In October 2011, the Ugandan government sent Ingrid Turinawe to the infamous Luzira Prison–Uganda’s Guantánamo–for the treasonable act of walking to work. This week, the State, again, attacked Turinawe and other women activists for the “crime” of standing, speaking out, driving, and generally being. Big mistake.
Uganda, now you have touched the women
April 23, 2012 By 8 Comments
Uganda’s Guantánamo
October 31, 2011 By 7 Comments
By Dan Moshenberg
Last week Ingrid Turinawe, the leader of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Women’s League, in Uganda, was sent to the infamous Luzira Prison.
Everywhere one looks, there are “infamous” prisons. For the United States, for example, Guantánamo, with its regime of torture and its regimen of violence, is but the tip of a national iceberg. Every country has at least one. In Uganda, it’s Luzira Prison.
Music Break / Sylvester & Ssavoo
October 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The video for Kampala rappers Sylvester & Ssavoo’s “Akaseera” comes with a laid back groove. I am still celebrating Ugandan independence.
Via Silkamb.
The “colorful” women of Karamoja
September 23, 2011 By 2 Comments
By Dan Moshenberg
Somebody call Paul Gauguin. The site of exotic exploration of bare naked, happy “backward”, “traditional”, and yet, magically, beautiful women has moved from Tahiti to Karamoja, in northeastern Uganda. According to media responses to the exhibition, “Colours of Karamoja”, held a couple of weeks ago at the MishMash Gallery, in Kampala, the women of Karamoja “radiate energy and power” with their “love of bright colours and physical adornment.”
But the women of Karamoja are a bit more than a blank palette on which bright colors are splayed. A lot more, actually.
Helen of Kampala
June 27, 2011 By 5 Comments
I’ve been wondering when The New York Times would do an analysis piece on the political protests in Uganda and what angle they would take. They have now. Reporter Josh Kron (is he new in the region?) writes that at the heart of the political crisis is a personal contest between Life President Yoweri Museveni and Kizza Besigye over a woman. Besigye’s wife. Seriously. The piece is build around this:
[Museveni's critics say] the feud is personal, tied to the president’s relationship with Mr. Besigye and his wife, Winnie Byanyima, whom Mr. Museveni has known since childhood and, many say, once wanted to marry.
…
Mr. Besigye said he also met Ms. Byanyima [in the early 1980s while serving in Mr Museveni's rebel army]. She was a young rebel officer close to Mr. Museveni in the bush while his wife and children were living in Sweden. Years later, Mr. Besigye and Ms. Byanyima would marry.
Mr. Besigye said that at times Mr. Museveni and Ms. Byanyima were involved in a romantic relationship, and that as a doctor he treated both of them, gradually becoming a trusted counsel to the rebel leader. After Mr. Museveni triumphed and became president in 1986, Mr. Besigye was named minister of internal affairs. [They later fell out.]
Forcing Museveni from Power
April 23, 2011 By 5 Comments
Journalist Pascal Zachary–on his blog Africa Works–argues that the protests in Uganda that started April 4, are strategically “ill-timed” and that opposition leader Kizza Besigye (shot in the hand, and in jail at present), while brave, can only take the movement against Life President Yoweri Museveni so far:
The [current] protests seem ill-timed. They should have come before the national election, not afterwards. Besigye is brave and consistent in his criticisms of Museveni’s cronyism, and excessive spending on military equipment. Yet he lacks strong tactical instincts and his failure to galvanize the diverse opponents of Museveni into a overwhelming political movement indicates that perhaps the time has come for his to step aside and allow a younger, more creative opposition leader to tackle the enormous task of forcing Museveni from power.
Read the rest here.
Save the Museum (in Uganda)
March 8, 2011 By 3 Comments
Just about this time last year, Uganda lost a priceless part of its cultural heritage when the Kasubi Tombs were burnt down. The tombs were a UNESCO World Heritage Site and were built in 1882 – the burial place of four Buganda kings.
Now it seems another cultural site faces destruction. Global Voices reports on a campaign in Uganda to save the Uganda Museum, founded in 1908.
Being Gay in Africa
February 26, 2011 By 1 Comment
The problem is the way I dress. Everyone is asking, ‘is that a boy or a girl?’ In clubs, when ladies can get in for free, they push us, tell us we are not ladies and that we have to pay. They scream: ‘Is she boy or a girl? Is that man or a woman?’ As tom-boy, everyone looks at you.
Statement by Bloggers on the Murder of David Kato
February 25, 2011 By 1 Comment
“We the undersigned wish to express our deep sadness at the murder of Ugandan human rights defender David Kato on 26th January 2011. David’s activism began in the 1980s as an Anti-Apartheid campaigner where he first expressed a strong passion and conviction for freedom and justice which continued throughout his life. David was a founding member of Sexual Minorities Uganda where he first served as Board member and until his death as Litigation and Advocacy Officer and he was also a member of Integrity Uganda, a faith-based advocacy organization.
David was a man of vision and courage. One of his major concerns was the growth of religious fundamentalism in Uganda and across the continent and how this would impact on the rights of ordinary citizens including lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered / Gender Non-Comforming and Intersex [LGBTIQ] persons. Years later his concerns were justified when the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill backed by religious fundamentalists was outlined in 2009. David was also an extremely brave man who had been imprisoned and beaten severely because of his sexual orientation and for speaking publicly against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
