Make-over in the making

Top notch CEO's and brand strategists sit in the boardrooms of their companies thinking of new products that will most likely or not at the creat a shift in the market. In similar but not the same move, THE ANAGRAM with its one man board has made a strategic decision to move to a new location. 

The reason for this strategic move was probably highlighted in this post. This will most likely be the last post with the next post at the new home. The board of The Anagram is grateful for all the support offered by readers and for all the comments. They are grateful to Blogger for the service rendered over the years. 
Content on www.mumakeith.com  will be uploaded in the next few days. 
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Listen; the trees and water are talking.

The water slaps the edges of a dry concrete wall creating a mark that slowly fades away after a few minutes. Every minute there is light water wave slapping the same wall. Inside the wall, men in orange overcoats and plastic like looking covers on their heads. Armed with wheelbarrows, iron bars, metals and steel the men work to add concrete for the wall to thicken and strengthen. Like little worker ants down below the ground that slowly build their empires creating castles to live. Obviously the forces of human nature trample on them to distort the way their way of life. They are the small ones and because man is such a bully, his wrath slowly drives the little ants away and they simply cannot retaliate. The ants only once in awhile invade peoples’ homes and sift through tonnes of crumbs. 

These ants will soon be deprived of simple vegetation 

The men with overcoats have are struggling other human beings happy. The men with their shovels, spades, cranes and caterpillars scooped land to divert the natural course of the river. This is a river with history and serves over five countries. The needs of human beings just like the ants are growing thus the utilisation of the vast resource to meet their needs. Lighting, computers, Smartphones, coolers, gaming consoles and movies are the needs. The men have to succumb to the pressure of human nature that has endless demands that are mostly likely never going to be satisfied. Even industrialisation has its demands, energy, energy and energy. Need I repeat that? The water has made its voice heard by refusing to increase but reducing. It has refused to evaporate and be part of a more stable ecosystem. And who is complaining of drought, scorched earth, dry water wells and shrinking rivers. Water is talking but no-one is hearing as the myth is that “water doesn’t talk.” 

This is a well in my village that no-longer fills to this level because rainfall has rebelled against us

In a small forest sweaty bare chested men with large see-saws singing happy life songs as they cut trees into small timber to sale on the local market. As the moon slowly sets in, trucks exit the forest with timber to sale to the real-estate dealers in the big town. On the other side, Charcoal prices have been souring making it lucrative business for a population where economic hardships have become a headline in the local media. A fertile nation like Uganda with over 30million (It is more than this) people, then their energy demands need to be matched. Soil erosion, mudslides, exhaustion, roofs flying off houses, unpredicted but harsh weather patterns and drought is the voice of tree talking to a dead end. 

Some of the trees planted by our family in the village

Little known to the active men and human nature is that their actions will be met with vast environmental misgivings. The energy demands by human nature often growing and depleting natural resources like water and forests have vast consequences mostly unknown or that they have no control over. The conflict between energy demands and the eminent challenges of Climate Change however that notwithstanding this crossroad has created more confusion than solutions. Solar Energy and other energy sources that clearly less harmless to our environment to mitigate the likely challenges of climate change, are still viewed by some as weak. Unknown to many, the despair of some, the environment has already reacted with changing weather patterns but what is more concerning, is that I see no urge or oomph to avoid the wrath of a rebelling environment.

The young (backspace) scribe

 Its a rainy morning. The muddy road from the house is like a potato ground yet one must find his way to the office. No matter the weather, situation and trouble, one must be available for work. After a horrific and dangerous motorcycle ride, one arrives at the office, opens the morning papers, reads emails, replies and dashes off to meet a source. The source will in one way or another come be late. Since the source is late then all other daily appointments need to be adjusted. 

After meeting the source, it’s time to make a few phone calls to verify and give the story some more flesh. The calls will be turned down or endlessly referred to someone else.

 “Call me back in 20mins' and then 20mins later 'I will call you back'. And they won't. So you have to go through the same process again and again until a response appears. 

For others you will send an email and they will ignore or bluntly tell you “I did not receive the email” or “I have been too busy to reply” yet they hold fancy phones that they flash around in public. 

Others will tell you how they cannot respond but will be quick to send you information on how their company has donated one computer (used) to a school. Huh!!! 

 By the time one decides to stretch, its 1pm which typically lunch time. By this time you have out spent yourself in terms of airtime (Blame the telecom companies), transport and drinking water. The day is more or less halfway so you dive into endless research material. There is so much information to read and only a few hours later its 3pm. It’s time for to some event/press briefing. You arrive on time but the event starts a after an hour (4:30pm). At the event you are showered with corporate jargon and numbers. You ask a question and it’s ignored or “Please note, that question is not relevant to this event.” 

To make matters worse, you are "bull shitted" (Not sure whether this word is formal) and taken for granted by the PR agency. Take note that after a few days your phone will be buzzing off the hook, “where is my story?” someone from the PR agency will stalk your phone endlessly, yet you had not made promises. 

6pm and it’s that time when people are going home. The editorial deadline is approaching and there is nothing to show the editor. 

You ignore your meeting friends for the evening and decide to get some work done.  You type away on the laptop and by the time 1,000 words are completed, its 8pm. Its dark outside and you are the only one in the office. Time to close-up, the cleaners have walked in the office.  Time to shift the office your one roomed home. 

As the office is locked up you realize that the tummy is almost empty. But while walking home, all the thoughts are on the incomplete work and the interview you have to do in the morning. You get home, only to be welcomed by a heat wave (backspace x2) darkness. The power distributor has decided that due to the shortage in generation then having power is a liability. 

Since its 9pm, you rush to the nearest bar, plug the laptop power cable in the socket and type away. Hungry. At 10:30pm you decide to get back home. Back to darkness. You get a cup of tea, sip and bite some white bread. The alarm is set for midnight so you can wake up to do some work. You sleep (rather take a nap). At about midnight the alarm goes off. You snooze it for about 30mins. At 1:00am, the covers are off and back to work. Tick tock. 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am and then you slide in between the sheets at 4:15am. At 6am you are up to polish the story and 8am its back to the daily routine of a scribe. 

“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” 

Hashtag Kirya live

He started waving to his fans and the screaming ladies did want the show to end. He offered his hand and there was a gold rush for it. They wanted to touch it, feel it and confirm whether he was human real. 

 'Maurice, 'we love you' some were screaming. 'take me home' others would say and 'please don't stop' others said. Maurice Kirya had put on such an electrifying/amazing concert which explains the endless screaming.

Fatal attraction? hmmmmm 

The arrivals "lounge" at Serena Conference Centre was beginning to fill up with ladies and gentlemen waiting to watch Maurice Kirya #live on stage in Kampala. The ladies were probably looking good. Probably is an understatement. They were dressed for the evening Maurice. Maurice Kirya is on path to greatness. A path to success after years of hard work, scorning and determination. After the RFI award he won last year, Maurice Kirya went on a world tour of West Africa, to Paris and also the US of A (He performed alongside Jordin Sparks). Ugandans however would only get to see Maurice Kirya on TV, Arts concerts and the experience. #Kiryalive was his turn to give back to his loyal fans. Maurice has a huge fan base by the way (Watching from the sidelines most seem to be ladies after his heart). 

Maurice doing his thing. Photo by Meltem Yasar 

The Misubbaawa fame star, clad in a black jacket and black trousers, started in Rock Star style. The drummers, guitarists, and the lights seemed to be inviting a rock star. He is a rockstar in his own making.  

Yes, he entered like rockstar and invited fans to move closer to fill the standing space. This made it look more of a concert rather than the corporate tables that usually fill that space. He had made a statement. One with no jibber and jabber of the corporate sponsors that like to take credit for things they have not helped as much. With the a very raised stage, one could tell Maurice was about to pull off one of the best stage performances. Once he was on the stage, boom and Slappadass (word picked from Urban Legend) prevailed. There was endless screaming, dancing and singing. The chattering on Twitter using #Kiryalive proved that Maurice had made his mark. Not only by singing but taking off with hearts many ladies. We are still trying to find space for him on the walk fame. A star on the Ugandan boulevard but we ain’t got one at the moment. 

After singing Misubaawa (my favorite off the album), the lovely, beautiful and good looking Valerie Kimani showed up on stage. And in a lavie davie sort of way both Valerie and Maurice performed Village girl. 

Maurice and Valerie "lavie-davie". Photo by Meltem Yasar 

Maurice came back and constantly saying 'listen to this' before any song. Impressively almost every song Maurice Kirya would sing, the ladies at the front seemed to nail it by singing passionately. Maurice can be proud of himself, had pulled it off. The sound was great (for once I don't have to take a swipe at Silk Events). The lighting, the smoke that comes from the ground was also very timely. Maurice proved why he is an artiste.  

 Photo by Meltem Yasar

Maurice crowned this performance with the famous boda boda song (And his brother Vampino also showed up on boda boda with Valerie Kimani) which gets us to where we started. 

Uganda Telecom (UTL) Commits to pay Airtel - Press release from Airtel

Press Release

19th, August 2011– Airtel Uganda has announced new developments following
its decision to discontinue interconnection with Uganda Telecom (UTL).
After meetings convened by the Minister of Information, Communication and
Technology and Uganda Communication Commission to facilitate a settlement
of the dispute, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by the two
parties.

Mr. V.G. Somasekhar, airtel Managing Director said, “I am pleased to
announce to airtel customers and Ugandans at large that Airtel and Uganda
Telecom have now reached a settlement and agreed on a Payment Plan for the
outstanding debt. Subsequently, come Monday September 5, 2011 airtel will
stay its decision to discontinue interconnect services with Uganda Telecom.

Somasekhar also noted that it was a tough call to terminate interconnectivity

with Uganda Telecom as fellow Ugandans on both networks would suffer

inability to communicate with each other. “It therefore gives me pleasure to

have reached a settlement and airtel will look forward to commencing greater

relations with Uganda telecom,” he added

-Ends-

MTN Uganda increases tariffs due to "recent economic changes"

MTN Uganda today circulated a press release that announced a change in in its tariffs. This may appear as an ultimate shock in the market and among consumers but the Telecom giant is here to make money and thus with increasing operational the company had to adjust. However do customers get value for money?

In the press release, the company announces that effective Saturday 3rd September, 2011 customers on MTN per second will pay 4 shillings for calls to MTN and 4 shillings for calls to other networks.

MTN Chief Executive Officer Themba Khumalo said that for the last 13years MTN's investments of more than US$1billion were supporting network infrastructure for close to 8 million subscribers.

"We have absorbed a number of operational expenses and ensured that we do not pass them on to our customers, to the extent that we even dropped tariffs by employing innovation in our product and service offerings," Khumalo said in the press release.

"In light of recent economic changes, however, the tariff structure is not sustainable for increased business roll-out. The industry is at risk of self-destruction to the detriment of consumers and other stakeholders. At the current rate investments in the sector will decline with the associated quality deterioration. We have a responsibility to protect Uganda’s telecommunications sector and ultimately the customers," Khumalo said.

He explained that over the past couple of months, the telecommunications sector has been struggling as a result of the steady increase in input costs.

“It has become very expensive to do business in Uganda especially over the past few months particularly with the depreciation of the Ugandan shilling by over 20%. The new tariffs will enable us to offset these costs and in so doing ensure that the business is able to be run in a more cost efficient and sustainable way, which provides more reliability of service for our subscribers,” Khumalo added.

Among the costs that the telecommunications firms incur are fuel costs, as all base stations are run using heavy duty generators. "The price of diesel, for example, has gone up from Ushs1, 500 a few years ago to Ushs3, 500 today - but we have avoided increasing tariffs accordingly," Khumalo said.

My Verdict;
1. When tariffs increase we also hope that MTN can improve its voice service. Dropped calls and poor network need to be dealt with so that a customer can also benefit. MTN needs to improve on service delivery if they are to justify any tariff change.
2. Price wars were always going to be unsustainable considering the operational costs involved in the telecom market in Uganda. It is very understandable when profit margins dwindle in the face of competition then survival in the market is the only option. Orange Uganda CEO Philippe Luxey once said that the current price wars are not sustainable.
3. MTN is probably the only telecom that is in profitability at the moment but as seen in the press release is the only one that is increasing its tariffs. Will others follow suit? I suggest they do because it doesn't make sense providing cheap services with no profitability.

Dear Grandpa

As we sprinkled damp soil in the deep hole, tears dripped gently and had to glide down my cheeks. I watch the grave diggers gently pile soil on your coffin. The thoughts, the memories of a fallen hero, a friend, a teacher, a role model and grandfather continuously keep showing up. “You are still alive,” I try to convince myself. Hours earlier I struggled to make a speech. There were thousands of people at our home to say goodbye and I couldn’t talk about you. It was overwhelming for us your grand-children. We could not avoid it but think of how soon you were gone. 


When we were young, we had a craving to visit your home every holiday. Your stories about our origins and the lessons we could learn from them. The knowledge and wise words you would offer were only for you. At your age, you had seen it all from the wars, the regime changes and the brutal/harsh treatment. 


“You look out for yourself and the friends you have,” You would tell us.  “Be careful, not all the friends you make have want the best for you. Some of them want to use you so they can get to a certain level,” you would caution. 


I remember at your burial, that politician who lied about your thoughts on the current regime in power. If I am to remember your words and the clippings you gave me, you had always cautioned me to be careful with the current regime in power. 


You specifically pointed out how agriculture was on the decline and you squarely blamed the current regime. 


“We used to get more money from our tea estates when we had co-operatives. This government seems to have less concern for us,” You once told me.  


Your stories on courage and the suffering you went through while reaching out for the people near Queen Elizabeth National Park. I remember your story on the encounter with a lion, an elephant and buffalo. There is that buffalo horn in the house. A souvenir for the achievement you had made after killing that animal (With help from two men). 


The suffering and torture you went through when preaching the word of God in witchcraft infested area (Buyaruguru). How you were scorned, rejected, spitted at and at times received death threats. But you remained unshaken to the point that you eventually transformed that place.  


Your faith was always an inspiration. You never abandoned God. You believed he had all the answers in this world. Even when grandma passed away, you kept strong. Your faith was also clearly shown in the disappointment you had for the church. You never liked how the church was very “secretive”. How reverends and canons were committing horrific acts of evil and yet continued to grow within the ranks of the church. 


Your selfless nature was probably the greatest fruit that you had grandpa. You and grandma only had one child (My mother) but looking at all the people who had taken care of, you would have probably been one of the richest men in Western Uganda. You never loathed material possessions and all you wanted, was for people around you to be happy. You took care of so many people and they were all at the burial to say goodbye.  


Thank you grandpa for all that you taught me. Each time I saw you and we talked, I learnt something new. I remember at a time when the teenage boy in me was about to end my academic lifestyle. You stood by me and got me a place at a High school. It was clear you believed I would change and become the person I am right now when some people had already given up on me. When I finally became a scribe, you were always proud of me and each time you meet people you tell them of your grandson who had become a journalist. Thank you gramps. 


For the past few days, I have been thinking about you grandpa. Whenever I talk to my family, we seem to reach a consensus that you are alive. It’s hard to believe that you were placed six feet under. You were only diagonized with cancer last year and it is shocking how soon you had to leave us. There are so many cruel people who were always jealous of how much you loved and cared for us. In us you are still alive although we miss you greatly. You are irreplaceable in our lives.   

The Kampala pedestrian

A pedestrian can be defined as a person who walks on the roads of Uganda in general and Kampala in particular. Wikipedia and the Oxford dictionary have their own definition of a pedestrian but mine is clearly not far off. In Kampala people walk to work (Which until recently was legal - sort of).
There are those with motorcycles, cars (the Toyota's) and those with beasts (Audi, Hummer, Dodge). As a holy pedestrian, I am usually starstruck when I look at the cars people drive. (BUT: Where do people get the money to buy not-Toyota cars?). To the point; I will own a car sometime in the future and it will save me from the life of being a pedestrian in Kampala.

The Cover that is not: A pedestrian in Kampala is likely to fall or drop a smartphone in a manhole. There is someone in this city who steals the manhole covers. What are manhole covers used for? Welding gates and metallic doors? I do not know. But in these tough economic times these covers must be very useful.

The Splash; There are unbelievable tales of people who have suffered splash moments especially after a rainy day. Due to the somewhat poor drainage or poor road works or potholes, pedestrians get splashes. Of course it depends on who has splashed. For an ambulance or presidential convoy, it may be okay. The splashes may ruin your day and drivers usually DON'T apologise.

The body check; This one in particular I find unpatriotic. The people driving cars don't leave their huge vans to be checked yet the pedestrian will be subjected to two body checks. One at the gate and the other before reception desk. Yes. Some hotels do this. (I can prove this beyond reasonable doubt).

The Taxi; During rush hour (huh! Wanna be Kampala rush hour), the traffic jam is annoying (for those in the cars). A pedestrian holding a fancy Kataala phone hooked to Pakalast (Load 1k; talk all day), walking on a walkway is hooted at by a taxi or one of those drivers. The taxi driver is using a walkway. All the passengers in the taxi are not even criticizing the driver for using a walkway.

The bullet; My friend Rogue King loves to call them bullets. The famous Kampala "boda boda." The riders have no respect for traffic rules (Apart from the ones I use). They interfere with the flow/movement of pedestrians. I am very passionate about this one that I cannot say anymore about it. Except; Even at the zebra crossing and the traffic lights you are likely to knock a pedestrian who has right of way.



Optical non-nutrition; As a pedestrian I tend to peep or look at the people occupying cars. Its interesting what I get to see in peoples cars. Beautiful ladies are usually the center of interest. However this doesn't help. Its non-nutrition because it benefits the eyes only in the short run.

The boss; The pedestrian will be subjected to a ruined day if it rains. No rain coat and no umbrella or and no boots. You will either be later for work and the boss will fume or you will miss an appointment with a client. Client has a car and the boss too has car. boooom.

Shoe wreck; Shoes get older. The sole will peel off in a much shorter time. Enough said.

In these tough economic times, more and more people(Cliche; ignore once) have become pedestrians (Unless your car is a Vitz, Starlet or Duet or if your company pays for your fuel or you very rich or you steal taxpayers money). They have also become frustrated because of the conditions of being a pedestrian. They have to buy water, spend more on shoe polish, shoe repairs, new pair of walking shoes among others. Even for the ladies who have the love for high heels, they are only reserved for the office.

My pedestrian life is lovely at times BUT its below expectations. Someone needs to have a voice for people like us who pay taxes and face such treatment from fellow citizens.