Is Alarika Alo, the oldest living Japadhola at 108 years?

Alarika and her grand daughters.
PHOTO BY VERON OPOYA - FACEBOOK

📍 Uganda 🇺🇬 population figures

✳️ Aged 0-14yrs - 46%

✳️ Aged 10-24yrs - 34.5%

✳️ Aged 15-64yrs - 52%

✳️ Aged 65+ - 2%

✳️ Life expectancy 64yrs

There are a lot of undiscovered gems hidden in the heartland of Padhola. It is not easily accessible as the main roads going through West Budama from the mineral-rich main town Tororo have oddly remained murram, despite the fabulous tarmac figures the country displays to the world annually

There was John Paul Ofwono, who a New Vision Photographer bumped into accidentally deep in Yokolo in West Budama, Tororo in February 1999. 

It turned out eventually that at a verified height of 7ft 6 1/2inches, he was one of the tallest men on earth, but was lying 'undiscovered' in the West Budama hinterland. 

Now, the Padhola heartland may just be home to one of the oldest Ugandans alive. 

Deep in Nagoke village, Soni Lakwari in Kirewa sub county, lives Alarika Alo of  Amorikagulu clan. She is frail, but recently marked her 108th birthday, as she was born in 1913.

Alarika (Ulrika) had only two boys in her life, Ochieng  Simeon  and Opoya Christopher Columbus (RIP), but is now surrounded by dozens of grand, and great grand children, and their children. 

"Pray for our  grandmother. She is not well and is on treatment - her legs and breasts are swollen. Even the  hand where she was injected is swollen too. She can't walk or stand. Her age is now 108 years," her grand daughter Veron Opoya said.

Veron Opoya says Alarika has 27 grandchildren, 104 great grand children and 10 great-great grand children.

The world's oldest verified living person is Japanese Kane Tanaka  at age 118 (born 2 January 1903)

The Ofwono Story

Ofwono was at first declared the world's tallest human at 8 feet 4 inches, until a Muzungu travelled all the way from London to Padhola (land of the Jopadhola of Tororo) to see for himself. He realized the locals had simply gotten excited. 

"I did the measurement on behalf of the Guinness Book of records, who asked me to," Richard 'Dick' Stockley of the Surgery, British High Commission told Sunday Vision. "You have to take three different measurements because the body shrinks during the day. I measured him at 8:30 a.m., at 2:00 p.m., and at 8:00 p.m." 

Ofwono measured an average of 228.5 centimeters (7ft 6in) standing, and 230.5 cm (7ft 6 1/2in) when lying down. 

Ofwono died aged 43 from complications related to his height, and diabetes, in 2003.

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COME AND SEE - Pope's World Communications Day Message 2021

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE 2021 WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY

 

“Come and See” (Jn 1:46). Communicating by Encountering People as They Are

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The invitation to “come and see”, which was part of those first moving encounters of Jesus with the disciples, is also the method for all authentic human communication. In order to tell the truth of life that becomes history (cf. Message for the 54^th World Communications Day, 24 January 2020), it is necessary to move beyond the complacent attitude that we “already know” certain things. Instead, we need to go and see them for ourselves, to spend time with people, to listen to their stories and to confront reality, which always in some way surprises us. “Open your eyes with wonder to what you see, let your hands touch the freshness and vitality of things, so that when others read what you write, they too can touch first-hand the vibrant miracle of life”. This was the advice that Blessed Manuel Lozano Garrido[1] offered to his fellow journalists. This year, then, I would like to devote this Message to the invitation to “come and see”, which can serve as an inspiration for all communication that strives to be clear and honest, in the press, on the internet, in the Church’s daily preaching and in political or social communication. “Come and see!”  This has always been the way that the Christian faith has been communicated, from the time of those first encounters on the banks of the River Jordan and on the Sea of Galilee.

“Hitting the streets”

Let us look first at the great issue of news reporting. Insightful voices have long expressed concern about the risk that original investigative reporting in newspapers and television, radio and web newscasts is being replaced by a reportage that adheres to a standard, often tendentious narrative. This approach is less and less capable of grasping the truth of things and the concrete lives of people, much less the more serious social phenomena or positive movements at the grass roots level. The crisis of the publishing industry risks leading to a reportage created in newsrooms, in front of personal or company computers and on social networks, without ever “hitting the streets”, meeting people face to face to research stories or to verify certain situations first hand. Unless we open ourselves to this kind of encounter, we remain mere spectators, for all the technical innovations that enable us to feel immersed in a larger and more immediate reality. Any instrument proves useful and valuable only to the extent that it motivates us to go out and see things that otherwise we would not know about, to post on the internet news that would not be available elsewhere, to allow for encounters that otherwise would never happen.

The Gospels as news stories

“Come and see” were the first words that Jesus spoke to the disciples who were curious about him following his baptism in the Jordan river (Jn 1:39). He invited them to enter into a relationship with him. More than half a century later, when John, now an old man, wrote his Gospel, he recalled several “newsworthy” details that reveal that he was personally present at the events he reports and demonstrate the impact that the experience had on his life. “It was about the tenth hour”, he noted, that is, about four in the afternoon (cf. v. 39). The next day – John also tells us – Philip told Nathaniel about his encounter with the Messiah. His friend is sceptical and asks: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  Philip does not try to win him over with good reasons, but simply tells him: “Come and see” (cf. vv. 45-46). Nathaniel did go and see, and from that moment his life was changed. That is how Christian faith begins, and how it is communicated: as direct knowledge, born of experience, and not of hearsay. “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves”. So the townspeople told the Samaritan woman, after Jesus stayed in their village (cf. Jn 4:39-42). “Come and see” is the simplest method to get to know a situation. It is the most honest test of every message, because, in order to know, we need to encounter, to let the person in front of me speak, to let his or her testimony reach me.

Thanks to the courage of many journalists

Journalism too, as an account of reality, calls for an ability to go where no one else thinks of going: a readiness to set out and a desire to see. Curiosity, openness, passion. We owe a word of gratitude for the courage and commitment of all those professionals – journalists, camera operators, editors, directors – who often risk their lives in carrying out their work. Thanks to their efforts, we now know, for example, about the hardships endured by persecuted minorities in various parts of the world, numerous cases of oppression and injustice inflicted on the poor and on the environment, and many wars that otherwise would be overlooked. It would be a loss not only for news reporting, but for society and for democracy as a whole, were those voices to fade away. Our entire human family would be impoverished.

Many situations in our world, even more so in this time of pandemic, are inviting the communications media to “come and see”. We can risk reporting the pandemic, and indeed every crisis, only through the lens of the richer nations, of “keeping two sets of books”. For example, there is the question of vaccines, and medical care in general, which risks excluding the poorer peoples. Who would keep us informed about the long wait for treatment in the poverty-stricken villages of Asia, Latin America and Africa? Social and economic differences on the global level risk dictating the order of distribution of anti-Covid vaccines, with the poor always at the end of the line and the right to universal health care affirmed in principle, but stripped of real effect. Yet even in the world of the more fortunate, the social tragedy of families rapidly slipping into poverty remains largely hidden; people who are no longer ashamed to wait in line before charitable organizations in order to receive a package of provisions do not tend to make news.

Opportunities and hidden dangers on the web

The internet, with its countless social media expressions, can increase the capacity for reporting and sharing, with many more eyes on the world and a constant flood of images and testimonies. Digital technology gives us the possibility of timely first-hand information that is often quite useful. We can think of certain emergency situations where the internet was the first to report the news and communicate official notices. It is a powerful tool, which demands that all of us be responsible as users and consumers. Potentially we can all become witnesses to events that otherwise would be overlooked by the traditional media, offer a contribution to society and highlight more stories, including positive ones. Thanks to the internet we have the opportunity to report what we see, what is taking place before our eyes, and to share it with others.

At the same time, the risk of misinformation being spread on social media has become evident to everyone. We have known for some time that news and even images can be easily manipulated, for any number of reasons, at times simply for sheer narcissism. Being critical in this regard is not about demonizing the internet, but is rather an incentive to greater discernment and responsibility for contents both sent and received. All of us are responsible for the communications we make, for the information we share, for the control that we can exert over fake news by exposing it. All of us are to be witnesses of the truth: to go, to see and to share.

Nothing replaces seeing things at first hand

In communications, nothing can ever completely replace seeing things in person. Some things can only be learned through first-hand experience. We do not communicate merely with words, but with our eyes, the tone of our voice and our gestures. Jesus’ attractiveness to those who met him depended on the truth of his preaching; yet the effectiveness of what he said was inseparable from how he looked at others, from how he acted towards them, and even from his silence. The disciples not only listened to his words; they watched him speak. Indeed in him – the incarnate Logos – the Word took on a face; the invisible God let himself be seen, heard and touched, as John himself tells us (cf. 1 Jn 1:1-3). The word is effective only if it is “seen”, only if it engages us in experience, in dialogue. For this reason, the invitation to “come and see” was, and continues to be, essential.

We think of how much empty rhetoric abounds, even in our time, in all areas of public life, in business as well as politics. This or that one “speaks an infinite deal of nothing... His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff: you shall seek all day ere you find them, and when you have them, they are not worth the search.[2] The blistering words of the English playwright also apply to us as Christian communicators. The Good News of the Gospel spread throughout the world as a result of person-to-person, heart-to-heart encounters with men and women who accepted the invitation to “come and see”, and were struck by the “surplus” of humanity that shone through the gaze, the speech and the gestures of those who bore witness to Jesus Christ. Every tool has its value, and that great communicator who was Paul of Tarsus would certainly have made use of email and social messaging. Yet it was his faith, hope and charity that impressed those of his contemporaries who heard him preach or had the good fortune to spend time with him, to see him during an assembly or in individual conversation. Watching him in action wherever he was, they saw for themselves how true and fruitful for their lives was the message of salvation that, by God’s grace, he had come to preach. Even where this servant of God could not be encountered personally, the disciples whom he sent bore witness to his way of life in Christ (cf. 1 Cor 4:17).

“We have books in our hands, but the facts before our eyes”, said Saint Augustine[3] in speaking of fulfilment of the prophecies found in sacred Scripture. So too, the Gospel comes alive in our own day, whenever we accept the compelling witness of people whose lives have been changed by their encounter with Jesus. For two millennia, a chain of such encounters has communicated the attractiveness of the Christian adventure. The challenge that awaits us, then, is to communicate by encountering people, where they are and as they are.

Lord, teach us to move beyond ourselves,
and to set out in search of truth.

Teach us to go out and see,
teach us to listen,
not to entertain prejudices
or draw hasty conclusions.

Teach us to go where no one else will go,
to take the time needed to understand,
to pay attention to the essentials,
not to be distracted by the superfluous,
to distinguish deceptive appearances from the truth.

Grant us the grace to recognize your dwelling places in our world
and the honesty needed to tell others what we have seen.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 23 January 2021, Vigil of the Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales
 

Franciscus

****

SOURCE: VATICAN NEWS

NRM's win is a victory for a united and peaceful Uganda

 

UPDF doing community work. It is people focused, and
did well ensuring peace during the elections

OPINION | Apollo Otawi  in Tororo |  At the time of the 1985 coup that saw Dr. A.M Obote (RIP) thrown out of the presidency by his own colleagues, there was a mass uprising against non-Baganda in areas of Kayunga, Mukono, Luwero and parts of the then Mpigi district.

People's properties and lives were lost. No one was allowed to carry anything from their homes. Some people from Tororo trekked all the way back home. The message was clear. Buganda was not a place for non-Baganda.

At about the same time, the National Resistance Army (NRA) was consolidating their pending military victory over the government's forces, and one of their strengths was working with the people, irrespective of tribes and religion. The Luwero triangle, in the heart of Buganda, was the home from which they launched the final takeover of Tito Okello Lutwa's government in January 1986. 

The arrival of the NRA was a game changer in the political life of the country. At the fall of Kampala and the subsequent run over of the rest of the country, they preached against sectarianism and segregation. 

They wooed the other tribes, who had resisted the new revolutionary forces as the went thru Busoga, Teso up to the far north . It was time for reconciliation and there was a sense that co-existence was possible.

Fighters from rebel groups like FEDEMO, UFM of Kayira, Moses Ali's WNRF, Peter Otai's outfit, our own FOBA from the east, were all amalgamated into the NRA. It would gradually become a National Army courtesy of these integration actions.

Disciplined army

With the popular politicization retreats in Nabiisojjo and Kiburara, these fighters were taught how to work with the civilians.

The result was an Army that realised its main role was to protect the lives of all Ugandans and their properties. This naturally gave birth to one of the most disciplined armies in Africa.

The UPDF have since worked with the world's elite armies from countries like the US and Britain in peace keeping roles across the continent, but mainly in Somalia where they form the core of the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

Today's UPDF , a direct product of the NRA, has now become a role model of what armies should be like in Africa. In pursuit of their missions, they execute without fear or favour.

It is therefore not surprising that the government requested them to compliment the Uganda Police in providing for a peaceful election process that is yet to conclude. The calm on voting day is testimony of the effectiveness of the people's army.

Cost of muli-partyism

On the political wing, the NRM, had in the 80s and early 90s tried to explain to Ugandans the likely mishaps political parties create in democracy in Africa. The NRM preached for the individual merit basis as systems of governance.

The pressure from the Western World, and sections of Ugandans, led to a referendum in 2005, which voted to opt for a multi- party democracy.

The NRM reluctantly agreed to the new type of democracy, forming the NRMO as a political party. The revolutionists decided to play the party politics, but still maintain the revolutionary methods of work.

Enter NUP

After FDC, DP and UPC failing to have an impact over the years of multiparty politics, in came the recently formed National Unity Platform (NUP) party.

It started off as a people's movement, but was in my observation, soon taken up by cliques who had sectarian tendencies and through propaganda preached a divide in politics on tribal basis.

It gave them an opportunity to seek change in the leadership, not based on nationalism, but for the benefit of individual partisans, who clearly wanted a particular group of peoples to take over the country.

Fortunately, the Ugandans, had become wiser, having tested the real pro-people governance and broad-based politics of the NRM.

They knew what entrusting an organization like NUP would cause in in our young democracy.

It's on this basis, that at the time of the just concluded elections, they chose to maintain the status quo and let the NRM continue to lead.

It was a testimony, that the Ugandans wanted an organization that was ready to accommodate Ugandans from all walks of life.

Now that the Ugandans have decided, it's time to get back to our tools and work for the betterment of our nation.

I therefore congratulate the Ugandans for realizing their needs and voting correctly to defeat sectarianism and all tendencies of segregation.

I also want to acknowledge the security organizations, for standing strong against elements of division, that had become a threat to our otherwise young democracy.

We need a country that is nationalistic in character, to provide for all Ugandans without segregation.

******

Apollo Otawi is a proud Ugandan and social media critic

Uganda has taken huge strides from 1986 to 2021

Entebbe expressway

OPINION | Apollo Otawi  in Tororo | I am writing in response to an article titled "The Uganda of 1986 vs The Uganda of 2021" by my sister Faith Athieno Norah, also from Tororo, that does not reflect the fundamental changes for good in Ugandan society in the last 35 years.

I was born at Mengo Hospital, around the last year of Dr. Apollo Milton Obote's first regime.

My father was working at the National Housing and Construction Corporation as a cashier. This position offered him a free house and we lived at the now so called Doctors quarters in Mulago. 

These housing units belonged to the housing corporation, until President Idi Amin who overthrew Obote gave them to the doctors of Mulago hospital as he tried to appease them and stop them fleeing for green pastures around 1974. Around that time we shifted to the Bukoto Flats and that's where I grew up from.

After that coup that brought Amin into power and the subsequent attempts to invade the country by Ugandans from Tanzania, the country started to plunge into chaos slowly.

The country Uganda had a decade earlier attained independence from its colonial masters, and there was still much evidence of the systems that the British put in place. Obote's first government advocated nationalising several sectors and had created a good number of parastatals. There was also the East African Community, that had placed some services, like postal,  the revenue collection body , the railway corporation, Airways, education, and others under its wing.

Amin throws out Indians

When President Idi Amin threw out the Indians, in 1972, he dished most of the businesses to his cronies and he also gave management of these government organisations to his associates, some of whom did not have any ideas of running such companies.

These persons did not have accountability or never needed to account to anyone and therefore run these bodies to a down. They simply lined their pockets and drained the organisations gradualy.

The manufacturing companies and industries continued running, but at a cost to the government. The government had the monopoly of importation of essential commodities through the defunct Foods and Beverage. These imports could not facilitate the growing population.

Because the government controlled the prices of the exports and at times late payments and other irregularities, the population resorted to illegal export of their cash crops and smugging of essential commodities, like salt, sugar, soap from neighbouring countries.

By the late 70s and early eighties, there was a scarcity of these essential items. People were being killed trying to cross the borders with their commodities, thus the name MAGENDO.

Most of the Parastatals were running at a loss and could not perform as would have been required. Big officials slept at the country hotels endlessly, draining them of any profits they would have made.

The education system which was mainly run by the churches and government and were also affected. But since education was not a priority, it was not very evident and they continued to run, not as smoothly as you would have expected.

I doubt that government collected any meaningful revenue at that time.

When the Tanzanians, with the help of some Ugandan dissidents, overthrew Amin's regime, the whole country was in a chaos. Production at all levels was very poor.

There was need for the rehabilitation of the whole country at large. The cronies who had been given free run of the economy had been exiled, but not before looting a lot of government property.

The Ugandans who had helped the Tanzanians to overthrow the Amin government in 1979, came in and started sharing the remains. Others groups were given high privileges as others were denied. There was need for a fresh start of government business, as most of it had been broken during the previous regime.

In trying to organise themselves, the civilians demanded that a civil government be put in place and thus the elections were held in 1980. At that time the government was receiving all sorts of aid in its bid to rehabilitate the damaged infrastructures from its partners. That's how the education system got subsidized in form of food reliefs.

Then President Milton Obote was trying to create the same political air, he had left before the coup that had seen him exiled to Tanzania.

He recalled the Indians, like the Madhvani and Mehta to come back and revive their industries. Funds were found to revamp the bus companies in the transport sector. Government parastatals continued to run, but at a high cost to the tax payers, as these entities did not make any profits and continued to be drained by their managers, who were not required to give any accountability to the central government.

The Obote II error

Obote then made the mistake of allocating the running of these companies to his cronies, most of whom had been in exile and did not have the nation's interest at heart.

The return of political party activities, after the fall of Amin, created the usual cliques and differences that comes with these organisations.

This was very evident even at schools, were the NUSU members, these being students had as much power as the school administrators, because if their inclination to the UPC party in power.

In the local administration, UPC party loyals soon grew strong and run the institutions as if they were personal businesses. I doubt that the government could even collect revenue from the population to enable it provide the much needed services adequately.

Aid from abroad continued to trickle in, in form of scholastic materials, foodstuff, medicine and such. The government could not sustain itself . The few factories that were restored, could not give employment to the ever growing population.

In areas near to the border, like Tororo, the youth started crossing over to the neighboring countries to do menial jobs. The so called cooperatives, having been revived and lots of money pumped into them, were not run well by the managers. Soon the farmers were not being paid in time and sometimes crops were destroyed at the stores.

As a result Magendo continued to thrive in many place at border areas. This cross border trade provided for most of the essential commodities in the country, as the government institution which was charged with importing these items could not distribute the necessities to the country. There was lack of many basic requirements.

Even in the military, there was a division that later resulted to the coup in 1985 which saw Obote back into exile. This came at a loss of lives and looting causing further damage to the country at large.

Enter the NRA

Therefore, at the fall of this regime, when the NRA captured power, the whole country was devastated in so many areas.

The few medical facilities in place did not have workers, and equipment to provide adequate services to the population. The government parastatals were a burden to the tax payers, as most of the proceeds were lining individual’s pockets. Hotels and transport had a similar problem. Whereas there were some government and church schools, education had become expensive and a fewer percentage of school going youth were able to stay at school. The transport system, including the railway had broken down too. The government had broken down completely.

On top of that, some areas of the country, the east and north continued to resist the new government. Insurgency was the order of the day, as unaccounted weaponry remained in the hands of individuals who did not want to work with new people in power, the NRA/ M.

The 10 point programme

The government, under the clear guidance of HE YK Museveni came with its 10 point programs, all aimed in the rehabilitation, and restructuring of the country even as armed groups continued to engage the government forces.

In this process, with recommendation from our partners it was found prudent to do away way with all these non-functioning parastatals. The hotels, transport systems, and some few factories were diversified.

On the political ground, a new system of governance was created. This being based on individual merit. Councils were created from the village level to the district.and subsequently a parliament was formed.

There was need for a new constitution to be written and by 1995 it was written by a national assembly that consisted of representatives from all constituencies for the first time.

With this achievement, laws had been put in place to carry the new Uganda to great heights.

The Asians who had been exiled by Amin, were allowed to come back and repossess their properties and also start up business without fear. The new government would protect them.

Revenue collection, education is key

With time the government restructured its revenue collecting body, allowing the Uganda Revenue Authority formed in 1991, to have resources to help in building of the nation’s infrastructure.  

The country’s mechanisms of revenue collection and accountability were ineffective before URA was established in 1991. Tax collection in the country was hampered by a narrow tax base, as well as bureaucratic processes, smuggling, high domestic tax rates and tariffs on international trade. Until 1988, Uganda’s net revenue had not hit the UGX 20 billion mark.

Uganda’s total revenue grew from 5 billion in 1986 to 14.46 trillion in 2018, multiplying by a factor of 2,891.2!

The liberalization of markets also allowed individuals to start up and do businesses, thus lessening the burden of relying on foreign items for essential needs.

Last year was particularly great for the Ugandan economy, as the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives celebrated as for the first time in history, Uganda had a favorable balance of trade with Kenya.

Bank of Uganda (BoU) figures indicate that in the Financial Year 2017/18, Uganda had a trade surplus of $122.78 million with Kenya (Exports of $628.47 million against Imports of $505.70 million).

Small enterprises were formed and they grew into big companies with time. Private schools were given permission to operate with the guidance of the government.

This gave opportunity to a big number of children to get education. And when the government realised that some others still could not get to school, it placed programs for free education, up to secondary school as of now. Private universities opened to supplement the traditional government funded and this catered for the now ever growing number of students. Once most of the country was pacified, neighboring countries started taking the opportunity of bringing their children to the Ugandan schools. This also enhanced revenues in these institutions.

And they have since grown.

More hospitals built

When the NRA took over power, there had been hospitals and dispensaries that had been built by the previous governments. These could no longer cater for the now growing communities.

At first the government brought an idea of cost sharing, but some legislators, fought the idea and it did not take off well. It would have subsidized the cost of providing health services and probably, the medicine cost  at these centers would be no more. As it has now been realised, no government can provide free healthcare to its citizens as it is not sustainable. Even older democracies have not been able to achieve that. The NRM government has since built and refurbished a good number of hospitals to compliment the private owned .

As  regards the road network, which is a necessity for economic activities to thrive, there has been a tremendous uplift of roads and new ones have been created all over the country. Bridges have been built.

Diversification and peace within the country allowed individuals to create manufacturing industries, thus increasing the demand of electrical power. The government, and it's partners have built more power sources without limitation, and allowing the private to invest in it. This is geared at reducing the overload on electricity demand that had caused the loadshedding which, hopeful, will be history soon.

Tapping Uganda’s agriculture strength

Uganda has always been an agricultural country. With the pacification of most of the country, and all the restructuring and developments, the increase of road network, has allowed the Ugandan peasant to revive its agricultural glory and with the introduction of modern agricultural practices, Uganda is slowly  becoming the food basket of East and Central Africa.

Along the way, Ugandans, were asked on their preference of mode of governance and a good number opted for the mult-party democracy. As an individual, having witnessed the chaos in the 1980 elections and after testing the individual merit that the NRM had brought in its wake. I would have preferred the later. But the majority Ugandans had decide for us.

The problem with multi-party politics often is members of a particular party invest much into the party, that on gaining power, they wish retrieve it from the government coffers at the tax payers cost.

Secondly, it is a winner takes it all process, and it creates disputes, because the other party members are seen as enemies of a particular party. This division, breeds hatred and creates wars. This is where it has led us as a nation at the moment.

Peace and sports

Because of the long term peace, from border to border, Uganda's youth in the arts and sports have had time to train, and the fruits are now beginging to show.

Uganda today has the world's best long distance runners. Just recently Joshua Cheptegei broke several world records.

Women empowerment

On another development, it's the NRM government that realised the potential of a woman in our society.

It created awareness and uplifted the girl child, thus empowering the woman to give them an equal platform with the man. This affirmative action has enhanced productivity in the nation and can be considered one of the greatest achievement ever made in Uganda. Women emancipation should be applauded, as it also lifts the burden off the back of the man entirely.

Ugandans today can move in and out of the country with their goods and property. Those who manage to get jobs abroad can bring back home their money and build or invest freely. Business in and around, having been liberalised, allows for commodities that a much needed to reach the population from far places. That is a result of peace brought over by this regime.

Since some neighboring countries are not yet pacified, Uganda has continued to provide sanctuary to the displaced persons were pursuing resolutions to end these wars. Uganda is now one of the world’s leading host of refugees.

The Jopadhola revival

For the Japadhola community, we have been given the opportunity to revisit our culture. To organise and develop our culture and create an ambience that will allow our future generations to develop.

We need to work on the social economic factor and realize practices that are sustainable and can uplift our wellbeing. This can only be achieved through dialogue and integrity. We must demand loyality from our representatives to these causes.

At this time of election, we should not wish for a change in the status quo, but to consolidate the achievements and chose the right representatives.

If we continue to live harmoniously, the sky is the limit.

Long live His Highness Kwar Adhola

For God and my country

******

Apollo Otawi is a proud Ugandan and social media critic

The Uganda of 1986 vs The Uganda of 2021: 35 years, 35 flashbacks

The Bus Park in Kampala in 1970. Uganda had a fully 
functioning public transport system. PHOTO TWITTER @JONDINNEN

OPINION | Faith Athieno Norah in Tororo | When I last checked on my beloved Uganda in 1986, which is 35 years ago, this below was the situation -  in 35 points:

1. In 1986, Uganda had just come out of a civil war, and a few years earlier, a war with Tanzania, that had also followed eight years of Idi Amin rule,  but even then, there was minimal power load shedding once the fighting had subsided.
2. There were 32 well facilitated districts with each one having government civil servant housing quarters and their own regional economic infrastructure that boosted their revenue and local population employment.
3. Smuggling was rife, but there was also a lot of free cross border trade with low or in most cases no taxes for smaller amount of goods that are not transported in huge trucks.
4. There was very low cost railway passenger transport from border to border. The longest journeys, of 100 of kms, were equivalent to today's rate of 5,000/-. 
5. There was an active Cooperative Society in each district that bought agricultural produce from local communities. The communities were engaged in all forms of agricultural from crops to animal.
6. There was generally a thriving fish market and no fishing restriction. 1kg of Nile Perch was not 15,000/- as currently. In 1986 1kg cost 2,000/- in the current money value. The lake was equally accessed by all East African citizens no land titles on water sections except islands.
7. Loans were accessible to most people at a low interest rate equivalent to 3% lending rate compared to the current 18%.
8. Education costs were much much affordable for all civil servants, farmers and peasants. Many students were given free scholastic material i.e. school exercise books pens and pencils and rubbers.
9. Free relief food for those in need. Not a good thing for a country, as it undermines local production, but there was free relief food aid to cover food shortage in the country. There was free US and Japan Cooking oils, Herrings and Mackerel tinned fish, whole chicken chicken. Yellow maize floor, milk powders, etc for every social worker and civil servant and all affected communities, and most importantly, schools.
10. The agriculture extension workers were visible. There was free farming aids inform exotic cross breeding of animals and free seeds or seedlings from each district farm institute for farmers from all political backgrounds.
11. There was a district presidential lodge in each district so the president did not need to travel with his home wherever he went.
12. Each of the 30 or so districts often officially hosted the president for 2 to 3 days and all roads in town had the Uganda flag on all the electricity polls.
13. The government universities admitted the best students in the country for free education. If you were among the first 1,500 A level students in the country, you were all admitted to Makerere for free education. The next about 1,500 went to Institutes of Commerce, teacher training for free.
14. Each district had a government hospital and at least 2 ambulances with well paid health practitioners and patients never paid any amount of money for treatment or drugs, not even any form of vaccinations, every thing was free. 
15. Each school in the district was well built with flashing toilets and all modern school facilities in place. These included kindergarten, nursery, primary, secondary and higher institutions of learning. Each school had a truck or bus to carry its students from location to location free of charge and there were no fees required for school study trips. Each school had a play ground and a well built sports field. Also, each region had at least one of the top 10 ranked schools in the country, There was Layibi in the north, Ntare and Nyakasura in the West, Mwiri, Tororo College and Tororo Girls in the east etc and attracted students from right across the country, with students from the North studying in the South, and those in the South studying in the North.
16. All main streets and roads in towns upcountry and their suburbs had lights, zebra crossing, and there was gazetted free packing within each town. All town councils had official free space/gardens for celebration purposes. 
    
    
    
17. Each of the main towns upcountry had fumigation teams that would go around the towns every six months to destroy mosquito habitant. 
18. The town councils mowed the grass patches on the road reserves, and kept them clean. That was the case in Tororo, Jinja, Mbarara, Soroti, Gulu and Mbale, that had the reputation as the cleanest town in Uganda.
19. All security facilities like barracks and housing quarters were well painted and well organised with fences and hedges in place, with compounds and training grounds, and many with their own schools and health facilities.
20. Uganda was divided into regions, and each region had a number of golf courses
21. Each region had a fully functional air field - including Jinja, Tororo and Soroti in the East for example.
22. There were factories or industries in each region to create an economic development balance in the country. This also created more employment opportunities for the surrounding communities.
23. There was the Cooperative Bank that easily provided loans and grants to local farmers in every district in Uganda.
24. A national Commercial Bank owned by the government called UCB, was located in every district. This is where all the civil servants had accounts and a channel for their salaries and was a source also for jobs in each town for the skilled. 
25. The government employed a cross section of people to run its institutions based on competence and track record regardless of ethnic backgrounds e.g. schools were run by English, Americans, or Indian Headmasters and there were Indian teachers as well etc employed by government. E.g. Mr Doshi was Headmaster of Rock View School and Elgon View had another Indian head teacher, Father Grimes was heading Namasagali, etc 
    
    
    
26. Best preforming students were given bursaries to foreign universities like Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam, and were paid allowances by government to help in facilitation. 
27. All students in government universities were paid some sort of "living" allowance by the government. Each room in halls of residence had social distancing set ups i.e. one student per room or wide space in between beds in the common rooms. They were given free accommodation, food, scholastic material including free textbooks per course etc.
28. Civil servants salaries came in time and it the money was well above the status quo i.e. salary alone was able to take care of a lot of things, including education of children, and there was no need for bribery.
29. Pensions were well managed.
30. There was no backlog of court cases.
31. Public land was free for all to use and access and public parks were located in all districts.
32. Each district had a government hotel, freely accessible public library with all books in the academic curriculum and other social amenities.
33. The army and police children had their own schools and free additional essential supplies e.g. clothes, beddings, food, shoes, etc. The emergency call lines 999 were connected to the nearest police station which each had at least one fire fighting truck ever ready to fight fires.
34. Uganda had a fully functioning Airlines with a fleet of aircraft that included several large Boeing planes.
35. The public transport system worked, with UTC buses to narly all corners of the country. 

The list is longer... I will leave the reader to chart the course of their own future at this point as Uganda goes into an election January 14, 2021 – over 35 years since 1986 - when I last checked on by beloved Uganda.

For God and my country.

*****

Athieno is a social media critic

WHO secures funds to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to 'needy' countries

The World Health Organization (WHO) immunization director Kate O’Brien has promised they will certainly start delivering COVID-19 vaccines to 190 countries, including Uganda, next month. The first focus will be on health workers and the elderly.

The planned vaccine deliveries will be made under the COVAX Facility created by the WHO, the Vaccine Alliance GAVI and The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), to support especially the needy lower-income countries (92 nations) by aggregating the demand.

COVAX is the Global Collaboration to Accelerate the Development, Production and Equitable Access to New COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccine.

Speaking on a social media chat organized by WHO, Kate O’Brien revealed COVAX had got the necessary funding for their marshal vaccine project that aims to reach 190 countries, 90% of the world's population.

“We need about $7 billion in order to deliver enough vaccine to these countries through the end of 2021. The facility has already raised about $6 billion of the $7 billion,” she said.

“So the facility has access to over 2 billion doses of vaccine. We will start to deliver those vaccines probably by the end of January, and if not, then certainly by early February and mid-February.”

She warned that the only way the year-old pandemic can be ended, is for everyone to have access to vaccines in all countries. "No country is safe until we are all safe," she said.

The World Health Organization last week granted emergency validation to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, paving the way for countries worldwide to quickly approve its import and distribution.

 

So far, WHO has only one drug, that from Pfizer, on its emergency use listing - which confirms that they have reviewed the data and it meets the highest standard.

The WHO immunization director also confirmed they are studying up 15 potential other vaccines including those from China and Russia.

Uganda on list of 92 countries to benefit from COVAX AMC

In July the GAVI Board agreed on the 92 economies that will be supported the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC).

Low income: Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania  and Yemen.

Lower-middle income: Angola, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyztan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Mauritania, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Additional IDA eligible: Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Kosovo, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Samoa, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tonga and Tuvalu.

The COVAX Advance Market Commitment

COVAX is one of three pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, launched in April by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Commission and France in response to this pandemic.(click to watch video)

The 92 low and middle-income countries and economies approved by the GAVI Board will be able to access vaccines through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), which will also cover at least part of the cost.

The COVAX AMC forms part of the COVAX Facility, a mechanism hosted by GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, designed to guarantee rapid, fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for every country in the world.

RELATED STORY

FULL REPORT#Uganda, Africa awaits CoviShield #vaccine from #India #AstraZeneca #COVISHIELD #COVID19 #Healthhttps://t.co/SRqgVUMVTX pic.twitter.com/sGe0mm9kp1

— The Independent (@UGIndependent) January 4, 2021

Tororo in mourning as Paul Etyang passes on

 

Paul Etiang (RIP)

Former Third Deputy Prime Minister Ambassador Paul Orono Etiang has passed on at IHK in Kampala, where he had been admitted since Monday December 28

The diplomat, 82, was hospitalised after developing symptoms similar to that of COVID-19. The cause of his death has however not been confirmed yet.

Etiang was a veteran of Tororo politics, where he was since the days of Idi Amin, the top cabinet appointment from the district. 

Tributes poured in from across the country when news of the death was announced.

"Rt Hon Paul Orono Etiang was a consummate diplomat who served Uganda in different capacities with distinction. May the Almighty God rest his soul in eternal peace," said Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda in a condolence message.

"In his retirement, Paul Etiang remained a valued pillar who cherished unity and development. We have been in regular touch with his family during his period of sickness. The health workers did the best the could, but the Almighty God had the final say."

Etiang is the father of Capt Michael Etiang who recently flew Uganda's new Airbus plane from Toulouse to Entebbe as Chief Pilot, and was husband of Zahara Etyang, a Tanzanian.

"Uganda and Tororo in particular has lost an icon, an elder statesman, one of the few people I know who had the opportunity to serve in all governments. As kids, we all grew up admiring and wishing to be like him in the future. May his soul RIP," said Charles Olweny 'Mokolimbo' when he learnt of the death of Etiang. Olweny is contesting for the MP slot in Tororo Municipality, where Etiang hailed from.

All Tororo's top politicians paid tribute to Etiang for his leadership in the district, country, region and internationally.

"Etyang was a consummate public servant. He was disciplined, hardworking and incorruptible. They belonged to a generation that set moral, ethical and work standards worth emulating," remarked Fox Odoi-Oywelowo. Fox is a former legal counsel at State House and NRM flag bearer in the MP contest in West Budama North East Constituency.

Former Tororo Municipality MP Sanjay Tana hailed Etiang.

“Tororo has lost an icon, a uniting factor and the country has lost a statesman given his service to all regimes. So for us as the young generation, we have looking onto his as a role model. He played clean politics without intrigue,” Sanjay said.

Okoth Nyalulu, a prominent administrator from Tororo and former RDC, also paid tribute to the former Prime Minister.

"As Chairman Padhola Elders' Forum, we are greatly saddened by the death of the elder states man, Paul Orono Etyang. Tororo will dearly miss his wise counsel. May the good Lord grant him eternal rest," Nyalulu said.

Etiang as Information minister engages with the New Vision
administration and board in the early 90s. NEW VISION PHOTO

Etiang joins the NRM

When the NRM government took power, Paul Etyang Orono was working as a diplomat with the United Nations in New York. 

He was convinced to return home, managing several ministries including that of Information. His major contribution while he was information minister was the role he played in the liberalization of the media in the early 1990s. 

 "When NRM took power, they came up with an idea of having a government of national reconciliation by appointing ministers on a regional basis. They needed people who knew how to manage government affairs. The policy at that time was to pick ministers on the basis of experience and from Tororo, I was the only one who met their needs," he told New Vision in an interview then.

Orono Etyang will also be remembered for advising  President Yoweri Museveni in 2005 to split Tororo into three districts to strengthen Movement support in the region.

It led to the agitation by Tororo county for their own district, a breakaway from West Budama, and  they also asked to take Tororo town as their headquarters.

The residents of West Budama did not object to Tororo counry becoming a district, but with their headquarters in their main town of Kwapa, not Tororo Town.

Pallisa, Busia and Butaleja had earlier all broken away from Tororo, and gone to form their own headquarters. (READ history of districts in Uganda)

He is the second pillar of the NRM to die in the past fortnight. Second Deputy Prime Minister Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, 85, passed on after struggling with COVID-19 at Mulago earlier this month.

 CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THE ETYANG STORY 

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Etiang (left) with colleagues at Foreign Affairs. He was
acting minister as early as 1973, went to the UN, then returned
in the 80s as minister, then Deputy Prime Minister.
NEW VISION PHOTOS