Category Archives: Politics

The Government of Uganda decides to cordon off two leading publishing houses in Uganda and the usual suspect Monitor Publications Ltd (MPL) happens to be one of them.

First the Police

First and foremost, it is a shame to hear the PR machinery of the Uganda Police Force attribute this act to the need to search for an ‘Original Letter’ that the now in apparent exile General Sejusa sent to these media houses for publication. In a message on their facebook page, the Uganda Police had this to say; “Uganda Police, on May 15, 2013, received a Court Order, from the Chief Magistrates Court Nakawa, requiring Daily Monitor journalists to avail and provide the original copy of a letter and other related documents, purportedly authored by Gen. David Sejusa (a.k.a. Tinyefuza), and the source of the said missive. The said documents are to help police investigate criminal offences.”

Now in this day and age of digital communication, does one need to have a hard copy as a way of authoring a document or proof of authoring one? Afande Kayihura and his boys are facing the grave challenge of trying to play Palace politics in a digitally challenged institution where competence has been built along the tried and tested physical commodities. It is the reason there is a classic joke of this official who went to a Police station in Kampala and the following exchange took place:

Official: “Afande (Policeman), I want to report a case of my data that was stolen.”

Afande: “Ehhh !!! Where did they steal the data?”

Official: “From my Computer.”

Afande: “But you have the computer. How can the data be stolen then?”

Official: “They hacked into my PC, copied and then erased it off.”

Afande: “Acked? What is that? How much data did they steal?”

Official: “An entire folder of files”

Afande: “Then go and buy new box files.”

[At this point, the Official realized that he had a bigger problem on his hands and just gave up the attempt to pursue justice]

Now if this is the kind of Digital preparedness behind our elite Police Force, I don’t get surprised when their PR machinery goes ahead to make another announcement on Facebook that; “We shall continue 2 occupy & search Monitor and Red Pepper premises until we retrieve the said letter of Gen.Sejusa”. The Electronic Transactions Act of 2011 clearly empowers the courts to recognize electronic sources of information as evidence. Could it be that the custodians of the law are not comfortable with electronic documentation and hence prefer the tried and tested Hard Print paper?

Now to The Monitor Publications

All this aside, I do greatly sympathise with the Monitor Publication (MPL) and its staff who are spending time idling yet they would be making money the way they know best. A day off the streets has lots of implications not only to the staff and business owners but also external stakeholders like advertisers.

I have known MPL for being a victim of Government’s high handedness all these years since they began operations. That way, I have always taken it for granted that they have mutated and learnt to survive against all odds.

What I am now beginning to suspect is that they seem to have developed a new hobby and that is enjoying the limelight of being perceived as victims of an unjust system. For a newspaper of their nature with the heavy muscle of the Agha Khan behind them to have its operations grind to a halt as a result of an office siege is akin to someone giving an excuse of not communicating because their Post Office is closed. Gone are the days when physical premises ruled in terms of media publishing. With all the alternative approaches to Disaster Recovery that I believe an elite company like MPL should be subscribing to already, there should be no way for their operations to be totally halted like they seem to have.

Failure to get a copy on the streets? A lesser-known Red Pepper has been able to switch to Guerilla Publishing tactics and has remained in production. How about the Daily Monitor?

Since I know the kind of brains behind the IT systems in MPL and the Nation Media Group, I have no doubt that the capacity to overcome such a siege using electronic means exists. My observations lead me to think that;

1. Some one is simply not eager enough to do his job to its fullest and ensure that the employer (MPL) gets value for money, or
2. The MPL is just happy with the status-quo since it wins them sympathy and hence potential growth in subscriber base.

If both my observations above are wrong, then the only other reason is simple and clear. The Monitor Publication and Police Force are living in the Digital Stone Age and need a lot of soul searching to join the rest of the world.

In the New Vision of February 11^th 2013, a one Kintu Nyago referred to as an NRM Cadre under the title ‘Mulwana’s Success a Result of NRM’s 27 Years of Peace’  has tickled me into trying to put sense back to where it belongs.

For long I have tolerated the lullabies that many of the government functionaries keep singing for us telling us how the NRM Government has been the best thing to happen to this country since the cure for Syphilis was found. While I selectively believe this assertion, I find the extraordinary lust to spring onto any opportunity to heap unnecessary praise on the NRM Government in Uganda by obviously over zealous cadres very embarrassing especially considering that some of them known to me have had saner backgrounds of logical reasoning prior to being engulfed in their current roles.

In the article, the author kicks off by stating that “…  most commentators have ignored the fact that Mulwana’s success was premised on the 27 years of President Museveni and the NRM’s good Governance.” The key word I noted here is ‘Premise’ which if looked up gives the contextual implication that all the late James Mulwana achieved was a result of the NRM laying a foundation for him to do what he did.

I urge Mr. Nyago to take time off and either read a biography on the late industrialist (if any) or use the seemingly efficient Intelligence agencies at his disposal to do a thorough background check on this fallen hero. A quick internet search would have saved him the embarrassment of uttering such unfounded falsehoods with a jelly-jam foundation.

Mr. Nyago further asserts that; “Museveni leadership to date, reflected stability and certainty. It established and supported democratic constitutionalism and the rule of law, and set up market friendly policies and an enabling developmental state. All these shaped Mulwana’s success …”

Now to the classroom of Entrepreneurship Mr. Kintu Nyago. It is a fact that Mr. James Mulwana began plying his trade when Uganda was still an infant nation. Entrepreneurs are ideas people who transform the abstract into reality. From the time he is alleged to have started honing his skills as a bouncer at a night club, dabbled into trade (initially petty and later serious) got the Chloride Battery dealership into Uganda, set up the Nice House of Plastics was the NRM even on the heavenly agenda?

This nation might have been going through all those tortuous times but that didn’t imply that the late industrialist was not already on his success path. I personally have a memorabilia of a Nice Bowl that my mom bought for me as a 10 year old which I used for drinking porridge since it always allowed me to take more than 2 cups at once and I made ten years before the lovely NRM you are praising came into power.

Genuine success in business is not a one night affair (aka Kagwirawo). It can not be attributed to one or two or only three factors. In most cases it is a mish mash of activities, decisions, events and interactions that lead one along this path. While the NRM you obviously unreservedly praise for obvious reasons could have come in at a latter stage, it only contributed to a career that was already in full throttle. Mr. James Mulwana was already a winner, he had discovered the magic formula and was marching towards his destiny. Even if the NRM hadn’t come to power, the late James Mulwana would still have achieved all this because no individual or group of individuals would have stopped what he had set his sights upon. It is the main reason he weathered the Amin and Obote era storms.

So, my humble advice to you and also speaking as an entrepreneur, please take time and find the kind of lullabies that are suitable for advancing the visibility of your seemingly good party but save us the entrepreneurs the embarrassment of being all looked at as NRM creations. Some of us may be but not all of us are. I am sure the next thing we are about to hear is how the NRM is the premise behind the success of Sir. Gordon Wavahmunno, Mr. Adriko, Mr. Aga Ssekalaala among others. While at it, whenever tempted, make these assertions when these personalities are still with us so that we can get the truth from the horse’s mouth.

Otherwise I wish you the best with your career as an NRM cadre as I retreat back to what I do best.

Long Live James Mulwana (R.I.P). You were one true industrialist that I really believed in. There aren’t that many on my list by global standards.

Twitter: @wirejames