Reconceptualizing the rainbow nation: The post-ANC South Africa.

It is almost 20 years since that historic Nelson Mandela swearing in ceremony as South Africa's first majority President. Back then,the ANC could no wrong. It was the popular vanguard of the people's struggle against the evil that was apartheid. But 1994 seems like a really time ago. I have been resident in South Africa for a month now and have had a rare first hand insight into the changed South Africa. The black majority has become increasingly weary of the ANC. Unfulfilled dreams, dashed hopes, disillusionment and a hideous corruption streak among the ruling elite are partly to blame. President Jacob Zuma has been demonized in the press for having a swimming pool at his country home built on tax payer dimes. To be fair, the current South Africa is way better than the pre-1994 South Africa but it could have been even miles much better. It is surprising how much the ANC is struggling win an election that it should labour too much to win given its recent dark history. But getting a decent result come 7th May 2014 seems like an uphill task. To be sure, the ANC will carry the day. However it will be the smallest majority since 1994. When I pear into the future, say in 20 years, the ANC will hardly be unassailable. South Africans will have moved on. They already seem to be doing that. South Africa is really two countries in one-a country of stark contrast. The classic tale of haves and have-nots finds its most illustrious example here. And privilege is reproducing itself through generational cycles. The economic super structure from the days of apartheid is almost intact. There is clearly a growing black middle class and even a high-end entreprenuer class such as Cyril Ramaphosa of the MTN group connection but South Africa's inequality looks to be a problem for the ages. ''There is nothing new under the sun'' it says in Levitcus. I was reminded of our own post-independence euphoria in Sub Saharan Africa. Of a dream that was the new Africa. It seemed that the new African rulers simply replaced the colonial class- a changing of the guard if you will, and the life continued. How hard it is to change society for genuine social advancement. The captains of industry in South Africa still remain the same. It is not even fair to expect that the ANC can deliver a fairer South Africa after centuries of advantage of a minority. Because of an impatient population, wily politicians have taken advantage. Malema and Ramaphela and many others are promising a better deal for the black majority. But can they truly deliver on a fundamentally new South Africa? Clearly, the ANC could have done a lot better than it has managed but South Africa's inequality is inherently structural. What took centuries to build cannot be dismantled in years. It is in the interest of the privileged classes of South Africa to push for a fairer South Africa out of sheer self-interest. The current South Africa is not sustainable. We never learn from history. The survival of a capitalist society in Europe was not because of capitalism. It was inspite of Capitalism. It was a modification of capitalism that started in Bismarck's Germany. A capitalist society with a residual element of fraternity.

Finance ministry clears way for parliamentary debate of Uganda's Tobacco control bill

The Ugandan Ministry of Finance's Permanent Secretary, Keith Muhakanizi has formally granted a certificate of Financial implications for the Uganda Tobacco control Bill 2013,early in February 2014 which paves way for the vitally important bill to be tabled before parliament for consideration. Uganda's Tobacco control bill has been in the works since 2011 and many observers have been uneasy at the perceive slow pace of legislative process.Tobacco industry interference was initially suspected as a contributory factor beside the usual lengthy necessary legislative processes. The certificate of financial implications now clears way for consideration of the much delayed bill and 2014 seems a critical year in this regard. The certificate of financial implications is a requirement of all bills in parliament and implies that the financial obligations on the Ugandan state are manageable. Dr Chris Baryomunsi, the private member of parliament, pushing the bill is now expected to move the process forward in the August house. The Ugandan Tobacco bill is highly regarded with in the Ugandan and international tobacco control lobby and is seen is critical in stemming the public health,socio-economic,development and environmental effects of tobacco use in Uganda. Uganda has witnessed a spike in Noncommunicable disease such as cancers, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes for which tobacco use is the common risk factor. Uganda is already under strain from infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis

Adopted: an intriguing German documentary

The German cultural centre in Kampala features twice-monthly German and African movies. Yesterday,a thoughtful documentary was screened at their lush gardens at Nakasero in Kampala. Four Germans who are enstranged in Germany from their social lives and western life in general leave for Ghana to be 'adopted' by four 'foster' families. They leave behind careers and families to start over in Africa living in semi-rural lives of pit latrines, wells and an agrararian life. The triple heritage of Africa popularised by Mazuri comes into sharp focus. What follows is an intriguing journey one that inspires very deep reflections on the meaning and purpose of life, culture and humanity. Expectations and illusions become instantly endangered.

Jerichow: A German movie review

A German soldier back from a tour in Afghanistan after a dishonourable discharge finds himself penniless in a non-descript,poor Northern German town of Jerichow. The movie begins at his newly inherited family home following the death of the main character's mother. Thomas loses the mothers' inheritance(some leafy euros in 50 notes) to a bunch of low-lifes he owes money from a gambling debt. He has to make ends meet as a cucumber harvester at a large commercial farm- a colourless,dead-end job. Then comes a chance meeting with a wealthy Turkish business man (Ali) who has his car, a Range Rover, stuck near a river after a drunken stupor. Because the cops have a trail on him and want to take Ali's driving license,the Turk asks for a favour: can he claim it was the ex-army man who was driving so he can save his driving permit? And so begins a life of temptation and a sure recipe for disaster. The rich Turk has a much younger attractive wife called Laura. It almost love at first sight between Laura and Thomas. Thomas is soon offered a job as the rich Turk's consigliere, quickly winning his trust or does he? Ali has a chain of supermarkets with a very canny business sense. But he has issues with trusting people. He believes all who work for him in his multiple retail businesses are untrustworthy and cheating him. He doesn't even trust Laura and spies on her constantly. You see, Ali and Laura are not an ordinary couple. Ali literally purchased her by buying off her hefty debt. Its a transactional relationship peppered with wife battery and emotional abuse. Ali treats Laura like one of his possessions. Laura longs for something deeper. Thomas and Laura soon fall desperately in love. They seem to fill the void in each others' lives. Laura in an unrequited marriage and Thomas in an empty life. But there is a problem. They are all broke and they are all economically dependent on Ali. Ali soon announces that he has to go away to Turkey to check on his relations and asks Thomas to take charge of his multiple business concerns. Is this an incredible opportunity for Thomas and Laura to sink into their wildest lustful desires or is this a test for both? Rottentomatoes.com usually awards a percentage mark for movies it reviews and I would give this movie a 68% rating. It is certainly worthy of your 90 minutes. The plot and concept of the movie is a brilliant one although it is not as brilliantly executed and more could have been demanded of the leads. There is alot more dramatic potential and opportunity that the director squanders. This is a good movie but it could have been a great movie. It is a little understated for those used to Hollywood-fare. Overall, one of the best German movies I have seen in a long-while.

Tobacco control in Africa and the challenge of a colonial political economy

Public health advocates scarcely appreciate how entrenched the tobacco industry is in Africa given its colonial political economy. An analysis of the leading tobacco companies in Africa will reveal a colonial hang over. The leading tobacco company in most of Anglophone Africa is actually British American Tobacco (BAT) and the leading Tobacco companies in Franco phone Africa are actually French. In Kenya,Uganda, South Africa,Zambia and Zimbabwe, for instance, BAT has dominant market leadership. In Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal, the leading tobacco companies have French-ties. Using economic history lenses we would need to appreciate that the tobacco crop is actually not native to Africa. In Uganda, for instance, it was introduced in the 1920s by the British. The British were majorly interested in a colonial empire in Africa partly because they wanted a base for raw materials for their budgeoning industries and here cash crops like coffee, cotton, etc come to mind. Public health advocates need to appreciate how deeply entrenched the colonial political economy in Africa in many respects is still intact. BAT of course is no longer wholly British-owned, indigenous Ugandans for example can freely buy shares on the stock exchange in Kampala reflecting the hybridization of the colonial economy by marrying it with narrow elite African interests. The Board Chairmen of BAT Uganda have in the past ten years been very carefully selected representing the most foremost indigenous Ugandans even when all they do is really serve as fronts for complex multinational interests. By offering Ugandans shares in BAT Uganda, multinational commercial interests are diversified by co-opting a narrow African middle class thereby spreading the risk of regulatory oversight in African markets. In Uganda, UMEME, the local power company was bought by a British consortium. After getting market intelligence that the Ugandan state was growing weary of its efficiency standards and protracted grambling over a badly negotiated sale, UMEME about two years hastily sold some shares to native Ugandans. Recently, the Ugandan government threatened to reverse its power deal with UMEME which has wisely pre-empted this by hastily selling its shares to Ugandans. Today the Energy Minister announced Government will not go ahead with its threat.

Why Uganda is in the throes of an NCDs epidemic: A bullet-point analysis

Uganda already has AIDS, malaria and Tuberculosis to worry about-infectious diseases Another tier of diseases (non communicable diseases) has been added on to the disease. EVOLUTIONARY PHYSIOLOGY AND NUTRITION REGIME CHANGES • Physiological inability of body to adapt from physically-active rural backgrounds to sedentary middle class lifestyles. • Recreational diets typically comprising roast pork and beef • Westernization and change in nutritional regimes (from low to high- cholesterol diets) INCOME AND LIFESTYLES • Urbanization (excessive sedentary use of motorized transport) • Occupation-associated inactivity; hours spent in meetings and air travel. • Epidemiological transition from infectious (e.g. AIDS) to non- communicable diseases( e.g. CVDs) DIAGNOSTIC FACTORS • Late detection, low diagnostic capacity and ignorance of family history risk factor GENDER, SOCIO-CULTURAL AND POLITICAL ECONOMY FACTORS • Males more affected by heart disease due to biology (& African race)and socio-cultural male privileges (disproportionate resource access). • African culture associates being overweight with affluence. (148 words)

Are poor African countries net creditors to rich western countries?

As Africans, we have been made to believe that African states are propped up by loans and foreign money from the west. That right from free HIV treatment to World Bank loans,to government budget support, western credit and philanthropy sustains Africa's 'failed' states. A bold recent book however challenges this widely-held perception by providing stunning economic evidence that African countries are actually net creditors to the rich industrialized world. Put in lay man terms, the book's central argument is that more money leaves Africa to the west than comes into Africa from the west. The book (recommended to me by Pelegrine Sebulime) is entitled 'Africa's odious debts: How foreign loans and capital flight bled a continent'' was authored by Ndikumana and Boyce, Economics professors at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the former is actually Burundian. The book is no idle polemic but provides hard economic data most of which has already been published in academic journals since 2001. One of the articles written on this precise argument won an Economics award. Leonce Ndikumana should know. He holds a doctorate in Economics from University of Washington at St Louis and was head of research at African Development Bank from 2008 to 2011.He was also Chief of Macroeconomic analysis at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa from 2006 to 2008. In an article the authors published in the Journal of Development studies in 2001 titled’ Is Africa a net creditor?', the authors write ''We found that capital flight from 25 low-income African countries over the 1970-96 period amounted to $ 193 billion(and to $ 285 million including imputed interest earnings) comparing to this to the $178 billion in external debt to the same set of countries, we concluded that Africa is a net creditor to the rest of the world: the external assets of these countries exceeded their external debts'. Here is how Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Nigeria's Finance Minister put it 2005 ''We make annual debt repayments of more than$1.7 billion,three times our education budget and nine times our health budget'' Compounding the outrage is the empirical fact that most of loans borrowed by African countries end up in private pockets while the loans of course, remain publically-held by African states-for generations. The book discusses compelling case studies of Mobutu Sseseko's Zaire and Fernando Marcos' Phillipines. In a memorable story from the Philippines, 2 billion US dollars was borrowed from US Export-Import Bank and a Citibank and American Express consortium to build a nuclear energy plant that never produced even an ounce of electricity yet Philippines went on to pay billions of dollars in loan repayments. The trouble, partly, was that the nuclear plant was built on a site prone to earth quakes! The book highlights the complex behind-the-scene dealings at multilateral lenders such as the IMF which was arm-twisted by the US government to lend to Mobutu's Zaire contrary to its' own assessment. Not altogether strange if you have read similar tales in the frame of'Confessions of an economic hit man'. The notion that the west has taken more out of Africa than the other way round is hardly original. It has been previously harped by economic historians and anti-colonialism African intellectuals. This book, however, is hard empirical proof of this contemporary African reality of a hemorrhaging continent. One mortgaged by its elites in lots of needless borrowing with many in the west on the take as well. ''Aid in reverse: how poor countries develop rich countries''is how one observer sums it up.