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What Makes Africans Laugh? is a critique of the African's attitude towards indigenous craftsmanship, knowledge and culture, especially in the post-independence era. It is woven around the life of James Tumusiime, who has been a campaigner for African self-reliance in the cultural industry - humour, media and historiography. Although Tumusiime draws many of his examples from Uganda and Kenya, the story is familiar to most people in Africa. This book brings out the practical experiences of a civil servant, the challenges of a cartoonist in a politically sensitive environment, and the struggles to localise humour to a cynical industry. It narrates the drama in starting a media house - the New Vision, a book publishing house - Fountain Publishers, a local-language radio station ñ Radio West, and a museum - Igongo Cultural Centre, all coming amidst lukewarm political support and a sceptical audience.
Whilst much ink has been spilt on "Museveni's Uganda", far too little ink has been spilt on the life of the country's eponymous leader, which is now in its eighth, eventful decade. The little information on Museveni's life that is in the public domain comes mostly from his memoirs, in which he is, in any case, understandably much more engaged in personal justification than an objective and disinterested essay. Hence this volume. This is the first, full, political biography of Museveni. This book also presents that increasingly uncommon commodity in "Museveni's Uganda": a balanced assessment of Museveni's abilities and activities. This volume of Xavier Ogena's political biography of President...
The negative legacy of the British empire is often thought of in terms of war and economic exploitation, while the positive contribution is associated with the establishment of good governance and effective, modern institutions. In this new analysis of the end of empire in Uganda, Spencer Mawby challenges these preconceptions by explaining the many difficulties which arose when the British attempted to impose western institutional models on Ugandan society. Ranging from international institutions, including the Commonwealth, to state organisations, like the parliament and army, and to civic institutions such as trade unions, the press and the Anglican church, Mawby uncovers a wealth of new m...
First scholarly treatment of Uganda's first elected ruler; offers new insights into the religious and political history of modern Uganda.
Diversity in African Languages contains a selection of revised papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Oregon. Most chapters focus on single languages, addressing diverse aspects of their phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, information structure, or historical development. These chapters represent nine different genera: Mande, Gur, Kwa, Edoid, Bantu, Nilotic, Gumuzic, Cushitic, and Omotic. Other chapters investigate a mix of languages and families, moving from typological issues to sociolinguistic and inter-ethnic factors that affect language and accent switching. Some chapters are primarily descriptive, while others push forward the the...
Spanning various regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, the authors of this volume come together to explore the complex relationship between religion and democracy in contemporary Africa. As a result of the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, many African countries have come to the realization, however partial, that political and social change is inevitable in spite of government heavy-handedness and threats. It has also become evident that no political system that refuses to permit freedom of political expression and alternative systems of governance could continue to be sustained. It is in precisely this political climate that religious institutions have collaborated with other elements of civil society to call for political reforms, with the church often becoming the prominent voice against oppressive governments in countries such as Kenya and South Africa. It is the purpose of this book to assess how religion shapes political issues and to what extent religious forces influence the civil society. By acknowledging the role of the civil society, the essays recognize the resilience that comes out of Africa even when the sociopolitical situation seems unbearable.
This book is the first ever major effort to document and study hundreds of texts from an African (Ugandan) oral culture for children – folktales, riddles, and rhymes – and at the same time to make them available in the local Languages and to focus on their cultural and national value. The author surveys the history of collecting in Uganda and situates the texts in their broader geographical, historical, socio-cultural and educational Setting, including the early collecting efforts of heritage-minded Ugandans and European missionaries. Most of this preservational work is elusive and under-explored – so that the present book constitutes a major pioneering summary of Ugandan oral culture ...
Uganda is one of the most fascinating countries in Africa. Situated in the middle of the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa, it is home to diverse flora and fauna. Little wonder Winston Churchill famously named it “the Pearl of Africa”. Neighbored by South Sudan, DRC, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda, Uganda claims the source of the River Nile and a larger share of Victoria, Africa’s largest lake. Uganda’s capital, Kampala is famous for hosting many international conferences and summits including the 2007 Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting. Uganda is witnessing rapid development, overseen by Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Museveni who has served as president since 1986, making him the longest ...