SNAKE IN A POT

In a few weeks I will turn 46.   Leading up to this birthday I want to write about what I have learnt in the last 20 years.   For most of my birthdays, I take time off to write about life experiences from my perspective.   This is another –probably boring one from me – bear with me.    In July 1996, I left Makerere University after squeezing the most out of the institution – in terms of free accommodation.    Unknown to some of you my friends, I was a very proud and dedicated member of Makerere Flukers Association (MUFA). Once I joined Makerere Univesity in October of 1991, I did not leave my hall of residence – the great Mitchell Hall - until July 1996.   Most of the holidays I spent on campus were stories of delicate and protracted negotiations with the Hall Warden and/or Custodian.   Sometimes surviving being thrown out of the Hall was down to ingenious ways of endurance like being able to sleep in a different room every night.  ...

I am one of those who chose to continue with their work normally despite all the buzz and excitement in bars, offices and social media generated by the US elections.  My position is simple.  Unlike UK where I am a part-time resident, it does not matter to me who occupies the US highest political office.  I also highly doubt that it matters to my home country Uganda, who the US President is.  My belief is that the US as a country has negligible interest in our affairs.  If they do have a foreign policy, it is probably a standing (and generalized) policy towards all small nations like ours situated in the middle of Africa - and that policy is simply to ensure that no body anti-US establishes a base here.  Period.  A particular individual elected as US president will not influence how much investment comes to Uganda or how much technology transfer there should be. Not being bothered by the excitement does not mean I was not following t...

A few months back, I watched the UK parliament as Prime Minister Cameron faced the MPs for the first time the publication of the Panama Papers.   Earlier over the weekend the PM had said that he ‘could have and should have handled’ the row that resulted from the revelation that his father had held some off-shore accounts ‘better’.   If he thought that the statement would dampen the mood a bit and spare him the wrath from the house, he quickly found out how wrong he had been on resuming his eat.   MP after MP from the opposition Labour party stood up and attacked him for failing to grasp the widespread rage felt across the UK. During his statement the PM defended his past investments in offshore holdings and also defended the practice of avoiding inheritance tax whereby parents give money to their children before they die – and I think he was within his right to do so.    What baffled me however, is the way his colleagues rounded up on those who demanded fo...

Since United Kingdom shockingly voted to leave the European Union on Thursday 23 rd June, many Ugandans (used this sense to mean Ugandans who were naturally born in Uganda and reside in Uganda) have waded into this debate some without facts.     It is typical for Ugandans to engage in current (and usually international) debates for which they have no facts about because it endears them to those listening that they are very knowledgeable, well informed and travelled.    Our national papers don’t help either because sometimes their Editorials make arguments based on sentiments rather than facts.    When I read in the Editorial of one of the dailies that ‘a vote for REMAIN would be a vote for the common man’ I knew then that the problem is not only the average Ugandan but possibly even those who ought to be informed are not on top of the subject.   As a Ugandan resident in UK, I would like to say that I understand why those who ticked LEAVE mad...

Today, we celebrate my daughter's birthday another milestone in my little girl's life!   For me this is a very special one because in exactly 3 weeks from today, I will be joining her at the south coast of England to receive her Bachelor's degree in Interior Architecture.   Rachael is a very special girl. She is very talented, bright and in many ways reminds me of myself.   Always jolly and cheerful that you can mistake her convivial behavior for naughtiness or insubordination.   She was probably the most challenging character in her teen age of all people that have gone through our hands.   She pushes boundaries in all aspects of life and many times you have to contend with her.   Unfortunately, she doesn't want to work that hard in academics probably because she knows she is brighter than the average person.   It is exactly for that reason that I almost dropped off my seat when she announced that she was going to pursue a career in architecture. ...