The House of Scotts

This month we saw a massive event in one of our local stadia. It brought together the national party and it's leader as well as a healthy chunk of our youthful populace. In a rare and possibly chance encounter, we saw drawn in one sitting two carriers of the sacred name from the house of Scotts. One one hand the founder of the miracle centre churches and on another the CEO of the Vision Group. 

I doubt that the man we fondly made reference to as the last king of scotland was the buffoon we tried to make him become. But he was wise enough to place around him two men who as fate would have it were both at least on the surface from the land of scone. We expect to see much more from his Progeny as politics begins to take on a more filial nature not just in this region but globally (the Clinton's, the Bush family, the Kennedy's, the Kenyatta's, the Moi's, Odingas, the Bhuttos?).

Back to the Apostle and the CEO. Have you ever met your replacement?

Pray to God that this never happens. You get this strange feeling when you meet someone who shares your name and a better portion of your virtues. That sense that in your absence this guy could actually replace you! 

Months ago I heaped praise (deservingly) on the Vision Group for its ability to transform itself from a simple news organization into a larger more complex development oriented profit making organization.

I talked about how a simple newspaper had used the print to transform itself into a large media giant now broadcasting in several languages both visually and in audio form. I talked about how this transformation had also taken place in the web and mobile space and how simple columns formerly dealing with dress and style were now producing influential magazines for brides and then holding large exhibitions and events for the same. 

More recently the CEO in another well designed move has not stopped there he had also made the decision to create a platform for our culinary experts-ordinary women (and I use that term loosely) who use their skills to feed the masses who congregate in the city.

This would help create a lot of interest in their work as well as raise the standard of their culinary delights. In addition to this, this would also help stem the effects of a new and conflicting interest in international cuisine that threatens to overshadow some very special traditional specialties. 

We see the rise or dawn of the age of franchising that was foreign in this part of the world but some level of stability means that we will soon have places in our country that will mirror cities like NY and California. My fear regarding this was simple. Why did we not have a corresponding drive to export our dishes like the juggernauts out there and why we are we not supplying our savory dishes across the continents in support of our hard working citizenry. Maybe ideas like this from Mr. Kabushenga will help create a drive that promotes our food. Maybe renewed interest in our Rolex (a local version of the wrap or barritto) will spark more related projects. Maybe the competition will help place our local dishes on the map and drive a greater interest in this meals. We can only hope that the vision that the people and The New Vision will help steer this ship in a great a tumultuous sea of uncertainty. 

That aside there are some other columns that can use a little more expansion. 

The first is from the Bukedde. The Thursday paper has a section in which it deals with traditional medicine? This Needs to be expanded. Maybe the section of news from this part ouch an be aggregated and presented in a monthly or bi-monthly edition that can then be used and critiqued by local practitioners. 

Then there is the controversial dream interpretation section. My sources tell me that some very influential men from the bible (Joseph and Daniel)both used their skill of interpretation in strategic ways that led them to larger leadership roles. 

Other sections in the English version such as Pakasa can also have a little expansion but should be devolved or taken away from the centre. Creating regional meets would eventually lead to an national event where the best groups from each section or region or district would then be given a chance compete. This has already began to expand with events branching out and bringing in much needed revenue to local venues such as Kampala Parents School and Freedom City and drawing in some amazing speakers from across the spectrum.

A tale of three dailies-my pelican brief

We are still dealing with some of the fallout after major rifts in the National Resistance Movement came to the fore. 

My interest for now, is to examine how three separate print media groups covered the story and how the content was delivered to the reading populace (given the literacy numbers and the incomplete social metamorphosis-a good chunk of our populace see only gibberish not words).

Print media still matters because it manages to keep the educated class interested and reading with a view of making good, massive investments In a floundering education system. 

It is this group that then works its way through the masses to digest the information...regurgitate it and then feed it to its underlings who more often than not can do with some analysis and education.

And so the good old radio complete with its funny men, doles out pieces of data from the experts while toying with the intelligence of the populace with flat bed truck presentations of dance and humor served with an appearance of some stars. 

The red pepper (15th March 2014 intelligence briefing) chose to focus more on relationships that grace had formed while in office and examined the results of the man hunt that followed. In a sense, they sought to see how many had benefitted from grace and who among those beneficiaries would remain faithful to the end. So the list gave names covering the full gamut of our known world complete with bio data and a little embellishment. This matters because people do not develop in isolation unless they are gods. 

These developments are connections which the Chinese refer to as guangxi. In these parts we used to have references to "mwana wa Ni" which has quickly collapsed and been overtaken by the use of force( another phenomenon which seems to point to the rise of the lumpen proletariat-something never before imagined). So it is not so much whose son are you, but also who do you know...and what can you do?

But even more than all of this-can you beat the crap out of the competition-literally not figuratively. This reminds me of the 'sudden' rise of a genre of movies that favors fights largely managed by wealth elites and handled by larger often less educated class groups (fight club as well as some of the movies that emerged out of the 

World Wrestling Federation).

The new vision was a little more cautious and rightly so...it has after all often been accused of towing the government line. What the reader needed was to depend on opinion pieces and separate contributions from columnists of influence instead of having to lean too heavily on the paper or the media group for that matter. A smart move given the stakes. 

The monitor, which is part of another jagarnaut was a little more bold in its expression perhaps owing much of this to frequent run-ins with the enforcement arm of the law (closures and arrests of key media personalities). It's responses and much of its coverage was sent to its regional office and presented in its East African version (March 15th-21st 2014 with an article discussing the fall out between two prominent leaders, and an interesting apology form the group regarding an article published in their May 14th-20th 2012 edition, September 27th-October 3rd dealt with the subject but mainly from the broader subject of loyalties and alliances). 

Experts or columnists from its smaller local daily the monitor were utilized for their knowledge but most importantly the paper also carried large ads about some major projects and ministries Karamoja, the Prison Department, Office of the Prime Minister to mention but a few.

The rest of the article that were published in between focused in 'untreated events' but equally important occurrences like the crisis in Southern Sudan (incidentally also loosely filed by a leadership challenge at the top), the award of tenders for the Standard Guage railway, and new developments in Malawi.

It would be tempting to go easy on a group that was literally paying the bills and allowing you to stay in business. 

In terms of strategy, this was probably brilliant on the part of the movement for countering the drive of the East African to reach a larger audience by littering the paper with ad pieces detailing progress on other related governance events thereby saving some fragments of public sentiment.