·”It’s not merely the abundance of attractions but the excellence of our ancillary services that matter. Consider the Pissing Man in Brussels, which draws 3 million tourists annually; we can aspire to achieve the same.” – Matsiko Kahunga ‘Hands-up here, if outside your gate, you can walk 200 metres barefoot…or even 500…let’s discount the outliers. […]
‘…Byarugaba Ayota looked at Uganda the way a farmer looks at his garden…he tended it, watered it, enriched it with fertiliser and let others enjoy its fruits’… This is Mzee BSN at his witty self. Tickled by the latest skit from NSSF, namely the Seven-Hills run in aid of disadvantaged pupils in Kampala’s public schools. […]
The answer is a BIG NO… Knowledge per se may not expire, it can be improved on, added on, redefined and reorganised but to expire No. ‘…this country was and still is our ideal and aspiration in matters of education…Makerere was the dream and pride of our generation, as we pursued secondary education…this can’t be […]
“UCDA should transform from an authority into a profit-driven value-chain manager in a public-private partnership with global coffee giants like Nestlé.” “Import substitution manufacturing is key to creating a productive, rich middle-class Uganda that will drink coffee.” Coincidence perhaps. We had been musing over Mzee Mashurubu’ s Lockdown Exam questions. One such piercing question stated […]
Dear Ugandans, Our voices have to be raised Now or Never. I am writing because “To be silent amidst a series of challenges we face as a nation is to wallow in a fat lie”. Fellow Ugandans, far too long, our values have been misplaced, and the consequences are now evident in our communities and […]
‘Let’s start with a caveat. I admire and love Uganda, but legally and all, am not Ugandan, …so my explanation should not be construed to have any political nuances, sivyo Ange?’ Mzee BSN firewalled himself as he responded to an inquisitive sales representative freshly recruited from college. The staff orientation course we are conducting for one […]
Celebrating the life of Rev. Canon Bathromew M. Zimbe Allow me introduce you to this book “ The Celebrated Life of Rev. Canon B.M. Zimbe” [1845-1946] Remembering the Great Men of Buganda and Uganda This is a snapshot of “ The Life of Rev. Canon Baturumayo Musoke Zimbe, His Ministry in Uganda’s Early Church and […]
“Uganda is a fairy-tale. You climb up a railway instead of a beanstalk, and at the end, there is a wonderful new world.” – Winston Churchill Discover the Magic of Uganda: A Journey Through the Pearl of Africa Ah Uganda, what a beautiful part of the world she is! Uganda is a country full of […]
It is possible to reduce informality in Uganda’s human capital. ‘…even these high-level economists are telling us lower high school economics…things we should have graduated from ages ago…informality is very easy to manage…shouldn’t be a subject of this level of national economy debate.’ Mzee BSN was taken aback by the findings of the Poverty Status […]
The family business question in Uganda …since 1853 (Levi Strauss)…since 1759 (Guinness)…since 1906 (KIWI)… since 1986 (Hotloaf). You have read these and others. Anything special about this word ‘Since’? It communicates one key message: the resilience of these companies, virtually all of which were started as family businesses, as evidenced in brands like Guinness, Nestlé, […]
Yes, it is possible for development to trigger wealth. ‘… yes, it is possible for development to trigger wealth. Development in infrastructure alone, with no household income, will not create wealth… will have no impact… President Museveni can pick a leaf from our president… take the narrow path… and all households in Uganda will have […]
SMEs are Businesses and not charities Prominent Industrialist, the late Dr. James Mulwana (Rest in Peace) was once quoted by the media, calling on government to force foreign companies to support SMEs, for the latter to overcome the many challenges they face, especially competition against foreign big companies. Whereas they do need support, SMEs are […]
YES, UGANDA CAN RECEIVE 4 MILLION TOURISTS A YEAR For starters, we at Gantone (Greater Ankole Tourism Network), the tourism cluster for the Ankole region do raise our thumbs up to the immediate past CEO and Deputy CEO at Uganda Tourism Board (https://www.exploreuganda.com/), Steven Asiimwe and John Ssempebwa respectively. They set the sector on a […]
MAKERERE@100 IN UGANDA@60: Innovation into commercialization ‘…well, we will not dwell much about the first forty years, since at the time Makerere was an affiliate college… Makerere’s prime was when it was a constituent college of the University of East Africa. Those were our days, the reason we had wakina Julius Nyerere and Benjamin Mkapa, Anyang’ […]
As Uganda Celebrates 60years of independence on the 9th of October, this year 2022 with the theme ‘A declaration of African Interdependence and our shared destiny.’ · Uganda still needs women economic reforms even though their are progress made in interventions such as increased women in the legislation process, governance, with affirmative actions in education, […]
OIL COMPENSATIONS: LESSONS FROM MFALME AND BYAMAKA The experts and policymakers in our oil sector may want to pay a study trip to a minuscule humble remote village called Kanyeganyegye. The story rife in this village today is about two ba-falme. Mfalme in ordinary Kiswahili means king. In this village, it is a popular slang […]
He savours those moments. This is his pass-time, ever since he retired from a high-flying corporate life among multinationals. We thus added BSN to our appellation of him. We call him Mzaai BSN. BSN is Been there…Seen it all…Nothing new…exciting…to prove. His favourite moments are the hours he spends mentoring corporate leaders, with a preferred […]
I must applaud my teachers at Makerere University, Prof. Oswald Ndoleriire and Dr. Sallie Simba Kayunga on their position regarding the sciences hype by government. This was the very same hype that greeted us over 20 years ago as we joined university at the time government scrapped students’ allowances, arguing that the monies saved were […]
‘…perhaps its founders had other thoughts about it…but it has now become a game-changer in our development trajectory. Its impact is seen and felt everywhere …’ The Executive Director at the Sage Fund was concluding his speech at the opening ceremony for Sage Leather Works, a multibillion leather complex in the city industrial park, one […]
Reviving Uganda’s Textile Sector: We Need a Dose of Gandhism ‘Sir, I have three hundred workers…unemployed. And families to feed…please …’ ‘….I have three hundred million back in India……’ We return to this shortly. The latest from the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives (MTIC) is that Uganda is set to revamp its textile industry, […]
‘…it’s the magic of 100 days…you only need to experience its sweetness, to believe it…it’s not another management buzzword…it works’…, a beaming NEMA official couldn’t contain her excitement while briefing the media and the country about the authority’s landmark achievements in a hundred days of their reorientation. And landmark they are, going by where our […]
Skills. Yes, we do need them as a country and economy, for the present and the future, including saving the planet. The latest we have from the BTVET ‘alliance’ (https://www.education.go.ug/btvet/ )is the modular training plan: a P.7 (Primary seven) leaver can attend a welding course ‘module’ for a few months, enter the world of work, […]
”Yes. It is possible and urgent to have universal health insurance. It will attract quality investment in our health sector including pharmaceutical manufacturing” Universal Health Insurance Does Not Replace Health Centres The debate will not end till we have the scheme in place: Universal Health Insurance for all Ugandans. And the latest defender of no-insurance […]
Saturday, March 26, 2022, we buried James Mwebesa Rukwengye. RIP my brother and friend. James was the Social Manager at Shimuji-Konoike, the joint venture company constructing the Kampala flyover. The Social Manager, we were told, has the key role of ensuring that any undertaking on the project has complied with and met the social interests […]