Special MTN Uganda Rant.

Just like the blood sucking vampires MTNUganda seems to be on a mission to drain me. Customer care has never been one of MTN's strong points, they have always taken their customers for a ride and they always taken them for granted. I really understand how MTN took a thorough run for their money with Warid Telecom and Airtel plus UTL slashing their call rates. This basically means less people are spending money on airtime because they can call cheaply on other networks.

So why didn't I join the other networks? Because I never wanted to leave my tariff to join all those confusing subscriptions.

Dial *something# to join and call for ten minutes for free blah blah blah. MTN most definately lost a significant number of its customers to the competition but were they right to scrap late chat?

Well maybe they want to compete but at then are they also going to subject their customers so many tariffs that may confuse some us? And who did they tell? As a telecom company in this day of technology, MTN was supposed to issue a notice probably by SMS to let us know these were going to change.

I must admit, I think MTN has once again miscalculated in my own opinion since people who buy airtime were texting at 50/= but now will be paying 110/= per sms. I will say MTN has for long tried to react late in these situations.

The industry has become very competitive with so many promos from the telecoms and for their customer, this doesn't help at all. What MTN should have done in my own opinion is to keep MTN late chat the way it is. As an MTN customer I feel so much exploited and I believe I am not being treated as the King. That is why I have always failed to believe that MTN cares for its customers. Its interest is to continue to build only a strong brand but offer close to bad service to the people.
If were to do a mini survey, MTN would be at the bottom of the pack because of its service delivery.

I have always been a loyal customer to MTN (since 2004) and ever since Late Chat was introduced, I have never switched to any other tariff. Why? Because I hate the hustle of switching from one thing to another. If you are going to change something please treat me as if I am a valuable customer to your company.

With technology in this era, couldn’t they have communicated that they were going to scrape my tariff.

And now am done making noise about MTN. It has been long overdue.

All I want is to enjoy my Candy

As I listen to the script’s Science and Faith, in the soot filled kitchen I sit. Thinking. About I don’t know what. And then i remember, the other day I tried to eat my candy and I was stopped. I was bundled on the back of blue truck with sirens and taken to a dark room.

I was told I couldn’t eat candy on the streets. I almost protested my mistreatment until I noticed there was no one in my defense. The blue trucks were at every corner.

The city was calm, littered with filth and beggars downtrodden on the wrecked lampposts. There was fine flowing and stinky fluid from beneath the cracked tarmac. The silence was deafening as all the cars that passed had tinted windows. There was always a rush to leave the city centre. Even hooting was prohibited.

And there I was wondering where to sit and enjoy my candy. The men in bluish white uniforms were all over the streets. They were more than the civilians on the streets. They had taken over some square in the city. It had become their camp and base. All the green spaces had been taken over.

“We are here to protect you,” they say.

But why were the people feeling scared when they see these “protectors?” It had become too much that the protectors had also become vendors in the city. They were the hawkers and could also sell airtime. But still I couldn’t enjoy my candy.

There was a notice that before I eat any candy in the city centre, I had to notify the protectors first. But it’s my candy, my right to eat when and where I want.

'Things have changed brother,' the chief tells me. 'We are now mindful what u consume and where,' he adds.

'You can’t eat candy from the city square'

Head facing down, coat on the shoulder, I walk to the direction of setting of the Kampala sun.

'One day I will enjoy my candy freely,' just one day..... I keep telling my self

Attempting to picture blog

The Sun Within the clouds somewhere in Kisumu- Kenya

From the grasslands in my village 

We used this plant to make some innovative cars

I dont remember the name of this plant. 

1992, And we did this 

Wild flower from my village

Another wild soon

On the way waterfall......

And the waterfall 

A wonderful cottage

Too much wind pushed this to the edges

Path/walkway at the Safari Park in Nairobi 

Keeping it green 

I grew up in this house.

Celebrate women achievements, but...........

Its in the late evening. Its windy, with light drizzles and the dry leaves continue to slide on the hard surface.  A drive through the city, young girls cling onto car windows in the traffic jam begging for a coin or two.

These girls are innocent and there are always these arguments on where they came from. Some of their mothers say that they are orphans from the Moroto and Karamoja. These claims have been doubted by many and also believed by many.

There are also many under age girls in the city who have been reduced to begging status, while others are used as sex slaves. In a country like Uganda where statistics of underage sex solicitors are scarce, its hard to tell how many of these girls are engaged in such activities.

Growing up, women’s day was always a special day. It’s the day my guardian auntie would stay away from the kitchen and we would attempt our cooking skills as the children of the house. Cooking and doing the daily house chores was left only to us. In a special way, we’d also learn about the plight of women in the country.

This day for me was always a fun day. Every year I got to understand why this day was special on the calendar. It’s a public holiday to celebrate what the women have achieved but also to be constantly reminded that there are vast challenges that women face in this country.

There are horrific stories of how some male bosses solicit for sex before they offer any lady a job. These cases are swept under the rag most of the time and in this modern day many of these men try as much as possible to keep their hands clean.

Somehow there is always this man ready to pounce on these women and mostly those who are vulnerable. I happen to have a special “brother” whose mother is deaf and dumb but someone had the courage to rape her. She clearly cannot afford to take care of such a child and by the time he was brought home, he was close to death. His rib bones were visible, he had sunken cheeks and could hardly eat. She was a rape victim but she had no voice and the man is somewhere lavishing. With no shame and he is probably ready to pounce on any other woman.

We celebrate the women in legislation, media and in influential positions but there is still work to do as day in day out rape cases are still on the rise in some areas. Empowering women alone cannot solve the problem but through collective action. Cases of human trafficking of women to Dubai and Malaysia to go and work in brothels have been read but have not been taken seriously on our newspaper front pages. Who are these traffickers? What sort of punishment do they deserve? Are they part of huge trafficking ring? These are questions that need to be answered.

blogs.worldbank.org

Rape, defilement, sexual harassment, under-age prostitution and domestic violence, still exist in society and this is the probably the best time to expose them. Its fight that needs to move forward and play the role in making sure women and girls find comfort in the world they live in. It may not be easy, but what have you as person done so far?

The government still has work to do but so do we. What have you done to make the world/ your country a better place for women/girls to live in?

As the achievements are being celebrated we've got to remember there is still a long way way to go for most of the women. Things like domestic violence, rape, defilement and sex slavery still exist.