The situation in Iran is so tense, Journalists for some international media houses have been expelled, the remaining have been ordered to operate from their hotel rooms on top of seeking permission from government to cover the protests.

Local radios, online websites and TV’s have been shut down leaving the world in a state of ignorance on what is going on in Iran after the disputed elections.

On an international scene, Iran has violated the freedom of a free press if journalists can not freely operate.

Left with no choice, Iranians have resorted to posting videos on you tube and twitter becoming the only mode of information dissemination to the rest of the world so far.

Left with no choice, CNN has picked on the videos posted by Iranians to relay them to the international community however with the note “These are un verified stories”

This is what happens when the freedom of press is tampered with and to you CNN, we can only say, Bravo!!!

The Inspector General of Government (IGG) Justice Faith Mwondah has bitterly attacked the speaker of Parliament Hon. Edward Ssekandi, Deputy Speaker Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, the minister of Ethics and Integrity Hon. Dr. James Nsaba Buturo and a number of historicals for plotting against her.After her appointment in February 2009, the IGG was required to appear before a parliamentary committee that vets all Presidential appointees. She vehemently refused to appear on condition that she was vetted before and that there was no need to appear before the same committee once again since this is her second term in office.

Rebeca Kadaga comes from the same region together with the IGG.

She also argued that she can not appear before a committee of people she had investigated and found guilty of corruption case of which some of the cases are still waiting judgment in court.

She also says she had appeared before the same committee when she was appointed in her first term of office.

However on the other side, a group led by the Public Service Commission chairman, Minister of Ethics and Integrity, Attorney General, Speaker of Parliament and his Deputy are seriously pushing for the IGG to appear before the same committee.

They argue that, they have done the same to other presidential appointees and therefore no need of her to reject appearing before the same committee.

Mwondah’s next argument says that those who are running after her to be vetted are the same ministers who were appointed for the third, fourth and fifth times but have never appeared before the vetting committee because they were vetted when they were first appointed.

There is a serious weakness in interpreting the law, which leaves the public wondering which group is on the right truck and which one is on the wrong one.

The constitution of Uganda provides for a position of the Inspector General of Government who will do a supervisory role on the smooth performance of other government bodies. Among her first roles, the IGG embarked on fighting corruption, which to her she says she had done a lot in exposing the dirt under the carpet.

Accusations are also coming, that the IGG has only concentrated on the small fish in the lake leaving the big fish to move freely. They sighted the Temangalo – NSSF (National Social Security Fund Scandal which involved a Super Minister (security Minister) Amama Mbabazi and the NSSF board committee among others.

For Mwondah, her argument is that the President is the only one to relieve her of her powers since he is the only appointing authority and to the ministers and Speaker, they are swearing, over their dead bodies, Mwondah must appear before the committee for vetting.

Find my piece alongside other pieces of ’US of A’ on the BBC website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7872381.stm

Lauben

As much as African leaders view this as a ‘Ghadafi thing’ because of the letter that he circulated before the summit took off, I believe in the unity.

This year’s summit was mainly on boosting Africa’s energy and transport networks.

Members countries that are in support of the idea argue that the Unity will drive towards the tremendous growth in Africa Economy, the use of one passport across the continent will also see the ease in the transport sector, equal access to jobs are so many opportunities.

Like I said if the issue is not being ‘Ghadafised’, this will be the start of the growth of Africa and will therefore act as a precedent to development. May be they (Presidents) are hiding behind the umbrella that Ghadafi is to take over their sovereign powers, they will no longer be as powerful as they are now and that may be this will mark the start of the decline in the economies of their countries.

The leaders are also saying the proposal was to increase bureaucracy which we don’t need in Africa, Fine I may agree on that but there is no struggle with out sweat. We have to endure the bureaucracy in order to achieve.

This morning, a BBC reporter in Addis Ababa said the leaders did not agree on the matter, they therefore referred it to a meeting of ministers expected in three months time from now.

My submission is that all Africa leader should look at the Unity as a way towards running away from poverty and also improving the livelihoods of the African people, this will in one way or the other reduce on the aid that the west splashes to Africa, check corruption rates and improve foreign exchange from abroad.

I disagree with my brother Kent Mensah who has posted on this blog ….

“Africa seems to be copying blindly and graciously heading towards complete failure. Leaders are talking about union or federal government in the continent when countries are still fighting over sovereignty – Somalia and Somali land is just a quintessence. People are thirsty and are not getting water to drink; others are starving and are out of food; we build huge hospitals but are empty of doctors and equipment and the list goes on and on and on”

South Africa is not in for it simply because, it has some what taken a stride in development, its not like Uganda or Rwanda where poverty is till biting us left and right.

Kent continues

“Of course, it’s impractical prospect. Before we get to the level of the European Union and the US of A, we must come to our senses that they took decades to identify their needs and build their foundations very well in individual countries before coming to their wants.”

When we will take this time to identify our needs, leaders have come and gone, where will we end?

Kent, Africa’s unity is the way to go!

It was a day of smiles, a day to remember the tough hard days and all that we went through as the Dean of the Faculty of Development Studies read out the 320 names of those who graduated from the Faculty of Development Studies at Mbarara University with degrees in Development Studies.

Name by name as she read alphabetically, each one in the graduands tent read with her using the graduation book. As your name was read, you would stand up. I prayed for my three names to be read clearly as there were cases where accidentally names were missed from being read.

Smiles, cheers and tears filled every student who graduated; some could not hold the joy and continued to shade tears of joy.

On our graduation party which we held at my home in Mbarara Municipality, my colleagues at work danced till the wee hours of the night, it was a day to remember.

It was the same day to honour my Certificate from the International Institute of Journalism that I acquired from Hamburg, Germany.

They died, not because they were supporting the government of President Museveni but because they happened to have been in an area where the struggle started from.

They did not die because they were part of the struggle but because they are Ugandans. Children of school going age have been abducted, raped and some times killed in the presence of their parents.

What is happening is Zimbabwe has reminded me of that horrific experience my brothers and Sisters in Northern Uganda went through.

Like I wrote in my last piece I posted on this blog, where is Africa heading? I am pessimistic that African leaders have little they mind about their people as long as they have what they want. The cholera in Zimbabwe is as a result of the chaos that has not had a solution for some time.

On our political talk show last week, we had a discussion about how H:E Jimmy Carter, Koffi Annan and their team were told not to fly to Zimbabwe by the Zimbabwe authorities.  Why? That because they failed to follow protocol!, Really?

What President Mugabe and Morgan Shangarai need to know is that, Zimbabwe people are more important than them.

We will remain a dark continent if we still have leaders who hardly care about others!

Where is Africa heading, I still ask?

Lauben, Uganda

Just this morning, I was listening to BBC news Focus on Africa and the story was on Zimbabwe.

You know there has been a crisis between Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change of Morgan Shangrai, the problem in Zimbabwe now is not whether Robert Mugabe rigged the election but rather which ministries should go to which group.

This reminds me of Thanh Khong’s piece on this blog: ……………. where he wrote:

“You quote the authorized sources in your writing, but later it turns out that the info those people give is false”

Instead of giving us the correct information, they simply give us false information just for the sake of tarnishing the opponents name or some thing else.

For me that is hiding a lion in your own house. The leaders we have faith in have turned against their own people, an indication that the issue is about who should be eating what and in what quantities.

If Mugabe and Shangrai really had Zimbabwe at heart, then we should not be looking at a disagreement when the two struck a deal to work together for the sake of Zimbabwe’s people.

Can you imagine the question in Zimbabwe now is who should be the first to have his men appointed in the ministry of internal affairs?

It’s absurd ladies and Gentlemen.

Yesterday I had a long interview with one of the retired Major in Uganda’s UPDF (Uganda People’s Defence Forces – but name withheld for security purposes), he told me that, African leaders after assuming power, they turn State Houses to be their own homes they built with their own money.

Now, some thing he did not answer was whether if they capture power as opposition, they would be sleeping in their own homes not State house, he told me I was too young to understand the art of African politics!

This is the same man who has always told Ugandans that what they agreed with President Museveni while in the struggle to liberate Uganda – is not what exactly he is doing. (Museveni is the current President of Uganda).

You wonder what is it that they discussed that he can not tell Ugandans; he only uses unsubstantiated phrase, “He has betrayed us.”

Now back to Zimbabwe, looking at what happened both before and after the Presidential polls, the number of death that was registered, Mugabe and Shangrai still have reasons to disagree.

At 231,000,000% Zimbabwe has the world largest highest rate of annual inflation, while some two million people need food aid” according to BBC.

What can’t leaders learn from History?

He explained the different types of mental illness, challenges, problems, and how to go about it as journalists while reporting on it. His presentation was amazing but really very important to the participants.  

In the middle of his presentation, he noted that one person out of five is mentally ill and went on to talk about how it also retards the sexual will of an individual plus many more.  

I realized that, this was one of the important themes I missed studying at length while at University even at the recently concluded 2008 Summer Academy in Hamburg.  

May be our Universities can include this in their mainstream course units, may be the Summer Academy organizers can also bring it in as one of the course units for the lucky ones who will make it to Hamburg next year 2009.  

Just food for thought 

Lauben

It is my same Uganda where 10 years ago, a retired Col Dr Kizza Besigye disagreed with his Commander in Chief and President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on how to lead Uganda. The rest is history.

Lets go to South Africa, Its no longer news that the African National Congress (ANC) a ruling party in South Africa requested by force H:E Thambo Mbeki to resign. The reason was out of court’s ruling that Mbeki he had a hand in the corruption cases against Party President Jacob Zuma.

As much as Zuma came out winner in the ANC polls ahead of Mbeki, this means that Mbeki now has to also make an appointment to meet Zuma if by God’s grace he makes it to Presidency cone next year. You are also aware how big wing ministers are contemplating resigning to follow their boss Mbeki.

In Rwanda, Some members of the ruling Rwanda’s Patriotic Front (RPF) have come up to challenge the out come of the election that was held not more than a months ago. It’s the same Rwanda where we saw the worst genocide ever in the history of Africa in 1994 between the Hutus’ and Tutsi’s.

Every body knows what happened in my neighbour state Kenya where two brothers President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga had also locked up horns in disagreement of who had won elections. The out come was for newspapers to splash on their front pages the dead bodies of innocent Kenyan’s as a result of the disagreement.

I don’t want to write about Somalia’s internal problem of wars lords and insecurity and the conflict between President Isayas Afewerike of Eritrea and President Meris Zenawi of Ethiopia whose disagreement stems from a border dispute.

In Zimbabwe, people are still nursing wounds sustained from the election violence between President Mugabe and Morgan Shangrai.

Ministers in Tanzania who are members of the Chama Chamapenduzi, a leading political party also resigned some time back to pave way for investigations because of the alleged participation in corruption related deals.

My friends in Nigeria can tell you the purported resignation of President Yaradua and many more on the African continent not forgetting the persistent internal wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo. General Nkunda and Bemba’s war history in Congo. The assassination of President Laurent Desire Kabila (Kabila Senior) and much more in Congo

The persistent increasing death of poor Africans in the Darfur region in Sudan

My question is where is Africa heading?

Lauben

Uganda

This morning, I had a discussion from one of the senior editors at a prominent Radio station here in Uganda. The discussion was about whether journalists should be neutral or not. I was basing my self on one of the newspaper editors in Germany who insisted that journalists are not supposed to be neutral. As much as she received a lot of disagreements from my class (Summer Academy Class 2008), she still stood her ground.

Now when this Senior Uganda Editor was telling me, I asked him whether it was what he received from his University Professors or any where in the books.

His response was thus “Lauben, things have changed ever since, the world is revolving very first, so what you read twenty years ago may not apply”

Although the Germany Senior Editor and the Ugandan Senior Editor seemed to share something in common, I still believe as Journalists, we owe our society neutrality.

Lauben Matsiko

Uganda