AfricaVox 2007

Being truly educated goes beyond writing your name

Collins Vumiria

Uganda is one of the ‘highly indebted countries’ that had its debts cancelled after the Gleneagles G8 summit of 2005. It recently stepped up school spending - introducing free secondary education – but the future is looking doubtful.

Laden with empty food containers in which he carried his packed lunch and breaktime snacks, eight-year-old Phillip Tasiku plays with his friends as they return home from Kitante Primary School in Uganda’s capital Kampala.

Even though Phillip’s tuition is now funded by the government, his mother Esther has to pay 30,000 Ugandan shillings (around $18) in extra charges each term as well as provide Phillip’s food. 

Universal education in Uganda has been described by many, including President Yoweri Museveni, as a success. Uganda now boasts an extra 1.5 million pupils in primary school since the programme was introduced.

The politicians say: “We now look to a future where at least every Ugandan will be able to write down their names and read a signpost”. They tell us that free education – especially for poorer people – means that Uganda is to become a country of the enlightened. But wait a second...!

Protesting for/against whom?

Richard M Kavuma

I’ve now arrived in Germany to be greeted by the massive and violent scenes of the anti-globalisation protests in Rostock. In theory, I – a journalist from one of the poorest nations in the world, Uganda – should have no problem understanding the protesters’ cause.

As the rich world reaps supernormal profits from globalisation, ordinary people in poor countries are getting more and more marginalised.

In Uganda the proportion of people below the poverty line has finally ‘improved’ to 31 per cent. But maternal mortality, infant mortality and deaths due to the clinically treatable disease malaria are still shamefully high.

There’s a lot the rich West can do to change this. They’ve made a start, but it’s not enough.

One thing about the Rostock demonstrations is the predictability of it all. Yes, globalisation is simply marginalisation of the poor. Yes, the rich countries – including Germany – have reneged on their promise (renewed two years ago in Gleneagles) to give more aid to poor nations.

But will this violence against police and blockading of roads necessarily change the plight of people in poor countries?

The DDT debate: to spray or not to spray?

Collins Vumiria

Kakaire's blog - It all started with a severe headache – got me thinking about malaria, about DDT, and about the potential for conflict between environmental concerns and health.

Uganda is rightly worried about the tens of thousands of its citizens thought to die of malaria each year. So is the World Health Organisation (WHO). Perhaps that’s why after years of banning the anti-malarial DDT, the WHO now says it’s safe.

In February I attended a summit of health ministers from the East African community. One of the issues discussed was the residual spraying of DDT in homes to do away with malaria-spreading mosquitoes.

Tanzania's health minister said his country would embark on a nationwide programme of spraying after successfully ridding the island of Zanzibar of malaria. Other countries are following suit, with Uganda planning to start in the next couple of months.

Despite this, the controversy surrounding this chemical isn’t over yet. Several Ugandan environmental activists have detailed its dangers. And reports on the internet are mixed.

But there are other concerns too…

“We need the G8’s help in the fight against poverty and HIV”

Zinhle Mapumulo

I think South Africa is in denial. This applies to me too.

South African AIDS activist

When I heard there was a village in the North West Province where almost every household is affected by HIV and AIDS I thought “yeah, sure, it can’t be that bad”.

But it was – and is. I’ll be writing more about that in my next blog.

There’s been a fair amount of coverage about the South African government downplaying the HIV epidemic. But it’s not just HIV, it’s poverty in the country in general.

Urban dwellers like me don’t think that media reporting of ‘poverty-stricken’ Africa applies to Johannesburg, Durban or Cape Town – the cosmopolitan cities we call home.

So when I was asked to canvass opinion on my fellow South Africans’ expectations of the G8 Summit, I was surprised to find that this denial isn’t universal...

Anti-corruption efforts just a ‘donor-inspired drama’

It’s been a day of protest: in Germany, anti-G8 protestors clashed with police; meanwhile London saw demonstrators saying ‘the world can’t wait’ for an end to poverty. Campaigners resent the ‘self-appointed informal world government’ of the G8, which uses aid and financial muscle to police the leaders of other countries. But Richard M Kavuma says the aid conditions set by the G8 are doing little to stop corruption.

Interesting times we’re living through in Uganda. Only last month, two men who were previously ministers in President Museveni’s government had a taste of life in the country’s Luzira prison. 

These ex-ministers and a niece of first lady Janet Museveni have allegedly ‘mismanaged’ a fund worth nearly $5 million intended for the immunisation of Uganda’s children against killer diseases.

After netting such big fish, the President might have expected the whole population to applaud him. Instead the cynics are having a field day. One reason is that people simply don’t believe that Museveni is serious on corruption.

Instead of distancing themselves from the accused in this current case, members of the President’s party, his cabinet, and even members of his family have visited the accused in jail. Others held parties to celebrate their release on bail.

It is rumoured that Museveni only okayed action against his cronies to appease the donors, who can withhold their critically needed aid unless Uganda is seen to tackle corruption.

I’m not giving any credence to this latest anti-corruption probe until one or two of the accused are actually convicted and locked away. Short of that, it feels like yet another round of donor-inspired drama.

Why Geldof’s image of rotting Africa is OK by me

Today Germany’s biggest selling newspaper Bild handed over the editorial reins to Bob Geldof – and he splashed it with an image of a starving child and the headline ‘End this! Now!’. Richard M Kavuma checks it out from Kampala.

Looking at Bob Geldof’s guest edition of Bild Zeitung today, the first thing I thought of was the old accusation against Western media for only seeing the rotting side of Africa.

Initially I thought Geldof’s edition was perpetuating that stereotype and my reaction was: “Oh my God, where and when was this picture of a dying child taken?”

But then today’s edition also has positive stories about, for instance, the beautiful South Africa, the Kaizer Chiefs football club, African models… the list is endless.

I’ve never been entirely comfortable with the accusation that the West does nothing but portray the negative side of Africa anyway – partly because it’s not very accurate. You still find a lot positive stories about Africa in Western media – it’s just that the negative stories make for bigger headlines.

Then again, the same goes for newspapers in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa. The headlines tend to be ‘negative’ stories about top government officials who steal money meant to immunise children, or about a government shooting and beating up its citizens who are fighting for the right to expression.

But if you care to look at these papers more closely you also find – inside – stories about a hospital being opened in a rural area or trade agreements being sealed. That’s the nature of newspapers.

The debate within me today was: Should Geldof have led with a more positive spin so as to avoid the ‘stereotype’? Or will this drive the message home to Germans that Africa is in trouble? And, in any case, is Africa a passive victim of the processes that have led to this misery?

Whenever I’m faced with this quandary, I think of the following scenario:

Imagine you are walking on a path through the African countryside and you come to a large village. At one end of the village, a graduation party is taking place for a young woman who just got her medical degree. At the other end, a woman is on the verge of dying in labour - partly because there are no doctors in the local health centre or, perhaps, because the resident midwife is celebrating at the graduation party.

Which news would you communicate first? The graduation party so that the other villagers can join in? Or would you rather report about the mother in labour so that perhaps someone can help or the midwife can come to her senses?

Geldof chose the latter, but later reported the party as well. I would have done the same.

It all started with a severe headache…

Our nine journalists are packing their suitcases ahead of their imminent trip to Germany. But earlier this week it was touch and go whether Kakaire would make the journey…

Health poster, Tanzania

It all started with a severe headache, body aches and joint pains, followed by high temperatures. Malaria. I had come down with one of the leading killer diseases in my country - the annual death toll is estimated to run into tens of thousands.

Like most people who live in areas where malaria is endemic, it wasn’t my first attack. But now I was worried that it might put pay to my trip to the G8.

Until then all I’d been thinking about was what weather and food to expect, and what kind of hospitality my hosts would offer. The day I was diagnosed, I couldn’t think straight and work was out of the question.

Back in 1997 I had life-threatening malaria. I’m not sure if at the time the anti-malarial ACTs (artemisin-based combination therapies) – the current gold-standard treatment – were widely available. If so, they were probably too expensive anyway. Somehow I managed to get through it… with the grace of the creator.

This time around, it wasn’t a complicated attack and I could afford the $10 to get the ACT treatment. But many people in Uganda can’t pay this. ACTs are more expensive than other standard treatments and supplies are sometimes limited.

I’m one of the lucky ones. When most of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, the cost of the drugs is simply draining. Perhaps the G8 leaders should consider what happens to those who can’t even raise a dollar…