Summer is here - or so it seems
These are the long holidays for the Ugandan education system so I think that therefore it must be summer.In England the summer used to signify the silly season - not much hard news going on so daft things hit the headlines. I am trying to work out whether there is the same tradition in Uganda.
'So, what is it that you find annoying about Uganda', said the proprietor of a bead and crafts shop in Muyenga.
'What do you think I'd find annoying?'
'Well, people do things very slowly and...the corruption'.
Good guesses even though my experience of corruption is at a minor level compared to what I read in the newspapers. As for the speed of things, well, speed isn't necessarily good but the slowness sometimes seems to ave an edge to it. Like the value which is given to the people who are to wait is of no consequence...and anyway, it is not possible to do this more quickly - fact.
Against that is the last minute notification of things which have to happen Right Now. One such is the reason that I am writing this from, what seems to be my third home, Kampala. I was due to travel here tomorrow morning and had planned my pretty unadventurous life around that time scale. But, best laid plans of mice and men...and all that, meant that I had to be flexible to the point of turning into moebius strip.
Moving the truck from Ghent to Aix
The story in brief as it was related to me on Friday at about 4pm. The commissioner (of education) had said that all of the trucks (presumably just education) had to travel to Kampala - by Monday, at the latest Tuesday for a non-specific purpose. No idea how long they were to be there, who would be paying to get them there and for the driver to stay over let alone why this was to happen. My northern hemisphere mentality found this largely unbelievable (although it was exactly true). What ever I thought, whatever plans there might have been the truck had to go to Kampala - on the allotted dates.
I don't know whether there had been some earlier notification, I can only say when it was broached to me. From where I am sitting, it said some not-too-pleasant things about the value that was put on my time and my arrangements.
Moses had to take his driver's registration documents with him - not sure what was happening to the other college truck and driver 'though - we must be special...hhhmmmm. The picture that I have in my head is of an unspecified number of white Toyota trucks blocking a significant part of Kampala while one official with a clipboard very, very slowly checks off whatever it is that required the trucks to be brought to Kampala today. Woe betide anyone who is in the queue, I speculate, when it is time for the official's lunch - as lunch will be taken regardless of the context that has been created. I hope that I am wrong and that it is all done with creditable efficiency.
So, back to the silly season
Ahh, no so silly as there was news in the week that Ugandans are one of the saddest group of people on the planet - using the old definitions of 'sad'. The headline, 'Ugandans at the 11th saddest in the world' got my next door neighbour, Herbert, ensuring that he bought that day's newspaper. The report was of the Legatum Institute 'inquiry into global wealth and wellbeing' taking in 2010 data from 110 countries. If you have time, read the article or have a look at the dedicated website which has lots of bells, whistles and graphs on it and see what you think. It rang true for me but I may be seeing it from the wrong end of the telescope. The United Kingdom ranks 13th from the top - but it was 2010 data... Who wins? Norway. Second, Denmark and third, Australia.
Back again to the newspapers at this time of year. From today's edition of the Daily Monitor only, and with mounting incredulity I bring you:
1. Chief Justice Odoki wants 50m salary.
This is about the monthly salary which the Chief Justice is said to require, some 45m shillings up from his current 5m per month. The rationalisation which the newspaper puts in speech marks is goes like this,
'The Chief Justice is the highest professional in the country and I deserve a monthly salary of Shs50 million.
The Shs 5 million I currently get is just pocket money for a lawyer.'
I know that I keep on about this but primary school teachers get around 250,000 shillings per month and doctors are on about 700,000 shillings a month.
This brings me to number 2.
2. Teacher transfer
I was told recently that there is no mechanism for sacking a teacher in Uganda. Some of us remember a time when being a teacher was a job for life in England - but things have changed. Here, the education system is said to be decentralised, with power at the local level. That said, teachers can and are transferred from post to post across the country, as are many other government workers. Today there is a full page notifying teachers of the new transfers: name, former school and new school. I picked one transfer, between Fort Portal and Kaberole and checked the distance between placements. It was 259.07 kilometres - and this is about a month away from the beginning of term for secondary teachers.
Now, it is up to a government to decide how it organises its teaching force and this is how its done here. The commentary that accompanied the list of transfers was another matter.
'Ministry moves 400 teachers
'The transfers are an ongoing process. This is an official list but those who want to appeal can do so through their current supervisors or else it will be dustbinned.
'Some of these teachers are transferred because of administrative reasons, some are under loaded while others have overstayed in one place and have become native and can no longer perform, ' Mr Agula [commissioner for secondary education] explained in an interview.One can only wonder what the receiving schools must think.
There is a known form of passive resistance to transfers. The teachers just do not arrive - they abscond. There are also instances of teachers choosing to transfer themselves. They do it the other way - they just turn up with, presumably forged transfer papers, and settle in to the new place. I have no idea what happens to salary in either case.
The next story is about justice: summary justice
3. The Lord Mayor of Kampala and a threat with a toy pistol
No, it is not a good idea to threaten anyone with a pistol, toy or not. It is certainly not a good idea to do it in public. Addu Kiyaga and Steven Otage report that:
'Drama ensued when an unidentified man pulled out a toy pistol and aimed it at Kampala Lord mayor Erias Lukwago...Mr Lukwago, who was addressing a gathering rushed back into his car before the man was beaten. The District Police Commander at Old Kampala Police Siraje Bakaleke said: We have not yet identified his names and what he does but he has been admitted to Mulago Hospital so that we can proceed with the investigations when he recovers.'
...and the last story.
4. Arrested
This is about possible police malpractice.
12: the number of police officers who have been implicated and detained over suspected criminal acts since the festive season. Mr Kawesi [Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander] said four officers were arrested from Nakumatt Shopping Mall over alleged connivance with robbers. Some are detained over mounting an illegal roadblock and shooting at Christians on Entebbe Road.
I truly have no comment to make about that report.
This is the signing off piece for me:
Just to remind myself that things aren't always what they seem, my districts are Amuria, Kaberamaido, Katakwi, Serere and Soroti.
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