Commentary

First, I want to apologize to our esteemed readers for not bringing forth the July and August editions of our journal. The mind was willing to produce the editions as usual, but the body was unwilling to do so. I was faced with some health challenges which did not allow me to produce the journal. I appreciate your patience and I am happy to be back online this month.

Even the most unobservant person will notice inequality in society regardless of gender, organization, geography, or nationality. Often, inequality has been around us from childhood that many people consider it natural. Worst of all, they think it is written in stone, unchangeable to the extent that some Church leaders feel that they are entitled to be driven in Mercedes Benz cars and to live in palaces; a president can shamelessly proclaim that he works for nobody but himself and his family etc.

A couple of months ago, there was much fury about the demise of the late Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah. It began when it was discovered that he was flown to Seattle, Washington, USA, for treatment. Some people demonstrated against him for wasting government money instead of spending it on improving the national health services. And when he died, some people celebrated his demise because they accused him of being one of the enablers of the autocratic rule. They attribute the regular violation of human rights: extrajudicial killings, disappearance of government critics, torture, etc. in Uganda when he presided over the amendment that removed the age limit which allows President Museveni to rule indefinitely. Some of the most vulgar poems were even written in celebration of the Speaker’s demise.

For over two years now, the world has been captivated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like the unwelcome guest we would so badly wish to go away soon, the virus keeps rearing its ugly head in different forms. Believe it or not, we are now getting mutants of mutants, partly because some people are obstinate about being vaccinated or have no access to the vaccine, thus allowing the virus to multiply and mutate. As if that is not a big enough problem, we now have a new virus with an ugly syndrome, the monkeypox virus, making its round in several countries in Europe and America. The good thing is that the virus is not as dangerous as COVID-19 in terms of infectivity and pathology. 

A long time ago, it took days, months or even years for information to reach its destination. Today, it is almost like lightening. While we enjoy the speed at which we can send and receive information, we are also inundated with the sheer volume of the information we share, especially what we get. In the April Edition, different articles will discuss information as to what it is, who uses it, when it is used, for what purpose and how it is used. Is it factual, neutral, apolitical, and objective as we are often led to believe?

Education is generally regarded as the key to success in society. If so, why is it that there are so many unemployed educated youths in Uganda? What is the use of education if the educated cannot get jobs? What is wrong with the educational system? These are some of the questions which many parents and children ask.

The world has had its share of global tragedy in the past two years. First, was the unexpected appearance of COVID-19 which has now killed more than six million people and left many more with chronic health challenges. Despite the incredible job of creating multiple effective vaccines and treatment drugs by the biomedical experts, the virus seems to have gone into a hide and seek mode by mutating into new variants every time we think we have gotten it under control.

Our February Edition features two polar views on whether ethnic slaughter occurred in both former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the 1990s. We welcome readers who might have been in similar situations to share their views on the two horrific events. They are the ones who can best narrate their experiences.