UNAA Convention was disorganised!
Sep 05, 2006
PERSPECTIVE OF A UGANDAN IN CANADA<br><br>The 18th Annual Ugandan North American Association (UNAA) Convention concluded on Monday in New York. The more than 1500 registered and non-registered participants from around the world including Uganda, Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA have all retu
PERSPECTIVE OF A UGANDAN IN CANADA
Opiyo Oloya
The 18th Annual Ugandan North American Association (UNAA) Convention concluded on Monday in New York. The more than 1500 registered and non-registered participants from around the world including Uganda, Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA have all returned home.
The next gathering will take place in September 2007 in San Francisco, California. The New York Convention met one of the goals of UNAA which is to serve as a meeting point for Ugandans and friends of Uganda to share ideas and good fellowship.
The diversity among the delegates in terms of ethnic heritage, age, and gender, interests, career and business orientation was testament of the continuing appeal of the annual gathering. New York seemed to have been especially rich in young people attending for the first time. A generation of toddlers, who were swathed in diapers when the event began 18 years, has now matured into vibrant and beautiful young adults, eager to take its place in the community. Equally poignant in New York was the continued emphasis on all things Ugandan.
The music and entertainment was decidedly Ugandan as was the delicious food served at the main banquet on Sunday. The inclusion of matooke and binyeewa on the menu demonstrated the abiding interest and respect for cultural linkage.
Where New York failed was in programming for maximum participation and effective sharing of ideas.
A lot of time and money went into inviting eminent speakers such as Prof. Ali Mazrui, Olara Otunnu, Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, Ambassador Francis Butagira, distinguished business entrepreneurs, government officials and members of parliament. Yet, the overcrowding of events and the confusion of managing those events prevented deep and meaningful interaction. For instance, in past conventions including the three most recent in Minneapolis (2005), Seattle (2004) and Boston (2003), government representatives and delegates from Uganda were booked in the hotel where the meetings took place.
This year, either through oversight or lack of clear planning, government officials were scattered in different hotels elsewhere across state-line in neighbouring New Jersey. Ministers who clearly wanted to spend time with delegates found themselves being hassled to leave the Marriott Hotel for the long journey back to their hotels.
Furthermore, only a small number of delegates participated in the forums on Saturday and Sunday. Part of the problem was that having spent Friday night in heavy entertainment that went into the wee hours of Saturday morning, many delegates were clearly not in shape or frame of mind to attend the meetings. For instance, the forum on Northern Uganda scheduled for Saturday morning failed to take off when less than six people showed up. It was moved to 4:00pm.
Equally sparsely attended was the political forum chaired by Mr. Patrick Ayota which featured Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, DP President Ssebaana Kizito, lawyer Ochoro Otunnu, Ambassador Francis Butagira, MP John Okello Okello, and advocate for federalism Joseph Senyonjo. Perhaps telling was what was missing in those forums.
Somehow, women were shut out of the main highlighted forums. Yes, there were women presenters such as Dr. Phoebe Abe (UK), Dr. Martha Kahirimbanyi, author Doreen Baingana and Ms. Joan Kakwenzire, but they were relegated to the less attended forums.
Finally, the most serious oversight was the set-up of the forum in which former UN Under Secretary General for children Olara Otunnu accused the government of authoring deliberate genocide in northern Uganda. Otunnu’s eloquent presentation was clearly aimed to provoke the participants into serious discussion about the catastrophe in northern Uganda.
However, in the end, it only created anger because the organisers had failed to provide equal opportunity for response from the audience and from government officials attending the forum.
As a last-minute compromise, Minister Hillary Onek was allowed to respond to Otunnu. With absolutely no preparation, and to his credit as a cool thinker on his feet, Onek did the best he could to give another perspective of the crisis in the north.
However, attempts to respond by other ministers, notably Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere and Oryem Okello were effectively shut down. As a furious Minister without Portfolio, Dorothy Hyuha said, “If you gag me, and expect to have a dialogue, you are lying.â€
Overall, New York will likely be remembered as the UNAA Convention where there was a lot of fun and entertainment, but where no serious discussion and resolution occurred.
San Francisco will do well to take note and make amends.
Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca
Opiyo Oloya
The 18th Annual Ugandan North American Association (UNAA) Convention concluded on Monday in New York. The more than 1500 registered and non-registered participants from around the world including Uganda, Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA have all returned home.
The next gathering will take place in September 2007 in San Francisco, California. The New York Convention met one of the goals of UNAA which is to serve as a meeting point for Ugandans and friends of Uganda to share ideas and good fellowship.
The diversity among the delegates in terms of ethnic heritage, age, and gender, interests, career and business orientation was testament of the continuing appeal of the annual gathering. New York seemed to have been especially rich in young people attending for the first time. A generation of toddlers, who were swathed in diapers when the event began 18 years, has now matured into vibrant and beautiful young adults, eager to take its place in the community. Equally poignant in New York was the continued emphasis on all things Ugandan.
The music and entertainment was decidedly Ugandan as was the delicious food served at the main banquet on Sunday. The inclusion of matooke and binyeewa on the menu demonstrated the abiding interest and respect for cultural linkage.
Where New York failed was in programming for maximum participation and effective sharing of ideas.
A lot of time and money went into inviting eminent speakers such as Prof. Ali Mazrui, Olara Otunnu, Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, Ambassador Francis Butagira, distinguished business entrepreneurs, government officials and members of parliament. Yet, the overcrowding of events and the confusion of managing those events prevented deep and meaningful interaction. For instance, in past conventions including the three most recent in Minneapolis (2005), Seattle (2004) and Boston (2003), government representatives and delegates from Uganda were booked in the hotel where the meetings took place.
This year, either through oversight or lack of clear planning, government officials were scattered in different hotels elsewhere across state-line in neighbouring New Jersey. Ministers who clearly wanted to spend time with delegates found themselves being hassled to leave the Marriott Hotel for the long journey back to their hotels.
Furthermore, only a small number of delegates participated in the forums on Saturday and Sunday. Part of the problem was that having spent Friday night in heavy entertainment that went into the wee hours of Saturday morning, many delegates were clearly not in shape or frame of mind to attend the meetings. For instance, the forum on Northern Uganda scheduled for Saturday morning failed to take off when less than six people showed up. It was moved to 4:00pm.
Equally sparsely attended was the political forum chaired by Mr. Patrick Ayota which featured Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, DP President Ssebaana Kizito, lawyer Ochoro Otunnu, Ambassador Francis Butagira, MP John Okello Okello, and advocate for federalism Joseph Senyonjo. Perhaps telling was what was missing in those forums.
Somehow, women were shut out of the main highlighted forums. Yes, there were women presenters such as Dr. Phoebe Abe (UK), Dr. Martha Kahirimbanyi, author Doreen Baingana and Ms. Joan Kakwenzire, but they were relegated to the less attended forums.
Finally, the most serious oversight was the set-up of the forum in which former UN Under Secretary General for children Olara Otunnu accused the government of authoring deliberate genocide in northern Uganda. Otunnu’s eloquent presentation was clearly aimed to provoke the participants into serious discussion about the catastrophe in northern Uganda.
However, in the end, it only created anger because the organisers had failed to provide equal opportunity for response from the audience and from government officials attending the forum.
As a last-minute compromise, Minister Hillary Onek was allowed to respond to Otunnu. With absolutely no preparation, and to his credit as a cool thinker on his feet, Onek did the best he could to give another perspective of the crisis in the north.
However, attempts to respond by other ministers, notably Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere and Oryem Okello were effectively shut down. As a furious Minister without Portfolio, Dorothy Hyuha said, “If you gag me, and expect to have a dialogue, you are lying.â€
Overall, New York will likely be remembered as the UNAA Convention where there was a lot of fun and entertainment, but where no serious discussion and resolution occurred.
San Francisco will do well to take note and make amends.
Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca