In this podcast, below, I make a case for Kadongo Kamu music as Uganda's best music genre ever, given its pedigree of delivering message-driven and proverb-filled-educative music.

Can GNL, Lyrical G new albums revive Ugandan Hip Hop?

Have a listen here to some proverb-driven Lumasaaba Hip Hop Music, by Supaman, the trailblazer.
This song here is called Bulimundu [ Everyone] and comes off his 5th album-BityaBirye.

From a Ugandan perspective, Hip Hop music continues to be wrongly typecast as party-oriented music, with little to no substance, yet as a genre; Hip Hop has put out many mould-breaking songs that speak, for instance, to its protracted fight against HIV and AIDS.

What is unfortunate; however is that the audios and videos of some of those conscious Hip Hop songs like New Hope Squad’s-“It’s never too late”, SP Omugujule’s-“Lwavawa” and GNL’s “Story Ya Lukka” never got any significant traction in the media.

"Story La Lukka" may, however, be an exception, here as it was warmly received.


“Blame that on the cold shoulder treatment, Ugandan Hip Hop music has always gotten. If skeptics care to listen, however to any of the above songs; which all essentially raise awareness on HIV/AIDS, they will realize conscious Hip Hop promotes values to its listeners,” Nelson Dramuke, a filmmaker and creative visual director, says.

“There is a philosophical side to Hip Hop which speaks to serious issues like HIV and in line with this year’s World Aids day theme-which is Communities making a difference, it would be good to shine light on some of the Hip Hop community’s musical contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda,” Silas Balabyekkubo, also known as Babaluku, a Ugandan Hip Hop icon, says.



The lyrics to “It’s never too late”, “Story Ya Luka” and Lwavawa among other songs, paint grim pictures about the consequences of irresponsible behaviour. The songs also encourage the youth to embrace safe sex practices.

From the years of old, conscious Lugaflow artists such as Babaluku, GNL, the late Mulekwa, B.B Muwanvu Muwanvu, Cosine and upcountry conscious Hip Hop artists such as Lumix, Jungle, Supaman, endeavoured to have wide representations of HIV/AIDS in their song lyrics.

The 2010 poignant song “Story Ya Luka” by Ugandan Hip Hop legend-GNL Zamba was a powerful gem in that regard.

The song, which showcased GNL’s unrivaled storytelling skill-set is a call to action for all Ugandans to fight HIV, to avoid stigma and to treat people living with HIV-humanely.

Essentially, the song tells the story of Luka-a young high roller/ bar hopper, who in his moments of indiscretion contracts HIV.

The song was later selected by Uganda’s Health Ministry to headline a 2010 AIDS youth education campaign in which GNL himself played a leading role.

“In those campaigns, we spread messages about the need for Ugandan youth to practice safe sex and to fight the widespread stigma which existed then against people living with HIV. Some of them had gotten the disease, through unfortunate circumstances,” Zamba says.


“Our campaign was a double-edged sword in the sense that we used music and word of mouth campaigns. At that time, Hip Hop spoke and it showed its strength in the way it impacted the youth.”

Dramuke says “Story Ya Luka” resonated with him on account of its fascinating storytelling narrative.

“Not many Lugaflow artists were dab hands at telling stories like GNL at that time. The first time I heard that song, the message just stuck.”

In subsequent years, GNL recorded more potent songs that speak to Hip Hop’s role in the fight against HIV like the 2014 thought-provoking song-“We Cry”. The song features GNL’s wife-Miriam Tamar.


In the song’s first verse, GNL tells a sad chronicle about a young vulnerable girl who is trapped in a guest house with a man who has been her benefactor for years. The man, who is HIV positive, later compels her into unprotected sex. After a few years, she passes on, much to the chagrin of her parents.

In the same year, the Twaweza Initiative awarded GNL for the song’s strong positive impact.

“Given that adolescent and young adults account for the majority of undiagnosed HIV positive cases; it is important to use a culturally relevant method to halt the spread of the HIV pandemic and Hip Hop fits that bill-because it appeals to many young people in Uganda,” Arnold Muduni, a Hip Hop producer at KYA studios in Kirinya, Bweyogerere, says.

“First, however the negative typecasts about hip hop have to be shed. Bubble gum and potboiler songs pushed by the likes of Fik Fameica, Mun G, Recho Ray and others will have to be put on the back burner because they give wrong impressions of the genre. ”

In the classic Lugaflow song-“It’s never too late” Mon M.C of the New Hope Squad-waxes poetic- rhyming about how HIV has taken the lives of venerable Ugandans like Philly Lutaaya and how it continues to shatter the dreams of many Ugandan families.


“That song, with its beautifully sung chorus-was way ahead of its time. Mon M.C was talking about things that are still happening today-youth recklessness and vulnerability.
He caps it all off with a reminder to the youth to stay safe through the usage of condoms and most importantly to stick to one partner,” Lady Slyke, a rapper and songwriter, says.

“Ugandan Hip Hop has several positive songs that have the educational values needed to stem and reduce the high prevalence of HIV. It should be credited for helping to reduce the prevalence of HIV among young people in the early and mid-2000s in the country,” Saint Ambrose, an I.T professional, and Hip Hop fan says.

In the song, Lwavawa-Lugaflow artist-SP Omugujule and Qreas from Western Uganda trade verses with each emphatically questioning through rhymes where the HIV monster wiping out families in Africa had emanated from.



In his first verse-SP Omugujule narrates how his brother by the names of Peter, died of HIV as a result of copulating with an infected girl after a night of fun.

Both Omugujule and Qreas cap up their last verses with calls to action for more young people to get tested, to get sensitized and to steer clear of reckless behavior.

The song “True manhood” by GNL, the late Lumix, T-Bro and singer Aziz Azion prevails upon the youth to always use protection.

As a testament to the song’s subsequent impact, it won the People's Choice Digital Media Award at the 2011 International Entertainment Education Conference.

Another Hip Hop song which highlights Hip Hop contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS is the BB Muwavu Wavu and Hope Beni’s- “Wegendereze”
Muwavu Wavu raps in Luganda, while Beni raps in Acholi.

“Muwavu Wavu tells the story of orphaned children living in destitution and with no hope for the future because their parents died of HIV, while Beni laments the devastation, HIV has caused on the long-suffering communities in Northern Uganda,” Muduni says.

The song-“So far away” by Jungle, Supaman and Cosine, also paints through engaging rhymes, grim pictures of HIV’s devastating aftermath in the Busoga, Buganda, and Bugisu sub-regions.

In Uganda, as many as 575 adolescents and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 get infected with HIV every week, according to recent reports from the country's Health Ministry.

In this Podcast, I make a case against categorizing the popular Ugandan song-"Parte after Parte" by Big Trill as Hip Hop.

In this podcast, Wetaya Richard discusses the contribution of the #Ugandan Hip Hop community to the #HIV and AIDS fight.

How do we develop effective prototype devices that can in the future help our local communities harness and convert solar radiation to heat energy for cooking? How can we best make use of organic pesticides in agriculture and move a model car using solar energy?

After nine years of hibernation, Ugandan Hip Hop veteran Jeff Kintu aka-Lyrical G is back with a gritty and cohesive repertoire of beat shredding flows, synth-heavy compositions and rhymes for his ninth studio offering, simply entitled “Geezy.”

Geezy Album Official Video

Geezy in urban slang means good or gangster. The gangster-bit is however used jokingly. 
For good measure, the 15 track album, produced almost entirely by Lyrical G, has a feel-good vibe to it.

He is joined for the ride by a slew of rappers, to wit-GNL Zamba, Mc Yallah, St Nellysade, Judas Rap Knowledge Key Nemesis, Foever, among others.

On the album, Lyrical G [L.G] sticks to his blueprint-which is effortlessly juxtaposing commanding and unadulterated Hip Hop lyricism over high caliber beats and sound beds.

It is quite evident that he worked on fine-tuning his rap skills during his hiatus, which saw him fly to the UAE for work.

Times have changed since L.G last dropped an album in 2014 but as the often averse to hip hop media people, many of whom are used to people unflattering the genre by rapping on afro ragga beats; found out at a listening party, he held for them on the 14th of October at the Atmosphere Lounge in Kololo, the rap veteran is not about to alter his musical palette.

       

The Geezy album starts on a buoyant note with the self-produced “Keep it lit”.

The song sets a bouncy tone for the album, with his flow meshing perfectly as he reminds everyone about his lyrical skills with metaphors and brag laced lines like “Mic don- rock shows-last of the realest-that feel good shhhh that has the right ingredients-go ahead place your bets on me-the way I rock mics-I may need an exorcist- extra cold with it, low pro-I’m a savage, back with tight flows, no joke above average”

On the euphonious "Atamukutte [yah yeah]" a Koz&Effekt produced song, which ostensibly is the album’s lead single, L.G holds down the fort, enumerating why he still has to be reckoned among the best Hip Hop wordsmiths in the country, over some captivating Bakisimba infused rhythms.

On the exciting trap-ish- “Ndi Mukyamu”-feat talented newcomer Sliq Teq, L.G manifests why he is in a league of his own with commanding sleek lines like:
“I came in the game as a youngin/ Straight from the depths of a dungeon/ I made a name out of nothing/ this ain't rap, this is outrage/.




GNL Zamba, who has a new album in the works, makes a noteworthy and strong appearance on “Been Bout My Thang”, one of the album’s best ditties.

Other notable songs on the album are “Worthy” where L.G raps about his introspective reverence for God; “Wetuli”-where he showcases his tongue-twisting wordplay flow skills and “Float”- a Love song, where he gets lovey-dovey and waxes lyrical about his significant other.

On “Never Knew Pain”- an ode to his late mum, Barbara Kintu, L.G wears his heart on his sleeve-as he plaintively reminisces about her.

Strong as it, L.G’s comeback project is however not without flaws. Rustiness shows on un-inspired verses from some of his guests like Ossie Entrance and B-Money on the “Tuli Majje” song.

In Uganda's chequered Hip Hop industry, the spotlight has always been unfairly cast on Kampala based artists, their music and trails they blaze.   

For a long time, media coverage and public space conversations about talented upcountry Hip Hop artists on missions to expand the genre’s horizons in their indigenous languages have been only occasional and not pronounced enough.

Aside of song collaborations with established Hip Hop artists from Kampala, to occasional song plays on radios such as HOT 100 to Radio City and nominations for Hip Hop industry awards; talented Hip Hop artists from upcountry such as T-bro, Judas Rap Knowledge, Byg Ben Sukuya, Amani Amaniga, Crazie Wispa, and many others, continue to play second fiddle to their colleagues from Kampala.

There are however, upcountry Hip Hop artists who despite not being given a fair shake in terms of respect, promotion and media publicity, are expanding the genre’s horizons to depths their colleagues in Kampala, who have been in the game longer, can only dream of.

“Upcountry Hip Hop artists, especially those from Gulu in the North of Uganda and Kigezi, are far from the blackballed rappers in Kampala, as they have respected followings in their home areas,” Ronald Odongo, a Gulu radio host and blogger, says.


UPCOUNTRY HIP HOP ARTISTS CREATING A BUZZ FOR THE GENRE

Gulu has a gifted and firm Hip Hop flag bearer in Judas Rap Knowledge aka Lapwong or teacher. Knowledge’s strength is his ability to craft rhymes and rap them fluently and commandingly in both English and Acholi.



His "Labong and Gipir” album was pretty much a showcase of his strong emceeing skills as he went back and forth, rhyming adeptly on various issues such as poverty, war, love, partying, among others.

Just like Lumix who was the first genuine Hip Hop star from Gulu, Knowledge has a rising fan base in Gulu and neighboring districts. He also has a sizable social media following.

The 2019-256 Hip Hop awards People’s Champ winner has his rap posse called Soulz of Afrika and his “To the Top” single-off his forthcoming, yet to be titled, studio album-was recently voted the 256 song of August.
He also features on Ugandan rap legend-Lyrical G’s new album-GEEZY.

“If there is one person, Hip Hop can look up to in the North, after the demise of Lumix, it is Knowledge. He gives a good account of himself, lyrically, whether he is rapping in English or Acholi,” Arnold Muduni, a Hip Hop producer at KYA studios in Kirinya, Bweyogerere, says.

In Western Uganda, there is a Hip Hop trailblazer by the names of T-Bro. T-Bro, who is not a newcomer, by any long shot, is associated with Kiga-flow or rap in Rukiga.



He recently won the Western rapper of the year honor at the 2019 MTN Hip Hop awards. Unlike Judas Rap Knowledge, who is a purist with his lyricism, T-Bro tries out other genres such as afro-beat. In many ways, that has helped get him into the good graces of many people in the Kigezi region.

Recently, T-Bro left fans spellbound with his performance at the All-Star tour in Kabale, with songs such as “hustler”, “Kigangstar”, “Hija Ondarire” and “ne must” one of his newest songs. One of his strong musical stocks in trade is his powerful commanding voice and stage presence.

Unlike Judas Rap Knowledge, T-Bro’s Kiga-flow music, some of which features Kampala based artists such as Lady Slyke, GNL, Keko, and the Mith has enjoyed some considerable rotation on Kampala radios such as Hot 100 and Radio City. His songs are also highly popular with the Banakigezi in the diaspora.

T-Bro’s first mixtape was titled "The black man's dream". It spawned hit singles such as "Omukiga and Jazza".

From Eastern Uganda, there is a flame-throwing talent by the name of Byg Ben Sukuya. Sukuya, who has carved out a name for himself in Mbale and Kampala, partly due to his go-getter manager’s fat wallet, raps in English and Lumasaaba.



Sukuya won the 2016 Best Eastern rapper of the year and has since gone on to release fan-favorite songs such as Ndolelele-denoting “look at me”.


From Arua in West Nile; there is the Lugbara flow-flag bearer-Milton Maopini, also known as Gbaraspoken. Gbaraspoken is not only a rapper however, but he is also a community social worker and spoken word poet.

“With his vibe and charisma, Gbaraspoken, who is the reigning West Nile Hip Hop artist of the year, may just be the second-best thing that ever happened to the West Nile region, since Onduparaka F.C. [Pun intended],” Odongo says.


Gbaraspoken has a huge social media following and usually packs venues to the rafters when he has performances in West Nile.
His songs like “Ma Osura”, “Aparaka Yo”, Orataa, Ketura, camasi ‘bo, Testify, Bile Seza, Ewule Ewule enjoy regular rotation on F.M radios in the West Nile region.
He also has a huge following among West Nilers in the diaspora.

As a means of engaging the youth of West Nile in meaningful livelihoods, Gbaraspoken founded the community-based Hip Hop organisation Platform 503, in 2015.
He released his first Hip Hop album-entitled- Aparaka Yo, that very year. The eleven-track album turned out to be the first Hip Hop album to be launched in West Nile.


From the Bunyoro sub-region, there is the Runyo-flow trailblazer, going by the stage name of Crazie Wispa. His real moniker, however, is Benard Ayesiga and he hails from Masindi. 

Wispa's song-“Bunyoro Hatuli” is, by all accounts, an anthem of sorts in the Bunyoro sub-region. He also enjoys a big social media following and is currently under the Hip Hop movement known as the Abarusuura foundation, which advocates for the Hip Hop revolution in the Bunyoro region.

Is Ugandan Hip Hop about to witness a revival with news that respected veterans-GNL Zamba and Lyrical G are releasing new albums or have already, like in the case of Lyrical G?

For many of the genre’s loyal fans, news of the album releases is a welcome development, given the genre-uplifting pedigrees of the two wordsmiths. GNL and Lyrical G significantly helped raise the profile of Ugandan Hip Hop in the mid-2000's.

“Their influence is still manifest in many of today’s rappers but their absence has been felt, in many ways, because increasingly, today an afro-ragga sound and vibe, championed by the likes of Gravity is rather unflatteringly, being seen and fronted as Hip Hop,” Gladys Kituyi, an entertainment blogger, says.

There are rappers like Judas Rap Knowledge, Fefe Busi, etc who have kept true to the genre’s fundamentals, more like what GNL, Babaluku and LG did but they, of course, know there are long odds stacked against them.

The scoop that rap fans will have two albums to rock to, this year should hopefully be added onto a log enumerating some of the genre’s highlights for this year, 2019.
Besides the 2019 MTN Hip Hop awards, there is nothing else substantial, which has happened for the genre, this year.

“The MTN awards brought some spark back to a genre, which essentially still risks, sinking into oblivion,” Kituyi says.

Why fans should be upbeat

There is every reason to be upbeat though, with this news. Just lyrically speaking, you will be hard-pressed, today to find a hip hop artist in Uganda who wields as skillful a pen as GNL or Lyrical G.

Hip Hop, in many respects, requires not good but proficient poetic writing skills and that is where GNL and Lyrical G have a forte.
Hip Hop emcees [rappers] will talk about anything and most times, they make it sound thought-provoking, witty and educative.

Other times, they use hyperbole, braggadocio, metaphors, and many other figures of speech.
In the history of Ugandan hip hop, few rappers have flexed those skills, better than GNL and Lyrical G.

Other emcees have excelled, of course, such as Navio, Babaluku, Ibraw, Mon M.C, The Mith, L.G, Rugged Made, Ruuyonga, Keko, among others.

The few talented Hip Hop artists who showed that they also wielded skillful pens when it comes to writing Hip Hop rhymes after GNL’s efforts brought Hip Hop to the mainstream, likeCyno M.C, St Nellysade, Burney, Patrobas, among others, regrettably took hiatuses and that sadly spawned the rise of many of today’s Kidandali [afro ragga] beat rappers.

“You can not lay claim to Hip Hop when you rap on afro ragga beats and stop laying claim to the Hip Hop throne when you are far removed from the Hip Hop genre’s fundamentals,” Gid Kibuka, a Hip Hop producer/Emcee in Ntinda, says.

“If you call yourself Hip Hop, rap or rhyme on a real Hip Hop beat. Bottom-line. Do not give me the same old mediocre notion that a pure rap beat, will not resonate with Ugandans and that a dancehall ragga beat suffices more. Hip Hop has an audience here. They are a silent majority. All these young people you see around the country, rocking jeans, baseball caps, sneakers and walking with prances in their steps are part of a growing Hip Hop generation. They are growing up on Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Drake, and Rick Ross.”

Kibuka adds “The only vestiges of Hip Hop about the afro ragga artists who choose to water down their subject matter to “beans” and “goats being on the loose” are the baggy t-shirts, loose-fitting jeans, sneakers, and bling they wear. Fashion-wise, they promote Hip Hop, but not musically.”

The genre has been debased by a bunch of John come lately seeking to expand the genre’s horizons, without respecting its fundamentals.

“When some people come forth and say rap on a Hip Hop beat, do not perceive them as haters or people stuck in the past. Yes, the genre is evolving and yes the dance beat resonates with many people, but there is a crowd out there that minds about preserving a legacy and the knowledge fundamentals of Hip Hop,” Gilbert Bwete, a hip hop archivist, notes.

“Hip Hop is akin to Kadongo Kamu-deeply meaningful and poetic. The guys who rap on afro ragga beats are not Hip Hop artists. If there are award shows, it is only right that they are nominated in the right genre category which is afro ragga. Do you remember how Abdu Murasi was given a go by and ignored by the Kadongo Kamu community; it will be the same with the afro ragga artists who pretend they are Hip Hop, with time.”

New dawn coming

With all that said, however, there is a new dawn coming with GNL’S and Lyrical G’s-the Spear and Geezy albums respectively.
The visual trailer for GNL’s album is nothing short of captivating and already, some of his fans are speculating that it may be 2019’s Ugandan Hip Hop album of the year.

Lyrical G’s-Geezy album, on the other hand, was released on the 30^th of August.
He has been putting out audio and video teasers on social media and local T.V stations like Urban, NTV, and NBS.



The long-suffering genre, where real Hip Hop artists are shunned and the pseudo ones who rap on afro ragga beats are embraced, quickly needs a new lease of life.

That new lease may come with the two albums. Historically, however, albums have been a hard sell in Uganda and the United States; they are increasingly becoming a thing of the past.
In the past decade or so, album sales across the world have been going down. Music fans’ have gotten more partial to singles downloads, than buying whole albums.

GNL star’s shinning abroad

GNL moved to the United States with his wife-Miriam Tamar, some few years ago. They got married but the most important anecdote is that he has not put his music career on the back burner.

Matter of factly, he went the world music way, dropping a joint album with his wife, last year entitled-“Nsimbi” and for good measure, a single off the album-called “Leo ni Leo” won the best World Beat accolade at the recent International Music Awards in New York.

You would be wrong, however, to assume, that he has lost his rap mojo.
In the past year, he blessed his fans with songs like “Zamba the great”, which had him impressively rapping in English, Boasty and “Yours Sincerely”, among others.

GNL was channeling his old self with “Zamba the Great” and “Yours Sincerely”.

“Yours Sincerely” particularly showed GNL’s sensibilities, proving he was fully aware of the threat to his stronghold on the Lugaflow throne, by young rappers, who honed their styles on his earlier music and who intended to use his wordplay blueprint on other beats, other than Hip Hop,” Rugged made, a veteran hip hop emcee and a mainstay on the Kampala battle rap scene, says.

“Lyrically, none of the “Who is Who” rap bragging rights song versions is anywhere near “Yours Sincerely”. “

The “Yours sincerely” record was in Hip Hop speak-“dope”-denoting-really good. It exhibited GNL’s superior and creative wordplay, lyrical dexterity, braggadocio, and excellent rhyming skills.

The issue of how Uganda can sustainably improve learning outcomes for its young school going citizens has, once again come to the fore; with the World Bank proposing in its 13th edition "Economic Update on Human capital in Uganda- report” that the country, among other things-abolishes PLE [National exam in the final grade of Primary school] as a means to improve transition rates to lower secondary and to achieve universal lower secondary enrolment.

^{Many Kampala urbanities who are indisposed to sitting through the city’s infamously long-early morning and late evening traffic jams, always rely on web-based motorcycle taxi service providers like Safe Boda to make it to their places of work, in time.}

<sup>Safe Boda has been in high favour with many of the city’s residents, primarily because they have broken the mold with their service, choosing safety and caution, on the road, rather than recklessness.

Kampala’s roads are however still crawling with impatient motorcycle taxi riders, who, on a daily basis, recklessly navigate the city’s perilous roads without helmets.

According to the Uganda Police annual crime report 2018, motorcycles accounted for 60% of all vehicles involved in road crashes in 2018.

From 2014 to 2016, at least 7,000 people lost their lives in Boda Boda accidents in Uganda.

There are however, now safer and convenient alternatives in the form of Safe Boda, Taxify, Uber, etc.

Over the last four years, Safe Boda which principally transacts business, through its Smartphone App, has been transforming the commercial motorcycle transportation landscape in the rough and tumble metropolis of Kampala.



Since it took root, the Safe Boda Company has created job opportunities for several Ugandan youth.

They have made it priority to give their clients safety / crash helmets [the single most effective way of protecting against injuries or death whilst riding on a boda boda].

Kampala may not exactly be that quintessential smart city, but its residents do catch up quick with trends and notwithstanding, a few mishaps like limited IT skills and knowledge, a big number of the city’s residents have sure embraced the Safe Boda digital service and its gig workers, who wear identifiable orange color reflecting vests and helmets.

The upshot of Safe Boda’s radical approach has been disciplined riding by their riders and fewer road crashes on Kampala’s roads.

“In many respects, the risk of road traffic crashes involving Safe Boda riders is lower, compared to Kampala’s regular, kamikaze motorcyclists. That primarily is, on account of their respect for traffic rules. It is hard to find a Safe Boda rider running the traffic lights, like most regular Boda Boda riders in Kampala, do,” Isaac Tusubira of Easy Ride Accident Solutions, says.



Ricky Thomson Rapa, one of the co-founders of Safe Boda says at present, they have over 10,000 riders in Kampala alone.

“In Nairobi, there are over 1,500 riders and many more in Mombasa. The numbers are set to grow further, as long as we do not waver in adhering to our set objective, which is the provision of safety to clients,” Rapa says.

“Safe Boda’s biggest achievement has been the transformation of the Boda Boda industry in Kampala, which hitherto is known for its disorganised nature.
Our Boda Bodas are professionals. The orderly way in which they work is a far cry from Kampala’s regular Boda Boda riders. They are given first Aid, customer service, technology and financial literacy trainings,” Rapa adds.

“Before, we set forth with our operations, less than one percent of Boda Boda passengers in Kampala used to wear crash helmets. Now more than seventy percent of our clients, wear them. Prior, less than thirty percent of Boda Boda riders used to wear crash helmets; now over hundred percent wear crash helmets.”

One of the other standout achievements for Safe Boda has been the building of the first ever Boda Boda motorcycle training Academy, where all prospective boda boda riders are painstakingly trained in the observance of traffic rules, safe riding, etc.

For the future, the Safe Boda powers that be are looking at expanding to other cities such as Lagos, Daressalam and many other African cities, to boot.  

“The future of digital technologies like Safe Boda is looking ever brighter. Africa’s young population is growing fast and many are moving to cities, which are increasingly getting congested and inundated by traffic grid locks. With that growth, comes a need for safe, fast and affordable means of transportation,” Rapa says.</sup>


 

A good and well organised road infrastructural system is a critical component for development in any city.

At the present time, cities-whose roads are a byword for pot holes, insufficient road signage, narrow lanes, long traffic gridlocks, unruly motorcyclists/taxi drivers and constricted walkways for pedestrians; face long odds in attracting serious investment projects and scoring high on any reputable road infrastructural indice.

Kampala, despite its recent development strides, still faces many challenges, meaning on a scale of one to ten, on any meaningful road infrastructural indice, the city would probably score 5 or lower.

With the passage of time, Kampala city’s numerous road infrastructural challenges have had a negative bearing on its image and competitive impetus, in the East African region.

In the last eight years of Kampala Capital City Authority however, the infrastructural development status quo in Kampala has, by and large, improved.



[Kampala Capital City Authority replaced Kampala City Council as the governing body of the Ugandan Capital]

By the time, Jennifer Musisi, the erstwhile-go-getting KCCA Executive Director tendered in her resignation, a myriad road infrastructure projects had being undertaken, to wit- the widening of the Jinja road stretch from Airtel House towards Nakawa.

By all accounts, a total of 210 kilometers of roads were constructed and upgraded to Bitumen; while a total of over 240km of road works were ongoing.

Kira-Bukoto roads, Yusuf Lule road stretch, amongst others are some of the roads that were upgraded and revamped to a turn, during Musisi’s tenure.



At present, there are over 500kms of gravel roads, under maintenance in the city, while 48 roads with a total length of 54.15Km are under construction and will apparently be completed by December 2019.

For good measure, Andrew Kitaka, the acting KCCA Executive Director, recently commissioned works to upgrade 26 km of roads, to wit, (Lukuli Rd, Kabuusu – Kitebi – Bunmwaya – Lweza rd, Nakawa - Ntinda a dual carriageway rd, John Babiiha (Acacia) Avenue a dual carriageway, Kulambiro Ring Rd).

The construction works will be undertaken by China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited and Stirling Sobetra Joint Venture.

KCCA has also been able to reconfigure and install responsive functional traffic signals at 21 junctions including Nakawa, Natete and Wandegeya, Fairway, Bwaise, Kira road ,Game Lugogo, Kati-Kati, Kololo Airstrip, Nakulabye & Naguru among others.

4,988 Streetlights have been installed in the City; of which 1,560 are solar street lights; promoting use of solar street lights.

Of recent too, roads such as Makerere Hill road, Kira Road, Mabule road, Bakuli –Kasubi have been reconstructed and transformed, under the auspices of the World Bank, into dual carriage ways.

The roads were all fitted with 13 new traffic signals to improve mobility.

If you have recently been to Makerere University, you may have seen the new roads, KCCA constructed around the campus.  The roads are nine in total.

According to a recent Press statement from the office of the Executive Director, the Authority recently handed over KIIDP [Kampala Institutional and Infrastructural Development project] batch 2 roads, like Acacia/John Babiha Avenue (1.5km,6 junctions), Nakawa Ntinda Road (2.8 km, 5 junctions), Kulambiro Ring Road (4.8 km and one junction and Najeera Link (0.8km), Kabuusu – Bunamwaya – Lweza Road (8km, 2 junctions) and Lukuli Road (8km and I junction) to contractors and construction works are set to commence, next month.

Butaleja, located in the East of Uganda, is one of the country’s foremost-rice producing districts.

Rice farmers in this waterlogged region, have through the years, made a killing, selling the grain, which is, by all accounts, a staple for many Ugandan families.

As any rice farmer in Butaleja will tell, however, growing, weeding, harvesting and producing rice does not come easy. It is a labour intensive undertaking, which calls for time, money and reliable labour.

To that end, most farmers go to extremes to produce the grain; including hiring child workers.

Whilst, many in the district, are quick to drop a veil over it, it is a glaring fact that, there are children in Butaleja, who are cajoled and on occasion, compelled to work in its rice fields; for long sustained hours.

It is a disturbing phenomenon, that 15 year old Latif Birya has bore witness to.
Looking disheveled, Birya says he works the rice fields, often, to get money to buy his scholastic materials.




One wonders, however, when he gets time to go to school, when he, to all appearances, spends most of his time in the rice paddy.

“My work is to scare away birds. On occasion, I assist the owner of the garden, to harvest. I always find time for school, however” Birya says with a mortified gaze on his face.

While it is hard to quantify the magnitude of the problem, it is a harsh reality; that district officials are aware of but have struggled to eliminate.



In some select rice fields in Namaganda, Muyago and Wega, the practice of using children is rife, though one will hard pressed to make contact, or to speak to the children, working the fields, as they either hide or walk away.

“Child labour is indeed a problem in some areas of the district. The practice of employing children to dig, plant and scare away birds from the rice gardens is not cordoned but it has been happening. The children are paid money for their work but that should not be encouraged especially during times of school. The problem has been exacerbated by the eschewing of responsibility by some parents. Not sending a child to school means he or she is vulnerable to exploitation,” Hamile Koire, a rice farmer in Butaleja says.

Patrick Mudida, a rice farmer in Busibira subcounty is however quick to dismiss the notion that the practice is widespread.

“The usuage of child labour on rice farms is something I do not cordon, but I also know that it is not, in every part of Butaleja. Finding children running around the rice farms does not mean that they are compelled to work on them and it does not also mean that their parents are not responsible enough to pay for their education,” Mudida says.



Alex Kambo, a rice farmer and teacher says child labour on Butaleja’s rice farms has been happening and has to be outlawed.

“In the areas, where it is happening, it has to be stopped. Our children ought to be in school, not on rice farms. Butaleja’s children should not be lured or coerced to work in the gardens for money. They should instead be encouraged to embrace school.”



Ritah Wapela, a rice Farmer in Namaganda, says she has not seen firsthand, any child working on a rice paddy.

“There are several rice farms in Namaganda, but I have never witnessed child labour, on any of them.
The children, I see, are there to chase away birds and they only do it, after school.”



Plans to tackle the issue

Richard Waya, the Butaleja district chairperson, says the district has started operations to bring a halt to any forms of child labour.

“Our position as a district is that it is illegal for any child in Butaleja to work in a rice paddy, when it is school time.
The district has put in place an order to arrest children who work in the fields, instead of going to school.
The fine for a child got in a rice field, during school time, is sh5, 000. Parents, who send their children to the fields, instead of school are liable to pay fines,” Waya says.

James Waluswaka, the Bunyole West county Member of Parliament, objects to the notion, that child labour is endemic on Butaleja’s rice paddies.

“That happened in the past. It is only when children have broken off from school, that you will see them, working in the rice paddies. The ordinances, the district recently passed in relation to the issue make it hard for anybody to compel a child to work for them, in the rice fields, during school days,” Waluswaka says.

Side Bar

According to recent statistics from the Butaleja district education office, the school dropout rate in the last four years, has surged from 45 per cent to 78 per cent.

Statistics also show that the dropout rates in upper primary are between 60 to 70 per cent.

In the year 2000, over 200 Child Workers in Butaleja District were detained by the Police.

The law

The Constitution of Uganda Article 34 states that children under 16 years of age have the right to be protected from social and economic exploitation.

The Constitution prohibits child slavery, servitude, and forced labor.

Government policy

This year, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development launched a national strategic plan to eradicate child labour in Uganda.

Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi, the State Minister for Youth and Children affairs, said all children of school going age should not be employed, but sent to school.

In 2016, the Government approved the Children (Amendment) Act, which outlaws the use of children for labour exploitation.

The Government also launched the National Social Protection Policy that targets child labourers.

Ugandan Tour operators have asked the Ugandan government not to approve an application for a license by a South African energy firm, Bonang power and Energy (Pty) Limited, to construct a hydro power dam along the famed River Nile in the Murchison falls national park area.

Located 305 kilometers north of Uganda's capital- Kampala, the Murchison falls National Park has one of the most spectacular views of the Nile cascading over 23kms breathtaking rapids.

On June 5^th, the Ugandan government through the Electricity regulatory Authority (ERA) placed an advert in several local dailies, acknowledging receipt of a notice of intended application for a license from Bonang power and energy limited to construct a dam near the falls.

However addressing journalists in Kampala, recently, the tour operators, under their body the Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO) implored the government not to approve the construction of the dam, saying it would erode the Murchison falls and affect tourism.

“There should be no approbation for this project. Thinking about construction of the dam at the falls alone,  is bad enough, even when the government says it has not yet approved the planned project,” Everest Kayondo, the chairman  Association of Uganda Tour Operators said.

According to the Ugandan government, Bonang Power and Energy (Pty) Limited  intends to undertake detailed  feasibility studies and other activities leading to the development of the power project  whose proposed installed capacity  is 360MW.

Who really administers people with fake hepatitis B vaccines and gets away with it, scot free?

Could the people found in possession of falsified hepatitis B vaccines from 8 health facilities in four districts by the health ministry’s post marketing surveillance team, last year and those currently selling body parts from Mulago hospital [Uganda’s main National Regional Hospital] possibly be real doctors- who have predisposed to unscrupulous behaviour or quacks disguised as doctors?
 
The latter seems more plausible.

In recent years, many quack health care providers have brazenly taken mean advantage of the country’s weak health supervisory and regulatory laws, to set up shop in many villages and urban areas, across the country.

Numerous efforts by Health Ministry officials and the country’s Allied Health Professionals Council to rein in on them have bore little fruit and as a consequence, many innocent Ugandans continue to fall victim to their fake diagnosis and prescriptions.
 
“At the grassroot level, quack health care providers, operate right under the noses of health officials,” Fred Nayebare, the Gomba district resident district Commissioner, says.

While, to date, there are no reliable estimates on the numbers of quack medical personnel in Uganda and the extent of their services, it is an undeniable fact that weak health regulatory mechanisms have enabled their rise.

The issue of quack medical personnel is a harsh reality, which Winne Byanyima, the Executive Director of OXFAM international-alluded to in a commentary piece, she wrote, as the Ugandan government planned to import Cuban doctors, last year.

Uganda doctors had gone on strike, demanding better pay.

Weak regulation, she wrote enabled quack doctors to play with people’s lives.
 
In 2017, a rapid assessment of District Health Supervisory Authorities by the Health Ministry brought to light evidence of widespread quackery in the health sector.

Little has been done, since then, however, to address the problem.

In the village of Nsotoka in Kayunga district, for instance, quack medical practice has reared its ugly head, several times.

Brenda Nabisere, 26, had jarring experience with a quack health practitioner, late, last year.

The quack doctor has since disappeared from the village after Nabisere reported him to the Police after her ordeal.

Nabisere, a mother of two had gone to seek treatment for her malaria stricken daughter.

“I went to seek therapeutics from him for my sick daughter. I could not tell whether he was genuine or not. All I know is that, his clinic was accessible and many people in the village invariably sought his services,” Nabisere recounts.

The anticlimax came when Nabisere discovered he had been giving her wrong medicines to treat her daughter.

“My daughter’s condition did not improve, so I sought help elsewhere. I went to a clinic in Mukono and I asked the doctor about the mixture of pills medications, I had been using. I showed him some of the medicines and he was aghast,” she says.

Experts from the Allied Health Professionals Council, a body mandated by the Ugandan government to regulate, supervise and control allied health professionals and to supervise their registration and licensing, acknowledge that the incidence of quacks is a major headache for the country’s health care system.

“Quack medical personnel prey on the poor and ignorant. They put the lives of unsuspecting Ugandans at risk. Nobody wants to see a scenario where Ugandans are suffering irreparable physical and internal deformities or are having their ailments exacerbated by wrong medications and ill prescribed therapeutics,” Doctor Fred Nyankori, the deputy Registrar of the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Councils opines.



Why quack medical practice is rife

Several health experts are quick to point out that quackery in the health sector thrives on account of the scarcity of qualified doctors.

“A shortage of health human resources in rural areas and laxity on the part of the district health inspectors leaves most rural areas open to medical fraudsters. There is no sector free from quacks but their pervasiveness in the health sector is worrying,” Nyankori says.

“In some areas around the country, communities have been complicit in shielding quacks especially when personnel from the District Health Supervisory Authority seek to question and apprehend them. The quacks see these gaps and take advantage.”

Besides a shortage in the numbers and skills mix of human resources for health, there is also the problem of poor attitude on the part of the existing health workforce.

“The poor attitude is drawn forth by perceived unattractive remuneration, insufficient training capacity; whilst some medical personnel are indisposed to transfers. These challenges unfortunately present an opportunity for unqualified, unregistered and unregulated personnel to exploit,” David Ssekaboga, the Wakiso district health Inspector, says.

Experts suggest solutions

Patrick Mpiima the Registrar of the Allied Health Professionals Council says for the problem to be tackled in earnest, there will have to be a concerted effort.

“There is a need for a combined effort to rid the country’s healthcare system of frauds. The combined efforts should involve the Police, the district administrations, drug inspectors and communities. There are a big number of fake and unqualified people freely issuing medications and treating people, especially in the rural areas,” Mpiima says.



“People who pretend to practice medicine, but have no training, qualifications and registration from appropriate councils and authorities like the Health Professional Councils and the Pharmacy board should be outlawed. Anyone operating a clinic or a drug shop should be licensed by a professional body.”

Will the recently issued guidelines for Health Supervisory Authorities impact?

Doctor Katumba Ssentongo, the Registrar of the Uganda Medical and Dental Professionals Council says the guidelines issued by the health Ministry will come in handy in ensuring proper regulation of health practices in the country.


“The guidelines launched recently, outlaw any illegal medical practice. Local governments will have to step up efforts to ensure that no unauthorized drug shops or clinics operate in their jurisdictions without registration and without a license,” Ssentongo says.

“That is because there has been some laxity on their part, yet the local government Act 2001 gives them authority to manage health services in their districts. Henceforth, all local governments will be required to make a database enumerating all clinics and drug shops registered within their areas.”

In the Health Development Plan (2015-2020) Uganda’s health sector commits to ensuring provision of high quality health care for all its citizens.
Experts say if the above is to be attained; the sector must put into execution an effective supervisory and regulatory mechanism.

“Regulation of health practice and professionals is the mandate of health professional councils and the Pharmacy Board. Enforcement constraints and other challenges have however played havoc with their work and as a consequence, quack medical personnel continue to thrive. Our expectations are that these new guidelines will bring change to bear,” Ssentongo says.

Nayebare says for the quackery problem to be dispensed with, weaknesses within the District Health Supervisory Authorities will have to be addressed.

“A lack of integrity is stifling the District Health Supervisory Authorities.
How do unqualified people who on many occasions have the nerve to advertise their services operate without the knowledge of the authorities?” Nayebare asks.

“The apathy aiding this problem and the glaring other weak points especially those to do with integrity will need to be addressed. With the guidelines, our expectations are that there will now be regular and consistent crackdown on illegal drug shops and clinics run by unqualified people across the country.”

Doctor Susan Wandera, the deputy chief of party at IntraHealth Uganda; the entity that developed the guidelines and that has collaborated with the Ugandan government in training health workers, says the guidelines will strengthen health regulatory mechanisms at the national, regional, district and lower levels.


“The expectation is that the health regulations, principally those dealing with quack medical personnel will bear down. Registration and licensing of drug shops and clinics around the country is still low and that calls for action. In general, the public needs to be educated more about the dangers of seeking treatment from unqualified practitioners. The government should also disseminate helpful health information in various local languages to help people steer clear of unqualified health practitioners,” Wandera says.

Ssentongo says sustained enlightenment will be key in both rural and urban areas to enable health seekers know what to look out for whilst making up their minds on where to go for diagnosis or to undergo treatment.

Government Policies

In 2011, the government through the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Councils introduced a web based system for registering all medical officers and dentists in the country.

The Ugandan government has advised journalists affected by a stern directive by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) to prominent media houses to suspend senior journalists and producers over abuse of the country's broadcast guidelines, to go to court.

The Uganda Communications Commission regulates the communication sector in Uganda, which includes among others, telecommunications, broadcasting, radio and data communication.

Addressing the Ugandan Parliament on Thursday, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, the Urban development State Minister and acting ICT Minister said the UCC didn’t error in issuing the directive.

“the directive was issued  in view of an infringement in broadcasting standards. The Journalists who are aggrieved are free to go to court and challenge the directive. We should however allow the UCC to do their work,” Baryomunsi told MPs.

On Thursday, the Ugandan Parliament condemned the call for suspension of senior journalists and producers by the UCC saying it derails Media Freedom.

UCC served letters to different media houses instructing them to suspend some of their staff over an alleged breach of minimum broadcasting standards during the recent arrest of firebrand Ugandan Politician and Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine.

Ssemujju Nganda, the outspoken Kira Municipality MP criticized the UCC directive, calling it a violation of media freedom in Uganda. 

Since the likes of GNL Zamba, St Nellysade, Burney M.C, Cyno, etc, quietly took a hiatus, as it so often happens in the checkered Ugandan Hip Hop landscape, the genre has, for the most part, lacked that fresh and exciting spark.

In many ways, the bloom has been off the genre's rose.

Nearly 17 years ago, the Ugandan education ministry closed half of the country’s national teachers colleges (NTCs) on the basis that demand for Grade 5 Diploma teachers had dropped.

However, the Government recently launched a sh96b reconstruction project

That Kendrick Lamar Song"b**tch don't kill my vibe” may be old now but it still resonates heavily in my world.

It is a song that speaks huge volumes about the male psyche in many ways. In it, Kendrick who is rumoured to be releasing a new album under the title "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers"  expresses his desire to be left alone; on occasion that is. He tells his hypothetical beau to eschew killing his vibe [ruining his mood].

Now I can not claim to speak for every male, but that song is mood music, because guys often have those off days, when we are just indisposed to having a conversation.



Today’s world bears down quite hard on a male mind and it sure does put a heavy damper on it in my part of the world. As a consequence, Mood disorders have been on the rise.

The world has of late also been bearing down hard on many young women but their harsh realities and mood disorders pale in comparison to those of today's young man.

At times its just the need for self introspection or just the usual collection of thoughts that explains why he is not his usual cheerful self. But you also to appreciate that the less men think, they more they talk. Not a good thing.

Because the female mind is wired differently, some women make wrong readings of what is playing out when a male mind is having its off days. At worst, is when the female mind put false constructs on things; thinking if a male they are attached to seeks time alone, he is up to no good. Credulous thinking like that often leads nowhere but up a blind alley.



Desiring time alone-without being disturbed is an occasional male mood that happens when one least expects.Well, sometimes it is expected especially, when days do not go as you anticipate. Not by any long shot, does it mean however that a man is doing stuff behind your back or that he is deliberately acting out of character to make you angry. 

At times, those lonely as a cloud moments are all men need to get their mojos back, with the worldly pressures they face.

Author John Gray couldn’t have brought it out better in his book “Men are from mars and women are from Venus” In it, Gray mostly talks about male and female relationships and how we defer. He describes men as sly; saying little and having a tendency to get away if they feel too closed in some space.

Women on the other hand are described as outgoing, good humored and social. Now that is the distinction.

The desire by some men to have time off alone has nothing to do with emotionally immaturity or introversion.It has everything to do with laying to heart one’s deepest fears, inner battles, frustrations, insecurities, struggles, challenges and failures.

Because men have been taught to show-fortitude in the face of adversity, and misery, they won’t, in most cases, just lay bare their feelings or poignant thoughts.  No man wants to be looked at a wussy or a wimp.

Here is the take-home-the “unspoken word does no harm”. So if he has not spoken daggers at you, take a chill pill and put all your hunches on the back burner.