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BY RICHARD WETAYA

Victor Ochen, a Ugandan grassroots activist has been basking in the glow of his nomination for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.
Ochen was nominated on the 17th of February by the American Friends Service Committee, an organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action.
Online stories about Ochen and his work have been going viral and there have been congratulatory messages galore.
Venerable personalities such as Desmond Tutu, Fatou Bensouda, the International Criminal Court prosecutor, Ruhakana Ruganda, Uganda’s Prime Minister and Trust Africa, an independent foundation that works to secure conditions for Democracy and equitable development throughout the African continent, have all come forward to endorse and drum up support for Ochen.

Desmond Tutu has said Ochen is in the top pick of the bunch as regards being amongst the new breed of dynamic African youth leaders.

Ochen becomes the first Ugandan to be nominated for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize award, which in the past has been won by eminent personalities such as former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and United States President, Barrack Obama, amongst others.
For the award, Ochen is pitted against esteemed people like Pope Francis, Ban Ki-Moon, Edward Snowden and the World Health Organisation, among others.
The winner will take home a Nobel medal and cash prize of $ 1.2 million. The winner will be announced in October.

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Often it is

23 year old Sharon Karungi has all the makings of a great Basketball player. Her agile dynamism, competitiveness, prance like walk and stellar physical play have endeared her to basketball fans, not only in Uganda but also in the United States, where she currently plays.

By Richard Wetaya

Dark ominous clouds had enshrouded the horizon, as me and

In Bugisu, tradition demands that Imbalu initiates (those circumcised in any even year) marry only after performing the Inemba dance.
The dance is performed in the early months of every odd year.
The dance is usually punctuated by celebratory singing, drumming and merrymaking.

Richard Wetaya---- explores what lies beyond the Inemba fanfare

At the assembly point; elders from different clans are gathered with their initiates. Some kneel, while others stand in lines, facing each other.
The initiates are then instructed to run to the venue of the dance.
At the venue, crowds are gathered and drums are reverberating.
The Inemba dance is on.


Wilson Wakinya, 20, of Bunanyuma village, Bushika sub-county in Bududa district and his collegues, fully dressed in their regalia, locally known as tsisumbati, come running with long painted sticks (tsimbani) in hand. Wakinya and his collegues quickly perforate holes in the ground, using the tsimbani, before they set forth to the dance floor.
The tsimbani ostensibly represent weapons that a Mumasaba man should bear at all times to defend his family, clan and society.
Patrick Wabuteya, a clan elder in Bunamasongo, explains that the Isumbati, which is a bull or he-goat skin, is a symbol of the power accorded to one to perform Gisu societal rituals, such as naming offspring, offering sacrifices and performing Imbalu rituals.
“The Isumbati is only worn by Bamasaba elders. Being dressed in an Isumbati, also means that one has been given the right to sit with elders and discuss issues of importance,” he explains.

For Wakinya and colleagues, the event officially marks their induction into the club of Basani - full Bamasaba men.

8th July started off as any other normal day for Nosiata Andera’s close knit family. In Dwaliro zone, Mayuge town, where the family resides, there was an eerie peace and quiet as 43 year old Nosiata and her two daughters went about their early morning tidy up routine.
For some strange reason everyone in the home seemed downcast. It is just one of those days, Nosiata rationalized. There was not the slightest inkling in her mind that something tragic was about to befall her family. As night fell, the family gathered in the living room for Dinner.
Nosiata’s two sons, 20 year old student Yasin Daka and 32 year old security guard Stephen Owori had just joined in after returning home. After Dinner, Owori bade his sibling’s farewell. He straight away left for his night guarding duties at a nearby Maize mill.
Half an hour later around 9 pm, Nosiata was called out by concerned neighbors. The neighbors were troubled by the presence of an unknown man in the bathroom.  When she came out, she was baffled to find Emma, a close male associate to the treasurer of the Village savings scheme, standing in the bathroom.
A quick flash of intuition after, left Nosiata uneasy. The Kyowola Omwavu village savings and loan association group treasurer, Hajati Wotali Namutamba had on several occasions issued threats to Nosiata in particular on account of her firebrand nature in demanding for proper accountability of the group’s savings.  Namutamba had used Emma in particular to deliver the warnings. Namutamba had on several occasions refused to hand over the wooden boxes containing the group’s consolidated savings to members. This aroused suspicion and as time passed, the members realized she was using their money to her benefit.

Nosiata was keen to know what Emma was doing in her bathroom at night. Emma slyly managed to convince Nosiata that he had been sent by Owori to call Daka, his brother. Emma was on a sinister mission conjured up by Namutamba however. A reluctant Nosiata did not want Daka to go out at such a late hour, even if it was to see his brother.  It was 10 pm, pitch black and almost everybody else in the village had slept off.  Daka nevertheless managed to convince his mother that he won’t take long at Owori’s work station, so he accompanied Emma.

Along the way, Emma excused himself, as Daka and Owori got into a conversation seated on a bench, just outside Owori’s work station. Minute’s later gunshots aimed at both Owori, who was armed and his brother Daka rang out.  Caught unaware, Owori could hardly fire back.
As the shooting subsided, Owori lay dead, killed in cold blood. Daka, his brother however escaped by a hair breadth’s into the darkness, with serious gunshot wounds. Daka rushed to the nearby Mayuge Police station crying out for help but nobody at the police station came to their rescue. Even his screams during the shooting went unanswered. Mayuge Police Station is just opposite the Maize mill where Owori was on night duty.

After a short while, news of the shooting spread through the neighborhood. Inevitably the news reached Nosiata’s home. It was late in the night but she rushed to her son’s work station, only to find him dead and her other son missing. A sobbing Nosiata had cries from the nearby Mayuge Police station.
A bleeding Daka was at the Police station crying out for help but his pleas for help were met with cold shoulders.  Eventually Daka was rushed to Jinja Hospital in an ambulance. All the while, Daka kept mumbling to his mother that he knows the shooter and his 2 accomplices.
Daka said Emma who had lied to him that his brother had wanted to see him, just stood by in the dark and watched as the gun man, a Police officer by the name of Mugoya sprayed Bullets at them. The other accomplices, Namutamba and Godfrey Musobya just stood sentry as the shooting took place.

SUSCIPION FALLS ON NAMUTAMBA

Nosiata unmistakably points an accusing finger at Namutamba.  “Namutamba had gotten unscrupulous and shady with our group savings.  Whenever I and the other cooperating members took her to task about the status of our savings and other requisite group requirements, she would feed us on excuses, false promises and lies. She had unconvincingly told us earlier that burglars had ransacked her home and made off with the two boxes containing our savings. Seeing that we were unrelenting, she started issuing threats. I had no idea she was planning something horrendous. She would often send her emissaries to warn me. Every time, she threatened me, i would report to the Mayuge resident district commissioner’s office. I had saved money to the tune of UGX 1, 640,000. I lost all that. The group consolidated savings were to the tune of UGX, 15,000,000. Namutamba is complicit in the murder of my child because Daka clearly recognized her and her associates Godfrey Musobya and Mugoya, the Police officer who had fired the bullets, moments before the shooting begun,” Nosiata says.

With pressure unremitting, Namutamba was arrested and detained at Iganga Police station. She admitted to having swindled the money and promised to refund members money lastest, 1st July 2014, with the assistance of her husband. 
Namutamba was however released after the husband paid a paltry 3 million shillings to the saving group members, with promises to pay more in the subsequent months.
Prior to that, Namutamba had sought the services of a law firm claiming the saving member’s demands for her to account for 15 million shillings were unfounded. Ultimately however, her means to an end was to scare off those hot on her heels.
Nosiata took the lawyer’s letter to the Resident district commissioner. The commissioner referred her to the District Police Commander. Eventually she was referred to the District Police criminal investigations department. Nosiata was told the letter from Namutamba’s lawyers was only meant to scare off the saving group member’s.

DAKA’S ACCOUNT OF WHAT HAPPENED

On that ill fated day, Daka says Owori left for his work station after dinner. “I was exhausted so I could not see him off. Mom however was insisting I go the shops to buy milk. I was reluctant but eventually I rushed to the shops and got back as soon as possible because I could not find milk. On coming back I found mom with Emma. Emma told me Owori wanted to see me. I had no premonition whatsoever that there was a looming danger,” Daka says.
Daka says they passed by Namutamba’s house which is within sight of Owori’s work station. He says he saw 3 people following him behind. On reaching Owori’s work place, he sat down and asked Owori why he had called him. Owori denied sending anybody to call him.
“It was then that 3 people whom I could see clearly passed just nearby us. One whom I recognized as Mugoya suddenly walked towards us and started firing at us with an AK 47. He shot me first twice in the right leg, left forearm and thumb. Thinking he had finished me off, he started firing rapidly in my brother’s direction. It was about that time that I raised an alarm, whilst I ran into the thicket nearby for safety. Mayuge Police station was just opposite us but not a single Police man came to our rescue, even as they heard my screams for help and the gun shots,” Daka says.

Daka is currently bed ridden receiving treatment in Mulago Hospital orthopedic ward.

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Rap music gets real exciting to listen to when diss songs between rival rappers are thrown back and forth.

Some of the best rap songs in Uganda have been diss songs; to wit-Atlas the African’s-Jealous Bi*tches and Babaluku’s-“Straight spit”.
Rappers are wordsmiths so needless to say, a real serious rap beef will escalate into a war of words.

Diss songs in rap are songs that deride the authenticity, flamboyance, charisma and lyrical ability of a rival rapper.
In the world of hip hop, originality is treasured and any forms of mediocrity in one’s word play or lyricism are frowned upon.

In the years of old, principally around the mid 80’s and mid 90’s, rap fans across the globe waited for rap beef songs, like 2pac’s “Hit em Up”, Ice Cube’s “No Vaseline” and Nas “Ether” with an almost hysterical sense of eagerness, akin to the Stella Nyanzi fans penchant for her insolent posts in the aftermath of her suspension from Makerere.
To boot; most of olden days rap beef songs were replete with petulant and sometimes humorous punch lines, poetics, threats and diatribes, just like Nyanzi’s posts.

Infamous as some of the diss songs were, they had great massive appeal and pushed sales units for 2pac, Ice Cube and Nas; just like Nyanzi’s posts gained her likes and followers.
The songs drew forth interest in hip hop and that was at a time when the fundamentals of the genre were starting to be compromised.
Increasingly the lyrical template for rappers at the time had become money, cars, women, clothes; subject matter that ran counter to original template for rappers, which was addressing society’s ills and speaking out against oppression and discrimination against African Americans.

The only anticlimax after the release of 2pac’s “Hit em up” record in particular was that 2pac and Biggie Smalls whom most people knew as Notorious B.I.G and whom 2pac was attacking in the Hit em up song, lost their lives.
2pac had accused Biggie and his posse of trying to kill him in a robbery in New York’s Quad studios.
2pac released hit me up in the aftermath of the robbery, in which he was shot 5 times.
Despite that dark chapter in rap history, rap beefs continued but mostly for the entertainment value. Threats were thrown back and forth but nothing out of the ordinary happened. The beefs stayed on wax (on the records).

In Uganda, most rappers with bones of contention have chosen the subliminal way (indirect) when they make diss records, aimed at perceived rivals.
In a subliminal diss song, a rapper hardly name drops his rivals but when you listen close to the rhymes, there are broad hints of who is in his cross hairs.
Classic example has been Atlas the African with his numerous diss records aimed at Navio and his posse of the Mith and J.B.

The reasons that beef sparked off are still unclear but word from the grapevine was that Atlas felt he was not being given enough props (read Hip Hop for respect).
“Atlas was by then still relatively unknown in Uganda’s rap industry. He had created a buzz for himself with songs like “My Swag” and “Wait and See” but at length, he felt he had a bone to pick with the Navio camp and that is when he started releasing songs like illuminated,” Gideon Kibuka, a Hip Hop producer, explains.

In “illuminated” Atlas goes at Navio with ferocity; amongst other things, intimating that Navio is a comic who should be rapping at the comedy nights that used to be held at Effendy’s.
He also called out Navio for agreeing to appear on a child Molester’s song.

The child Molester being R.Kelly and the song referenced was-“Hands across the world”.
 Needless to say, R.Kelly has been accused of being a sexual predator.

The word play that Atlas displayed in “illuminated was replay worthy and exciting.
The song created quite a buzz for Atlas among some Ugandan rap fans especially the ones that always felt that Navio was over rated.
To the consternation of Navio fans, he did not release a rejoinder diss song.

A Navio response at that time would have fanned the flame that Atlas had sparked and would have given him chance to showcase his rap battling skills; which skills, Navio himself has said won him laurels in one of South Africa’s toughest rap battle events.
He lost that opportunity and needless to say, his detractors swung into action, saying he is not as lyrical as he thinks he is.


Atlas did not rest on his laurels after the “illuminated” record.
After a fight, reportedly at one of Kampala’s bubbling night spots, with J.B of Klear Kut, he went to the booth and released more verbal venom in a song, he called-J.B or “Jealous Bi*tch”.
Notice how he disparagingly played pan with the J.B initials.
“Fans who thought the J.B song was only aimed at J.B were mistaken as Atlas, as well threw verbal jabs at the Mith and Navio in the second and third verse. For a rap fiend like myself, that song manifested one thing, which was that Atlas is no joke lyrically,” Gladys Kituyi, an entertainment blogger, says.

Atlas went on and released other subliminal diss songs that did not get responses like “You got nothing on me,” and the more recent in “they still hating”
In “they still hating” Atlas again goes hard at Navio.

“If Navio or his crew had responded, it would have created a major buzz for Ugandan Hip Hop but they took a back seat; though some inside scoop had it that Navio had actually recorded rebuttal songs, but rap fans have never heard them,” Kibuka opines.

The Luga flow world has also seen its fair share of beefs.
Beefs that have brought out some phenomenal lyrical poetics and word play from the genre’s best.
Some that stand out include Babaluku’s “Straight Spit” where he lyrically annihilates the Lugaflow duo-Sylvester and Abrams.
In the song, Babaluku attacked Sylvester and Abrams as being run of the mill and calls them out for trying to trash his legacy as the pioneer of Lugaflow.


At the time, Babaluku was on a roll and “Straight Spit” cemented his place as one of the best, if not the best Lugaflow lyricist in Kampala.
As vicious and disparagingly as the song was, it did not get a rejoinder.

“It might have played into the hands of Sylvester and Abrams had they responded but it would have been a tough call for them to pit their wits against a talented rapper of Babaluku’s caliber. The subsequent subliminal diss song-“Twakugudemu” by Abrams, only released about a year ago was not strong enough lyrically and interms of delivery as well,” Ronald Odongo, a seasoned Blogger says.


Babaluku has not only been enmeshed in rap beef with Sylvester and Abrams. It is common knowledge that there is no love lost between him and Navio and his crew.
The most recent subliminal diss record from Babaluku was “Batulidewo” where he and Saba Saba-his cohort from the Bataka Squad fire off lyrical shots at any naysayers.

The other prominent Lugaflow beef has pitted new comer-St Nellysade against an old timer and veteran wordsmith in Mulekwa.

Rumours of beef between the two started doing the rounds after Mulekwa released “Abanno Bano” a diss track aimed at Nellysade.
In the song, he accuses Nellysade of jacking his style-literally meaning he stole his rap style. Nellysade, as you can reckon, has not responded.


GNL, for his part, has also thrown off several subliminals at his competition but the braggadocio and hyperbole embedded in his verses at times makes it hard to make out who he is dissing.

Fans however easily discerned who his intended target was in the captivating songs-“Ceasar” and “Tebangatika”.
Gravity was in his cross hairs. No response has been heard from Gravity, thus far.

Other prominent Ug M.C’s that have been embroiled in beefs include Foeva emcee and Baboon Forest’s Tommy Race.
Code and Tucker H.D.

A BRIEF ON RAP BEEFS
Rap song beefs are as old as the Hip Hop genre itself.
 (Hip Hop was started in the early 70’s in New York).
The first prominent rap beef saw rap legends Krs One and Mc Shan squaring off.
The two protagonists dueled over whose neighborhood was the best and who was the best lyrically. In the end, Krs One from the Bronx-New York came out on top. Shan was from the Queensbridge area of New York.

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