially ushers in the fall weather. Brace yourselves from some rainy days ahead. However the part that I look forward to during this time of the year is the experience of fall foliage and tree leaves changing color. As a photo journalist, this is perhaps the best time to take pictures of mother nature. So be it an ardent nature watcher or not prepare to do something different with your camera this fall.
As a community, Uganda will be celebrating another year of independence this month. This is a good reminder of playwright Alex Mukulu’s 30 year’s of Bananas theatrical perfomance in which he re-enacted Uganda’s post independence leaders.
Forty eight [48] years later we celebrate yet another year of independence but as some would ask is there anything to celebrate? To some extent, some might think so based on the recent discovery of oil in the Albertine region of western Uganda. Pundits have prophesied that Uganda could soon join the list of nations whose oil could quickly degenerate into a curse depending on how well the resource is utilised and managed.
Another recent development involving Uganda has been the recent UN Human Rights Report that implicates Uganda for commiting war crimes during the DRC war of 1998-2003. This report is bound to resurrect alot of ghosts and make few people uneasy given the timing and a looming general election next year. [see link below]
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10302&LangID=E
On the election front, recently Uganda held nationwide party primary elections for the party in power and to the surprise and amazement of many, these were marred in chaos and scandal. We in the diaspora read in amusement as the local dailies reported on individuals from the same party fighting with their opponents to retain their political fortunes. Things got so bad in some extreme cases that human life was lost at the bitterly contested races. The party electoral commission did very little to redress the issue even after becoming aware of some this voter fraud. This has caused many to question if Uganda could handle a general election involving parties with divergent views without ushering the country into another period of political turmoil.
With each election it seems the culture of stealing/rigging elections has now become entrenched. This in turn causes one to wonder if those who championed the liberation movements of yesterday have a leg to stand on since the justification for many of those liberation wars was to address these election mal-practices and voter fraud.
As a diaspora community I therefore encourage all of you who will not be able to vote in next year’s Presidential election to make every effort to support the party of your choice with your finances. It has been said that people will always get the leaders they deserve. Sitting on the sidelines in anticipation that things will change should be a notion of the past.
Finally as a Muganda I wanted to make a passionate plea to the Mengo leadership to formulate a new direction for the Baganda here in the diaspora. Buganda in the diaspora is a such a powerful constituency that could help effect alot of change back home but currently the community has been divided and caught up in disagreements that have left us as a people weakened in part because we lack a clear agenda/mandate. Some might be quick to criticise me on this but I am sure the declining numbers at various Ganda events might affirm the fears of many that have simply become withdrawn as our kingdom suffers and yet we have been endowed with alot of intelligent well placed Baganda across the USA. We therefore need a new direction and lease on life as diaspora Baganda community that only Mengo can help provide.
Sincerely,
Ssabasajja Awangaale
For God and My Country.
Ronnie Mayanja
Editor-UNAA Times Online
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