Uganda's 50th Independence Anniversary Conference WA: 2012

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Uganda's 50th Conference in Pictures

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Uganda's Political History (1890-2012)

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Political History of Uganda

Sources: Google Maps

The concept of Uganda as we understand it today did not come into existence until 1886. The earliest kingdom in the region was Bunyoro-Kitara, possibly founded towards the end of the thirteenth century. The empire of Bunyoro-Kitara under the Bachwezi rulers had its centre in the western part of Uganda and included, until the fifteenth century, modern Bunyoro, Buganda, Toro, Karagwe, Ankole, Busogaand some parts of mordern Lango. This represented nearly three-quarters of modern Uganda.

The period of mythology in this kingdom is called the reign of the Batembuzi. This period lasted about five reigns roughly from 1250 to 1325 and it was succeeded by the rule of the Bachwezi under Ndahura. The Bachwezi evolved a centralized monarchy which had representatives in different districts and provinces. As a result of this system they administered a large empire which included Buganda, Karagwe, Toro, Ankole and Busoga. Their rule lasted from about 1350 to 1500.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Luo under Isingoma Mpunga Rukidi superseded the Bachwezi and founded the Babito dynasty. They were initiated into the monarchical ceremonies by the Banyoro people who were connected with the kingly ceremonies of the Bachwezi.

Owing to the Luo migration, into the Bunyoro-Kitara region, the empire of Bunyoro–Kitara broke up. Independent states emerged, the most significant of which were Bunyoro under the Luo Babito, Ankole under the Bagabe, Buganda under the Bakabaka and a number of Busoga chiefdoms.

The Luo migrants set up several related dynasties and sub-dynasties. Of these the dynasty of the Babito of Bunyoro was the most important. Other dynasties were in Bukoli, Bugwere, Bulamogi and Bugabula in the western part of present Eastern Uganda. These dynasties had similar political institutions and royal regalia to the Babito of Bunyoro, but were not under the effective political control of Bunyoro.

Up the end of the seventeenth century Bunyoro still exercised influence, if not control, over Buganda, Ankole, Rwanda and Karagwe, but, from then onwards, the secondary states gradually gained complete independence.

By the time of colonisation in 1890s (by the British) Uganda as we know it today had two established kingdoms, namely Bunyoro Kitara and Buganda. In 1890 the Imperial British East Africa Company headed by Sir William Mackinnon sent Captain F. D. Lugard to Kampala as its representative. In Captain Lugard's own words: "On October 19^th I received instructions from the Directors to go to Uganda, which by the Anglo-German Agreement of July, 1890, had been definitely placed within the sphere of British influence. To this part of the agreement France had taken no exception (Lugard, 1900, p.106).

The great object was to obtain a treaty which would give us a right to intervene in the internal affairs of the country (Lugard, 1900, p.108)."

Captain Lugard arrived in December (1890) and set up his quarters on a Hill known as Lugard Hill in the Old Kampala area. He found king Mwanga newly restored to his throne and made an agreement with him by which Lugard promised to protect king Mwanga and his people. One of the conditions for protection was that all dealings with Europeans should be through the British company and that Buganda should be open to trade with other countries, while European missions should be permitted to teach religion to the people.

Captain Lugard feared that the few soldiers he had at his disposal could not quell any rebellion that might arise in the country. So he decided to go through Ankole, Toro, Bunyoro, Acholi and Across Lake Albert and bring back the trained Sudanese forces which Emin Pasha had left behind in the Sudan after Stanley's departure.

When Lugard arrived back in Kampala in 1890, he found two rival kings, Kabarega and Kasagama contesting the throne of Toro. Lugard decided to back Kasagama who was residing in Kampala, having been ousted by Kabarega. Lugard returned to Toro, and restored Kasagama to the throne leaving with him sufficient Sudanese forces to sustain his power.

Lugard's journey to the Sudan also brought friendships with other chiefs in Acholi and Ankole and the presence of Sudanese soldiers in Uganda is recalled by the establishment of small family settlements of Nubians at Bombo , Entebbe and Arua.

On his return to Kampala from the Sudan, Captain Lugard found considerable disagreement between the Catholics and the Protestants on the question of government appointments.There was also a strong difference of opinion about the seat of the imperial Company's adminstration. Several directors of the company thought that the headquarters should be in Mombasa, seeing little profit in the considerable expence of maintaining an armed force in Uganda without the prospect of a profitable trade in that country. In January, 1892, the Catholics and Protestants still disagreed over the disposal of offices in the government. King Mwanga was on the side of the Catholics, Captain Lugard supported the protestants. The two sides begun fighting. The protestants won the first battle because of superior weapons. Mwanga and his followers retreated to Bulingugwe island in Lake Victoria, only to be summoned back by Captain Lugard.

When they returned he made a new arrangement for sharing offices between Catholics and the Protestants which was accepted as a fair compromise by both sides. So peace was restored.

After settling the matters, Lugard retuned to Britain in August 1892. And as Lugard notes:

"The outlook in Uganda was now fairly reassuring. Peace reigned among all three factions, and the mission work was increasing wonderfully. I left Kampala on June 16^th , and a letter signed by Mwanga and the great chiefs of all parties was sent after me addressed to the Queen , imploring her majesty not to withdraw from the country, and asking for my return. Arriving in England at the end of October, I found that the British Government had finally decided not to come to the assistance of the Company , and that Uganda was to be left to its fate. A short and sharp campaign was at once entered on. The influence of the church missionary society and of other philanthropic societies was invoked, and the pens of a thousand writers in the press warned the government that the feeling in favour of the retention of Uganda was too strong to be disregarded (Lugard, 1900, p.126)."

In London Captain Lugard told the British government to end the system of rule by the company because the company had insufficient funds to carry out the administration. The C.M.S. in Britain supported him. The British government sent Sir Gerald Portal, who held an important position in Zanzibar, to Uganda to prepare the way for starting a British administration. He arrived in Kampala in March 1893, and signed an agreement with king Mwanga and his chiefs on behalf of the British government.

Sir Gerald Portal promised that Britain would protect king Mwanga and his people. In return king Mwanga would allow the British government to collect taxes. This was the end of the rule of the Imperial Company and the beginning of the direct responsibility of the British government in Uganda. The formal announcement of a protectorate over Buganda was made in the London Gazette on the 19^th June 1894, and in August of the same year Colonel Colvile, who had succeeded Sir Gerald Portal signed yet another treaty with Mwanga similar to the provisional one Mwanga had made with Portal. On August 27^th, 1894, by order of her Majesty’s Government, Uganda proper was formerly declared a British protectorate, and Portal’s treaty was ratified. Before his departure, Colonel Colvile launched decisive military campaigns against the unyielding ruler of Bunyoro, Kabarega. Colonel Colvile enlisted the help of the Baganda against Omukama Kabarega of Bunyoro , who had strongly resisted the British take-over of Bunyoro. After Kabarega’s defeat in 1896 the counties of Bugangaizi and Buyaga were given to the Baganda as a reward for co-operation.

In the west Major Cunningham made a treaty with the Engazi, the Prime Minister, of the Omugabe’s kingdom of Ankole in 1894 and another treaty was made by Major Owen with the Omukama, ruler of Toro, in the same year. Within one year from 1898 Major Macdonald, intending to expand British influence northwards, made more than thirty treaties with the Chiefs North-East of the Nile. The Protectorate opened up the territory lying north and east of the Nile—today the Eastern region of Uganda—with the aid of a distinguished warrior and administrator of Buganda, Semei Kakungulu.

In 1896 he started building a series of military posts in Lango. He extended his scheme all the way to Teso , linking all strategic positions behind him with military posts. In Teso between 1899 and 1904 he established a well-ordered administration with a hierarchy of chiefs. Indeed the same administration was applied in Lango and later to what came to be the Northern and Eastern regions.

With approval by the British government in 1899, Berkeley despatched Lieutenant Colonel Cyril Marty to the chiefs of the Acholi, the Madi, the Alur, and the Bari. Lieutenant Colonel Cyril Marty renewed contacts with the chiefs and established four permanent posts in the four territories.

It was not until 1910 that the British Colonial Government fully established itself in Acholi, after some application of force to crush the Lamogi rebellion. In 1914, after the adjustment of the boundary with the Sudan, the northern part of Uganda effectively came under British rule.

References:
Ibingira, G. S. K. (1973). The Forging of an African Nation: The Political and Constitutional Evolution of Uganda from Colonial Rule to Independence, 1894-1962. New York / Kampala, Viking Press /

Uganda

Publishing House.

Lugard, F. L. (1900). The Story of the

Uganda

Protectorate. London, Horace Marshall & Son.

Ssekamwa, J. C. (1984). A Sketch Map History of East Africa.

Cheltenham, Hulton Educational Publication Ltd.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Uganda Australia Social Network (UASN) presents

Uganda’s 50th Independence Anniversary Conference 2012

In commemoration of Uganda’s 50th independence anniversary the Uganda Australia Social Network (UASN) is holding a one day conference at Murdoch University. The conference will examine Uganda’s past, present and future.

Date: 13^th October 2012

9am - 3pm

Venue: Murdoch University (South Street Campus)

90 South Street

Murdoch

The Conference will be held in the Hill Lecture Theatre, located in the Education and Humanities Building (Building 14502035). The map can be accessed via link,

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&q=hill+lecture+theatre+murdoch+university&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=566&pdl=300&wrapid=tljp1340100046218024&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

Presenters include:

Dr John Mugambwa

Dr John Mugambwa is an Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University. He is a graduate of Makerere University LLB (Hons) 1973; Yale University LLM (1975); and The Australian National University PhD (1986). He previously lectured at Makerere University, National University of Lesotho, University of Papua New Guinea, and James Cook University of North Queensland. Dr Mugambwa has co-authored
the following books: Law and Population in Lesotho; Law of Business Associations in Papua New Guinea 2^nd ed (1995); Land Law in Papua New Guinea (2000); Land Law and Land Tenure Policy in Papua New
Guinea 2^nd ed (2002); The Principles of Land Law in Uganda (2002). In addition, he has written chapters

in the area of land law in the Laws of Australia and Halsbury's Laws of Australia, respectively, series. Although he has been away from Uganda for more than twenty years, he has retained his research interest in the country. His PhD thesis was "Evolution of British Legal Sovereignty in Uganda with Special Emphasis on Buganda 1890 - 1938 (ANU, 1986, unpublished). He has also written several published and unpublished papers on Ugandan land law.

Associate Professor Barbara Nattabi MBChB, MSc, PhD

Barbara is a medical doctor and public health practitioner with over ten years work experience with rural communities in Uganda and with two years work experience in rural Australia. In Uganda she worked at St. Mary’s Hospital, Lacor, Gulu, for nine years, first as an intern doctor, resident medical officer and then Head of Research and AIDS department. In 2005, she led a team of doctors and nurses who recruited more than 1,000 patients on antiretroviral drugs, the first such program in a conflict region. She later worked for World Health Organization as a National Professional Officer, Disease Control where she was in charge of overseeing all communicable disease prevention and control efforts in Kitgum, a war-ravaged rural part of Uganda. She has significant project management experience, and research experience particularly among vulnerable populations and rural communities. Now at the Combined Universities Centre for Rural Health in Geraldton, where she is teaching and leading a research project around improving quality of sexual health services among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care services. Her other research interests include refugee and migrant health and rural health education.

Dr Kristen Lyons

Dr Kristen Lyons is a Senior Lecturer in Development Sociology at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Kristen is engaged in research related to the sociology of agriculture, food and the environment, and has focused her research on the sociology of organic agriculture in Uganda for the last eight years. In recent years, she has also begun to explore the drivers, as well as the social and economic impacts associated with foreign investment in Uganda.

In 2005, she held a visiting fellow position within the School of Social Science at Makerere University in Kampala. Kristen also teaches a number of courses in the Masters of Development Practice at the University of Queensland, and is currently liaising with staff at Makerere establishing links with similar programs offered in Uganda (including the Masters of Rural Development).

Dr Jaya Earnest is currently the Director of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Associate Professor of International Health in the Centre for International Health (CIH) at Curtin University in Western Australia (WA) where she coordinates the Postgraduate Research Program. A Social Scientist, Development Educator and Health Sociologist, Dr. Earnest holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from India, an Advanced Certificate in Education from the University of Bath, UK and a PhD from Curtin University. Dr. Earnest has worked as an inter-disciplinary educator and researcher for 26 years in India, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, East Timor and Australia. In 2010, she was awarded a National Award for University Teaching by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council. Her central research interests focus on the social and cultural consequences of post-conflict adversity; vulnerability, resilience and adaptive processes among refugee and migrant populations, and interdisciplinary cross-cultural participatory research.

Dr Debra Singh qualified as a medical doctor at Flinders University in South Australia, completed a degree in nutrition and dietetics at Curtin University and a Master’s in Public Health from Sydney University and has also completed her Australian General Practice (GP) fellowship. Having worked in India and Israel, she and her husband moved to Uganda in 2004 where they established the Kimanya-Ngeyo Foundation for Science and Education in 2007 in Jinja. The Foundation focuses on the raising of human capacity through science based educational programs called “Preparation for Social Action”. This youth empowerment program develops scientific, mathematical, language, community development and technological skills merging theory with practice in youth ages between 15 and 25 years. Its main community development focus is child education, agriculture, the environment and primary health care. Dr. Singh's research interests focus on female and youth empowerment through participation in health care processes and community health worker training.

Ms Janice Ndegwa is currently a group facilitator with Kimanya-Ng’eyo Foundation for Science and Education, a grassroots education and community development initiative based in Jinja, Uganda. As a promoter of community well-being, she accompanies youth and young adults through a process of knowledge generation and application aimed at enabling community-led consultation and social action. Ms. Ndegwa holds a Bachelor’s degree (Magna Cum Laude) in History and African Studies from Mount Holyoke College, USA. She has previously engaged in action-research in northern Uganda and central Malawi examining the challenges to and opportunities for an expanded role of indigenous culture and knowledge in public health interventions.

Ms Les Emma Akora

Ms Les Emma Akora holds a BA.Soc.Sciences from Curtin Uni; Grad-Dip in counselling, Notre Dame & Voc.Grad.Dip in Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Australian Institute of Social Relations. She has worked largely in settlement services under the Migrant Resource Centres up to the level of Programme Manager. Her other roles include: Employment Consultant; Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner & currently working as Coordinator Disability Support Accommodation Programme at Multicultural Services Centre. In volunteer capacity, Ms Akora was the first female President of the African Community in Western Australia (ACWA), where she was instrumental in establishing ACWA Office and employing support staff, amongst other things. She has participated and presented papers at various international conferences as well as local conferences. Ms Akora was recognised as one of the 50 Prominent Refugee Women during the 50th Anniversary of UNHCR in 2001. In 2011 Ms Akora was one of the 100 Prominent West Australian Women inducted in WA's Women's Hall of Fame.

Mr Bwesigye Don Binyina is a Ugandan Lawyer, Executive Director and founder of Africa Centre for Energy & Mineral Policy (ACEMP), an East African think tank promoting good governance, transparency, accountability, policy development and capacity building for stakeholders within the greater East African Community (EAC). Currently he is completing a Master of Science in Mineral & Energy Economics. Mr Binyina has over 6 years experience working in Uganda's Energy sector. During this time, he has engaged key stakeholders like, the electricity consumers, electricity regulatory authority, electricity companies, the legislature, International Oil Companies (IOCs) and mining companies in a quest for efficient service delivery, policy transformations, legislation review and responsible resource exploitation. Mr Binyina has participated in creating awareness and empowering local communities in Uganda's Albertine Graben about their land and economic rights in the Oil and Gas industry. He has authored several media policy briefs and articles that have appeared in both local and international media and reports about East Africa's Oil and Gas industry. He continues to participate in local and international forums and debates about the East African Oil and gas industry.

Mr Binyina holds several consultancies within in the East African Community in the area of socio-economic energy rights. He has dedicated his career as a scholar and socio-economic analyst of East Africa's Oil & Gas Industry.

Dr Peter Mbago Wakholi is a high school teacher working with the Education Department of Western Australia. He is a graduate of Makerere University Bsc., (Bot/Zoo) 1983; Edith Cowan University B.A., B.Ed., (1998); and Murdoch University MEd., (2005), PhD. (2012). In addition to presenting at conferences Dr Wakholi has published several articles including a book: African Cultural Education and the African Youth in Western Australia: Experimenting with the Ujamaa Circle (2008)., book chapters: African cultural education and the social inclusion of refugees (2007); Festival as an Educational Experience: The African Cultural Memory Youth Arts Festival (ACMYAF) (2011); The Art of Migrant Lives, Bicultural Identity and the Arts, The African Cultural Memory Youth Arts Festival (2011); and several journal articles in the area of migration, identity and the Arts. Dr Wakholi has been involved in various community leadership roles including serving as: Chairperson of the Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre Management Committee (MMRC), Secretary of the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP); Deputy Convenor of the One World Centre (OWC). Dr Wakholi is actively involved in Arts based educational research projects. In his Masters project http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/383/, the African youth involved in the project examined challenges to their cultural identities and alternative liberatory options. His doctoral project http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/7601/ involved organising a festival with young people of African descent in Western Australia. The festival “Negotiating Cultural Identity through the Arts: The African Cultural Memory Youth arts Festival (ACMYAF)” examined ways in which African cultural memory, and the extent to which the arts based approaches benefited the cultural identity socialisation experiences of young people of African migrant descent.

Dr Wakholi’s research interests include: Arts based educational research practises in the context of citizenship, social policy and transnational belonging.

For further information (or RSVP) please contact,

Dr P. Mbago Wakholi.

p_wakholi@yahoo.com.au

Mob: 0427481102

Convenor

Program

No	Time	Item	Comments
1	8.30am	Arrival of participants
2	9.00am	Convenor welcomes guests and participants—Dr. Peter Mbago Wakholi
3	9.05am	Mr. David Doepel Chair, Africa Research Group, Murdoch University and also Chair, Africa Australia Research Forum
4	9.10am	Mr. Mike McKevitt—Honorary Consul for the Republic of Uganda
5	9.20am	Mr. Douglas Brown	Keynote Speaker
6	9.40am	Dr. John Mugambwa (Assoc. Professor)	Keynote Speaker
7	10.00am	Short Break	Short Break
		Session One
7	10.10am	Ms. Les Emma Akora
8	10.30am	Mr. Don Binyina Bwesigye
9	10.50am	Dr. Kristen Lyons
10	11.10am	Morning Tea	@ Club Murdoch
		Session Two
11	11.40am	Dr. Jaya Earnest (Assoc. Professor)
12	12.00am	Dr. Barbara Nattabi (Assoc. Professor)
13	12.20pm	Dr. Peter Mbago Wakholi
14	12.40pm	A profile of Uganda’s History compiled by Ms Mercie Wakholi	Slide Show
15	12.55pm	A vote of thanks (Dr Peter Mbago Wakholi)
16	1.00pm	Lunch	Invited Guests and Presenters E&H 2.21

ABSTRACTS

Ms Lesley Akora

UGANDA’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT LEVELS FOR THE YOUTH, AFTER 50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

In this lecture, attempts will be made to discuss the measures of a Country’s economic development against Uganda’s recent economic achievements and non-achievements. This discussion will look at : population increase; infrastructure such as roads; hospitals; schools; industries; health; mortality, stability; income per capita; inflation; unemployment levels; literacy etc.? Areas of economic improvement and governance will be highlighted; elements of economic success of a country and determinants of economic success shall be mentioned. Investors as perceived economic stimulus for Uganda will be examined.

However, this lecture will mainly focus on measures of Uganda’s economic success through the lenses of the majority population who are largely people living below poverty line. It will highlight the current demographic profile of Uganda’s population; causes of unemployment and suggest ways to reduce unemployment amongst Ugandans who are aged 25-30 years old. Role of Uganda’s embassies and high commissions in job creation and economic development shall be discussed. The creation of new districts as a mechanism of job creation and its adverse impact shall be cited. In particular, the effect of investors on Uganda’s economy under the current government policy; inflation; corruption; the high numbers of orphans in Uganda and their impact on unemployment levels. The lack of any public housing; lack of public transportation; the ineffectiveness of public hospitals; and the epidemic proportions of hypertension; diabetes; heart disease and cancer on Ugandans and their impact on unemployment levels. Lastly, this discussion hopes to slightly touch on the literature review and identify gross lack of data on this topic and will make a call for partnerships between Ugandan universities & Australian universities to carry out research on social issues in Uganda.

Mr Don Bwesigye Binyina

This paper is about policy and governance challenges the Ugandan Oil and gas industry has encountered since commercially exploitable Oil and Gas reserves were confirmed in the country by Wildcat International Oil and Gas exploration and production companies in 2006. It analyses the challenges of exploiting Oil and Gas in an unregulated economic framework, conflicting ideologies between the Executive and the legislature, capital gains tax disputes between the government and Oil companies, cases of corruption and lack of skilled government technical personnel to protect government interests. An insightful examination of the current economic overview of the country is given. In context, the paper recognises the importance of the Oil and Gas industry in servicing the country’s budget deficits and as an engine of economic infrastructural development. The paper analyses the central banks expansionary fiscal policy implemented in 2011 to control stag inflation at the time. It provides graphical Economic data showing economic decline in the country since the Global financial crisis in 2008. Emerging economic partners in Asia and Middle East are discussed. China’s involvement is Uganda’s Oil and Gas Industry and as the leading supplier of the country’s imports are discussed. The last part of this paper explores the various policy and governance solutions and recommendations necessary for Uganda’s Oil and Gas industry to become and engine of economic development and infrastructural development in Uganda.

Dr Kristen Lyons

Foreign Investment in Uganda’s Green Economy: Local Impacts and Policy Recommendations

There is growing enthusiasm worldwide for foreign investment to facilitate sustainable rural development in the Global South. In Uganda, various government authorities (including the National Forestry Authority and the National Environmental Management Authority), and including President Museveni himself, have articulated a commitment to policy and practices that will assist to support foreign investor activity. Yet despite the promises, international investor activity raises socio-economic and environmental issues and concerns.

In this paper I explore the activities of one international investor – Green Resources, a large Norwegian reforestation company – and their impacts for Ugandan smallholder farmers. Green Resources have secured two fifty-year licenses in forest reserves in North and East Uganda, planting timber trees for saw logs and carbon trading. Despite optimism from some actors that such private investor activity may assist to re-forest degraded forest reserves, many community members who live in and amongst these newly established plantations are constrained in terms of their access to land and other resources. This has delivered adverse livelihood outcomes, including adverse impacts upon food sovereignty, as well as intensifying conflict related to land rights and resource access.

Drawing from insights from this case study, the paper concludes by identifying some of the limits to current policy and practice that articulate unbridled – and uncritical – commitment to expanding foreign investment in Uganda’s green economy.

Dr Jaya Earnest (Associate Professor)

Intensifying a dialogue among women and men in rural and peri-urban Uganda

Authors: Debbie Singh¹, Janice Ndegwa², Jaya Earnest³

^1&2Kimanya-Ngeyo Foundation for Science and Education, Jinja, Uganda

³Centre for International Health, Curtin University, Western Australia

Uganda has undergone numerous changes since its independence in 1962. The rapid population growth in Uganda over the past 50 years has led to ever growing health needs. The effects of social and political instability are particularly visible among rural and peri-urban populations who rely on subsistence agriculture as their main source of income. Participants noted that the realities of a large population and greater dependence on the market economy have led to decreased availability of land, food insecurity and unstable incomes. Moreover, unequal power dynamics, as evidenced by accepted social norms surrounding decision-making processes about finances, enable mistrust between family members to thrive.

Using the lens of modernisation, this cross-sectional study documented changes in gender roles in courtship and marriage, education, health, agriculture, choices including family planning in rural and peri-urban Uganda. 22 men and women in central eastern Uganda participated in 4 focus groups (young men and women, older men and women) and completed questionnaires.

Women shared that even though they do the bulk of work such as farming, household chores and caring for children, they are still unable to make decisions about use of surplus funds. Men felt that women and society as a whole expected too much of them. They were supposed to protect and provide for their families even when unemployed and tilling small and increasingly infertile plots of land. There are, however, evidences of progress. Formerly fixed gender norms are becoming more fluid. Women in some households have a larger role in decision making and are gaining increasing respect for their education and expertise, while men are more involved in subsistence agriculture and increasingly subscribe to the use of family planning methods.

The participants observed the need for increased communication and dialogue between family members, particularly during e process of decision-making. Additionally, they expressed a need for a grassroots discourse on modernization, development and equality that would enable men and women to articulate a way forward for a “developing” rather than merely “modernizing” society. Such a discourse would also provide some guidance on how men and women can best support each other in Uganda for community enhancement.

Dr Barbara Nattabi (Associate Professor)

Title: What is ailing Uganda’s health system and what can we do about it?

Fifty years after Uganda gained independence and the health system is ailing. Her British colonists left Ugandans with strong health system and both public and curative services were strong and delivered services to the population. However 50 years on and the system is categorized by high levels of corruption, uncontrolled epidemics and crippled hospitals with many patients at the mercy of incompetent, merciless and underpaid health workers. Monies meant for vaccinations line the pockets of government officials, highly paid government officials go abroad for treatment while children in North Uganda are nodding to death and Mulago National Referral hospital is worse than it has ever been before. In her discussion Barbara Nattabi will discuss the main problems ailing the health system; she will explore the evidence of the failure but more importantly she will discuss what Ugandans can do about their health system. She will use examples from her work in Northern Uganda to show that accountability, hard work, competence and motivation of health workers can deliver the health care that Ugandans desire and deserve. Participants will be encouraged to think how best Ugandans in the Diaspora can work together to improve the lives of our people.

Dr Peter Mbago Wakholi

Title: Transnationality, Belonging and Engagement with Africa’s Futures through the Arts

As a migrant of African (Uganda) descent my research interest and social- cultural engagement has been mostly with young people of African descent living in Australia. In particular I have been involved in exploring the use of arts as a vehicle for strengthening the young people’s sense of being both African descendants and Australians. In this presentation I will be drawing on the experience of working with young people, government agencies and civil society to facilitate cultural dialogue and agency amongst young people towards a productive engagement with Africa through the arts.

The first part of my paper examines the notions of transnationality and belonging as tools for moral and spiritual engagement with Africa’s futures. This is followed by examining the arts as important contexts for evaluating culture and developing empowering pedagogies that inform African connections and engagements with it.

The paper concludes by asserting that productive engagement with Africa may be informed by artistic practises and cultural policies that we devise in the Australian diaspora. Arts offer an appropriate framework through which to build communities and further they enable those involved to explore issues and devise solutions in a fun but educative approach.

Sponsors and acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the following people and institutions that have made it possible for this event to take place:

The Keynote Speakers and presenters.
Murdoch University in particular Mr. David Doepel.
African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific in particular Dr. Tanya Lyons
The African Professionals of Australia in particular Mr. Tommy Adebayo, the National President.
Ribbons of Africa in particular its founder Ms. Taku (Mbudzi) Scrutton.

The Wakholi family for sponsoring the lunch.