Arusha, located in the North of the vast country that is Tanzania, is a unique city. It is the East African Community's answer to the EU's Brussels. Back in the 1960s when the leaders of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, wanted to create an economic community, Arusha, the leafy quiet town, was chosen as the headquarters. But it is not just […]
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Earlier last week, the Republic of South Sudan, the world's newest state, was admitted into the East African Community. The Community brings together Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with, South Sudan included, a combined total of about 160 million people. A couple of people I know from the new entrant to the Community were not exactly enthused, not like […]
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By Mpuga Rukidi, Uganda: There were no elections in Tanzania. It is the situation back home that has been on mind. Home sickness, some people call it. And here I was thinking that am beyond such trivial things like home sickness. Uganda was having general elections just the other week. A friend here told me we were confirming our president. […]
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It is strange that someone in Africa should find the weather there noteworthy, especially if they too are from Africa. Strange indeed. Stranger even, considering that this is said in a week where politicians were struggling hard to steal the show. Well, in South Africa. But who ever said that politicians are far from showmen or comedians, to be more […]
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I promised to listen more so I can bring you more dispatches. Well, it appears I have not just been listening but also observing, for there is, here, just like in any other place, plenty to observe. Take the daladala, for example. The daladala is Dar es Salaam's answer to the matatu if you come from Nairobi or the taxi […]
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The city of Dar es Salaam carries on its wide back a huge amount of history. Formerly known as Mzizima, another town close to it was then constructed by the Sultan of Zanzibar. He named it Dar es Salaam, Arabic for Abode or House of Peace. The city hugs the Indian Ocean. When the German East African Company, one of […]
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By Mpuga Rukidi, Uganda: At the height of the xenophobic attacks against Black non South Africans, President Robert Mugabe, sometime this year, is quoted to have said something to the effect that while the Black people in South Africa were happy to attack their Black brothers from the rest of Africa, they would not dare to touch a White person, […]
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By Mpuga Rukidi, Uganda: I read recently the press reports about what Kenya Airways did to our President and by extension, to our country. Saddening, I must say, and that is to put it as painlessly as I possibly can. My President wanted to attend the EAC Heads of State Summit. He was at his country home in the South […]
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By Mpuga Rukidi, Uganda: There is a story that ran in the international press a while back, and it was about Africa. The story was about the Tanzanian president, Jakaya Mrisho Kiwkwete. He had been ill and, like any self respecting African president, had flown to a foreign country to get treatment. Perfect thing to do. He chose America. Nothing […]
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By Mpuga Rukidi, Uganda: I just sat and thought about how merciless we can sometimes be to our little ones. In a space of just less than a month, a number of sad stories involving children emerged. Their combined effect left such a huge dent on me. The first one concerned a girl whose mother earned a living by selling […]
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