New Power Centres or simply old latent ones?

Its been a few months now since a trip to the Vatican by Big Hat.

We are wondering what this means in the bigger political picture. Some of our initial thoughts a centred on the place of Religion in Politics and we are certain, across the board that the evidence supporting this abounds.  In the Kingdom of Buganda for example, there are a few major branches of power all in a battle for competition or at least attention for the ear of the King. In an almost cyclical manner, we seem to find ourselves in the late 1800s negotiating deals with prominent monarchs while cutting corners and bending the rules with their prime ministers. The protestants are here and this time around have a hill and provinces from which they can exercise their power, and so do the catholics and Muslims. Not only do these groups have  hold on religion, they also have foot in the health system. The hills are places of worship but next to these places of worship we can also find major hospitals whose task it seems is to furnish the adherents with pills and portions.     

The only unrecognized but still widely influential house of worship belongs to local religious groups or Basamize (worship focuses on shrines and ancient practices with an emphasis on cultural heroes).  This group is responsible for major activities regarding the Kingdom and claims quite a prominent place in history.  This group capitalizes on the African...and his fear of the unknown...and his tendency towards all things religious or spiritual.

So any attempts from politicians towards any single one of these groups makes some sense in the search for followers.

The fourth Estate has also emerged as a player in the bigger picture but the dawn of Social Media has complicated the task. What we find is that there is a flood of information and very few with the skills to figure out what to treasure and what to trash. And so there is a steady movement from clip to clip and from story to story in an uncoordinated frenzy for information and the possibility of a master story teller or spinner for that matter sitting by and giggling and morsels of truth are scattered before the teeming masses of hungry citizens.

The strange constant in all of this though, is entertainment with its ability to churn out celebrities in all sorts of fields keeping us glued, active and wishing on stars in a hapless sky.

The independence of media has also proved to be quite a challenge because those with prominence and ash have managed to consolidate all the major and influential sources of information into their own hands.

And so we stand at the foot of the mountain waiting for the prophet to return.

While there has been activity in other power centers too, the protestant movement has suffered a hemorrhage of sorts as it has attempted to deal with two major issues. The Ordination of Women and the question of Homo Sexuality. This has caused some to venture back to the mother church and even resulted in the birth of some major rifts in Anglo-Afro church relations.

On a local level much of the activity towards the protestant center has been internal in scope. In politically active areas the choice of new leaders has had the uncomfortable feeling of a political rally and not a congregation in search of a shepherd.

The broader reality of the day has meant that a house divided cannot stand and this has proven effective in Islam (in the Ugandan context and in the greater or broader view).  

Even if on the surface the battle seems to have been around Issues, at heart it has also been on resources (which are often the backdrop of much greater conflicts). Two major groups have therefore emerged wrestling for recognition and space. To expect a quick resolution for age old conflicts is ludicrous. The politician's biggest question is how to capitalize and court both groups with minimum risk to oneself...or on other cases how to further divide groups if that suits your ultimate end.