farmers

This is a short story of how farmers struggle to make a living in the dry spells of the new year.Download this episode (right click and save)

Police boss in trouble over beating journalists

Police officers drag a journalist after battering him. (File photo)

One of my students’ facebook posts reads: “For heaven’s sake, it is high time Uganda police behaved mature, learned and humane. To me, this DPC- Mwesigye Joram should face the courts of law for his weird act towards Andrew a WBS journalist.” This is a post from my second year student of Mass Communication. 

Her post is in reference to the disgusting video clips of a police officer assaulting journalists who were on their normal duty. The journalists, Andrew Lwanga and Joseph SSettimba were inhumanly assaulted by the very police who were meant to protect them.

This act has again poured mud at the police which have for long been blamed for its poor relationship with the media. It angers many ordinary Ugandans to hear that their informers are manhandled by the same institution, the police. 

On September last year, I asked my first year Mass Communication students of the challenges the journalists face while doing their work. It was not surprising that the majority were quick to say, “Constant harassment and beating from security operatives, mainly the police.” I again asked: “Why then do you do this course?” The answer was simple: “We love it.”      

People who work as journalists do it for passion, not for the high financial rewards attached to this profession. Many of these journalists are meagerly paid but they have never threatened to lay down their tools demanding for salary reviews. Despite this poor pay, they have endeavored to do their work.

Journalism is all about passion. Even teaching it is passion. Training journalists to the hostile world that await them is not what any lecturer wants. The work of journalists has been frustrated by the state. 

With many laws regulating their profession, poor pay, intimidations from the financially established people among others, assault and confiscation of their gadgets should not be another burden to these messengers.

When shall the work of journalists be appreciated by the police? I just imagine a Uganda without televisions, radios and newspapers on the streets for at least one month. How would this look like? 

Whenever the police arrest suspected terrorists, child traffickers, thugs, etc, they are quick to call the media for coverage, simply to show how hardworking they (police) are. But when it comes to covering riots and soliciting bribes by traffic officers, the journalists are beaten and forced to delete the video footages captured.

The current police had set a precedent in working with the media to fight graft, robberies, murder and other crimes but this might soon be lost if the media lift a ban on coverage of police activities.                    

We now hear that the DPC for Old Kampala Police Station Joram Mwesigye who assaulted the journalists has been detained and suspended from duty. Following the posts of many journalists on the social media, this is seen as a cover-up by the police as many think that Mr. Mwesigye might just be redeployed somewhere far from Kampala.  

There are few or even no cases of journalists being beaten by members of the public, save for some few wealthy people. This means that the works of the journalists are very much appreciated by the members of the public. 

It is therefore necessary for the police and other security operatives to respect the journalists before the lecturers of Mass Communication/Journalism in all Ugandan universities come out in large numbers to add their weight on their former students’ cause.

Mukono district farmers form cooperative union

One of the plantations owned by one farmer in Mukono district  

In an attempt to promote agriculture in Mukono district, the farmers here have come together to form a cooperative union, called Mukono New Farmers’ Union (MNFU). 

The new union is said to have been merged with Mukono district farmers’ cooperative union. The union now provides farming inputs such as quality seeds, fertilizers and herbicides among others.

The union is also involved in carrying out diagnosis to different plant diseases, conducting regular follow-ups, visits to farmers and marketing the produces from the farmers to local, national, and international markets.

However, the operation of this union is doubted by many farmers who cite failure of former unions. They say that many other similar unions were plagued by corruption, embezzlement and maladministration, and have since collapsed.

In Uganda, cooperative unions used to be strong and form great functions, especially during Dr. Milton Obote’s regime, between 1962 to 1971. However, due to such precedents, many farmers are no longer interested in being grouped into cooperatives for fear of their collapse. They say that many Ugandans are corrupt and thus cannot be trusted with huge sums of money.

Farmers cry foul over poor harvest

A Dry maize plantation near UCU. Photo by Geoffrey Ochwo

Farmers in Mukono district count loses in the new year due to prolonged drought. The farmers allege that the government has not given them any form of help, a claim the government denies. 

The farmers, the their umbrella body, Mukono District Farmers Association (MDFA) say that they will all gather and go the ministry of Disaster Preparedness for help.

Unlike other years, the beginning of 2015 has been tough to many farmers. Instead of coming to the farmers' rescue, the government has instead blamed the farmers for failure to take notice of the warning it (government) has been giving to the farmers. Hundred of farmers have been affected although there is no actual number of the farmers affected. 

The dry spells have not only affected the farmers, but also other community members who depend on the locally grown foods in the district. The members of the community are already struggling with to feed their families. They (community members) say that the food prices are already sore.

It is alleged by some farmers that people have started leaving the district to other parts of the country that have not been badly affected by the poor weather. However, local leaders deny this claim, saying that those who are leaving the district are either non residents or land grabbers, who are now  being forced out of the district. 
  

Banana growers happy with the harvest

A banana plant stands high with its yields in Mukono district

As other farmers are grappling with the poor harvests of 2015, this is not the case with banana growers. Banana growers in Mukono district count themselves lucky in the New Year. 

The season that has lasted for months now has affected many farmers, including those dealing in livestock products. 

However, this is a different case for those growing bananas, commonly known as Matooke in Mukono district. Makooke growers have at least not felt the pinch of the drought and they attribute this to the drought-resistance nature of banana plants.
   

In the district now, it is only Matooke left for food among the population as other crops like maize have been destroyed by the prolonged drought. Also available is cassava which endowers the hot sun. 
However, banana growers also count loses in the yields of their products, although they see the loss as meager.

In Mukono district, many people find it hard to pay for a bunch of Makooke which is now at Shillings 30,000 as opposed to the Shillings 18,000 three months ago. 

This, according to the community members, makes the cost of living unaffordable since many of them do causal work for a living.