can't even watch any archival footage that doesn't have the ugly "owanapaedia" watermark on it
how we allowed someone to get their hands on state archives and slap their ugly watermark on 'em baffles me
but again, we're hunter-gatherers..
Kampala, the Sin City of East Africa, Where Extremes Clash
In my upcoming column in @The_EastAfrican, I reflect on Kampala, and indeed Uganda, as the "sin capital" of East Africa.
It is a place of extremes, which seems to be afraid of the middle ground—a place where ugliness sits beside great beauty.
Kampala witnesses easily the most extreme police state violence of any capital in the region, and it is a place where torture is live-tweeted by security officials while their sycophantic minions cheer. Yet it has historically also had one of the most extensive practices of people within the state and ruling party helping the persecuted escape into exile. This barbarity also sits beside cultures that fetishise gentleness and politeness.
It has the most extreme party scene: over-the-top and extravagant, as though there were no tomorrow. The women are easily the most adventurous and go-to-hell dressers you will find in the region. Yet it is also the most anti-liberal in some instances, with one of the most extreme "kill the gays" laws in the world.
Uganda has the lowest levels of irrigation and fertiliser use in core East Africa, yet it also has the region's highest calorie intake.
It is widely noted for containing nearly half (47 to 48.95%) of the entire region's arable land pool, but its north-eastern Karamoja region is frequently ravaged by famine as politicians from its more fertile regions steal the supplies and dams meant to end its suffering.
Its ruling NRM party has historically clung to one of the most inclusive, broad-based political ideologies, whilst simultaneously practising some of the highest levels of tribalism and nepotism.
It was one of the dirtiest and most potholed capitals of "Old East Africa", but it is now witnessing the most ambitious attempt to clean up the grime alongside the most vibrant cultural and artistic renaissance.
If it were a creature of local lore, it would be a manifestation of the Chwezi twin spirits—a single entity split between radical blessing and dark destruction.
@your_uganda@MotivKasagga Yeah i was wondering too why he needed to stop. I guess he was being nice and apologetic after the splash. Lesson to self, its no big deal, keep driving.
The Nrm government created 26 parliamentary seats in Karamoja region. A region of 1.5m people. The NRM government is going to give 8,190,000,000 to MPs from karamoja to buy cars. NRM pays them 1.43B monthly. Meanwhile the people of karamoja are dying of hunger. 40yrs of NRM.
@cobbo3 Charles, can't the World Bank come up with another classification with a category below "Low income"? When you travel through rural parts of Burundi, Malawi, Eritrea, and Uganda, you are tempted to suggest that some countries should be classified as 'no-income' economies.