Video: Where is he? Joseph Olita who played the Rise and Fall of Amin

25th January is a historic day in the republic of Uganda. This is the day the then president Milton Obote was overthrown by Idi Amin Dada; during his reign, the country lost more than half a million people with some mysteriously disappearing. And to show this dark moment under Amin's watch to the current generation a movie which is in public domain was developed. 32 years down the line since the movie was produced, our reporter Annette Akisa caught up with the starring of the movie Joseph Olita who played Amin's part and she filed this story.

RISE AND FALL OF IDI AMIN, Joseph Olita, 1981, (c) International Film Marketing

Rising From Disfigured to Dignified

Traveling at first light in the Child2Youth well used van, hundreds of brightly clothed people danced as a reflection on the window as we sped along.  Sites and smells of Mukono filled my senses as I wondered what was in store my first day in Africa.

Steven Ssenyonjo was filling me in on the hundreds of school children we would be addressing in the makeshift village schools.  Out of the three thousand children we saw that week, one child stood out as special and I could not get her out of my mind.

In a village in Uganda, separated from the other children I noticed a little girl standing by a tree intently watching me.  Being shy, her face was half turned away from me and she held her hand behind her back.  I thought, “this tiny child wants to give me something.”  I called to her and the students became very quiet and their eyes grew large as Steven motioned her forward.

Reluctantly she stood before me and I pulled her arm from behind her back expecting a rock or a flower. I stifled a gasp as I noticed her hand was almost gone, her fingers were nubs and melted together. Terrible scars were on her withered hand and up her arm. I took her little face in my hand and turned it toward me to tell her she did not have to hide her it and was shocked to see the side of her face was all scarred and skin terribly rippled.

Holding my breath, trying to contain my emotions, I picked her up and held her in my arms.  With my hand on her chest I told her I could feel that she was very good on the inside and God had sent me here to tell her she was beautiful on the outside as well and that she did not have to hide her face or her hand any longer.

I asked Steven what happened to her.  She had fallen in a fire, as many children do, and was lucky to be alive.  Because she is  “damaged” she is treated badly and no one cares about her future.  I said, “keep track of her and we will find her a sponsor.”

After we arrived home to California, Steven told us in a letter “a miracle happened that day.”  Unknowingly I had honored her by picking her up and holding her and that gesture had elevated her from “damaged” to very special.

Dianna is now sponsored, being very bright she is top of her class and is going to be a Doctor and help “damaged” children like herself.

To find our how you can help our children fulfill their dream of going to school contact: Steven Ssenyonjo
Child2Youth Foundation
stevesse59@gmail.com

East Africa Agribusiness Awards 2013 winners announced

Focus on East Africa yesterday announced the winners of the East Africa Agribusiness Awards 2013, which took place during the East Africa Agribusiness Investment Summit in Kampala, Uganda.

These prestigious Awards, which were sponsored by aBi Trust, celebrate excellence and best practices in East African agribusiness. The awards recognise achievements across the main agriculture sectors and reward the personalities and institutions transforming East Africa’s agribusiness climate. This year’s awards were held in collaboration with the World Bank, the European Union delegation in Uganda, the Uganda Government and the Eastern Africa Farmers’ Federation among others.

Commenting on the Award winners, Edward Katende, Managing Director, Focus on East Africa, said: “We are delighted to have received such great interest in these awards from both small and big players committed to showcasing their success stories. The calibre and innovation of the winning individuals and institutions will go a long way towards establishing East African agribusiness as an attractive and competitive investible asset class. The Award winners represent leading personalities and institutions within Africa’s agribusiness industry with several projects taking top honours”.

Mr. Sanjay Sethi won the prestigious Africa Food Prize 2013 for his noteworthy contributions in helping create more food for the poor on the continent. He has implemented various end to end supply chain integration projects for food and agriculture and has brought up small holder farming communities in Africa. As CEO in Food and Beverages at Export Trading Group, Mr. Sethi is a dominant voice on the African Agribusiness and Food Security agenda.

The Agribusiness Investment Initiative of the Year went to Agri-Vie for its innovative approach to supporting the development of the agribusiness sector across East Africa. Agri-Vie has invested over US$ 75 million in East Africa and has spread across East Africa and into the Horn of Africa. This investment encompasses a much needed facility for technical assistance and SME-led projects. By May 2013, Agri-Vie had created a total of 6,132 employment opportunities for salaried, waged and seasonal employees in East Africa.

Export Trading Group was recognised for its continuing efforts in the agribusiness sector, and was awarded the Agribusiness Leader of the Year for its investment of over US$150millions along the supply chain to enhance and develop the commercial capabilities of the region and the African continent at large. The Best Initiative in Support of SMEs was awarded to Elgon Kenya Limited for its efforts in positioning itself as the agricultural one stop shop for agricultural oriented SMEs through an array of products it offers from land preparation, to farm management, post-harvest and packaging.

The Export Award went to Rwenzori Commodities Limited whose tea is exported across the region and beyond. The company was recognised for its efforts in promoting intra-regional trade. The Agribusiness Initiative of the Year was awarded to the Uganda Crane Creameries Cooperative Union which has created a ready and sustainable market to over 18,000 member farmers among others. Agriculture Finance Initiative of the Year was awarded to Root Capital Inc and on accepting the Award, Richard Tugume, Loan Portfolio Manager, Root Capital dedicated this award to the company’s loan customers in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, DRC, and Zimbabwe.

The Youth for Sustainable Agribusiness Leader Award went to Equator Seeds. Total Land Care’s Viphya Project walked away with the Environment Action in Agribusiness Award. The Cooperative Union of the Year Award went to National Union of Coffee Agribusinesses and Farm Enterprises (NUCAFE) while the Appropriate Technology Award went to Agro-Genetics Technologies Limited. Comcraft Group Chairman, Dr Manu Chandaria, was recognised for his continuing efforts in industrializing East Africa and for this he scooped the Industrialist in Support of Agribusiness Award.

 

About Focus on East Africa

Focus on East Africa is a leading foreign direct investment consulting firm offering strategic advice, start-up assistance, consumer insights and capital advisory, to leading East African and international companies, operating in the Finance, Food & Agriculture , Hospitality and Real Estate sectors. We help organisations make connections, communicate their proposition and engage with Each African businesses. Full details can be found at www.focusoneastafrica.com

 

Obama and Castro shake hands, Zuma humiliated at Mandela memorial

By Stella Mapenzauswa and Steve Holland

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama shook hands with Cuba's Raul Castro at a memorial for Nelson Mandela on Tuesday, a rare gesture between the leaders of two ideological opponents that reflected the anti-apartheid hero's spirit of reconciliation.

But the peace and harmony did not stretch to South African President Jacob Zuma, whom the crowd at the rain-soaked Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg booed and jeered as he prepared to give his closing address.

 

Mandela's two widows unite at Soweto memorial service as Presidents, Hollywood stars and supermodels rub shoulders with Mugabe and Raul Castro in historic gathering of world leaders

[caption id="attachment_20861" align="alignleft" width="803"]
Mr Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Mandela Madikizela (far left, main image) and his widow Graca Machel (far right, main image) were joined by hundreds of world leaders and celebrities including U.S. President Barack Obama (top right) and supermodel Naomi Campbell (bottom right) to commemorate his life. The ceremony started an hour late at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg (top left) amid pouring rain (bottom left), but that did not stop joyous singing by thousands of ordinary South Africans ahead of the service.[/caption]

Mandela's death on Thursday at the age of 95 has diverted attention from a slew of corruption scandals in Zuma's administration, while underscoring the gulf between South Africa's first black president, a towering figure of the 20th century, and its fourth.

"Mandela had a vision. Mandela lived that vision," said Funeka Gingcara-Sithole, 31, who was in the crowd. "But what Zuma speaks, he doesn't live. He should do the honorable thing and resign."

Zuma's reception was a marked contrast to the rock-star welcome for Obama, one of about 90 world leaders bidding farewell to Mandela in Johannesburg.

As he bounded onto the podium, Obama extended his hand to communist leader Castro, who shook it and smiled back.

The only previous known handshake between U.S. and Cuban presidents since the island's 1959 revolution was at the United Nations in 2000, when Raul's brother Fidel shook the hand of then-U.S. president Bill Clinton in a chance encounter.

TOUGH WORDS

Obama's gesture of friendship did not prevent him delivering tough words to leaders who, he said, invoked Mandela's struggle against oppression while quashing opposition and dissent at home.

"There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba's legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality," he said, speaking yards away from Castro and Chinese Vice-President Li Yuanchao.

"There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba's struggle for freedom but do not tolerate dissent from their own people," he added, using Mandela's clan name.

The crowd's reaction to Zuma - many also gave the thumbs down sign or rolled their wrists in a soccer substitution gesture - is a worrying sign for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) as it heads towards an election in six months.

Although Africa's biggest economy has undergone huge change since the end of white-minority rule in 1994, it remains one of the world's most unequal societies, plagued by poverty, crime and unemployment.

Even though its support is waning, the 101-year-old ANC is almost certain to keep power in next year's vote. Party spokesman Jackson Mthembu dismissed the jeers as a "little blot" marring an otherwise successful event.

"It came as a bolt to all of us. We were quite surprised," he told ENCA television. "The ANC thinks that this would not have been the best platform to convey such views."

Coinciding with U.N. Human Rights Day, the memorial at the stadium - scene of the 2010 World Cup final - was the centerpiece of a week of mourning for Mandela, who was revered across the world as a symbol of reconciliation and forgiveness.

SINGING IN THE RAIN

He shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with South Africa's last white president, F.W. de Klerk.

"He was more than one of the greatest leaders of our time. He was one of our greatest teachers," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the crowd. "His baobab tree has left deep roots that reach across the planet."

Since Mandela's death, Johannesburg has been blanketed in cloud and torrential rain - a sign, according to African culture, of an esteemed elder passing on and being welcomed into the afterlife by his ancestors.

The atmosphere before the ceremony was one of joy and celebration, more akin to the opening game of the World Cup.

Whites and blacks danced, waved flags, blew plastic "vuvuzela" trumpets and sang anthems from the long struggle against apartheid. The packed carriages of commuter trains heading to the ground swayed side-to-side with the rhythm.

"I was here in 1990 when Mandela was freed and I am here again to say goodbye," said Beauty Pule, 51. "I am sure Mandela was proud of the South Africa he helped create. It's not perfect but no one is perfect, and we have made great strides."

The celebrities in attendance included singers Bono and Peter Gabriel, film star Charlize Theron, model Naomi Campbell and Virgin boss Richard Branson. Francois Pienaar, captain of the 1995 rugby World Cup-winning Springbok side, was also in the stands.

After Tuesday's event, Mandela's remains were to lie in state for three days at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where he was sworn in as president in 1994.

He will be buried on Sunday in Qunu, his ancestral home in the rolling hills of the Eastern Cape province, 700 km (450 miles) south of Johannesburg. Only a few world leaders are due to attend what will be a more intimate family affair.

(Additional reporting by David Dolan and Peroshni Govender; Writing by Pascal Fletcher and Ed Cropley; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Kevin Liffey)

Published by yahoo

Uganda MPs approve one trillion loan for airport upgrade

Due to increased traffic of bigger air crafts requiring modern facilities, MPs on the physical infrastructure committee have agreed to a request for external funding to upgrade Entebbe and selected airports to international standards.

In their report after visiting several aerodromes like Soroti, Kasese, Arua and Gulu, the MPs recommended a major upgrade of runways, taxi-ways and aprons at about US$448m (about sh1trillion).

“Africa has the potential for air traffic growth in terms of passengers and cargo. Leading airlines are also increasingly accessing Africa’s air transport market and several of them have acquired new big aircraft like airbus A380 which have necessitated upgrade of infrastructure, facilities and technologies by airports,” according to the committee report, informed by a concept paper by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

“There is also increased competition among airports for the growing traffic in Africa, with several airports undertaking expansion work like Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya, Julius Nyerere in Tanzania, Bole in Addis Ababa and Kigali. These have necessitated the expansion and upgrade,” the report reads.

“As passengers transiting through East Africa continue to grow together with rapidly changing airport technologies, a new passenger terminal complex is required. Most of the existing, terminal systems are already saturated and the expansion that can be dome on these sub-systems is limited,” CAA officials led by CEO Rama Makuza, said.

The committee chaired by Kiboga East MP Samuel Ssemugaba also sought to know how much money the authority was benefitting from the UN mission in

 

Congo (MONUC) use of CAA facilities in Entebbe, to which officials said MONUC had defaulted on payments amounting to over sh38b in user fees.

 

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Ending donor dependency in Uganda - Transforming a charity to a Social Enterprise

Kampala has approximately 30 markets which provide employment to nearly half a million and 50% are women. Most of these women are migrants from all parts of the country who come to the urban areas seeking greener pastures. Unfortunately they face a very difficult life. One common challenge to most of the female market vendors is the fact that they are poor and many of them have ended up taking on petty jobs like food vending (delivery of cooked meals to the customers), selling of alcohol and running mobile hair salons among others. Another common factor is the fact that most of them are single parents, usually to a number of children each  sired by  a different man. Because of this, the burden is huge and they are unable to make ends meet, and often end up as sex workers to supplement their meagre income and support their families. Many have contracted HIV/AIDS coupled with other sexually transmitted diseases because of this risky behaviour.

 Poverty is also major cause of domestic violence and violation of the rights of poor urban market children. Due to poverty, market children live inhumane lives deprived of their basic rights as children. From Ka Tutandike’s experience in the community, the lack of space often constrains mothers in urban markets forcing them to deny their children the right to play.

The markets are congested with stagnant garbage and very poor sanitation. Additionally, children are exposed to abusive language among adults and commonly witness their mothers being sexually harassed by male market vendors. Often, the mothers lack help to care for children at home and cannot afford the cost of the day care centres. Also due to the nature of market vending occupations, the women often wake up with children in the early hours of the morning (by 4:00 am) to go to the market and stay long hours (up to 10:00pm) with children in the harsh environments of the markets. Some of the women have to move with their goods from one market to another with children on their backs and the goods on their heads. It is a dilemma for these poor mothers as they strive to strike a balance between child care and earning an income to sustain their families. Given the fact that most of the mothers are single women, the struggle to meet the basic needs of their families is paramount but causes both the children and mothers to live a stressful and very demanding livelihood.

From donor dependency to real economic empowerment.
A small local charity, Ka Tutandike Uganda (KTU) has since 2006 been providing community-based early childhood services to children newborn to 5 years who spend their days in the markets with their mothers who are market vendors trying to eke out a living. Under its programme, KTU was able to carry out an integrated approach to early childhood care and learning, wholesome enough to meet the needs of the young children. However over the years Ka Tutandike realized that while provision of this form of psychosocial support was beneficial to the children in the short term, the mothers/ families remained impoverished due to the reasons highlighted above and could not sustain the gains of the programme without the direct intervention of the charity. Therefore in 2012, Ka Tutandike Uganda introduced a new strategy to empower the women to start income generating activities in order to supplement their meager incomes. This was done specifically with a group of women vendors in Nakawa market, called the UMOJA women’s group. Previously dependent on piecemeal donor aid from the charity, the women backed by technical support from Ka Tutandike, began creating fashionable jewelry using paper. They started making sales, getting a group income of at least an average of UGX 100,000 daily. Soon they formed a savings circle where each of them deposited their savings to the treasurer on a weekly basis. A loan scheme soon followed and the ladies had somewhere friendly to run to in case of need. Today, 300 children of the Nakawa UMOJA women’s group have enrolled and remained in school, transitioning from one stage to another. The group has since used their savings to purchase a piece of land at worth Ugx 4M shillings, and have plans to build a vocational training school for girls to acquire skills for development.

This success of the UMOJA women’s group showed us that with a guidance and training, poor communities can actually transit from abject poverty to prosperity. KTU has since reviewed its strategic direction to replicate the success story of the UMOJA women. The programme strategy now includes both the charity approach to increase access to services for early childhood development in the market places and the Social Enterprise approach to build the capacity of vulnerable women and youth including those with disabilities for social and economic empowerment.

Under the charity component, the programme partners with the local communities to provide spaces for day-care facilities within the markets and ensure protection, provide improved nutrition for the children and stimulate early learning through appropriate techniques for young children that spend the day time in the markets with their mothers. The programme also partners with nearby health facilities to provide immunisation services against communicable diseases, treatment for illness and referral for more specialised services where required. In addition, the programme trains 750 mothers and caregivers with skills for positive parenting, child protection, nutrition and selected mothers are trained in the management of the day-care centres.

Under the Social Enterprise for Vulnerable Women and youth, KTU programme targets mothers of young children through ‘parent support groups’ in target markets and selected groups of other vulnerable women and youths including those with disabilities outside the markets to empower them with skills and capacity to diversify into new sustainable income generating activities. Apart from the skills, KTU also provides low interest loans to the groups to procure appropriate equipment and materials for production. KTU also supports the groups to register as cooperative businesses engaged in the supply and sale of quality products. KTU also targets markets on behalf of the groups with the aim of getting them to sign supplier agreements/contracts with the target groups.  

Recently, KTU participated in the Project Inspire competition led by UN Women Singapore and the Master Card Foundation and won an award worth $10,000 for the most ‘inspirational project’ - to introduce beekeeping as a sustainable source of income for 100 women and girls with disabilities. The project will be shortly piloted in two districts of Luweero and Masaka with a plan for replication in other parts of the country in the future. Under this project, KTU will train the beneficiaries in bee keeping as a business, supply them with bee hives to set up their individual Apiaries, and provide them with technical support to manage the bee hives and harvesting of the honey; They will also be trained on how to use the by - products like bees wax to make soap and candles; and also get training in marketing and finance management. The beneficiaries will then be linked to different markets including the recently established Honey Processing Unit at the KTU offices where the honey will be processed and packaged for the for the larger market. All the proceeds will then be used to finance KTU’ then provision of early childhood programme in the Markets.   

The partnerships being developed between Ka Tutandike and the various groups, will definitely see vulnerable women and youths gain new skills and increased income which will then lead to improved livelihoods. Ka Tutandike too stands to gain as the organization will get a return on its investment and thereby ensure a sustainable programme to benefit even more needy children facing urban poverty in Uganda.

Susan Kisitu
Chief Executive Officer
Ka Tutandike Uganda (www.katutandike.org)
alibakirabo@yahoo.com

Barbara Birungi on encouraging more women to become entrepreneurs

frica needs more women role models in business and technology to encourage more young women to aspire to become entrepreneurs.

 

Barbara Birungi, director of Hive Colab and founder of Women in Technology Uganda

This is according to Barbara Birungi, founder of Women in Technology Uganda (WITU), an organisation that trains, mentors and supports women in technology and entrepreneurship.

Birungi, an entrepreneur herself, said she typically walks into business and tech networking functions where 95% of the entrepreneurs are men and 5% are women.

“We need to create role models first and foremost to build up confidence because I think that is one of the key things that stops women from starting up [businesses].”

She added that it is generally more difficult for women to access finance for their entrepreneurial ventures. One reason for this is African traditions where women typically did not own property.

“And when it comes to going to banks to access finance, even if you have a brilliant idea, bankers are thinking, ‘what do you have to give us?’”

While Birungi said this is beginning to change, with more women owning property in Uganda, a large percentage of women are still raised believing that to be a success, they have to be a good wife and mother. This mentality can discourage women at an early age from aspiring to have careers.

“So the [difference between] 20 years of being told how [a women] needs to be so that their husband is pleased with them, to someone else who has 20 years of being told they have to provide – I think that is where the problem starts,” explained Birungi, adding that some parents chose to invest in their son’s education rather than in their daughter’s.

Birungi advises women entrepreneurs to build a network of supporters around them. “Start yourself off with people who believe in what you are trying to do. Before you sell whatever it is you want to sell, first believe in it yourself.”

The role of technology and entrepreneurship

Birungi told How we made it in Africa that increasing the number of women in technology and entrepreneurship not only has the potential to empower women, but affect the social and economic development of Africa too.

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