choose wisely – ugali or posho?
This is one of the ripe investments for people in saving groups. Continue reading choose wisely – ugali or posho?
Category: Wandering Thoughts
Of things I see and those thoughts whose children are always playing in my head.
Women, Money and Politics
I once walked into the main reception at Bank of Uganda. As I waited for my turn to be served, my restless wandering eyes looked out around the waiting lounge as a way to familiarize myself with the place. Behind the seats of the ladies at the front desk, up on the wall hung a framed portrait of members of the board of Bank of … Continue reading Women, Money and Politics
Beginning 2018 with a blogging challenge
The new year comes with a lot of excitement. A lot of resolutions and reflections are made. And to some, they take up new tasks. My friends took up a challenge and they have proved out perform themselves. Any one who has taken up a blogging challenge knows how uphill of a task it can be keeping to it. Often times, it is easy to … Continue reading Beginning 2018 with a blogging challenge
These spaces have become our place
We fear to talk about ourselves in public. The public judges and at times we are not ready for the sentence. We hang in there waiting and hoping that things will be fine but maybe they take a bit longer. We wait. We wait in silence as the war wages on, on the inside of us. The hardest point comes when you cannot explain what … Continue reading These spaces have become our place
Someone teach me to be a Tanzanian.
This blogpost was first published in 2015 on the Chicamod site. Someone teach me to be a Tanzanian. I am not that far away. I am just a neighbor from the north, here in Uganda. And yes I belong to the great East African Community. But there are things I failed to learn at a distance. It seems Tanzania is not an African country. Look … Continue reading Someone teach me to be a Tanzanian.
BAN SACHETS
Let’s tell the story properly is the title of Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s 2014 Commonwealth Award Winning Short Story.
The story is written with a Ugandan conversation touch paying maximum attention to the details of interjections and sighs. That is how I would rather we tell the story of sachets in Uganda today.
When you take a walk around the nearest trading centre regardless of the time of day, you will not fail to see a young man or a group of them cuddling small sachets in their fists. They carry them as they execute their duties (for those who have). Unfortunately, this situation is not only among the youth on the streets but also at the work place. The sachets come at a very friendly and affordable price of UGX 500 for a 100ml sachet. And they come with a “kill me quick” element. This leaves you in company of drunk workmates should they be consumers.
The consumption of sachet alcohol began more than five years ago with Uganda Waragi. Then, the price was more than UGX 3000 and that made it hard for the youth to afford. Today, with numerous players on the market, there are so many available brands at a very low price. Whether they are all regulated, UNBS is yet to tell us. These mainly target the youth. Rogers Kasirye writes thus in his blog;
Research by Professor Swahn and UYDEL in 2014 shows that only 17% of youth in the slums, ages 12 to 18, find it difficult to purchase alcohol despite the minimum legal age of 18 years. The research also shows that nearly half of the youth report seeing alcohol adverts often (44%) and that they see ads in the city, on television, on radio and in newspapers and/ or magazines. More importantly, as many as 18% report getting free alcohol as part of promotional activities and as many as 20% report having items with an alcohol brand logo on it. Also, despite the mandated alcohol warning on the advertisements, our inventory of alcohol marketing in the slums of Kampala shows that as many as 25% of the marketing materials do not have any health warning. Continue reading “BAN SACHETS”
Dear Philomena
Two months ago, I came across Mugabi Byenkya’s novel, Dear Philomena. It did not strike me to read it then. The book was unusual! On first look, I thought the layout was so unique for a novel and I wondered the kind of description we could accord it in my literature class. I did not read the book. Then I picked book again over the … Continue reading Dear Philomena
Meet Sam Mugisha of BIC Tours
I recently met up with Samuel Mugisha, the Managing Director of BIC Tours, a tour and travel company that mainly specializes in Japanese tourists. All the clients of BIC Tours receive a package of locally grown coffee and pineapples from the land. These are given out as souvenirs to the tourists. Sam (as he is commonly known) is a very humble man that you may … Continue reading Meet Sam Mugisha of BIC Tours
Mean Meetings, Big Parties & Starved Marriages
Source: Mean Meetings, Big Parties & Starved Marriages Continue reading Mean Meetings, Big Parties & Starved Marriages
The Alchemist – Paul Coelho
Source: The Alchemist – Paul Coelho Continue reading The Alchemist – Paul Coelho