Scared Goat

Ok,

I admit it. It is a very beautiful Monday afternoon. And I am depressed.

Not got far to look for the reason. I am scared. Scared for myself, and for whatever is going to happen. Maybe I was putting my emotions, my feelings into words here. Projecting my fear onto someone else.

It is such a beautiful day,

And my mind has seized up with fear and apprehension. I can put it in words, the fear. Better maybe than most other people. But talking about it will not ease me much. So, I will try to do something else.

Distract myself, huh!

deT, Down under is famed for its sheep and wool. Have you ever seen a goat? Here is one for you.

I found her seated sedately in the road, near where I live.

Yes, seated, like so.

Goats here run a wild tame life. Poor creatures, almost tame pets, but reared and kept for their meat. I have seen flocks of goats, in the north and east of the country, but here in Kampala, there are almost always solitary, or in small packs. Or they may be lashed on a rope by the roadside.

She is pregnant. That’s why the flanks bulge out so roundly, so nicely. Maybe the reason why she was seated in the middle of the road on a sunny day. Too heavy to move. Maybe, maybe not. Just interesting to think about a possible reason!

Pretty, in a goaty way, I would say. Maybe that is the reason I stopped and started taking photos of her. Notched up my ‘eccentric’ score a few thousands.

Hum. Wanted to name her deT, but I have already named a huge beaked/nosy bird that. How will Princess take this?

Eh Princess, how do you take that, having an anonymous goat named after you?

Before you start throwing plates and mugs at me, remember, I do not know your tribe. You told me that you are not a Muganda, so that is all I know!!!!! Oh, I can guess. So, is it an honour or an insult to have a goat named after you?

Ah, for me, it is just plain funny! ha ha ha!

OK, Princess. Peace offering, so that you don’t go to that island angry with dear nasty evil brother here. Just a reminder of my bad photography. A hazy full moon, photo taken from my back yard, one full moon.

GayUganda

A Scared Young Man

He cannot help be scared. He is. He has to be.

That day of the Implementers Meeting, he was at the meeting place. Hadnt planned to be there. But he was, and such is luck.

We were many, and we all, but one entered the conference hall. Royal Imperial Hotel, in the heart of Kampala. It was the 2008 International HIV/AIDS Implementers meeting. And we were bent on protesting. We, gay Ugandans, had been told that we did not deserve an HIV prevention programme.

So, we were there.

It was a peaceful demonstration. We have some pride in that. Organised to be 5 minutes of fame. And then out of the conference hall. We got out, that is most of us, except 3, who were arrested.

There followed 2 nights in police cells. Sleeping on the hard, cold floor.

They got out, and were greeted as heroes.

They had a court case to answer. And they stood tall and straight in court.

First hearing, flopped.

Second hearing, went ahead.

Third hearing. Did I hear the government angry at the judicial constraints that there are?

That was Friday, the third hearing.

He went there, in a suit, and smart, like he was supposed to be. An official function, and a hero of his community, as we judged it to be.

Afterwards, the day being Friday, and him being a Moslem, he went to Mosque. Left the mosque. Jumped on a boda-boda, a powered motorcycle taxi, the sort that is very popular in Uganda. He left Nakasero Mosque. They stop at traffic lights, and a police patrol vehicle swerves infront of them.

They are pick ups. Blue, a deep blue. The khaki uniformed police on top. It was the day the city was tense because of the problems with the Mengo traditional government.

Through his mind some thoughts. Maybe the boda-boda rider had a traffic violation. That is always likely. They are reckless and unprincipled, except in getting their passenger to the destination.

Or maybe it was because the of the likelihood of the legal-illegal demonstrations.

3 men off the police pick-up. 2 in uniform, 1 not. And they come, not for the driver, but the suprised passenger on the boda boda taxi.

He was bundled into the 999. Roughly.

A criminal, forced onto the floor.

He begged to leave the bodaboda man with his contacts, to tell a few people that he has been arrested. That is how we came to know. Through the boda-boda man, whose passenger had been kidnapped, or arrested, or taken, in broad day light, on a street in Kampala.

We searched the police stations. Decided that he was not there, late in the night.

We were scared.

And we hoped, and prayed.

The next day, he comes back.

A scared man now. No bravado. No shouting about him. Shadows lurking behind those eyes.

So, where was he taken?

His story-

From the police 999 patrol, into an unmarked, tinted car window. A ride through town. And then into a house.

[We call them 'safe houses' in Uganda. Un-official torture chambers. State owned, state operated.
Ask the Danish (or Dutch??) Ambassador to Uganda. One day, he made news. A young man jumped over the fence of his residence. Soon to be followed by pursuing others.

The diplomat was livid. Who dared?...

The young man was tortured. The chasers were the torturers. And, apparently, the house next door was a 'safe house'. The diplomat's residence was not the embassy, so, he could not ask and be given protection. The torturers took the tortured young man, and the frustrated diplomat did what he could. He talked to the Monitor newspaper. And they published the story, and it died a natural death thereafter. No one follows up cases of the government torturing opposition in the name of them being opposition.]

So, our young man was taken to a safe house.

Questioned.

(We talked about it, before. Wondered what would happen if one of us was taken to these torture chambers? Talk, had been the consesus. Talk, we have nothing to hide)

So, he talked, we hope.

And the answers were not enough.

And he was taken into a room, with 4 other young men. With broken bones.

Are there 'truth serums'? Well, the young man has no questions about that. He was asked questions. He talked.

But that was not enough. Some more torture. GWB and Guantanamo has taught a lot of lessons. Torture, without leaving any marks. The aim to make the person spill all the innermost secrets. So, since these were not inner most secrets, and they were just on the surface, they were spilled.

What do they want to know?

Easy. Who are the leaders. Who are the organisers. Who are these homosexuals? Who funds them? Where do they get the money. What does he get, how much? So, if he doesnt get any money, how come he is a homosexual? He must be having lots of money.

Did he talk? No, he sang.

And, life was spared, because there seems to be so little to know, to understand, to feret out.

Would you risk your life hiding who gayuganda is?

A famous one in cyber, maybe, an anonymous laughing, crying face, articulating something of what happens in a tiny central African country, Uganda.

Would you not talk? At the threat of torture?

I am afraid, me, gug, I would quickly reveal that huge secret. Even if it was me.

Later, the next day, he was driven out of the safe house.

He was dropped on the street of Kampala.

Minus his smart suit. Minus his wallet. Minus shoes. Minus his phone.

Only the trouser he was in, and his shirt.

And he was feeling all sore, and sick. He walked to where he knew his friends would be. And I saw him later. A scared young man. A very scared young man.
--

Princess. I know you love your country. You have been most insistent that I reveal myself to you. But even having my phone number can be a risk. No. Sometimes it is better to know that I, gayuganda, a voice in the wilderness of cyber, is a voice in the wilderness of cyber. We can cry, and sing, and dance, and be happy. Doesnt make me forget that we live in a jungle.

If google ever fails me, and blogger is broken apart, and my identity is revealed, well-
what will be will be. We live in a dangerous, unhealthy world. And me, because of my sexuality, a blessing to me, a curse because it seems to be an automatic qualification for some people, because of that I can be dangerous to myself, and to you. The guilt of association.


Oh, I am scared too. As scared as I will ever be.


But, I also have to remember that this poor world of mine is not perfect. And it is my world, and my home. And I have decided to see it as home. It is my home, and well, no other place will be home to me. This is home.


Cry, My Beloved Country.



GayUganda

UGANDAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER -USAAM RELEASED

AUF TESTIMONY – SATURDAY 26TH JULY 2008 12:30


“From court I came to Speke Hotel with Mellisa and Ali for 20 minutes. I found Val &
Gerald and shared a few words with them. Time for Juma prayers was approaching and was
supposed to meet a friend who is getting married after my prayers. I left to attend the
prayers at Nakasero mosque and then I met the lady who gave me money to help her make
her wedding cake. I received a call from Brian at about 2.30 p.m and was coming to Speke
Hotel to meet Brian on a motorbike.


On my way to Speke Hotel I saw a patrol car that was following us which then packed in
front of us. They told the motorbike cyclist that they wanted me and not him since he
had already panicked thinking they were after him. They picked me and I requested to
leave the boda boda man with some contacts so he could let them know that I had been
taken. I gave him Pepe, Frank and Isma’s numbers and told him to help him call those
people.


The patrol car had four policemen, three in uniform and one in plain clothes. I got onto
the pickup truck and they drove towards Jinja road where they found another civilian car
with tinted windscreens packed around Shoprite. They then changed me to that car which
went to direction that I did not note. There were other policemen, 2 in suits and 1 in
uniform. We drove for about 30 minutes and entered a building; they got me out and we
entered somewhere where we found two women and one man.


They then asked me if I was Nikki and I said no. They asked me my name and I told them I
was Usaam Mukwaya. They didn’t identify themselves. They then said they want Nikki or
Pepe. They pushed me into a very dark corridor where I found two other boys. One boy’s
leg was broken and they looked like they had been tortured. One man brought a chair and
told me to sit. They scrapped my knuckle with a razor like object and brought another
glass one that they pressed on the scrapped part where there was blood and I started
getting paralyzed. It started from the hands and then the legs. I was feeling kind of
sleepy but could still understand what was going on around me.
They started asking questions in Luganda (a local language);-
‘Who are the funders and sponsors?’ to which I said I didn’t know them.
‘What is your role among the homosexuals?’ I told them I am an activist and Human Rights
Defender. They then asked me; ‘Who isn’t a Human rights Defender?’ and I kept quiet.
‘Who is Pepe and where does he stays? What is Pepe’s role?’ I told them that Pepe is the
Chairperson of SMUG. The same questions were asked about Nikki and I told them I don’t
know. They asked me where the SMUG office is but I don’t remember what I told them. They
then asked where the lawyer’s office is and where he resides. I directed them to the
office but I told them I didn’t know his home. They asked if I was married and said I am
not. They left me after this and I slept after that. Two women and one man were doing
the questioning, while the other boys were just sitting.


When it was approaching dawn, the man came in and asked me if I was a man or a woman. I
didn’t reply but he asked me to remove my trousers and that’s when he saw my phone. I
had some money too (Fifty thousand shillings) for the lady I had met earlier at the
mosque, which he took. He told me to walk around the room in my underwear. He then told
me to wear my trousers. (Sighs) There was a machine with a cushion bench under it, in
the room where we were and he told me to lie facing it. He told me to look up and
threatened to lower the machine if I did not tell them who the funders are. The machine
is round with long extensions on the sides that stretch the arms. The round part is
directly above the chest and they lowered the machine. The machine is lowered using a
switch. The two extensions on the machine held my hands very tightly and I was in
intense pain. They kept asking me if I would talk or not, I said nothing. After about 15
minutes, another man came in and said that it’s possible that I am innocent because the
young people are just recruited. The machine was then removed and they asked me if we
are paid and how much is it that we are paid. I told them that I am not paid. They then
asked me why I am a homosexual if I am not paid. I did not answer. They left me sleeping
on the bench under the machine.


After about 40 min the one that lowered the machine came back and called me. They took
me where the car that had brought us the previous day was parked and asked me to get in.
My mobile phone, money, jacket, shoes and socks were not returned to me. There were two
men, the same person who was driving the day before and someone else I had not seen
before drove me up Mulago round-about and ordered me to get out. There is a phone booth
across the road; I walked up to it thinking I could remember Pepe’s number but only the
last two digits could come to mind. I then picked a motorbike to Speke Hotel, but the
motorcyclist was hesitant to take because I was dirty and barefooted. When I reached
Speke Hotel, I looked around for my colleagues but there was none there, so the
telephone operator across Speke paid the motorcyclist. I entered the hotel at about 12pm
and asked the Manager to call someone; he called Gerald the Office Administrator of
SMUG, who then called Pepe.


I feel pain in my chest, I also have a stomach upset but I am happy to see light again.”


This testimony was witnessed by:

---


For further information please contact:
Pepe Julian Onziema
Email:jpepe@sexualminoritiesuganda.org


Brian
Tel: +256-712-428-906

Namirembe, Kampala

A picture is worth a thousand words?

Well, you first have to see mine to believe that.

One sun splashed day, I went walking, up Namirembe hill. You should be able to google it on Google Earth, I bet. Me and my internet connection, I cannot.

Namirembe. One of the ‘original’ seven hills of Kampala, I am given to understand. A huge mound, kopje like in the centre of the city as it sprawls round and about. These days it is hard to figure out where the city starts and ends. But, apparently, it used to be ‘the’ centre.

At the very top of the hill is the shrine for the Anglican god. Here is the approach, from my pedestrian point of view.

Shame (my photographic sense, that is). If you want to see more of it, it is below. St. Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe. I am told it has some very interesting history. At the moment, it is not the seat of Orombi, though his palace, the Archbishop’s palace is behind me as I take the photo.

Why isn’t the biggest, most prominent cathedral the seat of the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda? Ha, our divisive politics. The church is so rich in them. A tale for another day.

Namirembe is a round hill. The shrine sits at the very summit, leveled. She is squat, like an old lady who is all front. I mean, there is no front- or maybe I just rarely see the front?

I often climb that hill. But usually it is to look at this view.

Am looking west as I take that one. Here, I watch the sun setting, though come to think of it, not of recent. Between me and the horizon is the river valley in which I live. And I have for some time.

Let me bring it closer.

Ok, it is true. Weird me. I come not to see the valley, but to look at the sunset, and the cloud formations. So, since the camera is usually pointing upwards, you get more cloud than land. Ha!

To the east is the city. The jumble of buildings that is Kampala. I warn you, it is not that beautiful in the brilliant sun. Cannot hide the muddy corners, you see. But this is part of the city.

Spread out like an old lady’s skirts. Told you, she is squatting.

Another look.

Sheraton Kampala, the Gaddafi mosque squat on Old Kampala hill. Though I think of it as a shoulder of Namirembe hill. Well, my geography is not so good!

That is the more presentable part of Kampala. Ha ha ha! I have cut out quite a bit.

Have missed the sunset today. Funny, I do not have any pics of that from my favorite perch.

And, a last cryptic message. The appointment still holds, even after this long.

Hey, I have got Google Earth Image of Namirembe hill. Here you are.

GayUganda

Comedy of Errors

In Uganda, unfortunately, we do not need to venture into fiction to have a great tale. This, necessarily, is not a political blog, but this story is too hilariously true to be credited for other than fiction.

I will not use my own words, because they may be misconstrued as fictitious. I will use the reports that are on the Ugandan Newspaper websites. Remember, the Monitor is an independent newspaper. The New Vision is government owned, and controlled. So, what you read from the New Vision is the supposed government take on what is being called the Mengo 2008 Crisis. Why is it called that? We have a long history, Uganda.

Background.

Mengo is the seat of the Buganda Government. Buganda kingdom, one of our old kingdoms, is now a cultural relic. More than a relic, since we Africans believe in our tribes above our ‘nations’. It is supposed to be apolitical. The King, or Kabaka, is the head of the Buganda Kingdom, and of the Buganda Government. Oh, they have a prime minister (Katikiro), and a parliament of elders, the Lukiiko. (I cant help this dig, sorry. That is why the other tribes consider them, er, uppity and arrogant!)

And, er, the President of the Republic of Uganda is not a Muganda.

So, it started long time ago, in history which I would rather not go into. But the New Vision has its assessment of what the current crisis is about. Here.

Now, recently, the President was unhappy, because a radio station owned by the Buganda government was ‘abusing’ him. So, the country was shocked when 3 members of the Buganda Government were arrested. The charges included 'terrorism'

Here. Kivenjinja defended the arrests, saying the officials were a threat to the national security.

“We arrested them because they are a security threat. Those who rise against the authority of the State are arrested,” he stated.

The arrestees were spirited out of Kampala.

More than 100 hours after the arrest, they had not been charged. A constitutional requirement. So, Buganda Government asked for Courts to intervene.

The courts ordered the government to release the arrestees.

The government could not go against the constitution. So, the arrestees were released.

For all of 2 minutes. And then re-arrested.

You can understand that by then the Kampala was tense. Fortunately for me, I was so immersed in my own problems that I just did not have the time to follow the 'crisis'.

Then, well, yesterday, they were charged with 'sedition' and released. But what is most interesting are the demands of the government of the Mengo government.

Authentic sources told Saturday Vision that Buganda Prime minister John Baptist Walusimbi and the Coordinator of Intelligence forces, Maj. Gen. David Tinyefuza, had agreed that the officials be released without charge on condition that Mengo sacks all ministers with known political leanings.

Mengo was also asked to fire all presenters on its Central Broadcasting Station (CBS) with known political leanings and disband the Civic Education Committee on the Land Bill, chaired by Betty Nambooze.

In a document that deputy Katikkiro Emmanuel Ssendaula took to the Bulange for acknowledgement, they were also asked to totally overhaul CBS programming to weed out elements that were offensive to Government. They were also asked to prohibit all Mengo officials from making political statements and restrict themselves to cultural issues.

But that is the government paper. From the more 'independent media'

Bullshit!

This is a comedy of errors of unimaginable consequences. All of a sudden, a tribe has been turned into an official opposition. Who advises the President? Had their collective brains gone on a leave of abscence?

Things is, the Central government doesnt want dissent. But on certain things, some people cannot not dissent. So, to keep them quiet, the government plays bully?

Oh well, now that was my own assesment.

As I said, the Baganda are not the most popular of our fractured tribes. But suddenly, this bullying gets them some curious friends!

GayUganda

UGANDAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER FEARED ARRESTED

Time: 03:15 (25 July 2008)

Usaam Auf Mukwaya, one of the three LGBTI Human Right Defenders who were arrested at the

HIV/AIDS Implementers’ Meeting last month has gone missing. By 21:39 this evening, his

whereabouts where still unknown.

Pepe Julian Onziema, another of the three LGBTI Human Rights Defenders currently facing

court charges for Criminal trespass received a phone call at 3:15pm from a motorcyclist

who identified himself as Amis. Amis who was riding Auf, reports that they were ambushed

by three men in a police patrol vehicle in Nakasero along Entebbe road on his way from

saying prayers at a mosque and swiftly driven away. Auf was on his way back to Speke

Hotel where the rest of SMUG Human Rights Defenders and friends had gathered after the

court hearing of the three Human Rights Defenders.

“We were riding from Nakasero when a police patrol vehicle suddenly interrupted our way.

We had approached Entebbe road junction and stopped waiting for cars to pass. As we were

waiting, the police patrol parked in front of us and 3 policemen, two in uniform and one

in plain clothes came and asked Auf to get on the patrol car. He asked for a pen from

the policeman in plain clothes in order to write down some contacts. They allowed him to

do so and he gave me the piece of paper and told me to call the contacts and inform

them. There was no violence portrayed at the moment of the arrest”, reports the

motorcyclist.

A few available colleagues from SMUG have moved around five police stations around

Kampala namely; Central police station, Kiira road, Old Kampala, Nakasero and Jinja road

and Auf has not been found at any of those stations.

SMUG is still working around time to find where he has been detained. We will keep you

updated on new developments.

This report has been prepared and verified by:

- Pepe Julian Onziema- Co-Chairperson, SMUG

- Victor Mukasa, IGLHRC Official

- Val Kalende, SMUG

- Brian – SMUG

- Aliyah- FARUG

For further information please contact:

Pepe Julian Onziema

Tel: +256-772-370-674

Email:jpepe@sexualminoritiesuganda.org

Brian

Tel: +256-712-428-906

Court Report as 0f 25th –July -2007

Today at Buganda road court, The prosecution desk produced a new prosecutor who was asking the judge to be given more time to study the case file and get acquitted to the case before they could proceed. The presiding Magistrate refused citing reason that the file has been in the prosecution office for enough time for the prosecutor to have looked through and so she (magistrate) ordered him to proceed with cross examining the present witness.

The prosecution produced their 2nd witness in this case by the names of sergeant Malenge Kamya aged 49yrs attached to the central police station Kampala

When asked if he knew the matter before court, the witness sergeant Malenge admitted that he knew it, how he knew about the case? He was the "In charge" at the Police post that was set at Grand Imperial hotel during the HIV/AIDS implementers meeting

The witness said that when he got a call that there were 3 people disrupting the conference, he sent his CIDs to investigate and they came back with the three Val, Auf & Pepe and that's when he realized that these people were carrying placards which were written on the following statements "gays are also Ugandans" and "No single fee has been allocated to gays…."

The witness was asked if he knew the defendants before court and he admitted that he knew them when asked to Identify them by their names and he went on to do so, Pointing at Pepe and calling him/er Valentine Kalende and vice verser.

The Defence counsel asked the witness who the complainant in this case was and the witness answered that it was him and the state.

When asked if he knew the organizers of the conference he admitted that he knew them, when asked if he took statements from the organizers of the conference the sergeant said he had no authority to do so he just handed the accused to the O.C CID who took them to the central police station.

The Defence attorney informed the witness that one of the representatives of UNAIDS recorded a statement with the police, when asked if he knew about that statement he denied.

The counsel produced two documents one from UNAIDS headquarters and one from the United states Embassy and in particular from the ambassador of the united states of America which the sergeant denied that he didn't know of them at all that that was the first time he was seeing them. These documents verified the invitations awarded to the defendants to attend the conference.

The defence attorney closed by putting it to the state witness that the state and the police were just hosts of the conference and not the organizers so they were just torturing these young activists. (The accused)

The presiding magistrate asked the state witness the following questions for clarification.

* Do you consider yourself a complainant in this case? Witness answered yes.

* How many levels of security did you have at the Hotel for that day? Witness answered. 1 at the hotel entrance and 1 at the conference hall entrance.

* How come these beat the security levels? Witness answered that he didn't know how they beat the security in fact that's what annoyed him so much as the in charge of security at the hotel for the conference.

The prosecution asked the magistrate to adjourn the next hearing to the 20th –Sept – 2008 because they have a a lot of cases in between there, which the magistrate refused.

The case was adjourned to the 1st of August 2008 at 9:00am.

Random Thoughts

Damn. I had to detour, because Princess was angry. But now that I have apologised, and the apology been accepted, why dont I post this?

Random Thoughts

Because the mind seems not to be settled, so, I pour down what has been coming to my mind.

Princess was asking me about the effects of the Sept 11^th on Uganda, and Africa. Curious question. Apparently, since she was, what 9 years old then, and I am much older according to her surmise, I should know. I was miffed. I am gay, never old! But she didn't get the joke. So I told her to ask her dad. Apparently he did the job of educating her. Sometimes one needs to duck the responsibilities of an elder brother, so that we don't appear that 'old'!

Anyway, one of the results of Bush's war on terror- to educate Princess. [lecture mode now], was the passing of laws on terror. Patriot Act in America, don't remember what in Britain. And in Uganda, of course we had the Terrorism Act.

You know curious thing about this sweeping law? It nets anyone who opposes the government. Anyone who seriously gives the government a headache.

So, the leader of the opposition is currently fighting a 'Terrorism' charge. The case is before the Constitutional court. Oh, he beat the rape charges, but terrorism is another matter. I don't mind Kony being hanged. Long overdue that, but, why should a man who aspires to the presidency be a terrorist? Curious, curious, curious logic.

Though is it more curious than 'if you are not with us you are against us'?

[Silly memory. Nelson Mandela was a terrorist!]

So, back to Uganda.

The Kabaka's men, you know, the two men and woman who were arrested some five days ago have not appeared in court. Parliament convened in emergency session? And the Army MP (yes, the Member of Parliament representing the Ugandan Army), one of the army MPs said that the charge of 'terrorism' was such a big one that it gave the government reason to suspend parts of the law. Like the one which says that no one should stay more than 48 hours without being charged…

So, Princess. I think sisters of mine should be sharp, and I know you are. Or else you would not be soon going to that other island. Do I need to explain more?

And, because I didn't put this post up when you were so angry with me, by the time I publish, the 3 have been released, as ordered by court, and immediately re-arrested. Pray for our dear country.

--

Speaking of court, tomorrow, we shall be back. In court. You remember we angered the government by attending the HIV Implementers meeting without invitation. Well, the date with the judge is 25^th July at 9:00am.

Sometimes I do like the law. Like when we use it to jump out of prison. [believe it is somewhere in the constitution that we should not be held for more than 48 hours].. but then I hate it when it is used to bludgeon us. So, we still have to report to court. We still have the one year in prison possibility hanging over our heads. Oh well, we took our risks. We were caught.

Just want to do a Houdini act. Get out of jail, without paying the fine!

--

Of Bush, GW and the terrorism act in Uganda. We seriously have to toddy up to the next president of America. Our track record is very good. Bill Clinton, he was wooed, and he responded. GWB, well, we just had to get on board, fight the war on terror. Easy, easy, easy. And we were family. It has done us loads of good.

But now, the next president? Of the US that is.

If it is McCain, I am sure everything will be ok. He is going to fight the war on terror with all his might, him being Bush's 3^rd Term and all. So, the war front in Uganda will not suffer. Of course for us we are not changing presidents…

But if it is Barack Obama. I foresee some difficulties.

The guy does not know Realpolitik. He went to Israel and told them to look in the mirror. What? Where is 'standing behind you come what may'? Unconditionally support?

And the guy is an African. [yes, he is!], so he may see through this 'vulnerable' card we so consistently play. We may actually be forced to do something. Why did this Kenyan become an American? Promises to wake Africa out of our slumber.

Maybe, just maybe, we will have to throw away the begging bowl. That would be terrible, wouldn't it? Imagine, Bashir accountable for his war crimes. Mugabe off, dismissed. Kibaki disciplined. Real democracy in Uganda.

But, as things which are too good, it is all in the dreams.

I will start chanting 'Yes We Can.' 'Yes We Can' 'Yes we can.' Maybe dreams will come true. Before I get my appointment with death that is.

And maybe, since I have become that morbid, I should sign off!

GayUganda

WitchHunt; Let it begin, the Hunt for Homosexuals

Uganda: Education Ministry Probes Gays in Schools

New Vision (Kampala)

23 July 2008

Posted to the web 24 July 2008

Paul Kiwuuwa

Kampala

The Ministry of Education is investigating reports of homosexuality in schools, minister Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire announced yesterday.

She said both private and government-aided schools would be investigated.

"We have embarked on a serious investigation into the outrageous habit. We want to find out why is it practised, who are involved and when did it start such that we find a solution to the vice," Bitamazire said.

She said students, teachers, parents and the school support staff would be interviewed.

"Parents play a big role in bringing up children. But some of them assume that this responsibility should be left to teachers and matrons, especially in boarding schools," the minister added

The ministry's move follow complaints by the chairperson of the parliamentary social services committee, Rosemary Ssenninde (NRM), that homosexuality was rampant in schools.

Defending her ministry's budget for this financial year, Bitamazire told Seninde's committee: "Religion and culture are against gay activities. I do not expect religious-founded schools to be involved in homosexuality."

However Alice Alaso (FDC) differed from Bitamazire's argument, saying: "It is alleged that gay activities originate from such schools. The hypotheses will not work if you exclude the religious-founded schools."

Beatrice Rwakimari (NRM) said: "Poverty has also led to the spread of gay activities. Some organisations claim to be sponsoring poor students yet their motives are different."

Chris Baryomunsi (NRM) explained: "In 2004, homosexuals held a secret conference in Uganda. Although the Government was not aware about it, the conference attracted many participants worldwide."

Virtue Online

I have always been fascinated by how good Christian people insist on calling us 'Homosexual'. The word comes out as a curse, not a blessing. Like saying shit.

Anyway, I have been reading this article, about Ssenyonjo and Lambeth, etc. Media is powerful. The facts are correct, at least most of them, but there is something in the tone, an incredulous slant to the writing which colours everything.

Reading between the lines? But what is said there is fascinating. Here is the article, which, by the way, tends to be less hate laced than most that the good Christian Right writes about us big and bad and evil homosexuals

LAMBETH: Ousted Ugandan bishop at pro-gay event

By Hans Zeiger in Canterbury
www.virtueonline.org
July 23, 2008

CANTERBURY-The Rt. Rev. Christopher Ssenyonjo, ousted as a bishop by the Church of the Province of Uganda because of his pro-gay activism, was among the panelists at a Lambeth Conference "fringe" event Wednesday to encourage gay inclusion. The event included the preview screening of a new documentary film called Voices of Witness, about homosexual Christians in Africa. Ssenyonjo was interviewed in the film, and after the screening he offered his reflections alongside three other African pro-gay activists.

Though Ugandan bishops were invited to Lambeth by the Archbishop of Canterbury and are boycotting the conference, Ssenyonjo, the former Bishop of West Buganda, was not officially invited and came anyway. He is in Canterbury at the invitation and expense of Integrity USA, the homosexual pressure group that sponsored the screening and panel discussion at the University of Kent.

Formerly Bishop of West Buganda, Ssenyonjo's pro-gay activism led to his defrocking in 2002 by then-Archbishop of Uganda Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo. Then in 2004, Ssenyonjo formed his own church called the Charismatic Church of Uganda, of which he became a bishop. Upon learning of Ssenyonjo's efforts to establish new ecclesiastical authorities in 2006, the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda, denounced Ssenyonjo. "If you see him in a purple shirt and clerical collar, or the robes of a bishop, he is only pretending to be a bishop. But, he is no longer a bishop of the Church of Uganda."

Despite Ssenyonjo's separation from the Anglican Church in his country, he serves as Chairman of Integrity Uganda.

Since homosexuality occurs in every culture, Ssenyonjo told his audience in Canterbury, "We should welcome those people who are homosexual without discrimination ... We should not discriminate [sic] the homosexuals from having companionate unions." Ssenyonjo compared the issue of homosexual ordination to the ordination of women."In the same way, the homosexuals, if they are called by God, they should also be ordained to the highest order, including bishops."

Alongside Ssenyonjo on the Integrity panel were Davis Mac-Ayalla, a Nigerian gay activist who has opposed Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola; Mia Nikasimo, a transgender Nigerian living in England who transitioned from male to female; and Fr. Michael Kimundu, a Kenyan who left the priesthood after the Archbishop of Kenya told him to stop his pro-gay counseling. Louise Brooks of Integrity USA moderated the panel.

Mac-Ayalla responded to a Tuesday press conference by the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul, Archbishop of Uganda, saying his comments proved "that this archbishop is not ready for commitment to listen to the spirits of gays and lesbians" in accordance with the Call to Listen of the 1978 Lambeth Conference. "Keep to the promise that you have made to yourselves to listen to the spirit of gays and lesbians," Mac-Ayalla said when asked to state his message for bishops.

"What I have to say to the bishops is a bit more compassion and love will go a great distance," Mia Nikasimo added. "They are playing God," Fr. Kimundu said of the non-inclusive bishops. "Let them, if there are issues they don't understand, let them commission people to give answers."

All four of the panelists were involved in the documentary Voices of Witness. The film was produced by Rev. Katie Sherrod and Rev. Cynthia Black and advised by the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire, Integrity President Susan Russell, Integrity founder Louie Crew, and others. Funding for the film was made possible by the Rt. Rev. Mark Andrus, Bishop of California. The film's production was initiated by a donation of $17,500 that Andrus secured. Andrus was also present at the Intergrity event on Wednesday.


END

Ok, now the question. Is the slant positive or negative?

gug

Sorry.

Little sister is very unhappy with me. Apparently I abused our parents for naming her Princess.

[Now, am going to be in dungeon from bigger sis deT, because I am making this a post, but, well…]

Oh, it all came from the naming game. deT, all the way Down Under wants an African name because she has fallen in love with Africa. So, people poured in their good wishes. Me being me, I added my ten cents worth, and attacked our parents for calling Princess Princess.

deT proudly wears the Baganda name Kamese. Which, by the way, means mouse! My weird sense of humour!! (I think she was unhappy, not because she had the name, but because there is a pastor that has the same name, but that is another story…)

DeT is deT, so I am not surprised that she proudly wears the name Kamese. That is the kind of person I had figured you out girl, and that, by the way, is why I find you so engaging! You wonderful sense of irreverence.

But Princess is another person.

Oh yes, should have figured you out for a Ugandan.

I know, I know. I am a Ugandan. But, as I often say, I am a very weird, politically incorrect Ugandan. After all I dare to blog as a gay man. Horror of horrors. And I have been tackling other things, daring to step where only the devil dares.

Ugandans. We have our own version of ‘politically correct’ speech. And it is so easy to miss-step that it angers me. For example, the issue of the tribes, and tribal rivalries. Things that we never, ever blog about. So, I am weird enough to talk about them. Because, well, why not?

Another example? Sex.

But Princess told me to lay off that subject if I wanted her to continue reading this blog. If I say typical Ugandan attitude, I will be crucified, but there we are.

Yes, I am supposed to be saying sorry.

Err, Princess. I thought it was so obvious that when parents name a child Princess that it is a great thing. Fact, in Africa, at least in our Uganda, names mean something. Something definite. The very fact that our parents named you Princess showed their pride in you. You were and are their Princess, and they were not afraid for the whole world to know that you were the apple of their eye.

Now, in my irreverent way, I thought that this was so clear, so blindingly obvious, that I could actually tease you about it. Implying that they were out of their mind. Your reaction actually horrified me. It was a joke, and you totally misunderstood it. Sorry. My mistake.

Is that ok Princess?

And you say you have taken lots of other crap from me. I know, I have been treating you with unlady-like lack of dignity, but I thought that was a privilege of us bigger brothers. That, and of course deT’s corrupting influence (hold on girl….)

If you don’t mind, could you please point out the specific times I have angered you?

Sigggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

[grumble, grumble; My dad would never be proud of me. He taught me never, ever to say that I am sorry. I am an African man! And yes, that was very, very, very hard. That is, admitting that I am sorry!]

So, we fine now Princess?





A Contrite GayUganda

Why do I write? Its to be read.

Too aware of life-

is it a curse

or a blessing to revel in?

Calm, the mind at peace-

let the poetry of life, living

whisper sweet communion with my soul.

Listen to the birds, crickets, bats-

the wind in the trees, the shade of the sun

and her life giving light;

Listen to the very pulse of life

at one with my very heart;

listen, hearken-

listen, and live life’s bounty.

©GayUganda 22 July 2008