Uganda, Land of Musical Greats

Have been thinking lately about Ugandan musicians  and African musicians in general. I think Uganda is gifted greatly with poets and singers especially in the traditional language lineage.

I read a book recently entitled 'One Little Guitar, (Fountain Publishers )by Katherine Barrett-Gaines where she has collected the songs of Paulo Kafeero and tried to translate them into english. She has also tried to document Kafeero's life in art in Uganda and share some aspects of his life.  She has done a commendable and wonderful thing to record for us one of the greatest artistes of Uganda in recent times. Thank you Ms Barrett-Gaines.  Her book should be required reading in the study of  music in Uganda.

Paul Kafeero (1970-2007), Kadongo Kamu Artist, Uganda

Paulo Kafeero. One of Uganda's greatest artistes of all time. We dont know what the earlier artistes were like.  I am sure we had a great many excellent ones, you cannot listen to the luganda old tradition songs and children's songs and not recognize the wonder therein, someone composed those songs and they were sung through time at firesides and in times of joy and sadness. Most of them were passed on through oral history and from family to family.  We thank God for the recent development in that the recordings of our artistes' music can be done for now and for history.
Paulo Kafeero was one of the greatest. When you listen to Walumbe Zaaya  (Death the Great Kidnapper) and Omukazi Ammennya http://www.hipipo.com/radio/117/Prince-Paul-Job-Kafeero/Paul-Kafeero-Omukazi-Amenya (She is Burdening me to death)..my direct translations of the titles,  you cant but wonder. Listen to the music, rhythm and the poetry  and humor in Kafeero's songs, you will recognize his great art and if you can understand the language it will evenbe better, if you cant, his music is still good because music is a language spoken internationally. Thank God for such men and women in Uganda.   Uganda's other great music artistes in my book include. Take some to listen to their music Philly Bongoley Lutaaya (Diana, Born in Africa, Elly Wamala, Geoffrey Oryema, Jimmy Katumba, Judith Babirye, Alex Mukulu, Peterson Mutebi and the Tames and last but not least,  the Great Afrigo Band). If you paste the urls below in the search engines you may be able to listen to some of their music. (The links are not yet working in my browser!)

Philly Bongoley Lutaaya  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92OzxKg_Ubs&feature=fvwrel

 Elly Wamala (Peninah) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfYN_vmSOXc

Geoffrey Oryema (Land of Anaka) http://www.last.fm/music/Geoffrey+Oryema/_/Land+Of+Anaka
http://www.last.fm/music/Geoffrey+Oryema?v=enabled&utm_expid=64146835-2 

 Jimmy Katumba (Congratulations, Twalina Omukwano) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfhiqQI8Qc0

Judith Babirye (Ekitiibwa Kyo Mukama) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHQqsfWJDRo&list=PL34A85EC0AA591A0E&index=9&feature=plpp_video

Alex Mukulu (Bannakampala nga Boogera, Bukedde; Wounds of Africa) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHQqsfWJDRo&list=PL34A85EC0AA591A0E&index=9&feature=plpp_video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUagWdXyhsc

 Peterson Mutebi (Bamulete)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrCeKLGWO6Y

 and of course the great Afrigo Band. ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZDpFKq70Uo

Many of these great men and women are still living and should be celebrated by us all.

Let us celebrate our great Ugandan artistes by going out and buying an original CD or DVD of their music and listening to it. Buy the book about Paulo Kafeero by Barrett Gaines (published by Fountain Publishers)  at a bookshop near you. Happy Listening.
Till then,

from us at Noonya

Unfriendly Fire at Noonya Books in Ntinda Capital Shoppers City

We are still reeling under the blow of a big fire at our premises on Capital Shoppers City in Kampala.
The first floor of the building right under our bookshop caught fire on 12th August 2012 and we are still recovering.
A lot of damage was done to the building, the shoe shop underneath ours was totally burnt out. Many people's property including our own was damaged by high temperatures and heavy soot. There was no death or severe injury to any person so that is  a miracle and blessing. Will keep you posted and put pictures of the day in my next post. Our bookshop has been closed since then as we clean up,  repaint and reorganize. We reopen very soon.

Till then,

In service

NoonyaBooks

Are You Living in Uganda? Are You A Mukoowu (Tired One)?

Hi there! Thank you for visiting our blog. It has been a long time since I posted something so here we go.

A Harvest of Mangoes. Definitely not tired of Mangoes!

 I hope those of you living in Kampala have eaten quite enough of the mangos since the season is really on. You may also have heard the Song Bakoowu by Walukagga.  If you haven't eaten more than seven mangos would you just do yourself a favor and buy/pick  some these last two weeks of June?
There is nothing as sweet as a Uganda mango, or guava...and dont get me started on the pineapples. Those living outside Uganda will one day have a taste of the delicious Ugandan mango.  I am definitely not  mukoowu (tired) of the mangos. I hope that you are not mukoowu (tired) of them too.

 Recently there has been a lot in Kampala society, in the media and news about Kukoowa (to get tired), Bakoowu (tired people) and Mukoowu ( a tired person)  which all in Lugandan slang would mean that the person(s) are; fed up, tired, exhausted,fatigued in one word.  Truly that guy Walukagga is an artist with his hand on the pulse of Kampala society in the same line as Paulo Kafeero, Bobbie Wine (when he is original), Basudde and may even come close to Elly Wamala. He does hit the nail on the head with this 'Bakoowu' song.   His song is echoed by an article in the New Vision newspaper the week of the 18th June written by a psychiatrist;  Dr Odokonyero about the tiredness (bukoowu) of working parents and school-going-rote-learning children in Kampala and I agreed. I even cheered.  We all need to rest and get off the foolish road of the rat race. Right now. Easier said than done but necessary.

 I wish that popular bakoowu song had mentioned something about the suffering group of children in especially boarding and 'top' Ugandan schools who are likely to become bakoowu soon because of this but may be that will be Walukagga's next song. He sang a great song anyway. Right on the point and he did not have that terrible  |diggidiggi|  |diggidiggi| beat that is the template for all luganda songs lately especially of the whining songs sung by every so called 'celeb' or 'announcer' who thinks that because they are comedians,  good speakers and can make people laugh, it also means they can also sing/ make music for a living.   Philly Lutaaya must be turning in his grave at the bakoowu songs spouting out of  all Luwum street's unlighted arcades and have clogged  Kampalan ears lately. All music lovers unite against this |diggidiggi|  |diggidiggi|  none-music. Wagikoowa?

I dont agree entirely with some people's  conclusion about the cause of the ' bukoowu' in this new song; I truly think  it goes beyond the political. 

Work of a Mukoowu; Trash in drainage in Kisaasi Ntinda.

 The government is not responsible for all the rude people you meet at every turn (where did they all come from?), for all the bakoowu people who dump their trash on the roadside...in the drainage that is supposed to keep the roads more useful longer... or for the foul smell you bump into near Kalerwe market round about. They have their bit too, you could say, but so do you and I.



Oh! definitely the marabou storks near Kalerwe market must be 'bikoowu' because I mean,  how can you not be if you are a scavenger bird and you have all that work to do to clean up the mess and the causes of the foul smell at Kalerwe market? The water at the side of that Kalerwe-Bypass junction must be full of a gazillion bacteria. Some new species may even be discovered there. Definitely the  marabou storks at Kalerwe market are 'bikoowu'. Not from politics.
There is a lot that could try to kukooya (tire ) you anywhere in the world. My opinion is that less of these 'bikooya' are found in some parts of Ntinda and the rural areas but they are starting to creep in.  In the shape of loud discos and loudspeakers, kaveera with trash dropped at a neighbours house,  narrow roads and the red pepper newspaper sold at the bus/taxi stops in full view of  children as they get on and off public transport. Dont let the 'bukoowu'  creep into your village or your life. Get up. Smile. Work hard. Dont Give Up. I met some cheerful guys selling the lovely pineapples in Wobulenzi Town on Luwero Road.

Ali and his friends (below) allowed me to take a picture of them when i told them I was writing this article about 'bakoowu' and wanted to show a picture of people in Uganda who i thought are definitely not bakoowu. They obliged.

Ali and Friends: Pineapple traders at Wobulenzi. 'Not bakoowu'.

Hallo from Wobulenzi. Lovely Sweet Ugandan Pineapple

Please make sure that you are not a 'mukoowu' and that you do not 'kukooya' others. Bye for now. Nkooye:)   Drop us a line with suggestions on how to deal with this 'bukoowu' at noonyabooks@gmail.com.
Please visit us our little shop at Noonya Books Ntinda Capital Shoppers City Shop 32.

A Little House on a Hill



  House on a Hill  in Uganda.            Photo Credit:Noonya (U)Ltd

I came across this little house far away. Somewhere deep in the heart of Uganda. It is pink and had a blue door. It was one of the loveliest places I had ever seen. I still wonder; I hope the lives lived within this house are as lovely as the simple exterior, that this house perched on a hill is filled with laughter and the lives lived in here are breathless with hope.

Get Ready. The Mangos are Coming.

Hallo from Kampala. The rains have come, the chickens are scratching and life goes on.  Farmers are out there clearing, sowing their seed, planting, hoping for a bountiful harvest. A lot is happening. Lots of work, lots of rain and hopefully in a few weeks...  lots of mangoes. Season gurus predict a bumper harvest of mangoes in Kampala. They say a big harvest follows a long drought such as the one we just had. I hope they are right.
The mango-rightness sensors that reside in the lower corner of mine and some mango savvy  persons' ears and can feel whether the mango is ripe or not, can tell whether it fell ripe from the tree or it was ripened under ashes, also hope the gurus are correct.

On the way to our bookshop in Ntinda today, I saw a tree laden with still green mangos. Some men and boys were trying to hit some of the few hanging low enough to reach. I felt like eating one of those raw mangos; cut up with paprika and salt.  Yummm.
My neighbour has fat purple ones the size of  a small footballs hanging out of his trees. His mangos are not ripe yet.  In the past, he has run races with little children in our village who have taken a liking to his garden right around this time. A little girl named Molly ( not her real name!)  has been caught trying to make three of the happy mangos her own without growing them herself. 

Another Day in Paradise

Paradise Is Waiting...For You

Early morning view from Sunrise Hotel, Fort Portal, Uganda

When we think of paradise, what do we think of? A place of peace, tranquility and of course love? Some would think of beautiful scents, fresh air and taking deep satisfying breaths. For others, a cappuccino, yet others, a cup of hot chocolate. A cup of warm milk? A glass of wine with goat muchomo. A family meal around the table. A calm lake in the warm evening. Oft times people have indeed said  ' This is Paradise'.

In many ways, we would like to live in a paradise, we long for it and look forward to it.  Paradise is coming but what about now? For now, we can try and create earthly paradise around us and in the places we live; by not building in the gazetted swamp and forest land even when we have the council, power and money in our hands. By planting more trees and flowers even when the dogs dig them up and only one rose bush out of five survive Kampala's hot sun. By not throwing trash out of moving taxis, not leaving bags of trash on the road! By cleaning our rooms and offices and sitting down to read to our children. By actually talking to our children and spouses and letting them talk... We can make lives better by reducing our plastic trail; buying groceries in one kikapu or two. By Voting with a conscience and as a parliamentarian, setting a law against the burning of plastics and tyres, indiscriminate release of factory waste, hospital wastes and diesel oils. Making sure that we have working government hospitals with well paid doctors  and nurses before making a law to  buy a new SUV and sleeping comfortably knowing that if you are sick you will be flown to Nairobi for care while the rest of the people who voted you die on Mulago's floors after being knocked down by a reckless lawless boda-boda and transported to hospital on the back of a police pick up truck rther than an ambulance.  You create paradise when as a magistrate, newly graduated and promoted,  you refuse to set confessed child defilers free because it is too bothersome to ask some tired and underpaid policeman to do the correct investigations. Maybe this and other cases will come back to haunt you in your ?paradise.
So I would say to all of us, on a given day, prepare yourself a hot katogo* and invite a friend or a relative to share it. Be kind to all those in need of succour, starting with your nearest and dearest; your spouse, children,  mother, father, the lonely and poor...Love does begin at home, it will spill over to the others.

Sunrise In Ntinda, Kampala Uganda

When we consciously make the effort to do some of these things and more similar, we bring a hint of heaven on earth around us. Paradise is waiting, for you.


muchomo; roast meat; tasty , grilled over charcoal in kampala style, can be bought off the road or made at home
katogo; a mix of boiled cassava pieces with beans (commonly), tomatoes (more commonly), or meat (rarely). Cheap and easy to cook.
kikapu; a bag made of  dried palm leaves

Where Have all the Pink Geckos Gone?

Where Have all the Pink Geckos Gone?

Have you read the Book titled; Down Under by Bill Bryson?
If you have not done so, borrow a copy or buy one; read and have a good laugh.
It is full of the most hilarious and penetrating observations ever, about travel through Australia and a number of encounters with the flora and fauna there; including lizards, komodo dragons and geckos.
.
Talking of geckos, I know most people in Uganda have had an encounter or two with geckos of all types. There are quite many about. The brown ones you are sure to find behind a potted plant. The blue and green big ones that live on our walls. When I was growing up they told us that if the blue nodding head gecko ever bit you you would not survive. I dont know anyone who was ever been bitten by one. A man recently told me that if you get bitten by one of those blue-green ones; the only one person that can undo its teeth from your skin is the uncle of your uncle's aunt. Really.

Other geckos live in windowsills, or sneak into bedrooms, hiding under the bed,  scuttling out as you sweep. The quiet geckos find a home in the back of the curtain, falling out to the floor,to your slight shock as you clean. You will note however that many people do not want to kill geckos, even though they scream about them.I have never heard anyone bringing in pesticides to kill geckos. What is this I wonder? Where do all the geckos go? 

Have you had the shocking shouting experience of a gecko falling on you? The pink type of gecko that is becoming rarer these days and used to go tick, tick tick with its tail from the ceiling in the middle of the night? It makes a noise with its tail surprisingly loud for its size.  A friend of mine used to shout and scream and would not go to bed in our boarding school for fear of geckos but would not hesitate to cut a frog. One day a gecko fell on her. You can imagine...She later said gecko's feet are cold.

Scientists say geckos like the pink ones have suction pockets on their feet to help them walk upside down on ceilings, like Spider man. Imagine cold suction pocket gecko feet on your skin for a second..."Not so scaredy.... Screaaam..."

I am seeing less of the little old pink geckos in Kampala these days. Geckos in Kampala may be changing due to the extreme smog and pollution from all the second hand cars and myriad boda bodas imported to run and cough uncontrolled poisonous  gases all over our beautiful seven hills (Kampala City Council's Musisi and Lukwago take note). Suddenly I dont see the pink ones a lot, I see more of  the grey ones that seem to love the light and gather round the bulbs outside. Are the little pink geckos soon becoming moths? Have you noticed that they seem to be getting rougher skin and congregating around light bulbs more of late? We may be the silent witnesses to the rapid evolution of the Ugandan pink gecko.

I will keep you posted.