Kyenjojo pupils abandon class to join lucrative tea industry

Workers at Rusekere Tea Factory in Kijura, Kabarole District prepare tea for processing. Photo by Felix Basiime 

By THEMBO KAHUNGU MISAIRI & FELIX BASIIME

Posted Tuesday, December 3 2013 at 12:50 [http://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/Kyenjojo-pupils-abandon-class-to-join-lucrative-tea-industry/-/688342/2096842/-/item/0/-/t0u3o9z/-/index.html]

Kyenjojo- As one travels along the snaky Fort Portal-Kyenjojo road, tea plantations paint the road sides green against the vast plains, making the scenery beautiful. In the morning, people of all ages carry baskets on their backs to pick tea.
The tea industry in Kyenjojo is so lucrative that it has so far attracted at least seven factories in the district with vast estates.

One of them, Mabale Tea Factory, is owned by at least 800 peasants following the privatisation of public enterprises in Uganda in the 1990s. The industry has also attracted hundreds of migrant workers from south west Uganda and DR Congo.

Although the business is booming, it is threatening the education sector in the district as elders and authorities are worried at the rate at which children are abandoning school to pick tea.
Recently, a conference was organised by the Kyenjojo Elders’ Forum and NGOs, including Ride Africa, Kabarole Research and Resource Centre, Tooro Development Network among others, to tackle the problem.

According to elders, children under Universal Primary Education are not motivated to stay in school and complete studies thus venturing into other income-generating projects such as tea picking.
“The district ranks among the poorest in the country by the Uganda Bureau of Standards. It lags behind in education and food production since most children at schools pass time while others are working in tea farms and factories,” Mr Rujumba Muhenda, an elder says.

Col (rtd) Tom Butime, another elder, believes that children will continue to drop out of school unless all stakeholders ensure that quality education is provided.
He says parents have carelessly left their responsibilities to the government as far as education is concerned.

“Most homes do not provide food to their children and they will always starve while in class for the afternoon lessons. At this level, they are not expected to concentrate on what the teachers teach them. So, the first blame goes to the parent before a finger is pointed at the teacher,” Col Butime says.

According to stakeholders, the problem is worsened by the fact that some parents allow their children to stay at home to provide domestic labour.

Elders have now proposed enactment of by-laws to compel the parents to send their children both girls and boys to school.

“There should be punishments for parents denying their children a chance to benefit from universal education,” Mr Muhenda observes.

According to this year’s district education department report, there are more than 300 primary schools of which 120 are private. But it is the public schools that have been hit most with the drop outs and poor performance.

A survey carried out by Community Based Monitors in several schools in the district in 2009 found that Rwentuha Primary Schooli in Bugaki Sub-county had 166 spupils absent out of the 889 pupils while in Makerere Primary School, Butiiti Sub-County 243 pupils were absent out of 685.

The survey also found that due to ohigh poverty levels in the district, parents have forced their children to do casual labour and pick tea to earn a living.

The Resident District Commissioner, Mr John Rex Achilla, says men have resorted to alcoholism which affects domestic income since they can no longer support their families.

According to the district education officer, Ms Gertrude Tibakanya, lack of enough teachers has also led to poor performance.

“Teachers are not enough in schools which makes it a problem, especially in villages where accommodation and transport costs have led to absconding. A teacher is appointed here in Kyenjojo but decides to move to Kabarole District for another job,” Ms Tibakanya says.

The government introduced a Prosperity For All programme under Naads in 2010 urging farmers in Kyenjojo to use modern farming methods and fight household poverty.

It remains to be seen whether they will stick to the initiative in order to realise long-lasting results.

Research findings

Drop-outs: According to a research conducted in September by Human Rights And Democracy Link Africa, an NGO operating in the Rwenzori sub-region, Kyenjojo has high enrolment rates at Primary One but completion at Primary Seven drops as children progress.
 
Challenges: High absenteeism rates in most rural based primary schools were attributed to parents’ negligence, absence of lunch among others.
A source, who worked in the tea factories in the Tooro region, said: “Most parents in the region do not have the courage and culture to encourage their children to pursue education to the end. This situation, coupled with the poverty levels, forces young children to work in the tea factories and tea estates just for survival.”

Fort Portal: Where cleanliness is everybody’s responsibility

UPDF soldiers join residents in cleaning Fort Portal Town recently. Organising routine cleaning exercises which involve everybody has helped the town maintain a high standard of cleanliness. Phoyo by Francis Tusiime   

http://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/Fort-Portal--Where-cleanliness-is-everybody-s/-/688342/2064274/-/egewdi/-/index.html

By  FELIX BASIIME Posted  Friday, November 8   2013 at  02:00

KABAROLE- Ms Joan Omuhereza owns a boutique along Balya Road in Fort Portal Town. She has been running this business for more than four years. Ms Omuhereza and her family stay behind the shop and both her workplace and home produce garbage daily.
I asked her whether she believes that Fort Portal is the cleanest town in Uganda and what factors form her position.

“It is us the residents who are clean. We create and manage our waste. Batooro are naturally clean. I don’t need authorities to tell me to manage my garbage. Every morning I clean my home and shop and take the garbage to the bin but not on the streets or trenches,” Ms Omuhereza says.
Mr Steven Mugume, a boda boda operator at Balya Road stage, agrees with her.

“One day, a cakes’ vendor ate sugarcane from the Mayor’s Gardens and attempted to leave the place unclean. We pulled him back to clean his mess. This is how we discipline people who dump rubbish in town even if they are our passengers,” Mr Mugume, said.

What Ms Omuhereza and Mr Mugume are doing is part of the culture and attitude that has made Fort Portal the cleanest town in Uganda.

The town has good drainage systems that you can hardly see water running or stagnant on the streets during rainy seasons.

“That pearl they talk about in Uganda is Kabarole because of our geographical location, good climate and fertile soils,” Ms Esther Kabarokole Abwooli, a business woman in town, said.

Historically, Kabarole District was the headquarters of Tooro Kingdom which comprised of the present-day Kasese, Bundibugyo, Ntoroko, Kamwenge, Kyenjojo, and Kyegegwa districts.

The British colonial rulers also established their fort here, led by Sir Gerald Portal hence the assumption of the name Fort Portal.

Sir Portal was a British special commissioner for Uganda and his statue still stands along Kyembambe Road.

Being named after Sir Portal is another reason why most residents feel they have to conserve Fort Portal’s beauty.

The batooro call it “tawuni y’omujungu” loosely translated as the whiteman’s town.

Authorities input
South Division that covers the biggest part of the town has a project called “beautification of the town”. Each year it spends more than Shs121m of its budget on it.

The division chairperson, Mr Herbert Mugisa Adyeri, says: “As division leadership, we have prioritised collection of garbage, street sweeping and employed more casual labourers to clean the parks, the streets, trading centres, trenches as well as pick the litter every day.”

He adds: “We have two contractors; one in charge of garbage collection and sweeping and another for open spaces and road verges.”

Each year, the urban authority seeks partnerships from companies like Regal paints to paint the pavements and zebra crossings in town.
Planting of flowers and trees is routinely done that even the newly tarmacked Bwamba Road has already been covered.

“And now we have embarked on Fort Portal-Kasese road and all roads leading out of Fort Portal Town,” Mr Mugisa said.

“We have also lobbied the National Forest Authority (NFA) to give us all species of trees that can beautify the town. They have already given us 500 royal palm trees which we have planted at the entrance of Rwenzori Diocese and Fort Portal Diocese,” Mr Mugisa says.
The urban authorities are also promoting private-public partnerships where they have involved institutions like Kabarole Hospital to maintain the green belt along Fort Portal-Kasese road.
“This arrangement has helped us to reduce the cost of labour as individuals get involved in beautifying the the town,” Mr Mugisa reasoned.
Residents’ attitude
Some leaders believe that the residents’ attitude has played a big role in making the town the cleanest in the country. Fort Portal Municipality MP Alex Ruhunda says the people have adopted a culture of cleanliness which is typical of Batooro.
He also says the mayor deserves the biggest credit for spearheading the cleaning of the town through effective garbage management and enforcement of paving the spaces on buildings connecting to the roads.
“There is no way a town can be clean without its residents being clean,” reasons Mr Mugisa, adding, “Even if you put by-laws and enforce them you waste your time if the people are themselves not clean. In fact when you find a polythene bag or an empty water bottle dumped on the streets, then know a visitor has possibly thrown it there.”
Mr Mugisa reveals that the urban authority has engaged the taxi operators to have dustbins so that passengers don’t dump their rubbish anyhow.
“We have enforced that no shop will get licenced without a dustbin,” he adds.
The church and UPDF have also joined the campaign to keep Fort Portal town clean.
“Keeping a town clean is not a one-man work, but a collective effort,” Bishop Reuben Kisembo of Rwenzori Diocese said recently after participating in a town clean up exercise.
The mayor, Mr Edison Asaba Ruyonga, says in partnership with the World Bank and Nema, the municipal authorities have established a garbage recycling plant at Kitere village.
About Fort Portal
Fort Portal Municipality lies at the foot of Mount Rwenzori, 5,050 feet above sea level. The municipality had a population of 48, 000 persons by 2012, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics. It is comprised of three Divisions; East, West and South covering 27.82 sq kms of which the central business district is 4sq km. It is the only place in Uganda whose main town and district have different names. The town is Fort Portal and the district is Kabarole loosely translated as “let them see”.
fbasiime@ug.nationmedia.com

Tooro’s literary icon launches dictionary

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signs the Runyoro/Rutooro dictionary as he launched it in Fort Portal. Photo by Ruth Katusabe
 

By FELIX BASIIME

Posted  Saturday, September 7  2013 at 01:00 [http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Entertainment/Tooro+s+literary+icon+launches+dictionary/-/812796/1982336/-/fvfnmwz/-/index.html]

In Summary

Specialist: Lazarus Tinkasimire Rubongoya has mastered the Runyoro/ Rutooro languages that even books in these languages are synonymous with his name. He recently launched a dictionary in these languages.

When you talk about any literature book in Runyoro/Rutooro in western Uganda, you are referred to books authored by Lazarus Tinkasimire Rubongoya, a prominent writer in the region.
Indeed, on a visit to most libraries and book stores in Fort Portal town, Rubongoya’s books paint the shelves mostly on the vernacular sections.
A teacher by profession and a member of the East African Literature Bureau, Rubongoya, 89, launched the first comprehensive Runyoro/ Rutooro (RR) dictionary on August 31 at Mountains of the Moon Hotel in Fort Portal, where President Museveni was chief guest.
“My dream comes true in my more than 50 years of specialised writing as I launch the RR to English and English to RR Dictionary,” said Rubongoya at his home at Kigwengwe, Karambi in Kabarole District.
In his bedroom, beside his bed, there is a small table where he rests his mobile phone, a cup, mineral water bottle and on the bed shelf near the pillow is a radio and a rosary while on the other side of the bed is a wheel chair on which he is lifted outside by his wife, Regina, a former banker. In the far corner of his bedroom rests two spears. His sitting room is crammed with several literature books, including his own.
Career hiccup
“The RR dictionary delayed to be published because of the 1979 liberation war when he lost his manuscript at Nakasero in Kampala during the stampede and lootings, so he had to re-write it” says Regina Rubongoya, his wife.

Rubongoya was in an accident in 2007, where he broke his right thigh bone, but this did not stop him from authoring books from bed or from his wheel chair at home, where at most, he has spent time writing the dictionary.
But how did he start writing?
“I was sent to England by the government and Tooro Kingdom in 1958 purposely to help other writers learn skills in writing and later come back home to help other writers in western region,” he says.
He later joined the School of Oriental and African studies in London to study language in East Africa.


“We were taught that when a word is pronounced in different ways, each way must be written down differently, for instance, Okuhaka and Okuhaaka, he says.
Faustino Nelson Nyakaana, a veteran journalist in Kabarole, describes Rubongoya as a very hard working man and one who has toiled to promote his language.
“He is my mentor in journalism, he inspired me to write, he is very hard working, voluntary and has toiled to see that his language is promoted,” Nyakaana says.
The philosophy that has guided Rubongoya through his work is keeping focused. “Life is what you do and give now, not tomorrow,” he says. And his secret to success is, “just zeal, nothing else, from primary school level I had zeal in everything I would plan to do”.
Through his writings, he has learnt some lessons that he wishes to share with the world.
“I have learnt that there are many things on earth to learn and write about, places to visit; people know many things that you don’t know until you visit and talk to them”. Rubongoya says writing needs a lot of courage lest you drop it.


“You write and others will read your work and like it while others will not but you continue,” he says, adding: “Every stage of life has its needs, the people of today have their own outlook of things, what you write in 2013 will be outdated in future”
Apart from being a writing icon, Rubongoya also ventured into radio broadcasting. He was the first to innovate the Runyankore/ Rukiga/ Runyoro/ Rutooro (RRRR) programme at Radio Uganda.

Loam soils raise construction expenses in Kabarole

Officials inspect a broken bridge in Kabarole District. Construction of such bridges needs more material. Photo by Felix Basiime. 

By Felix Basiime

Posted  Monday, August 5  2013 at  01:00 [http://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/Loam-soils-raise-construction-expenses/-/688342/1936992/-/mhjw4k/-/index.html]

In Summary

Kabarole District might have a beautiful scenery and fertile soils but when it comes to construction of buildings and other structures, the soils give in easily to earthquakes, which has in turn increased the costs of construction.

Kabarole
Is Your Foundation Rock Or Sand? Reads www.aBible.com quoting Mathew 7:24-27. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

To understand these words of wisdom well, you have to visit Kabarole District, a place rich in loamy soils and at the same time prone to earthquakes. Kabarole is what it is because of the loamy soils or black soils. “It is true we have loamy soils in Kabarole and everything has positives and negatives,” says Mr Juma Nyende, the former district chief administrative officer.

Due to the loamy soils, Kabarole is leading in natural beauty and tourism is high with fertile land and is wet throughout the year, thereby producing enough food.

“These loamy soils are the backbone of Kabarole, the beauty, but they also present a challenge on infrastructure especially when it comes to roads, 70 per cent of the district is covered by loamy soils,” says Mr Nyende. “Where we have to murram, we have to compact a lot,” he said.

“There is population pressure on land and people use all their land and when it comes to widening the roads, it is a challenge compared to other districts,” Mr Nyende observed before he was transferred to Sembabule.

Expensive compensations
“To compensate land in Kabarole is very expensive due to loamy soils, an acre of land is not less than Shs5 million,” he said. The loamy soils in the district have made it difficult for infrastructure development and as a result, the district has lost billions of money in construction of pit latrines and bridges that collapse each year.

According to the district chairman, Mr Richard Rwabuhinga, loamy soils have made it impossible for engineers to build strong feeder roads and bridges in the district.

Last year, two pupils of Buhesi Primary School in Buhesi Sub-county narrowly survived death when a pit-latrine collapsed on them.

The district education officer, Mr Patrick Rwakaikara, then said more than 100 schools in the district lack pit latrines. “More than 100 schools need pit latrines, they are either not enough, filled up or collapsed,” Mr Rwakaikara said.

Loamy soils have forced authorities to change technology of constructing pit-latrines. “The old method of constructing pit-latrines has been abandoned, now we dig 10ft instead of 30ft and line the pit with bricks which now costs Shs15 million as opposed to Shs5 to 10 million for the same size.”

Construction of bridges too has changed. The span has to be very long as opposed to two metres from the river bank. “The local bridges are now anchored far away, costing Shs50 million instead of Shs30 million,” Nyende observed.

Mr Nyende says government has been several times asked to consider the soils, topography, high intensity of rains, maintenance and inaccessible materials such as marrum in the district before deciding on the funds to allocate to Kabarole District.

“As a district we have asked central government to consider us differently than other districts when allocating funds for constructing roads, bridges and general infrastructure in districts,” Nyende said.

He added that the district has about 250km of feeder roads and central government allocates only Shs483 million for the whole year for roads and bridges despite the different soils and topography or availability of murram.

Cost of construction
According to Mr Nyende, this money cannot be enough for construction and marruming a 20km road. The district needs more than Shs6 billion to make strong and lasting roads and more than Shs10 billion to construct strong bridges.

At the moment, engineers in Kabarole collect murram and sand from neighbouring districts when constructing roads and buildings.

Areas such as Rwimi, Kabonero, Kateebwa, Bukuuku, Kicwamba and Kasenda and parts of Hakibale sub-counties have lacked enough schools and health centres for a long time as constructors hired later abandon the job due to the high cost of transporting materials to the sites as the roads are slippery.

Loamy soils have not only affected individual developers but also the district budget by 30 per cent.
“Loamy soils have affected our budget, materials for construction are scarce, we get good murram and sand from Rwimi and Kasese to construct roads, we got lake sand from Mbarara for our new administration block (at Kitumba),” said Mr Nyende.

Any technician taking a contract in Kabarole has to consider the factor of loamy soils and earthquakes in his or her plans, cost it and advise the developer accordingly.

“Black soils are soft soils and soak more water and are not at all good for creating a foundation base for construction,” says Mr Amos Mugisa, a technician in Fort Portal town. He said Kabarole’s soil profile has loamy soils on top, sandy, rocks (with pozzolana) and red soil below.

“So we have to sweep off the loamy soils first at the sites because we have to construct on a firm ground which is the red soils. In some areas like Kitumba, in Fort Portal, the red soils are near at around 2ft but in most places they are deep,” Mr Mugisa said.

“For example, on Ruhandika Street, in Fort Portal town, most buildings’ foundation had to be as deep as 10ft,” Mr Mugisa observed, adding, “All these factors must be put into consideration lest your building will collapse due to loamy soils or a strong earthquake.”

“We strictly use columns (extra reinforcements) at major specific points, iron bars, aggregates, sand, cement which is concrete as a compulsory from the foundation,” he said. “Ring beam is a must in the district whether a building is small or big if you are to build an earthquake-bearing building.”

Ring beams
He said public buildings in Kabarole must have two ring beams where one has to be underground. All load bearing walls that bear the weight of the roof must be nine inches wide compared to six inches wall in other areas, this means extra cement, sand, aggregates and labour.

According to Mugisa, a four-bedroom house, self-contained, costs about Shs130 million in Kabarole as compared to the same size of house constructed at Shs110 million elsewhere in Uganda.

When you compare Mr Mugisa’s figures with Mr Julius Bagira, the district engineer Rukungiri, they do not differ much. “A four-bedroom house, self-contained in Rukungiri costs around Shs80 million but in Kabarole where there are loamy soils and earthquakes, the cost of putting up the same size of house can’t be less than Shs 120 million,” says Mr Bagira.

A walk through Fort Portal Town, you see most strong buildings fortified by strong pillars like the King’s palace, to guard against earthquakes.

However, cracks of the 1994 strong earthquake are still seen at Muchwa building, the kingdoms administration block and at Boma, the district’s old administration block. The last earthquake was experienced on Tuesday morning (July 30) in Fort Portal.

fbasiime@ug.nationmedia.com