Bridging the Digital Divide-Uganda's Case Study!

Enterprise/market development in BDD.

A comparative Analysis:

A Detailed Copy of this Report has been submitted to the the Diplo Foundation in Malta as part of the Internet Governance Capacity Building Program by this author who was an IGCBP7 Fellow of Diplo Foundation.

Abstract:
"Access" for all is thought to be necessary to tackle social exclusion and promote equality in the "new knowledge economy' by ensuring that the gap beween the "haves" and 'have nots' does not widen as ICT becomes increasingly influencial in relation to educational standards, economic competitiveness and citizenship(1). As Manuel Castel says “Information Technology(IT), together with the ability to use and adapt it, is the critical factor in generating and accessing wealth, power and knowledge in our time. The digital divide in Africa at the dawn of the information age may be the most lasting wound inflicted on this continent by new patterns of dependency”. (2) "The rise of informationalism in this end of millennium is intertwined with rising inequality and social exclusion throughout the world" (Castel 1996, p. 70). Castells traces the phenomenon of exclusion(social or digital divide) across different social and geographic contexts and concludes "the evolution of inter/intra-country inequality varies, what appears to be a global phenomenon is the growth of poverty, and particularly of extreme poverty" (Castel 1997, p. 81).

This project compares enterprise/market conditions in two localities in Uganda in the prism of interventions to bridge the digital divide.The project, comparatively analyses the impact of enterprise development in simple micro enterprises such as the Lawlyn Telecenter,Tororo Uganda and the relatively complex and larger humantarian funded Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Telecenter. The research critically analyses entire project cycles identifying key models or blend of model elements with a visibly high potential of rapid replication level of success in bridging the digital divide in Uganda. The study analyses key elements of success as well as challenges and limitations; structural and policy of both models. It also emphasies the importance of enterprise and market development as the key motivational factor of success in bridging the digital divide through the adoption and intergration of technology in production and supply chains in socially and digitally excluded communities. Finally, the project highlights key circumstances that require affirmative action strategically where markets are limiting. The object often is to stimulate enterprise and market development through adoption and intergration of technology in production and supply chains.

Background: The potential for ICT to transform society is well documented. Universal access to computers and the internet is considered necessary to avoid social divisions and offer opportunities for all by ensuring that future "knowledge economies" include everyone (HM Treasury 2000). The failure in bridging the digital divide threatens to result into powerful digital communication tools exacerbating and entrenching societal disparities. As ICT continues to proliferate, the development of 'digital divides' may require the whole concept of poverty itself to be re-examined. The 'digital divide' will need to be incorporated as one characteristic in a new conception of social exclusion(Damarin 2000; Jackson etal 2000).

The proliferation of ICT in education and expansion of internet-based information and services further amplify the chasm between the information 'haves' and "have-nots'. Those on the wrong side of the divide(s) will have less opportunity to participate and engage with both formal and informal education, training and information( Damarin,2000). Social inclusion and economic development in the 'information age' are mutually reinforcing, and for people in low income communities gaining and exploiting ICT skills leads to opportunities to participate fully in local and national economies(PAT 15 2000). Social exclusion therefore as manifested by the 'Digital Divide' requires a well coordinated multi-stakreholder approach in order to facilitate a process of equitable distribution of opportunities in a globalizing world.

Introduction:
The project was focused on two case studies in Uganda to compare project cycles from conception,execution and sustainability protocols. Uganda is one of the poorest countries located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Relative to the UK, Uganda as a country is digitally under developed. It neighbours Kenya to the East,DR.Congo to the West, Sudan to the North, Tanzania and Rwanda to the South. Seated at the top of the Nile Valley, it faces strategic security challenges that it grapples with to advance. The entire Sub-Sahran region faces immense economic challenges in meeting the social service demands of her people, thus regarded the poorest region in the world.

Lawlyn Telecenter ,Tororo is located 250km East of Kampala the capital of Uganda. Tororo town is approximately 12km from the Uganda Kenya border of Malaba. There has been an influx of donor funded projects on health, agribusiness, education, human rights and also a growing business community due to cross-border trade. Mobilie telecom infrastructure has been built in this township and across the country. There has been an influx of tourists and other cross-border travellers. The town has a large hinterland which is largely rural based with Subsistence agriculture as the major economic activity.

The Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Telecenter on the contrary, is located approximately 50km North of Kampala in a relatively rural community. Despite its closer proximity to the capital,Nakaseke community is mainly subsistentially agro based and infrastructurally inaccessible. Comparatively the community is much poorer than Tororo town which is peri-urban. Nakaseke is actually about 20km off the Kampala-Gulu Road defining the centrality of its inaccessibility in infrastructural terms. What therefore defines the feasibility of government extension of infrastructural services lies in the economic activity of the community and therelies the power of market forces which is a key highlight in the project in BDD in Uganda. Lawlyn Enterprise Telecenter in Tororo township is a small communications shop built purely on an enterprise model offering Internet Services, Email, faxing, scanning, photocopying at costs determined by the market and sound business decisions while Nakaseke Multi-Purpose is much larger more complex in terms of physical presence, equipment and general capital investment. The Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Telecenter, has the hallmark of an affirmative action initiative built on donor funds as a result of the international convention on universal access.

Discussion: Lawlyn & Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Telecenters in Tororo town and Nakaseke Community are classic examples of public-private efforts in bridging the digital divide. Tororo, like many towns in Uganda, in 2002 did not have a single internet shop but now has a total of 4 internet cafes' taking advantage of the prevailing business opportunities in the communications sectors. The enterprise initiative was visibly built on a prevalent and gradually growing market for internet/Data Communications services. The enterprise development initiative of the Lawlyn Telecenter also is exhibit of the prevalent policy initiatives in government. Uganda today prides in a total of 4 Licensed National Operators since the collapse of the Duopoly agreement between government and MTN/UTL. It also points to the regulatory framework under the Uganda Communications Commission(UCC) under whose jurisdiction these Telecenters operate. The presence of 4 active National Operators in the Country means competition and market penetration in areas that were previously untapped, better services, price wars and better access by the public. UTL, Celtel,Warid Telecom and MTN have rolled out WIMAX technology to reach more rural communities such as Nakaseke, services that were previously the exclusive preserve of the urban elite in the capital.

The government policy on building a National Fiber Optics backbone radiating out of the capital Kampala to all remote Local Government Points will bring on board more actors in the market since it stimulates market divelopment as well as enterprise development. There are also challenges such as taxation that can be addressed by policy to encourage enterprenuers invest in this sector to stimulate the economy through improved access to information. There is the energy problem in the Country. While physical access to the national power grid remains a problem in the country side, high power demand has resulted into increased unit costs of utility and thus increased overhead costs for enterprenuers in the internet kiosk business. Governemt is addressing this through promotion of reneweable energy and alternative energy sources such as solar, thermal generation for immediate mitigation during load-sheding hours. This is collective policy action. A hydro electricity dam at Bujagali is under construction,other smaller dams as well as enforcement of energy saving technologies is underway. All these are public policy approaches that are geared towards not just providing free social services but stimulating productivity so that people can harness their environments with the right technology tools. It is a sound reason why Telecenters have sprung up in all townships in Uganda since 2002. All telecom operators have mobile internet services on mobile phones. It is all pointing to policy and market development therefore.

Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Telecenter had the hallmark of affirmative action. Being a rural community with no visible cash economy to talk about. Investment in this project by a private entreprenuer would not be feasible. Considerations such as relevance of internet service to a population that relies entirely on susistance agriculture comes in. How many people actually need access and can afford the service? What is the cost of installation, support and mantenance of the facility? How accessible is the community? What is the level of ICT literacy/general literacy of the community? What public infrastructures are available that can reduce cost of installation? Nakaseke community lacked the ingredients that can stimulate a local enterprenuer to invest in such a project justifying affirmative action from a collaboration with good objectives under the Universal Access Declaration between the government of Uganda through its policy framework and its International Development partners.

The Barriers faced by Nakaseke Community were addresed by:

• Auditing the disadvantages of the community to establish their needs and requirements in terms of content, and promote initiatives that involve them in directly creating materials. This was carried out through a baseline protocol.
• The initiators allowed plans and the entire project to evolve organically from the people they aim to help, but provide support mechanisms to scaffold the development of sustainability. A multi-stakeholder approach helped reduce fragmentation that can create barriers to community participation. An example is the local government requirement that all students in the community contribute to the sustainability of the project.
• Development of better policy and delivery design by identifying clear lines of responsibility for coordination of advice and help through a single communication channel to all those who wish to develop community based initiatives in the community such as the Donors of other projects, district local government and the private sector.
• Identifying and working with recognised information leaders with in Nakaseke Community such as district information managers, local ICT personnels through social mapping to find key individuals, community needs and interests (Benton Foundation 1998).
  The Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Telecenter is physically much larger and more complex than the enterprise telecenters across the country due to the investment capital put in by the donors,government and the community. The rapid replication rate of the micro enterprise telecenters is built around their simplicity and innovation of mobilizing refurbished hardware, skills out of business decisions that help sustain the projects. Because donors are not easy to come-by, complex projects of this nature are not easy to implement. In otherwords the difficulty the private entreprenuers finds in investing in undeveloped market niches combined with the scarcity of committed donors complicates the problem of socially excluded communities.
  
  A summary of factors contributing to the digital divide in a Liberal Economy.
  
  Shortcomings of the Markets:
  There is an arguement that commercial providers target the most profitable segments of society first and unconnected sections last. There are no guarantees that market provision will deliver affordable ICT to all groups in society. Thus while Lawlyn Telecenter saw an enterprise opportunity in Tororo Township due a growing market, Nakaseke community needed a strategic public intervention to stimulate enterprise and market development.
  Market-led provision may reach 'natural' saturation levels and inequalities may be exacerabted following new technical waves and inventions (Booz-Allen & Hamilton 2000). This can be explained from the evolution of the broad band boom and bandwidth intensive applications, the disucssion of Net Neutrality legislation and the threat of internet fragmentation.

Costs:

• The cost of purchasing equipment, telephone costs, tuition and perceptions of costs have been reported as barriers for non-internet users(Motorola 2000). From an enterprenuers perspective, the cost of credit access, interest rates, cost of business, lack of power and overhead costs become apparent. In Tororo this was addressed by the existence of credit service providers , enterprenuers because of feasible market conditions. Because of the remote nature of Nakaseke Community, ineccessibility, lack of or inadequate telecom services, poor business environment and energy problem would hinder a private investor come in leaving public intervention the only option.
• Cheaper calls(26%), unmetered free access(17%) and cheaper subscriptions would encourage greater internet usage among existing home users( OFTEL,2000a). This calls for greater liberalization of the economic sector as well as the telecom sector to bring in more players in the market. Because of their relatively large investment capital chest, they would break into areas where small entreprenuers can penetrate untapped markets like Nakaseke and Tororo. Uganda's policy direction in this direction is impressive but more liberalization of other sectors of the economy has a strong bearing on market stimulation.
  Lack of relevance, interest and aspirations
  The percieved lack of relevancy has socio-economic dimension. A significant number of people in communities like Nakaseke believe ICT is not relevant to their lives (DTI 1999). They are poor and do not know the relationship between information and economic activity.Many people still largely associate ICTs to the 'economic domain' (Hochschild,Benton Foundation 1998). Individuals in higher socio-economic occupational strata are more likely to use ICT at work (DTI 1999). In 2003, when Lawlyn Telecenter was set up, most NGOs and the local government did not any ICT policy in their operational manual. Lawlyn Telecenter served this cohort of the market as well as travellers, tourists, cross borders and local entreprenuers in search of information. As the telecom sector grew, NGOs started establishing data links in their offices and employees enjoying the internet. More players joined Lawlyn in the business bringing on more competitions, price fluctuations, better services etc. But the issue of relevancy goes further among more remote communities like Nakaseke where the population is largely illiterate and engaged in susistence agriculture.
  Poverty aspirations and opportunity are factors that lead to the development of self exclusion and further inequalities. Perceptions of the utility of computers is mediated by individual family discourses, wider learning communities, and particular software environments( Dowes 1998; Tobin).
  Lack of Access & Support:

Many of the non users lack confidence and skills necessary to use the internet (ONS 2000b) as well as total lack of access to infrastructure. This fact is not exclusive to rural or the peri-urban environ. The market did not address the needs of the hinterland of Tororo which is equally largely rural and agro-based. This community is largely composed of the elderly, low literacy rates and poor vulnerable groups simulating the Nakaseke community. A majority of the people can't read or write in English so access to ICT and its use calls for training, affirmative action through strategic public-private interventions.

Lack of local technical capacity to support new users learn about ICT (DTI 1999) both in formal and informal settings. Rural communities like the hinterland of Tororo and Nakaseke itself lack local capacity to support new users. This is where the Nakaseke Telecenter model comes in handy.
Lack of Literacy:

Many people are largely illiterate to use ICT at all or effectively(PAT 15,2000). The internet is predominantly English while computer key boards are mainly in English inhibiting use by people/communities whose first language is not English like the Nakaseke Community.
Lack of Joined-up Approaches:

Community groups still struggle to find from 'one-time-limited initiative to another'. The private sector is still largely absent from debates surrounding ICT and social inclusion in deprived communities such as Nakaseke and Tororo (Leach 2001).PAT 15(2000) found that there is often little collaboration or communication between local projects, or strategic thinking acrosss organizations and few mechanisms for sharing experiences.

The 'digital divide' represents one aspect of wider inequalities. The 'joined up' nature of social problems is one of the key factors underlying the concept of social exclusion.
Barriers to community access:

Learning in mixed groups at community access points can make some groups feel uncomfortable. Barriers exist to locations, opening times, lack of adequate child care, security, facilities for the disabled, ethnic minorities and the elderly.

Unsustainable, inconsistent, unsuitable and partial funding are barriers to community based initiatives such as the Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Telecenter.

ICT access points may be poorly promoted and marketed, and their role and content may lack local focus (PAT 15 2000).
Conclusion:

'Digital Divide(s)'s have no single, identifiable cause or effect. Many public or private initiatives therefore, are intergrated alongside broader concepts and policies that aspire to tackle deprivation and exclusion. While Lawlyn Enteprise Telecenter took advantage of the general liberalization investment climate in the country, it is possible to note that the Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Telecenter was a public-private response to a general understanding that market forces have limitations. It had the hallmark of the affirmative action initiative geared towards finding a model that helps achieve the ambitious declaration of universal access. Presented below are recommendations and suggestions that propose methods for Bridging the Digital Divide(BDD). Many are in thrusting forward a government framework that addresses policy issues that facilitate enterprise development while also strategically intervening in areas to stimulate market development.

Increasing Access and Support:

Develop the use of existing community resources and locations, including schools, in order to help offer further free or inexpensive access and training for communities that need affirmative action.

The provision, extension and development of home-loan laptops should be considered and supported by other forms of support service. Examples of such initiatives are the One-Child-One-Laptop Project of Nicholas Negroponte and African Governments.

Meeting the information needs of non-english speakers should be promoted and content should be readily available in languages other than english.
Supplementing/enhancing provision from markets:

Raise awareness about the extent and dimensions of the divide to industry sectors. This will help them to identify specific areas of product development and marketing as sales levels out due to saturation.

Create further competition to provide cheaper services among telecommunications, software and resource companies through strategic liberalization of the economy.

Promote the concept of corporate social responsibility with in the ICT industry to raise awareness and involvement in the needs of socially and economically excluded communities that can turn out to be future markets for the private sector.

Further promote and develop the market for resale and refurbishment of used IT hardware. Computer AID international has refurbished and shiped out computers to Africa for use in schools and private companies, NGOs which has been a good initiative. This is a private humantarian initiative that government can facilitate through tax exemptions so that the equipment becomes even more affordable.
Reducing Costs:

Government must continue to develop a national infrastructure of low-cost or free access points in under-served communities through strategic public-private interventions. The National fiber optics backbone and a well grounded regulatory and enforcement apparatus in Uganda is starting point. Linking Local Governments(districts) to the national ICT grid will bring on board more players and extend services to the disavantaged communities.(Booz-Allen & Hamilton 2000).

Coordinate, develop and indentify a range of low-cost technical solutions to access provision for all types of ICT. This would help to reduce the numbers who percieve ICT as unaffordable.

'e-Missionaries' such as teachers and students should be encouraged, or recruited, to train the 'unconnected'.

Develop 'taster' courses that link ICT directly to other aspects of life relevant to the communities involed.
In summary, ICT development stimulates markets and markets act as incentives for enterprise development. While affirmative action(public intervention) is important in socially excluded communities, it must be geared towards enterprise and market development since there "aint anything like free lunch' at the end of the day. Sustainability of ICT projects in bridging the digital divide can only be possible when direct project beneficiaries have stake in keeping it affloat. The Lawlyn Micro Enterprise Telecenter and it survival in the market despite the replication of its model and stiff competition meant that the market all over the country had developed. Entreprenuers simply saw an opportunity to play their role in responding to the market. These simple telecenters are the face of comunication in all townships in Uganda and their role in bridging the digital divide is enormous. Thus the primary objective of public intervention even in socially excluded communities must strategically be aimed at helping the community build economic capacity and establish more access points to spread the service.
References:
1.http://llk.media.mit.edu/papers/aera2000.pdf
2.http://www.isoc.org/oti/articles/1100/benjamin.html

3.http://felix.openflows.com/html/netparadigm.html

4.http://www.svpww.com/tc_training1.html

5. http://www.idrc.ca/wsis/ev-86365-201-1-DO_Topic.html

6.Benton Foundation 1998 Losing Ground bit by bit: Low-Income Communities in the information age. http://www.benton.org/library/Low-income/

7.Booz-Allen & Hamilton 2000 Achieving Universal Access.Consultation Report for the UK Government on Internet Access. http://www.number-10.gov.uk/default.asp?Pageid=1203

8. Damarin,S 2000. The 'digital divide' versus digital differences: Principlces for equitable use of technology in education. Educational Technology. Vol 40(4).

9.The Rise of the Network Society, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Vol. I. M. Castells (1996). Cambridge, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 556 pp., ISBN 1-55786-617-1

10.The Power of Identity, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Vol. II. M. Castells (1997). Cambridge, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 461 pp., ISBN 1-55786-874-3

11.The End of the Millennium, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Vol. III. M. Castells (1997). Cambridge, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 418 pp., ISBN 1-55786-872-7 5.http://www.gurusoftware.com/GuruNet/Interviews/Internet.htm

12. HM TREASURY 2000 Britain and the knowledge economy. Speech by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Smith Institute in London. Feb 16th 2000

13.MOTOROLA 2000. The British and Technology.Slough

14. Policy Action Team 15 (PAT) 2000. Closing the Digital Divide:Information and Communication Technologies in Deprived Areas: London. DTI. http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/seu/publications/pat/pat15.doc

What happened to Tony Blair's Commission on Africa?

In early 2004, the then British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, established the Commission for Africa, commonly known as the Blair Commission by many political commentators. The 17 members of the Commission, 9 from Africa and all working in their individual and personal capacities, published their report "Our Common Interest" on 11 March 2005 addressed to the leaders of the G8 and to the wider international community. It was also addressed to the African people and the world as a whole. The measures proposed by the Commission constitute a coherent package to achieve the Commission's goal of a strong and prosperous Africa. But as the cynics have always said, the the Blair Commission for Africa was strategically designed to rebuild Tony Blair and Labor’s image for taking his country, in 2003,to war in Iraq based on sexed up intelligence.

As strategically worked out with all the publicity the commission got, Blair and Labor swung back into power and an intra-party transition has just seen Mr. Gordon Brown come on board as the new Prime Minister of G.Britain.Key members of the Commission included Tony Blair, Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, Bob Geldorf, Melees Zenawi of Ethiopia, my fellow old Budonian Simon Kalema from Uganda and others as the new ambassadors of Africa's development needs. But the Blair Commission, after Bob-Geldorf’s much hyped up media Rock campaign for the drenched of the earth, is no more like the world-cup has come to an end. Like Tony Blair, George.W.Bush, a man who did not know the location of Nigeria on the global map, also whose election in 2000 against Albert Gore had all the farcical characteristics of a typical African election, announced the $15bn July,2003 to save ACP countries from the ravage of HIV/AIDS thus dubbed the "compassionate" Republican President by his Washington's politburo.

In a similar pattern, Bush had attacked Iraq without UN authorization shoulder to shoulder with Britains Tony Blair. The 2002 election has bruised Bush public standing in the US and the World. Attacking Iraq after the 9/11 rallied some domestic support around him. But his trip to troubled Africa gave him a higher moral latitude thus the $15bn HIV/AIDS initiative. The object was to rally public support back home after the terrorist attack. Compare $130bn the EU uses for agricultural subsidies distorting global agricultural markets and Mr. Bush’s $15bn for fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa, Blair's romantic Africa commission and you will understand the comedy better.

Question is: Does Africa or Uganda ever learn from these acrobatics from the West? Right now Trade negotiations that have been going on between the European Commission(EC), Brussels' EU Executive and representatives of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) governments under the Economic Partnerships Agreements(EPAs) are aimed are further creating more market access for European firms in the ACP trading block. The European Commissioner Mr.Peter Mandelson is a hawkish bully threatening ACP Countries with export tarrifs if they do not sign the EPAs by 31st December. The unfortunate bit is that the African people do not share ideas with their governments on important issues of this nature. Government negotiate on behalf of their people but the negotiations should have public input. There is need for national sensitization for people to understand their short, immediate and long term strategic threats from the trade agreements.

Is Africa actually at the same competitive level in economic infrastructural terms to have a constructive partnership under the EPAs? I have watched the Ugandan government and its donor partners in a long poverty eradication crusade since the late 1980's with progress in the post-war reconstruction phase in the early 1990s due to humanitarian dollar inflows and public frugality of a young political regime. But the romantic figures rightly do not seem to translate into tangible economic benefits for a rapidly growing population. Overtime also the regime in Kampala has consolidated power and gradually grown complacent with the support from its development partners, with representatives of the EC in the diplomatic service in Kampala. On the 11th September 2007, the European commissioner for trade Peter Mandelson, a former political strategist and confidant of former British PM Tony Blair-of the Blair Commission fame, told members of the European Parliament (MEPs) that he would not consider offering more preferential treatment to ACP countries than the EU's general system of tariffs if the Dec. 31 deadline cannot be met. Typical gun-point diplomacy proper, Thank you very much!

Africa faces an acute energy problem that has crippled production in the manufacturing sector. As many countries including Uganda resort to thermal generation, there is a problem of increased international prices of carbon fuels. Because most of the countries are land-locked importation of these carbon fules has a strong bearing on inflation. Cummulatively, the cost of a unit of energy and other utilities has sky rocketed just as transport costs translating into increased inflation across the continent. Strategic Public intervention is curtailed by the WB/IMF policy of non intervention in the market. This approach has compromized the state in Africa translating into an instrument of colonial imposition.

What about public administration? Have government embraced e-governance? Always lagging behind due lack of a critical national vision. The fear for political backlashes as a result of re-engineering business, restructuring of public infrastructure and automation of operations is another problem as Africa's big men consolidate power through industrial revolutions structures. The impact of an archaic public structure in the relationship between Government, Citizens and the Private sector is manifested by the high incidence and prevalence of public corruption. All these hamper economic competitiveness.

The decay in the road sector, poor regulatory regimes in the telecommunications sector is another hiderance to economic competitiveness of the continent. This also has a direct relationship on the financial sector.But above all the impact of poverty and deprivation as a result of an imblanced global trading regime is Disease,illiteracy and conflict. African leaders need to look at the options in their possession which are not very many anyway. Build accountable public institutions and make use of all available resources for public good as a means of stimulating productivity. EPA discussions are just one of those indicators that indeed "there aint anything like free lunch". The entire humantarian infrastructure that is the backbone of the donor community policy instrument in Africa is aimed at crippling innovation, productivity as a cushion to their crude trade agreements forced on to Africa.

Africa’s leadership needs to share its challenges with its people in the prism of global economic management rather than posturing as agents of the capitalist elite in Europe and America as it currently seems. This can be achieved through professional Think Tanks and promoting vibrant public policy debate in institutions of higher learning so that the cause of our burden is undertood collectively as Africans.

Kalangala Island-The Tourist's hot Destination!

When you work so hard and think about the toll work and all the other obligations have on ones systems you realize the importance of having time off and go far away from home and away from the hussles of a work environ to reflect on your life goals.

When a group of friends and workmates decided to have time off work, we decided collectively to go to Kalangala Islands seated right on top of L.Victoria. The sound of birds, the sight of beautiful butterflies, the soothing of the water waves and the freshness of the air, the green was awesome. Kalangala Islands is just one of those natural ecosystems that still remind one of Uganda's rich natural habits. Our routine was simple. Wake up to a heavy breakfast. Walk back to our cottages, sit on the verandah basking in the sun,have a chat and plan our days escapdes. The Islands have a stretching beach with a number of hotels established for accommodation. Hotels have indoors games such as table tenis & Badminton. If you want beach volley ball I am sure you can have it based on the groups creativity.

Just look at those pictures and you will simply nod in agreement that nature has its ways of healing ones mind than many can imagine.Kalangala for those who have not interfaced with rural Africa will give you that natural experience away from the polluted environ in the rapidly urbanizing Africa.

During the festive season many people including western tourists flock this Island just to interface with the beauty of our ecological diversity as a country. Nature is certainly one element we ignore when locked up in corporate environs trying to work out contracts. A visit away from home can help one make even his home closer to some of these eco-systems. I was personally awed by the fishermen's prowess in laying out nets for a harvets the following day. Glowing lights at night deep in the amorphous lake as the fishermen lay their traps. It is was a classic example of how man can harness her environment for a better livelihood.
I have lured all my friends to try their luck in Kalangala. It's a place to make a retreat if you want to re-think or re-examine your strategy, have an organization conference to re-align what we do to meet the ever changing demands of the market. It still gives people to get to undersand themselves better away from a corporate and demanding work environment.

Board rooms which often are our decision making fora foten become a monotony. Employees who will not have the opportunity to have their leave will find the workplace extremely negatively impacting in terms of their productivity. A retreat for individuals as for entire corporate organization to Kalangala Island works just fine. The thirst in oneself to recharge ones system for another season after months of work deadlines, unfulfilled dreams is a normal desire. The object is to be more productive in the long term. Rejuvenate ones systems, rethink strategy and tactics in a achieving certain objectives and goals. I have have found Kalangala Island one of those remaining natural ecosystems in our rapidly degrading environment. Travel to Kalangala Island is by a cruise ship from Nakiwogo in Entebbe. The cost of travel for the 3 hour cruise is approx $15 or shs.30,000/- for first class travellers or shs.7,000/- for economy. The ship offers that comfort and the much needed visibility of the beautiful scenery. Trust me that group of people had a good time for the entire week we spent on the Islands. There is a ferry from Masaka to Bukakata. From Masaka to Bukakata the ferry takes 45 minutes. This is after 120km drive from Kampala by road. From Bukakata to Kalangala Island is again 1hour drive and frankly this is closely the same timing unfortunately there is a trade off of comfort as the road from Bukakata to Kalangala is not that good. I would personally recommend the cruise ship from Nakiwogo Entebbe straight to Kalangala.

Irene & Shiela loved the cruise and as you can see they had a lions share of the fun in Kalangala. Honestly, you will not look at just Kalangala Islands and forget. Look at those girls.There is something about Uganda that many people find very fascinating. A Tanzanian friend of mine recently said to me that we simply blessed by God. Our rich natural heritage simply makes us "lazy" taking everything for granted. And why technically this is correct. Uganda's natural endowment has caused some degree of laziness. The environment has not yet put pressure on the population to think creatively and innovatively to produce and grow for the future.

I kind of believed something fundamental about this comment. This country is the envy of so many yet we do not seem to realize this. We seem to have a strategic position in the region and the World though public policy manager do not seem to have the right upthrust to plan for country. Today, we have discovered oil in our midst. Mineral exploration analysis shows we are endowed with mineral wealth. I hope this does not make us forget all about our natural environment. I always believe in the future for I have lived today and the past. Uganda's future has the capacity, if what we have is taken advantage of, to grow into a regional economic power house to facilitate the growth of the region. We have a climatic advantage, we have that ecological diversity that we can take advantage of. We are equally endowed with natural resources and the inexhaustible human resource which if invested in appropriately can turn out to be the engine of our Pan-African Development.

Finding such virgin beauty is rapidly becoming an exclusive right for a few as the environment else where is being polluted left right and center. Go to Asia and you will find alot of artificialization of the environment. Uganda still has her beautiful green but certainly this is being threated by the exploding population.

Challenges of Entreprenuership in Uganda!

I have always nursed ambitions in business since my University days. When I left University in 2000, like any other young graduate, my major challenge was putting my business conceptual ideas into reality. My thinking of the job market was not good.I had a bank account though with irregular activity. I had no capital but I had great ideas. In Uganda, like many other African nations, entreprenuers are a class that can't easily break into the realm of risky business because their capital base can even be blown by a slight wind. Meantime, you have micro-finance institutions charging between (3-4)% monthly interests on micro-loans which translates into (36-48)% annually. Certainly, this is not good economics for the poor. The Micro-finance institutions are private companies doing business and government has certified them as legal business entities and they pay tax based on returns. There are also financial shylocks in town that are playing a part in the financial market.By default, government knows very well how both the formal and informal financial market charges their clients. Infact, most of the interest rates are determined by Bank of Uganda with the full knowledge of the World Bank/IMF, the two principle economic policy advisory agents of government. It means Government efforts to fight poverty are contradictory in policy. The political will does not mirror the technical and policy platform on which the economy runs. This fortunately is not something that can be explained from a political prism to many potential voters who are trapped in poverty by would be beneficiaries.

I ventured into livestock farming since its our traditional occupation as the Banyarwanda. I had heard students and people assert that obtaining a job required knowing people high up in corridors of government or relatives in corporate institutions. Certainly I did not know very many. Even those I knew, I did not have much political or social influence. I have for long had the ambition for Business and in a big way. Having graduated with a BSc. majoring in Biochemistry coupled with IT Training, as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer in 2000 and my knowledge in Cisco industry hardware deployments, I had a broad views of where the world was heading. But I lacked the social support to nurture this dream to fruition. Early 2001, I was hired as a Network Engineer by an international public health agency. This job gave me "comfort", my zeal for business went into a lull till 2003. My knuck for business saw me start my initial investment in real estates as a sole proprietor. The difficulty even here was that banks were only willing to grant me credit based on my employment and not the business proposal I had. Advisory services were purely inclined on the security of my employment rather than my business potential & projections. That to me was a minus to the banking sector in Uganda! The credit facility advertized at in the range of (25-28)% was not for investment in assets that could generate streams of income for the future but vehicles, home electronics & utensils. Then the mortgage industry was limited and still is to a few lucrative areas which many young people cannot break in. Those that existed had an operational radius of 5 miles from the city center. This locked out many would be participants. Patience and perseverence in business is important but the structural bottle-necks to infant entreprenuership drain morale, undermine productivity of a big size of our labor force. My initial investment was $3.500 and today my forced market value of my investment stands at approximately $50.000. This investment is locked up in my names and like many I fear the risk of presenting it to a bank at an average interest of 25% to expand my business.The above bottle-necks, registration of the company was laborious. A lot of paper work to chase around in the registry of companies. Public officers made it look like I was being done a favor.Many middle-men in the food chain asking for bribes. When it came to voluntary VAT registration of a new incorporated company, I was asked to avail the assets, properties, vehicles for a company that had not done any business. Presenting a few of my personal assets which indeed I was using to establish the company, I was asked to pay a provisional tax as a "show" of seriousness. To obtain the TIN number and the VAT certificate I had to interface with many middle-men(Red Tape). In addition, you have to pay for an operational licence as well as a Trading licence at local government level. This would not be a problem but there is need to offer incentives for registered businesses to grow rather than kill them before they can start. In a nut-shell, there are lots of young people who can't participate in the economy because of these structural disincentives.The end result is unemployment, redundancy, crime, politcal resentment and conflict. A few people manage to swim through these challenges but these are issues that can be addressed institutionally but any Visionary Government! Rockford Harris Group,Ltd a multi-skilled corporation through its syergistic approach is build capacity through institutional and business development consultancies to both individual, corporate and public institutions in specific areas of inters. You can find more info about the corporation on http://www.rockfordharris.com

Internet Neutrality & fragmentation: future scenarios for the internet!

Fifteen years ago, few predicted the profound impact of the revolution in information and communications technologies. Looking ahead another 15 years, the world will encounter more quantum leaps in Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). In this thesis, I will highlight potential trends and scenarios in regards to the current neutrality of the internet. I will extrapolate the impact of the internet on other drivers of global trends from a political prism.

The impact of the internet on global communication and trends will remain a key driver of global governance in the next 15 years. Not in isolation, issues of demographics, natural resource and environment, the global economy and Globalization, national and international governance, future conflicts, and the role of the United States remain key drivers of the future of the world. The internet and ICTs in general will remain the epicenter of global communications with a huge impact on all aspects of human development.

The inter-linkage and interaction between the internet and the above drivers of the global future emerges major uncertainties of the current neutrality of the internet and its related technological innovations. The potential of internet fragmentation and a successful onslaught on the net neutrality will occur based on policy decision made by global leaders and other internet stakeholders. The internet driven globalization process has further socially stratified the world into wealth classes. There is a segment of the internet market that indeed can afford real-time application demanding resources and the prevalence of service providers willing to meet the demands of this market for $$$$$ is one good example of market driven innovations. Certainly, treating the internet as being homogenous through NN legislation is technically wrong.

From a broader angle, the emergency of science and technology and its integration with ICTs, production and delivery chain automation have revolutionarized agriculture, health, transport, military, security surveillance and in leap-frog, applications such as universal wireless cellular communications networking developing countries that lacked landline telephony. The internet today clearly presents national security challenges of uncertain character and scale as over-reliance on computer networks will/make(s) state infrastructures more attractive targets for cyber-attacks between and among adversaries. The use of the internet for industrial espionage and economic espionage will present further effects on state relations. The use of spy-satellites for state intelligence or the potential for space militarization poses another threat to the current internet architecture. Rapid advances and diffusion of biotechnology, nanotechnology and other science materials and the integration of scientific research to the internet present further security challenges to the foundation of the state with increasing threats of bio-terrorism despite the obvious opportunities in advancing medicine for public health.

From a US or state strategic point of view, the internet future presents a scenario where countries recognize the information advantage and military superiority of the United States as a result of its traditional lead position in technology innovation and the Internet. They also perceive the internet, despite its global public good attributes, to be the lead tool granting it further traditional leverage in cultural as well economic domination of world politics. Rather than acquiesce to any potential US military domination, they will try to circumvent or minimize US strengths and exploit perceived weakness particularly by reducing the impact of US cultural hegemony through the internet and other emerging cable media.
USTTI Fellows at Cisco,San Jose,CA.

The above approach potentially posses the emergency of regional, state controlled nets or development of sovereign cyber territories. Internet driven globalization will significantly increase interaction among extreme groups commonly known as “terrorists”, narcotraffickers, weapons proliferators, organized criminals, who in a networked world will have greater access to information, to technology, to finance, to sophisticated deception-and-denial- techniques and to each other. Such asymmetric approaches whether deployed by the state or non-state actors have and will become dominant characteristics of future global politics and will greatly craft in the hand of the state greatly diminishing the current net neutrality aspects. These will be definitive challenges for state strategy, operations, and force development and will require strategies to maintain focus on traditional, low technology threats as well as the capacity of potential adversaries to harness elements of proliferating advanced technologies. Some of these scenarios between the US and other strategic adversaries such as China are taking shape. We have seen states such as Iran, North Korea developing nuclear capabilities with missile-computer-guided delivery mechanisms that threaten global peace. The Chinese successful missile target on a spacecraft in orbit demonstrates this view further. The initial agreement that space must be demilitarized and strictly used for peaceful means and the US effort to develop a Nuclear Defense shield are all pointers to a cyberspace with serious global strategic concerns.

It is generally recognized that the US and other Developed Countries will continue to posses the political, economic, military and technological advantage. How the global powers distribute opportunities for emerging economies to play their role will be a matter of concern in the future. China’s current exclusion from the WTO and the stringent requirement for her entry that grossly impact her domestic political configuration is an example. China like India understands their domestic agenda and their emerging global position as well as emerging domestic challenges. With a population of 1.3billion people of whom 100 million have internet access and 300 million mobile subscribers, we are talking of an emerging consumer market in China. The Chinese leaders understand the strategic threat China presents to the US in terms of its thirst for natural resources such as energy to oil their economies. China is building a technologically innovative labor force through education, the cost of production is relatively low and the liberal reforms in the economy have presented opportunities. But the state controlled cable media and internet is aimed at re-asserting the power of the state, cultural preservation and state stability and consolidation. To the human rights activists, this is violation of the freedom of speech and access to information but rights violation through internet content filtration, blogger registration is debatable. A lot of internet content is illegal in respect to national boundaries except where international conventions in regard to internet content have been ratified.

The US cultural onslaught on China through the internet, like any other nation of the world, is not entirely “innocent”. China’s model seems to work according to Chinese authorities and china is an investment destination today. Political reforms that we have seen in Africa have not provided the silver bullet in terms of economic development, resource distribution, security and stability contrary to China. Certainly the 100+ million internet community in China is good market for e-Commerce mainly for US corporations. Breaking in is good for the US. The US strategy to counter the emergency of China is the financial facilitation of India as a strategic counter weight. Certainly India has its traditional foe in Pakistan previously supported by Russia. From a strategic stand point China wants the regional leadership. The economy as well as its growing military capabilities is pointing in this direction. For now it’s a peaceful emergency with contradiction as exemplified by the military missile launch into space.

Experts still agree that the US with its decisive edge both in information and weapons technology will retain her lead position in the world for sometime. This perception among present and potential adversaries will continue to generate the pursuit of asymmetric capabilities against the US interests abroad. Adversaries will seek to undermine US infrastructure such as communication, transportation, financial transactions, energy networks which are vulnerable to electronic attacks and information operations. These attacks are likely to be delivered by computer networks rather than using conventional munitions as the affinity for cyber attacks and skills of US adversaries evolve. Cyber attacks will provide US adversaries with new strategic options with prospects of anonymity. These trends may not result into an out-right fragmentation of the internet in the immediate future. Much as China is building an internal network; “The Next Carrying Network” or CN2, it is not yet time to cry. China’s long term vision is clear: an Internet that feels free and acts an engine for economic progress yet in no way threatens the Communist Party’s hold on to power. The current trend is only reflective of how powerful countries refashion the global network to suit themselves but largely living the traditional net relevant to those who need it.

Bibliography:

http://www.isoc.org/inet99/proceedings/3a/3a_3.htm

http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/70385.htm

http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/11/21/46FEtrouble_1.html

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1367249/posts

Is Traditional Political Rivalry affecting Internet growth?

The extension of the Internet into virtually every branch of social and economic activity has led to growing public policy interest and sometimes concern as to how the Internet is managed and whether there is adequate accountability-not least in terms of respect of applicable laws. This development contrasts with the technological and academic origins of the Internet and with the tradition of self-regulation and noninterference on the part of governments.

The European Union has been part of this process during recent years. Christopher Wilkinson is at the forefront of trying to find the necessary balance-in Europe and globally-between the potentially contradictory requirements for the liberal self-regulatory regime of Internet governance, including the necessary flexibility and speed of response on one hand and the growing pressures for greater accountability, transparency, and conformity, at least with the principles of relevant local and international laws, on the other hand.In March 1998, the European Union (EU) responded to the publication of a draft proposal by the U.S. Department of Commerce for the technical management of the Internet domain system. In that document, the EU called for the future of the Internet to be agreed upon in an international framework, and it pointed to several policy areas of concern to European public authorities. Those policy areas included the need to implement an international approach to issues of jurisdiction, trademarks, competition policy, dispute resolution, and the scalability and portability of the Domain Name System (DNS). That public statement was one of the first regarding public policy interest in the organization and management of the Internet.

Following the response and other consultations with the White House and the Department of Commerce, the U.S. white paper published in July 1998 referred specifically to the global dimension of Internet management, and in due course, the Articles of Incorporation of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) addressed directly the applicability of local and international law. The principle of geographic diversity was endorsed and implemented in due course in the composition of the ICANN board and supporting organizations.

The ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), meeting for the first time in Singapore in early 1999, also adopted a preamble to its Operating Principles that reflected the consensus of the governments present as to the scope of the public policy issues that should be within the remit of the GAC. One of those issues was the general principle that "The Internet naming and addressing system is a public resource that must be managed in the interests of the global Internet community." Since that time, the European Union has continued to maintain the importance of those principles. How do those matters stand today, three years later, regarding the scope of public policy and, secondly, regarding the nature of the responsible bodies?

The Scope of Public Policy
In a general sense, public policy is policy that is in the interests of the public at large and that is decided by bodies with public authority. However, the scope of such policies is not self-evident in the context of the Internet, wherein a high degree of private self-regulation has become the norm. Neither is it clear which bodies exercise the necessary public authority, particularly because the Internet itself has charged its own private entities-such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the ccTLD (country code Top Level Domain) Registries-with varying degrees of responsibility for the public interests and, consequently, for certain public policy interests as well. Indeed, ICANN itself is a private entity under U.S. (California) law, but certainly exercises part of its responsibilities explicitly on behalf of other governments, worldwide-by delegation from the U.S. government-and implicitly through the international composition of its board and through the GAC.

For the present purposes, we shall limit the discussion to issues that fall actually or potentially within the remit of the ICANN organization and its constituent bodies, including the GAC. This is clearly an arbitrary limitation from the point of view of public policy in general because it excludes-or should exclude-all content-related issues, such as cybercrime, copyright infringement, and commercial and fiscal fraud. The limitation is self-imposed in the interests of time and space, although burgeoning interest in the potential use of the Whois query services tends to belie that distinction.
Would the scope and emphasis of public policy in the context of Internet management be any different today? First, the initial cut in terms of the appropriate definition of the scope of public policy in this area has proved to be not too wide of the mark:
The importance of balanced international representation has been fully recognized and taken over as an article of faith by nearly all of the Internet and ICANN communities. The first steps in this direction on the part of the Europeans were quickly emulated by Asia and Latin America, and Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe will no doubt follow closely in the foreseeable future.
Respect for local and international law has in practice been interpreted as including competition laws, intellectual property laws, and data protection and privacy laws. How this is implemented is to date not entirely satisfactory, notably because ICANN is confronted with significant differences between jurisdictions in certain areas of law and has not yet struck the right balance between its accountability to U.S. jurisdiction by virtue of its location and incorporation (and its contractual relationships with the U.S. government) and to international jurisdictions by virtue of the location of most of its international contractual partners, notably registries and registrars and the economic and social effects of its activities.

Characterizing the Internet naming and addressing system as a public resource by the GAC has also been an important foundation for guiding the organization of ccTLD Registries and their relationships with national governments and other public authorities. Among these policy issues, one could highlight the matter of competition policy and particularly the extent of ICANN's responsibilities as illustrated by the recent negotiations of the .com, .net, and .org agreements with VeriSign.Privacy and data protection is another example, wherein the desire to see a globally consistent Whois query service operating across all TLD registries and registrars is not readily consistent with the diversity of national data protection laws, at least in the European Union.
Other significant policy issues have emerged meanwhile that were not foreseen in 1998-99. For instance, the GAC has addressed the issue of geographic names and policy for ccTLD registries. Another case in point: the European Union institutions are working on a regulation to permit implementation of the .EU TLD registry. Naturally that text addresses the question of relevant public policy regarding such a ccTLD registry. The Commission's proposal pointed specifically to alternative dispute resolution and to preventing speculative and abusive registrations as areas of public policy. However, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers have broadened the scope that now includes policy on revocation of domain names, issues of language and geographic concepts, and the treatment of intellectual property and other rights.

The extent to which ICANN would itself effectively create regulations governing the DNS through its contracts with registries and registrars was also not fully recognized at the time. Granted that ICANN obviously does have regulatory responsibilities, the question as to how those responsibilities are being exercised currently through the so-called bottom-up process is attracting the increasing attention of both private-sector players, whose businesses are affected by these regulations, individuals and non-governmental organizations, and by governments, which see this as a process that they would otherwise have to be carrying out themselves.

The Relevant Public Authorities
The second broad issue relates to which are the relevant bodies with the necessary public authority to exercise these responsibilities and how. It is already clear that in the global Internet it is insufficient to think only in terms of national governments and international organizations as normally understood. Already GAC principles engage in linguistic contortions to include several entities in GAC membership that are not, strictly speaking, national governments. The GAC has also recognized that the ITU and the WIPO have particular roles to play (as indeed did the initial IAHC set up by the Internet Society in 1997). The European Union itself, a full member of GAC, is constitutionally unique because it is neither an international organization nor a national government, but manifests characteristics of both.Although the GAC has a clear view of the importance of all of these public policy issues, its responsibilities are advisory, and that has led some governments to question whether the GAC can fill the bill or whether it is worth its time and effort to participate actively.

From the EU's point of view, we would argue that it depends crucially on how effective GAC is in preparing and presenting its advice in a timely manner and on how ICANN responds to the advice it receives. If public authorities fail to participate in the ICANN process through the GAC, they will effectively ensure that the advice is considered weak and is ignored. If ICANN fails to take adequate measures in the public interest, then it is clear that the governments will step in; in that event, it is essential that the EU be "at the table," should the need arise. This political fact has indeed been recognized explicitly by ICANN.

Indeed, many would argue that in practice, ICANN itself is now one of the bodies exercising public policy responsibilities. ICANN is recognized as a unique experiment and consequently is difficult to classify or characterize, but it clearly:
Functions as a sole regulatory coordinating organization for the Internet infrastructure. Since it functions as a global monopoly in its area of responsibility, it is important that it operate in the public interest and not abuse its position in any way. Whence the requirement for transparency, consensus, and potential review of decision-making processes.
Creates rules for the market for domain names and for the allocation of Internet protocol addresses that are increasingly implemented via contracts between ICANN and the registries and registrars. This contractual framework does not look like a system of regulatory law, but it has very similar effects because it affects a whole range of economic and legal issues, including prices, terms of conditions of registration, and dispute resolution.
Has a direct effect on the conditions of competition between registries and registrars, including determining whether the same company can operate as both a registry and a registrar.
Determines the basis on which registration data is made available to the public, including, eventually, personal data.
Determines, through IETF and IAB, the organizational framework in which the Internet technical standardization process takes place.
Strongly influences-through the ASO and the RIRs-the global policy for allocating Internet protocol address blocks-increasingly perceived as the essential basis for the whole of modern communications.
Consequently, even if ICANN strictly stuck to its last, narrowly defined, there is more than enough in /'the scope of its policy-making functions to garner the attention and occasionally the concern of governments worldwide. Furthermore, a corporate approach that is oriented principally toward the interests of major Internet operators-as increasingly represented by the supporting organizations-probably offers insufficient internal checks and balances to ensure the public interest worldwide. That is why ICANN has to give a very high priority to ensuring the adequate representation of public interests either within its own structures-notably through public interest directors, elected by the at-large membership and appropriately constituted-or through a very thorough and interactive relationship with governments.
Whereas most governments appear to be supportive of the principle of the individual membership of ICANN and at-large elected directors, this has not yet been discussed thoroughly in the GAC and most of them would also argue that for the foreseeable future, it is the public authorities themselves and not the at-large membership that constitute the relevant manifestation of the public interest.

At a time when the U.S. administration is appropriately relaxing its contractual controls over ICANN and progressively transferring authorities to ICANN-a process that is widely supported internationally-it is becoming increasingly important that the international or global dimension of ICANN's own decision-making processes be effectively strengthened, including in ways that can create and sustain the confidence of public authorities, worldwide, who see the Internet-and particularly the names, addresses, and protocols-as the most important element of the communications infrastructure and thus increasingly of the economy and society as a whole.Since there is no room for serious error, and here I echo Stuart Lynn's own words, ICANN cannot be surprised that governments ultimately see little distinction between an advisory relationship through the GAC and more active oversight, thereby permitting those governments to fulfil their own responsibilities to their societies, their legislatures, and their electorates.

Uganda's scenic beauty is her strategic advantage!

Welcome to my escapades in Kalangala Islands. One of the pics on the left is the cruise ship to our dream-land. On the right is one of our friends enjoying the beaches of Kalangala. But that is just the beginning of a mouth-watering adventure of nature. Uganda,oh my! This is day one of my trip to Kalangala Islands sitting right on L.Victoria. I love these things with a passion. The dense tropical forests are awesome. The freshness of the water, the strong breeze of untampered air is simply a dream come true to those anxious visitors. Yes, my travel to Ghana sometime in 2004 gave me an insight of something similar to Uganda.Ghana is a West African tropical country covered by the think tropical belt. Accra's sits at the bank of the Atlantic ocean. Her Akosombo Dam, with a fresh water man-made L.Volta in Mid-North is equally a sight. I had a cruise ride on L.Volta and you will always find the amazing nature of water. On the contrary,Kampala the Capital of Uganda has close proximity with L.Vitoria from the bay at Port Bell. Accra's Ghana's gate-way to the world. There was something so similar about the two countries. The calmness of the people, the slow pace of things and that greenery so rare. Uganda to the contrary is land-locked. L.Victoria is a large fresh water lake with awesome aquatic diversity spanning three East-Africa Countries, Kenya,Uganda and Tanzania. Kalangala Island, seated right on L.Victoria is an enigma for that roving eye. From Entebbe, at Nakiwogo, you will catch that 3 hour cruise to Kalangala docking at Pearl Beach Gardens. There are many hotels in close proximity with cottages for excellnet accommodation. The hotels offer a variety of services including indoor games such table-tennis , pool in addition to outside games such as beach volley ball, boat racing etc. The Islands span a huge stretch of a land-mass with islands such as Banda. The group of tourists above were at Banda, one of the Islands, specifically looking for aligators in their hide-out in the rocks. I saw one of the biggest spiders I have seen in my whole life at Banda Island. It was an adventure of my time. The excitement was compounded by the freedom of movement. Boat rides with hands in water, sometimes waves picking up an expectedly made the whole trip,wow!. As the girls panicked over the growing waves while canoeing, the boys played the macho cards. Ofcourse, the girls tried to get close for comfort and the boys were promising to swim across the pacific to save the flowers. It was nice!!!! At Banda Island we had very nice lunch of fries, chapati,fresh beans, beef, fish-fillet and plenty of drinks. Banda Island is owned by a Kenyan of British ancestry and what surprised me was the sheer number of visitors to this camp. Ever heard of green-tea? It was there on the menu. All was affordable and to maximum satisfaction. It was complete adventure.

We were in a group of six workmates and friends on this fabulous trip. You should have been there. You simply just have to go there. On the cruise ship I met my old high school friends I had not met in a decade. The world had moved us in different directions of our career dreams but it was all refereshing. We met some of our superiors on the ship and we were all surprised about our common quest to discover the magic Islands by our ownselves. I know many will ask quietly whether I mean a real cruise ship or a canoe. Umh! "Are you sure?" This is a common expression by many Ugandans.
Our international friends who have heard a tour of Uganda over the years will attest, sometimes we do not give accurate information. As for me, a ship is a ship like a boat is. Food at the Pearl Beach Gardens is the delicious buffet with local dishes in high supply. You can have french fries, chapati with deep friend fish straight from the lake. Accommodation is very affordable which in most instances would make it very attractive for one to stay longer. Ours was a whole week of wildness. We watched the girls like a typical human carnivore would. That can't be a canoe or boat. The girls were in hip-hop mood. The ship ride is 3 hours from Nakiwogo in Entebbe at 2.00pm. There are snacks supplied on the ship and of course like in any society are classes. First class and Economy class with varrying sources of comfort. It 's all a choice for you my friend. At 5.00pm sharp, the ship docks at Pearl Beach Gardens where it will rest for yet another day for returnees and those coming to see the magic of nature at work. I have grown up in Uganda and my love for Uganda is rooted in the food, the calmness and hospitality of the people, and last but not least the visible power and beauty of nature. I still believe this is the most beautiful country in the world. Do not say it, I have been privilidged to travel around the world and I tell you, this country has what the world needs most. My humble opinion is that we need to upgrade our domestic agenda to reflect that we know our treasure. Kampala the capital of Uganda needs to be a visible capital with a good infrastructure. Accra is a well planned city which is still growing but on plan. The road infrastructure must be kept mantained. The hospitality industry must also be supported with the object of supporting the growing number of both local and international tourists who demand quality service in exchange for money. How about conflicts? We need to appreciate our diversity and also to understand the right for everyone to have an opinion which often will differ. But our methods of resolving divergency must reflect a growing civil order among both the political elite as well as the citizenry.
I don't know about you but camping is one very wonderful thing for me. You go with friends in the wild-not too wild though. You walk away from the crowd of the city, the sound pollution, the dusty air, the strain and stress due to our daily interactions as we pursue our life's dreams. Camping if long enough can turn out like a perfect vacation. When we returned back for work everyone wondered why that warm hearted smile, the magic is all in nature's beauty. My hope is re-enforced by efforts by many stake-holders initiating projects like Gifted by Nature on international media houses such as CNN.If not politically motivated, not in a short term tactic to win political good will from international friends, if it is a long term effort aimed at re-constructing and marketing our national Brand, it will go a long way to help build the economy of this country.

Now that was at Bukakata where the ferry from the other side of Masaka docks. The route through Bukakata requires travel from Kampala to Masaka about 2 hours drive then 45 minutes ride by ferry to Bukakata then another two hours to Kalangala. I think it is adventurous if you're physically fit and can be resilient for that long. The cruise has that comfort and on-board service. The journey is less cumbersome and gives that additional sense of safety onboard. I am sorry I have not used the ferry before but I can imagine what it means to have all equipment tied by ropes. The cruise ship is surely the way to go for that quick ride to Kalangala Island. We timed the ferry as it was heading for Bukakata to dock and it was amazing.