GET RICH OR DIE TRYING

The busy streets of the dusty Kampala city throng with people from all walks of life. Somewhere in the corner of the narrow backstreet is an old music store decorated in the most welcoming colors in the world. The sound systems from the music store are at their best and a common song is playing loudly; so loud that the noise deafens the noisy hooting of some old passenger vehicles running up and down the street. The song continues loudly.............................get rich or die trying. Though no one is dancing to the beats of the song, it is evident that the message is sinking home. Well, who does not agree with this type of message, anyway? At least not the young but anxious youths walking in couples and dressed to kill. And mostly, not the ones from the Great Lakes Region.

Resting under an avocado tree, a band of young, noisy ragamuffins with unkempt hair and shabby clothes chat loudly. The air nearby is rich in smoke. They are busy smoking marijuana. A distance away, another group is playing draught, a popular old time game. There is no bhang-smoking in the second group but their physical appearance is more or less like that of the first batch. Some metres away from the two groups, smoke is rising to the sky. A dirty pot full of blistering water is simmering loudly in the fire. An elderly lady in tatters is busy preparing meal. This is the common scene in the world of refugees in Uganda.

It has become the passion now. The average delusioned African youth has finally found a door to heaven in the name of securing a resettlement to live a posh life overseas. Thank God for UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations because this is the latest and almost the cheapest mode of swimming to affluence and wealth.

In Uganda, there are thousands of refugees and asylees from Rwanda, Burundi, D. R. Congo, Southern Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and even Kenya. About 80% of this refugees from are young men and women aged from 16 to 35 years. Most of them left their homes with their minds duly focused on living abroad. They are single, semi-illiterate people hoping to get a better form of life through the now popular UNHCR’s process of resettling refugees. Since this is a long process, they are ready to play the waiting game.

Jean Paul is a 23 year old refugee from Burundi. His refugee identity documents read that he is aged 17 years old and from D. R. Congo. Though he left his parents behind alive and kicking in his hometown of Ngozi in Burundi, he has registered as being parentless, and that Mayi Mayi rebels butchered both his parents before he fled his country. This, together with reduction in age, is a tactic meant to earn sympathy and that is the catch. Jean Paul has been to Tanzania as a refugee but he was not lucky to get resettlement from there. Frustrated, he left for his home after two years of fruitless waiting. Seven months later, he is trying his luck in Uganda. If unlucky, he will not go back home. He will proceed to Kenya and then link to Ethiopia. His passion in all this is one…………to get rich or die trying.

Maombi Furaha is a relatively young brown girl. She is only aged 26 with a striking beauty. She is a Congolese refugee in Uganda. Maombi left her Goma home in 2005. She abandoned schooling and eloped with her boyfriend. They decided to come to Uganda and seek for a chance to settle abroad. Though they have separated of late due to biting economic difficulties, they still meet and chat happily. Maombi hopes to go back to school once she gets to America. She also have high hopes of assisting her poor parents back in the Congo villages.

In her case, she reported that her parents were both killed in an ethnic fighting. She also claims to have been raped severally by Banyamlenge rebels. Well, she is a person of concern to UNHCR. After all, she is only 18 and unaccompanied. She has filled out forms for resettlement and she prays day and night that soon she will be resettled in America.

Nshengimana is another refugee. He is from Rwanda. He is 33 years old. On his face is a long scar that reminds one of a fierce sword battle. Unlike the younger refugees, he is proud of his age and his refugee identity documents reflect that passion. Though his life in Uganda is full of misery, he shows no desire to be considered for resettlement, and he has no desire to go back home. He left hsi country after almost getting lynched for breaking into somebody's house. He was a dangerous thief at home and he is still on the wanted list for his crimes. Because of this, he has changed his name and other particulars, but the ugly scar on his face stays on.

Down the sprawling Kisenyi slums, Abdi Isma chews khat as he plays a game of monopoly with his friends. It is almost two years since he left Eastleigh, Kenya for Uganda. Like most of his peers, he is angry with the Directorate of Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister. They have not yet processed his Refugee Status and he is tired of waiting. He cannot believe his misfortune because his friend Mohammed left for USA almost a month ago yet they arrived in Uganda together.

Though he has been leading a hassle-free and comfortable life in his new home, he won't rest until he is finally resettled in USA. But as his uncle in USA noted, it may take another three more years. He sips his soft drink, throws the dice and counts the spaces to move on the board. Like any other of his peers, he will wait for that final day when he will finally fly to the Land of Dreams. If only the OPM knew this......................

As the sun sets in the west, thirty more youths register at the Refugees Desk in the Old Kampala Police Station. A quarter of them are females. Twelve are Congolese, eight are Somalis, five are Burundians, three are Rwandese, and two are Ethiopians. Almost two thirds in the group are aged below twenty six. They look weary and worn out. But a look in their eyes tell a different story. There is resettlement at the end of refugeeism.

IT IS EITHER YOU ARE WITH US...

The year 2006 seems to be the year of showing the real face of National Resistance Movement as a party moving rapidly to show its mighty machinations and operations in the new-era multi-party Uganda. It is also the year of showing the now ugly and tarred face of President Museveni having been rebranded from a nationalist to a fast-rising modern-Africa dictator. The show rolled somewhere in last year when the country's constitution was manipulated in the August House to pave way for a life-time presidency, and it climaxed with the massively rigged elections of 23rd February this year. Elections that finally made life-presidency a reality not only in the walls of the August House but to the whole country as well. With that, the kisanja project was lastly home and dry, just like the so-named dry banana leaves. This was despite the rejection of the project in most parts of the country including north, east, parts of central region and fewer parts of west. Oh, how dictators are worshipped in their home turfs!

So it is. Museveni and another term. Who cares whether it is a third term, a fifth term or a life term? At least not the famed perpetuators of justice and democracy. Not America, and definitely not Britain! Thus the terror can continue to reign.The monster can continue to brood from its backyard. And the dictator is reeling its ugly head for the world to see. By the way, don't they come with pomp and fanfare?

Museveni is back to power, so they say. Had he ever left power? Anyway, with that the country is continuing to fall from grace to disgrace. And just to drive the point home, there is a clear onslaught on independent media centres and media personalities. Poor Lambert Blake. You did not have to write against the regime, did you? I feel for the guy because of being ill-treated and finally deported by this autocratic government. He became the first foreign victim of this draconian government. Some honors i presume! More pity that in Kenya there was no chance for the guy to get a resting shoulder. Are we talking about a shilling and another? The Canadian journalist knows the case better.

Out goes the foreigner! The campaign is now switched to the sweet homeland. NO NONSENSE HERE. The ever-popular and independent Daily Monitor and Sunday Monitor is receiving punches from all sides of the ring: apologize for this and that.............we will sue for libel...............we will close the publication indefinitely................the paper is against us....................Then the fight continues down to the radio stations. K FM, Choice FM, Mega Radio. Scared journalists watch in fear as their careers get threatened for courting the enemy. The unlucky ones end up in police cells facing the dilemma of fighting on or giving up. And slowly, the country gets sick and disintegrate. After all, the vision is to integrate three countries, not just two unintegrable regions. Northern Uganda and the other parts of the country do not belong together. May the LRA terror reign in the North, now and forever, Amen!

For any wanna-be or practising journalist, opposition activist or a democracy crusader, either local or foreign, the best time to be in Uganda is now. Soon, things will be so bad, if not worse, for this group of people. All what is happening now to the media in Uganda is a taste of things to come in a near future, bitter of course. Let those who have ears listen, and let those who have eyes see because the Movement Government has sounded the bullion. Just like President George Bush and his war against terrorism, the warning the government is putting forward is clear: It is either you are with us, or the enemy..................Oops, the opposition!

Hi guys, ain't it time to be on movement? Take a bet and wait!

CHELSEA - WHEN THE WORLD CAN'T STAND WINNERS

I wonder what would be my next style of reaction if i was Jose Mourinho the one and only Special One. After the game between Chelsea versus Fulham in a London derby, all i had after the 1-0 Chelsea loss was some pity for the great man. True indeed, because i am an ardent Blues fan, or fanatic! In football, i swear by the name of Chelsea (sic)!

Yet, that not withstanding, i feel the whole world has decided to act sadistic to the Blues out of pure hatred and loathing because they are showing a consistent class of champions. Well, some price to pay for taking the place of the dreaded Red Devils and the swift Gunners! But that is football men! Here, the champion reigns. Every time the Blues are out playing, home or away, everybody closes his fingers and leans in silence waiting for a moment of uproarious ecstacy brought about by a goal against the mighty and dorminant Blues. Not bad since no one can win the whole world to his side, but again it hurts when you have to lose games in what appears to be a pure conspiracy.

Chelsea has lost about seven points this season in very dubious circumstances, apart for the game against the Boros where the players were only a shadow of themselves. And that is why it is a high-level conspiracy. Conspiracy to have Jose Mourinho feel humbled! Conspiracy to have Chelsea players break. Conspiracy to have Chelsea lose focus in their games..............this and more! And well, from everyone: the officials, the taunting fans, the neutrals and, seemingly, the whole world! It is as if the team does not deserve to win. As if only the Red Devils, the Reds and the Gunners have the natural right to football dorminance.

The reason this haters advance painfully for their dislike of the Blues is that the team exists because of a strong financial backing, that the team plays boring football, that Mourinho is proud and so on. As if he has no right to be proud! Pride comes from within, guys, from what you have achieved. Well, far from the financial cry! The Blues team was started somewhere in the first quarter of the 20th Century, and i believe by then the Russian tycoon and his billions had not come into existence. And heavens, i dare anyone to tell me how a boring game earns 75 points in 31 games! Aren't Blues haters trying to justify their sadism?

This haters are trying to get to Mourinho and his gift of the gab. He has assembled an efficient machine which while suffering defeat to other teams, and dubiously so, will win the title for a second successive season, and at a canter no less. The Portuguese has had the funds of course but it would be churlish to assume a mediocre manager could have gained such outstanding rewards.

It is high time the world started treating Mourinho and his winning machine with respect. It may be hard but we have to give justice where due. Must we hate all those who give us a thrashing? Must we hate those who are proud of their achievements? Must we fail to honor the high-achievers just because they have a strong financial backing? It would sound comical and absurd if we do so.

The consolation prize for Mourinho and his dedicated players is, God willing, Chelsea will score a double this season, and who knows........................next season, the Champions League trophy may be added to the silverware. With this, Chelsea fans should stand tall and be counted, and let the haters lick their sore wounds!

WHO WANTS A POLITICAL FEDERATION IN EAST AFRICA, ANYWAY?

When Ugandan president argues that “He will retire in 2013 after seeing the reality of a political federation in East Africa” one is left awed by the wisdom of our leaders. Sample this: a jailed leadingopposition leader, a distorted, contorted, arm-twisted constitution that has created a life presidency and the insatiable, self-styled one-man vision. Across the border in the east, we have a passive dictator, a corrupt government and a plutocratic crop of leaders with self-conceited egos who call the shots there. Then down in the south we have a country giving its all for democracy space and sanity in upholding the constitution and the rule of the law. Thus the six-million-dollars question remains: who wants a political federation in East Africa, anyway?

Our leaders should stay warned on this blind, egocentric pursuit. An economic federation in East Africa is ideal and timely for now, but a political federation is doomed to fail from the word go. A single president for over 80 million souls? A single president for over 100 tribes? From which country will the first president come from and from which tribe? Forget about America and give me a break! Call me a pessimist but let us be realistic. Our politics are overly clannish and tribal. Kenya is fighting tribalism as a national political threat. Tanzania is not spared the vice of regionalism, neither is the 'vision home' Uganda where the western tribes and the northern tribes live two worlds apart.

All this handicaps, yet all our leaders want us to believe is that we can combine all these impossibilities and create a wholesome possibility. Who is the fool here? If President Museveni is sincere in his ambition for a viable political federation in East Africa, he should forget about a fifth term in office and dedicate all his energy in this noble pursuit. After all, his buddies are almost heading home. President Mkapa paid his last tribute to the nation as a true statesman and we know that his advice on East Africa dream will be welcome, timely and weighed seriously. President Kibaki is under siege and only God knows whether he can master enough guts to think again of the East Africa political federation.

This leaves only one man with a vision and ambition for over 80 million people. What happened to seriousness? We don’t want comical and theoretical politics. Kenyans, Ugandans and Tanzanians should reject this selfish ploy by our leaders to put our respective motherlands in inevitable collective political wrangles. Museveni should give another reason as to his decision to become a fast-rising modern dictator other than hoodwinking Ugandans with this joke of the year. Was this man serious in the words? If yes, he should tell it to the birds!

This idea of a political East Africa federation failed 30 years ago. Whether they sugar-coat it and present it as a new bride, it will suffer the same fate. After all, how many Kenyans, Ugandans and Tanzanians are ready to give up their national pride for such a puppet project? I bet very few if any. The warning is that we have to be careful as we trend to the past so that the same folly that crashed our founding fathers and their egos may not crash us too. We should say no to unnecessary political federations.

ASYLEES' HUMAN RIGHTS TRUMPLED IN UGANDA

I am saddened by the current take of things as it is happening in Uganda with regard to the asylees mostly the ones from non-violent countries, including Kenya. As an asylee in Uganda, i have experienced most of this mistreatment and trumpling of human rights from none other than the government through the Office of the Prime Minister and the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR.

I believe i am speaking this on behalf of many refugees and asylees in Uganda. The first complaint is that the process of getting identified and accepted as a refugee is rather slow and painstaking. You have to move to more than three offices for this to be a reality. First you are supposed to go to a police station to register as an alien. Good! Then you are sent to an NGO working with the UNHCR for another interview. Another good! And then to the Directorate of Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister...............the bureaucracy starts getting boring until they send you to the Special Branch, good again, but as if you are a criminal.

That not withstanding, one is supposed to wait for the his or her refugee status for over six months, sometimes three years, and sometimes for ever. It is one pathetic situation. Finally, you are requested to go to a settlement camp as your case awaits determination by Refugee Elligibility Committee (What's that?). Once there, they forget you until one day God intervenes. Life in the settlement camps is nowhere near any good. In fact, life there is worse than one can imagine. Before you get there they promise you heavens; education, shelter, basic assistance, etc. but once on the ground nothing seems forthcoming, not even the forthright humanitarian assistance like food and shelter from torrid climate in most of the camps.

I found it a joke that without any other form of complementing food supply, a new refugee or an asylee is given thirteen kilos of unground sorghum and one and a half kilo of beans to be consumed in course of 30 days, sometimes even 40 days. This with no utensils for cooking from and definately no salt, no water, nothing! It is unimaginable but that is the life in the camp. It is not a wonder that many young people in the camps have decided to give up on living, resulting to free sex and alarming drug abuse.

Well, there is some hope anyway, if you have means of bribing your way to comfort, and maybe to attention. This happens to the few rich, but for the majority of genuine refugees and asylees, it is a bitter fight to the end, until maybe death offers the final blow. That marks the life of one a many refugees and asylees in the Pearl of Africa.

SAME SCRIPT, DIFFERENT CAST

I beg to differ, but i believe i am reading the right thing here. Just before they decide to integrate the three East Africa countries into one massive political federation for their own good, we have to understand what is all there for our demagogues to pursue with closed eyes.

For now, I am sparing Tanzanians knowing too well that they might not fall to this trick. They have some national pride which i can only envy. By the way, their new president has proven to be a real democrat only in his third month in power. If there is a lesson to learn from that charismatic and wise leader, it is the fact that a president has the mandate of safeguarding and protecting his country in his hands. The mandate of protecting the country's ancestral pride, and the mandate of protecting the future generations and the pride there in.

I feel hurt deep down my heart every time i read that the Ugandan president is pursuing a blind pursuit of creating a political federation in East Africa. Who wants such a federation by the way? Call me naive and what have you but it is painful that the guy will even rig an election to achieve a feeling of Pan-Africanism! What a pittance, i feel.

And just as if reading from the same script, President Kibaki of Kenya has allowed the country to go back to the old dog years. Corruption is at its peak and things are getting worse with each new dawn. In Uganda, it is almost the same with each day. So in the two presidents, we are seeing a popular replay of a famous song that used to hit in the late 90's, something like same script but different casts!

Holy sweet heavens! This is one BIG SHAME for the East Africa, ain't it?