My name is Nakasumba Victoria. I am 11 years old and in 5th grade at Budo Junior School. I am very amused to be the cover girl of this first issue. I want to assure you that you will enjoy this Magazine. It’s really interesting.
ENJOY YOURSELF
Word from the Publisher
I am pleased to announce the publication of the first issue of L.E.A.D Magazine. The goal of this magazine is to give you a chance to learn about Uganda through stories, poems, and opinions written by the students of L.E.A.D Uganda. This issue contains articles about life, art, culture, sports, fashion, and politics in Uganda. The right side of each page contains artwork by L.E.A.D Uganda students.
I want, first of all, to thank God, The Almighty, for having enabled us to publish the first issue of our magazine.
Secondly, I want to thank the donors of the program for giving us the chance to go to the best schools in the country so we can acquire the skills necessary to prepare this magazine. We, young writers, under the umbrella of the L.E.A.D Uganda family, have demonstrated a keen desire to write and a sharp appetite to read, both of which are key to mastering our communication skills.
God bless you all. We hope you enjoy this first issue. Jjuko Joachim
Jjuko Joachim
Table of Contents
Page 1
Note from Magazine Cover Girl by Nakasumba Victoria
Note from the Publisher — Jjuko Joachim
A Poem by Jaggwe Edward
Leisure Time by Saluwa Abdulgan
Culture by Shirat Nabukenya
Politics by Kimbowa Julius
Page 2
click on link at bottom of page 1 to go to page 2.
Art Gallery – Drawings by Nokrach Isaac
Fashion: “What Girls Should Wear” by Mariah Naluwooza
Character Formation by Jjuko Joachim
Weird Facts by Abdul Rahim Abdulghani
The Power of Music by Kusasira Moses a.k.a. Mr. Lucid
Why I Make Art by Kawooya Brian
Ooops! Let’s See What Teens Have by Sanyu Nakyeyune
Uganda, Uganda, Uganda
A Poem by Jaggwe Edward
Uganda, Uganda, Uganda
Full of dark skinned people
The cradle land of early man
The source of different food
stuffs, i.e. sweet potatoes,
coffee beans, banana, etc.
Oh Uganda
Uganda, Uganda, Uganda
Full of abundant sunshine
and reliable rainfall
favorable for human settlement
Oh Uganda
Uganda, Uganda, Uganda
Famous for adventure
Full of wonderful wildlife
The source of nature’s most
powerful animal protecting Ugandans.
Oh Uganda
Uganda, Uganda, Uganda
The home of intelligent, knowledgeable,
and talented people
Full of hard working laborers
Determined change makers
The home of good hope.
Oh Uganda
Jaggwe Edward
Leisure Time
By Saluwa Abdulgan
Ugandan youth enjoy having fun and relaxing by doing lots of different things.
Most students really love shopping, especially the girls. They enjoy keeping up with the latest fashion. For the boys, they like playing soccer that is a very interesting and popular sport in Uganda. Music is also loved by most youths. It helps them relax.
When it comes to festive seasons, many big concerts are held. Up and coming musicians include: Jamal, Aziz, Azion, Bebecool, and Juliana.
For those who really love reading and writing, students get the latest novels in stock which keep them occupied at most times. Popular novels and plays are Pride and Prejudice, The Lion and the Jewel, and Romeo and Juliet.
Movies are also interesting for most students. Some of the movies they love watching include action movies, high school movies, and cartoons.
Saluwa Abdulgan
Culture
by Shirat Nabukenya
Uganda has a culture of good interpersonal relationships between families, children and kingdoms. Students are encouraged to be respectful outside and inside their home. Self-awareness, self-esteem, determination, self-confidence, self-respect and volunteerism are very important to Uganda.
In Africa we have many different tribes. Some of the tribes we have in Africa are Baganda, Banyoro, Banyankore, Basoga and Bateso. They all live in different areas of the country.
We have different types of foods. Matooke is very common in most tribes. Matooke is green bananas. This is mostly liked by the Baganda and Bangankore tribes. We also have chawada, a corn dish which is mainly eaten by the Acholis, one of the tribes found in the north of Uganda. Gnuts are eaten by the Basoga tribe. They plant gnuts in the soil, harvest them, then store them for food. Gnuts can be roasted to eat as a snack or pounded to eat as a soup. They taste delicious on top of Matooke.
Well, culture has a done a great job in Africa like teaching the children good morals, how to dress, and how to respect their elders. And we have many delicious types of food. Maybe you can try them one day.
Shirat Nabukenya
Politics
by Kimbowa Julius
NOTE: This was written before President Museveni won the election.
Many people say that politics is a dirty game. The fact is politics is what people make it to be. In Uganda today, many people take politics to be a business, forgetting that it should be the act and art of serving others. People join politics for different reasons. Some become politicians for personal material gain, others to gain respect. Some people have a call to serve others.
“Service beyond self” is what all leaders should look at if interested in liberating politics from being a dirty game. Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, is an example of a good ruler. He ruled his country for one term and then left others to take over. He forgave the whites who imprisoned him for 27 years.
Most of the countries in Africa are politically unstable. Many of the leaders are power-hungry. Most of the leaders are not willing to stay in office for just one term, saying that there are “unaccomplished goals.” Uganda is one African country that is trying hard to be politically stable even though the challenges are many. Political democracy: is it real or unreal in Uganda? This is left in the hands of those who love and watch over her to answer.
Uganda has had many presidents from 1962 to date. And she has many political clubs. The first political club was The Democratic Party (DP) formed by Ben Kiwanuka, but it failed to actively perform its duties and was taken over by the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) that led Uganda to Independence on 9th/October/1962.
King Mutesa II was the first president of Uganda. Obote took over and ruled for twelve years until the country was taken over by Iddi Amin in 1971. Obote came back to power in 1980 and was taken over by Yusuf Lule who ruled for two months. Godfrey Binaisa took over for eleven months and was defeated by Paul Muwanga Ssemogerere who ruled for 101 days. Titi Okello took over in 1985 and was taken over by the current president His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on January 29th 1986.
Museveni has spent 26 years in power and is contesting for a fourth term. (Uganda’s presidential term lasts for five years. Initially there was a term limit of two terms but the ruling party changed this set up.) We shall have elections in February, 2011. There are seven participants and parties involved in this struggle to win the presidential chair.
The most popular political parties in Uganda are the ruling party, National Resistance Movement (NRM) headed by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni; Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) headed by Dr. Kizza Besigye, who is the main opponent of the ruling party. There is a stiff competition between the NRM and FDC. FDC has been the most challenging party to NRM, the ruling party but the NRM has been standing for the last three terms and always won. Then there is the Democratic Party (DP) headed by Nobert Mao; and Uganda People’s Congress headed by Otunu, who has been working for the United Nations for quite a long time.
There was a need for the opponent political parties to unite so there can be a change in government. This was hardly supported by some of the party leaders who feel like eagles and yet they have less say. However, some parties agreed to unite and they formed the Inter Party Coalition (IPC) again headed by Dr: Kizza Besigye who has been the major competitor of the ruling party. Most of the other parties did not take this seriously.
Let us watch out for the elections.
