Value added: Still great value
Aug 15, 2009
THIS last Sunday a small group of us was entertained to luncheon at the Pike residence in Bugolobi, not far from Kampala City centre. If that sounds immensely grand, it is befitting, for the Pikes’ house is a thing of beauty, in a very English style, se
By John Nagenda
THIS last Sunday a small group of us was entertained to luncheon at the Pike residence in Bugolobi, not far from Kampala City centre. If that sounds immensely grand, it is befitting, for the Pikes’ house is a thing of beauty, in a very English style, set in a grandeur of African trees and shrubs, the majority planted by the indomitable Cathy.
Should they ever decide to hold Open House (though Pike’s natural modesty will almost certainly preclude this) go there. I include Pike in Uganda’s list of heroes, much as I know that some of my old friends must be howling in disbelief, because his probing while Founding Editor of The New Vision left their noses out of joint! Nevertheless, his twenty-year stint at the helm helped to make this paper arguably the leading Government-owned publication worldwide, with Government itself not spared acute criticism mostly where deserved. Obviously this in itself, because allowed by Government for the two decades, speaks volumes for Uganda’s Movement government; despite that in the end he was “let go†in somewhat insalubrious circumstances!
Pike, his team and the papers they produced were, in, the deepest sense of the phrase, very much Value Added! Time, then, to re-examine why Value Added (adding value to raw produce before sale) is always great value for developing nations everywhere. Should that include “developed nations†also, so much the better, but the assumption is they got there by practising the concept in the first place.
It was the very subject which much exercised our minds on Sunday even as we chewed into the Pikes’ offerings. Phil, a regional cocoa bean buyer, and UK ex-farmer, proved a staunch non-believer, quoting unsolvable practicalities. I took an opposite stand, arguing that just because in most cases it had not yet worked, you could hardly blame the principle. Obviously so much had to be in place, such as a return to railway transport to the coast, and the re-birth of proper cooperatives to assist the smallest “farmers†to more rewarding targets in much bigger units. But think of the rewards. Already many world regions had lost the capacity to feed themselves; the number would grow and never stop. Africa the food basket of the world: it might take time, but the first step was now; indeed before! Along the way it would have first managed to feed itself. Incredibly, the very next day the UK’s Times prophesied that even that once farm-rich Green Isle would in future be unable to feed itself! Africa, get ready.
*************
As with the saying: “The wheels of Justice grind exceeding slow…†(what is its origin?), so with the case reported here last week. It is of the felon using the title, and name, of the President, at a website purporting to come from State House, and claiming to be written by “President Y. K. Museveniâ€. The nerve of it, masquerading as the Ugandan Leader! Your alert columnist had immediately contacted the usual services for full investigations.
After a seemingly torpid start, matters are now zipping forward like a top thriller! Firstly, it now appears not to be one felon but a cabal, suggesting deep conspiracy. Second it is splitting amoeba-like; even mutating to outside Uganda. It was the great Muhammad Ali who famously said of an opponent in the ring, “…he can run but he can’t hide!†It promises to prove true for our rascals. I am bursting to tell you more, but just now, beyond a certain point, “silence is golden, golden…â€
****************
What is this astounding Bafuruki business? As for the word: does it perhaps refer to the modern “English†idiom “to flukeâ€, meaning to get something only by chance?
Refer to the “flukers†with Runyankole pronunciation, and hey presto: Bafurukers (Bafuruki)? But where is the fluking in the circumstances? Hardworking Bakiga peasants were enticed to Bunyoro to take up (as, being Ugandans, they had every right to do) some largely empty tracts of land and by concentrated effort help return Bunyoro to the bountiful times of the Bunyoro-Kitara empire.
It is true that, thinking of the 500 highly arable acres in Bugangaizi, originally purchased by Granddad Manyangenda in 1929 (I have the title deed in my safe) and passed on to us via our father, I had already experienced pangs of apprehensiveness that between the Banyoro and the newly arrived Bakiga, we Baganda heirs might well be stabbed from both wings upon going to enjoy our heritage.
Now new irresponsible torches are being introduced into already combustible atmospheres; where will it end? For shame all ye firelighters, whoever you are! Besides, can you imagine the furore which would erupt if the ever-generous Baganda were to sing the same war songs against their own Bafuruki of every persuasion? Pray that day never dawns.
Meanwhile sharp-eyed readers will have noticed a reduction of some 10% of my wordage, starting this week. It is not that I’ve chosen to short-change you. Apparently it is for the cartoon above me to gain more width. Oh, the world we live in!
THIS last Sunday a small group of us was entertained to luncheon at the Pike residence in Bugolobi, not far from Kampala City centre. If that sounds immensely grand, it is befitting, for the Pikes’ house is a thing of beauty, in a very English style, set in a grandeur of African trees and shrubs, the majority planted by the indomitable Cathy.
Should they ever decide to hold Open House (though Pike’s natural modesty will almost certainly preclude this) go there. I include Pike in Uganda’s list of heroes, much as I know that some of my old friends must be howling in disbelief, because his probing while Founding Editor of The New Vision left their noses out of joint! Nevertheless, his twenty-year stint at the helm helped to make this paper arguably the leading Government-owned publication worldwide, with Government itself not spared acute criticism mostly where deserved. Obviously this in itself, because allowed by Government for the two decades, speaks volumes for Uganda’s Movement government; despite that in the end he was “let go†in somewhat insalubrious circumstances!
Pike, his team and the papers they produced were, in, the deepest sense of the phrase, very much Value Added! Time, then, to re-examine why Value Added (adding value to raw produce before sale) is always great value for developing nations everywhere. Should that include “developed nations†also, so much the better, but the assumption is they got there by practising the concept in the first place.
It was the very subject which much exercised our minds on Sunday even as we chewed into the Pikes’ offerings. Phil, a regional cocoa bean buyer, and UK ex-farmer, proved a staunch non-believer, quoting unsolvable practicalities. I took an opposite stand, arguing that just because in most cases it had not yet worked, you could hardly blame the principle. Obviously so much had to be in place, such as a return to railway transport to the coast, and the re-birth of proper cooperatives to assist the smallest “farmers†to more rewarding targets in much bigger units. But think of the rewards. Already many world regions had lost the capacity to feed themselves; the number would grow and never stop. Africa the food basket of the world: it might take time, but the first step was now; indeed before! Along the way it would have first managed to feed itself. Incredibly, the very next day the UK’s Times prophesied that even that once farm-rich Green Isle would in future be unable to feed itself! Africa, get ready.
*************
As with the saying: “The wheels of Justice grind exceeding slow…†(what is its origin?), so with the case reported here last week. It is of the felon using the title, and name, of the President, at a website purporting to come from State House, and claiming to be written by “President Y. K. Museveniâ€. The nerve of it, masquerading as the Ugandan Leader! Your alert columnist had immediately contacted the usual services for full investigations.
After a seemingly torpid start, matters are now zipping forward like a top thriller! Firstly, it now appears not to be one felon but a cabal, suggesting deep conspiracy. Second it is splitting amoeba-like; even mutating to outside Uganda. It was the great Muhammad Ali who famously said of an opponent in the ring, “…he can run but he can’t hide!†It promises to prove true for our rascals. I am bursting to tell you more, but just now, beyond a certain point, “silence is golden, golden…â€
****************
What is this astounding Bafuruki business? As for the word: does it perhaps refer to the modern “English†idiom “to flukeâ€, meaning to get something only by chance?
Refer to the “flukers†with Runyankole pronunciation, and hey presto: Bafurukers (Bafuruki)? But where is the fluking in the circumstances? Hardworking Bakiga peasants were enticed to Bunyoro to take up (as, being Ugandans, they had every right to do) some largely empty tracts of land and by concentrated effort help return Bunyoro to the bountiful times of the Bunyoro-Kitara empire.
It is true that, thinking of the 500 highly arable acres in Bugangaizi, originally purchased by Granddad Manyangenda in 1929 (I have the title deed in my safe) and passed on to us via our father, I had already experienced pangs of apprehensiveness that between the Banyoro and the newly arrived Bakiga, we Baganda heirs might well be stabbed from both wings upon going to enjoy our heritage.
Now new irresponsible torches are being introduced into already combustible atmospheres; where will it end? For shame all ye firelighters, whoever you are! Besides, can you imagine the furore which would erupt if the ever-generous Baganda were to sing the same war songs against their own Bafuruki of every persuasion? Pray that day never dawns.
Meanwhile sharp-eyed readers will have noticed a reduction of some 10% of my wordage, starting this week. It is not that I’ve chosen to short-change you. Apparently it is for the cartoon above me to gain more width. Oh, the world we live in!