Can a disastrous Minister respond to a disaster?

by Rosebell's Blog, posted in Uncategorized

Last evening I went home late and I missed the night news. People in my house had one thing to tell me about the news, MPs wept. I wondered what could have moved Members of Parliament to shed tears publicly in the house. I was told it was about the famine in the Eastern and Northern parts of the country. These areas have gone through years of war but haven’t seen substantial recovery programmes. This famine is a result of lack of a proper rebuilding and resettlement plans as a country and the increasing effects of climate change. It has been reported that about 35 people have died due hunger.

The Prime Minister of Uganda Apolo Nsibambi moved to console the region by calling the famine a “national catastrophe” and that the government had provided an extra Shs10 billion to buy food supplies for affected people.

But this will this government and the minister for disaster preparedness who uttered insentive words in the face of criticism continue to sit and wait for disasters?  Female MPs shed tears as they protested government indifference.

Children in Katakwi collect some vegitables. The area has been hit by famine. John Njoroge Photo
Children in Katakwi collect some vegitables. The area has been hit by famine. John Njoroge Photo

The other MPs called for Prof. Kabwegyere’s resignation. Instead of looking for a logical way to defend himself, the old Prof, known for his verbal disparage displayed arrogance in the fame of death of Ugandans saying “If I resign you think those people will not die of hunger?”  Unbelievable! The day before Kabwegyere had addressed the press together with the State Minister for Agriculture Aggrey Bagiire blaming the famine on drunkenness.

You would expect Minister Bagiire, himself an Agriculture graduate to give the nation a more convincing answer to the crop failures in the regions. Even though the government gives millions in emergency aid, these areas will continue to experience such famine in future unless they rethink agriculture production in the face of climate changes. Also people in Teso and the north must be resettled properly and there should be a lot of efforts put into agriculture production both in terms of capital but also in technical support. And Kabwegyere with his loose mouth might be after all the right person for the post of disaster response.

Truth and reconciliation; a case for President Sirleaf

by Rosebell's Blog, posted in Africa, Conflict
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Wiki Image
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Wiki Image

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia in its final report this week recommended that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf among others should be barred from holding public office for 30 years.

The recommendation also extended to all those associated with former warring factions, their leaders, political decision makers, financiers, organizers, commanders, foot soldiers. President Sirleaf has already spoken on the subject saying she gave support to the Charles Taylor group but “only intended for humanitarian purposes.”

The TRC doesn’t outright say Sirleaf is guilty of partly fuelling the 14 year old conflict that claimed thousands of lives in the West African nation but their recommendation has got many thinking about the implications. President Sirleaf has been one of the African women that inspire me not because she was the first female head of state but because of her ambition displayed in a career in the finance industry built over decades. In the elections I was excited by George Weah because of his football career but a good look at Sirleaf made me believe she was the right person for the job of heading a country emerging out of a war.

I never knew I would have a chance to talk to Sirleaf. But that chance came in February 2007 in Kigali Rwanda where I had gone to cover a huge African women conference. I was working for NTV at the time and it was a one man crew. I had to secure an appointment for an interview with the president at her suite at Kigali Serena Hotel.
After waiting for long hours (because the SABCs CNNs of this world had to go in first) I got into her room. I was told by her press secretary that I had exactly 15 minutes to setup the equipment and do the interview. First she was amazed at how a lone girl from Uganda could make it in these minutes and she said something to that effect before the interview began.

Why am I bringing this up? It’s because I asked how Sirleaf could have supported Charles Taylor during this interview. And her answer was that she thought of him differently at the time. She didn’t think that Taylor wanted power for himself just like many other leaders on the continent. She agreed it was a misjudgment on her part but she insisted she had started a new page of rebuilding her nation. Sirleaf said that as a woman and mother she understood well that women suffered the brunt of war through rapes and that such wounds can mostly deeply be understood by a woman.  She said she was determined to see justice served.

To me she cut across as an honourable politician and I was in no doubt she was the iron lady I had long read about. Her experience on international stage gave her a different added understanding of conflict and governance in Africa as she put forward her views of leaders who cling to power during the interview.  With this judgment from the TRC I am left thinking,  what options does the honourable iron lady have? And if she’s to step down would this be good for Liberia? Before I even think of her stepping down, what truth is in her defense when she says her support was for humanitarian use? Charles Taylor is still being held at The Hague, on trial by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict in Sierra Leone. So this means we won’t hear from Taylor whom Sirleaf dealt with but this shouldn’t water down the case for or against Sirleaf. There should be extensive revelations whether Sirleaf was aware of Taylor’s mischief and whether Taylor was the only person through whom such supplies could have passed to reached the people.

I still believe that Sirleaf should remain president unless there’s insurmountable evidence that her support for Taylor was aimed at elevating herself politically. After her work that has improved lives in Liberia, I think Sirleaf should be given a chance to correct her wrongs if she hasn’t done that already. At the end of our interview she was warm and she asked how I find my work and the challenges. After my brief answer she said: “We need women like you in the media in Liberia.” This statement showed me this is a president who thinks of her country in every sense. If the recommendation of the TRC is to be adopted, they will put an abrupt and ugly end to the career of a great woman. And such great women in African who can traverse  male dominated political playgrounds in a dignified way to go on to become great leaders are hard to come by. This is where the question of justice or moving on comes in play. With appreciation that one can hardly move on without justice, I still believe banning Sirleaf will be Liberia’s loss.

A book on Sudan

by Rosebell's Blog, posted in Uncategorized

I read the review in The Independent last week. I am interested in the writer’s portrayal of the situation in Sudan. I believe it bookcould be the same as in DRC and other troubled regions. Health care and violent conflict are subjects that I love to read about. And I would expect to read on how medical officers try to stay sane in these circumstances.

Karamoja: My work on maternal death and HIV

by Rosebell's Blog, posted in Uganda, Women
Lucia talking to me in Moroto, Northeastern Uganda. Rosebell Kagumire/2009
Lucia talking to me in Moroto, Northeastern Uganda. Rosebell Kagumire/2009

Lucia Lochoro is a 25-year-old mother of three. The second wife to her husband, Lochoro never went to school. Like many of her village mates in Loputuk parish, just 8 km from Moroto town, she sells firewood and water to earn a living for her family that lives in a hut, locally known as Manyatta, which she constructed herself. But Lochoro is different from many Karimojong women. She has delivered all her children in hospital in Moroto town. “We have a birth attendant in the village and she told me to come to hospital where I had to pay only 500 shillings for a book,” she said in Karimojong.

For the rest Read

Why did President Museveni halt the search for rebels?

by Rosebell's Blog, posted in Conflict, Uganda

Papers in Uganda today are reporting that President Museveni has given a directive that the army stops the ongoing arrests of suspected rebel collaborators in northern Uganda. Since  late last year, the army has carried out a series of arrests but it wasn’t until late last month that they arraigned 10 suspects in Kampala including a Gulu based journalist Patrick Otim.

Elders in Odek Village, Gulu gather remains of people killed in the LRA war for reburrial. Rosebell Kagumire/2009
Elders in Odek Village, Gulu gather remains of people killed in the LRA war for reburrial. Rosebell Kagumire/2009

But up to now the army doesn’t say who was heading this group. They have pointed at a document supposedly found on Gulu LCV chairman Mao’s flash disk. But if the army thinks Mao is guilty as they have put it in the media, you expect that he would have been the first to be arrested. And Museveni’s directive sends mixed signals. The army spokesperson Maj. Felix Kulayigye said the reason for halting the arrest was “the nucleus of the emerging rebellion was crushed and those concerned have received the information.”

Some questions need to be answered. Can people who have spent the last 20 years in camps be the ones seeking to elongate their suffering? Is this another move by government to alienate people of northern Uganda? And if the rebel group was real why are govt officials trying to release the arrested suspects? If they are indeed rebels why don’t they go through a trial or be given a chance for amnesty rather than just releasing them? Why would a president halt genuine moves to protect the country even if the so called nucleus of the movement has been crushed? Isn’t this what many thought when Lakwena was crushed only for Joseph Kony to emerge?

As long as government doesn’t give a reason for these arrests beyond the ‘nucleus crushed’ many Ugandans will continue to believe that the rebel group threat was imaginary.

Will AMISOM new mandate complicate the Somali situation?

by Rosebell's Blog, posted in Uncategorized

The African Union once again pledged to send more troops to Somalia adding onto the 4,300 force in Mogadishu. For the last two years African countries except for Uganda and Burundi have been silent despite pledging to contribute troops for the peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

Whether the countries will finally meet the pledge reiterated at the AU summit that ended at the weekend in Sirte Libya is what will be awaited. But more important the leaders agreed to amend the current AMISOM mandate that prevents peacekeepers from attacking the insurgents except for in self-defence.

Under the new mandate which is yet to be fully explained, the AU troops will be allowed to “fight along government soldiers” according to Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke.

AU troops in Somalia

The question is will this new mandate AU troops more of targets by Al Shabab? And will this mandate further complicate the situation in Somalia?

And are African countries prepared to pay the price – both in money and life- as the new mandate comes into force?

Uganda comes 21on list of failed states

by Rosebell's Blog, posted in Uncategorized

Here is the list of failed states http://tinyurl.com/mb2y4z. The list is produced by Foreign Policy and The Fund for Peace. While Uganda is not in a critical situation, the report shows that our country is in the danger of becoming a failed state. I will come back to this subject in the coming days.

by Rosebell's Blog, posted in Uganda

Next week on July 11, it will be the world population day. As usual we will get updates on different population issues and what interventions are needed to curb the growth. Uganda’s population is estimated to be about 32 million with a growth rate of 3.4 percent.

Children in Gulu, Northern Uganda
Children in Gulu, Northern Uganda Rosebell Kagumir/2008

“Investing in women is a smart choice” is this year’s theme. I believe in the saying that when you educate a woman, you educate a nation. This is not to say when you educate men you’re not targeting a country but it simply shows the wide impact of women education. All the maternal deaths due to myths and ignorance about medical interventions would be partly prevented. You would increase their participation in debates on major issues affecting the country. Then women have an instrumental role they play in bringing up children and in most of our societies many times they actually raise children almost single-handedly so their education directly benefits their children.

Today the BBC has a story from a report by the French Institute for Demographic Studies which warns of a population time bomb for developing nations as the ratio of elderly people rises.

Most elderly people live in poverty. One way Uganda could avoid this is to invest more funds in providing contraceptives and more education of women and men on having smaller families. Fertility rate in Uganda is around 6.7. Which means on average Ugandans give birth to 6  to 7 children. If children were well planned for and well spaced many Ugandans would not be so poor in their old age. There’s a lot of unemployment which means that many children are not necessarily the solution. Many Ugandan youth still depend on their parents even up to the age of 30 as they hit the streets with no jobs. Once they get the jobs, they start having their own family and children and in the absence of social insurance and pensions, parents aren’t left with much to see them through their life.

So as the world marks the Population day, you will likely hear the President and some politicians say there’s no problem with giving birth to many children and they are right. But they don’t take the argument to the end. They must tell people to plan for the children and take into account the economic circumstances and the future. I am not saying poor people have no right to have children but rather that we think more about the implications of have many children and also we should know the days of a man having their land and cows and neighbours to take care of their families are almost long gone. Anyway we must ask what audacity do these politicians have to advocate for more numbers to the population when they have failed to plan for those already in the country.  Somehow they are also caught in the attitudes rather than giving logical solutions.

Can African countries avoid coups with increasing election fraud?

by Rosebell's Blog, posted in Africa

I just read this piece from International Magazine that a total of 31 African heads of state were assassinated in less than 40 years after independence.

This was brought forward by President of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Jean Ping, at the opening of the 15th session of the Executive Council of the AU.

This means that on average a Head of State was killed per year is a “regressive political developments disturbing.” African presidents are calling for  a coherent response to ensure minimise similar occurrences.Just in March this year, the President of Guinea-Bissau, Joao Bernardo “Nino” Vieira, was murdered and a coup followed. Similar events have occurred in Madagascar and Mauritania.

At the 12th Conference of Heads of State and Government of the AU in February in Addis Ababa, African leaders asked the AU Commission to submit recommendations for the implementation of adequate preventive measures against unconstitutional changes of government.

But no amount of recommendations will save African governments from coups. These leaders know what they should do to prevent coups but they aren’t doing it. They instead behave in a manner that can only encourage coups. For instance abrogating constitutions, stealing elections Kenyan and ZimbabweAfrica. Otherwise treating coups as though they are the cause of chaos rather than an outcome of certain misrule is not right.  And I believe sometimes coups are the only hope for many states. style, not allowing opposition voices is the norm in many countries. Every time you here a dictator has changed the constitution to give himself more terms in offices and at worst leave it open for a possible life presidency. Many citizens in many countries only wait for the hand of God to take away dictators. Corruption is soaring and nothing is done on merit in many African countries. With this situation someone needs to tell African leaders that you alone can prevent coups in Africa.