A Vice President’s Dilemma

Uganda’s  Vice President Visits Canada

 

There has been some discussion about the trip that the Vice President of Uganda has made to Canada to try to lure former Ugandan Asians back to the country from where they were expelled.  They were the engine of commerce and investors in economic development of Uganda. It is said that the GDP of the country fell by 40% when the Asians finally vacated their key positions in the economy.

What was it about the Asian community that made them so special?  Can the Ugandan authorities not replace them with other very successful operators of trade and commerce such as the Lebanese, the Chinese or even the Nigerians who now buy their stock in Hong Kong and sell the items in Zambia?

There are five elements of interest in relation to the emergence and consolidation of the Asians’ grip of the East and Central African economies. The Asians became the more favoured and notable producers of wealth in the East and Central African countries because their main “rivals”, the multinational corporations (the MNCs) were detested by many African governments. Large MNCs like the British banks and producers of goods that became household names- soaps, washing powders, paracetamol (provided by companies such as Reckitt and Coleman) wanted to externalise their profits to please their British shareholders. They were also mostly the manufacturers who expected more added value than the lower value adding Asian traders but who made up for this through their numbers.

The Asians also wanted to root themselves in the countries of their adoption, and consequently their presence was probably more valued. They created the highly costly distribution chains, taking goods from the main cities to the ‘charo’. The Dalgetys and Motor Marts had no such interest; they were mega-traders who wanted to move large amounts of money out of Africa.

The Asians were also investing more, in the main, in baseline infrastructure – low cost local shops, schools, clinics, housing for the lower paid whereas the MNCs, driven by the quest for larger profits were investing in 5 Star hotels or similar ventures.

Some of the greatest examples of diversified investment also came  from the Asians, who were good at spotting niches – fishnets, plastics, furniture which met critical local needs.

Over a period of time, African entrepreneurs have taken over the low cost import substitution industries (toothpaste, matches, writing pens, notebooks) where as the Asians have started to move into high cost investment – medicines, telecoms, banks, computers.

So why does the Vice President of Uganda want the Asians to go back to Uganda?  Idi Amin had removed the low cost baseline commerce that the Asians provided.  There is another major factor at play here and I have just begun to see the impact of this on the UK economy- the provision of working capital by the commercial bank has dried up after the banking crash. Many small companies are starved of working capital.

In East Africa, the loans that ‘lubricated’ Asian commerce and trade were also guaranteed by the Asian mega-trader and not always by the commercial banks. The Asians had access to private sources of commercial lending or trade subsidies- many an Asian importer or manufacturer was willing to give credit to their own people; sometimes families and relations who had been set up to share the risks and rewards by the older patriarchs of Asian commerce.

I have seen the impact of this form of intra-Asian economic specialisation in the building construction industry, which was dominated by the Sikhs. The more successful owners of Sikh building firms were also informal money-lenders. They provided trade guarantees and offered working capital to the subsidiary companies in the supply chain, thereby tightening their grip over their dependency.  It suited the rich Sikh building contractor to fund the baseline services and suppliers – the Sikh plumbers, electricians, painters in return for guarantees relating to quality of services but also incrementally rising loyalty. In the same way the Gujarati traders at the top of the pyramid were prepared to fund the dukawalla who was willing to work in the charo. By providing trade credit, i.e. goods on 60 days credit, the top Gujarati trader was a) expanding his own trading influence, b) taking lower levels of risk by funding trusted borrowers and c) ensuring loyalty of the trader in the charo, who would not normally switch suppliers. The Ismaili community also had internally sponsored ‘pseudo’ banking practices. The Ismaili ethic of sustaining the whole community was partly funded by the internal but informal money sources.

The intricate financing and co-financing habits of the Mafia come to mind, except that the Asians were not at all ruthless. This is not to say that they did not make their fellow traders suffer; there was anecdotal evidence of traders and suppliers being pushed to the edge where the ‘patriarch’ of the business line was occasionally offended. There was a further factor at work here. Where business was funded through caste-based “clans”, there was also intermarriage. The sponsor of your working capital would not fund your business if your son was not prepared to marry his obese and ugly daughter. Let us leave it at that….

Returning to the Uganda Vice President’s visit to Uganda to woo the Asians, it seems that the Asian presence in Uganda had been secured by living in the country for over a century, by accepting a subservient role in commerce and business compared to the British multinationals that eventually bore the brunt of Ugandan President Milton Obote’s and Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda’s “watershed speeches” when they nationalised British multinationals and in the case of the latter also drove them into the ground by failing to run them profitably. The only stable element in the commerce of these countries was the Asians; they were too small to be nationalised and too intricately connected to allow African governments to dismantle them…  Only Idi Amin had the brutal force to evict them lock-stock and barrel.

However, it is not just a case of replacing one group of departing Asians with another group of incoming Asian peoples. What will be missing is the cultural cement which held Asian trade and commerce together but more importantly the delicate interdependencies and the informal funding mechanisms which created access to low cost finance and also guarantees for access to local markets at low cost.

The New Migrants – Lives of the Asian Elderly

The Not-too-good side of Wahindi in Migration

The New York Times provides interesting accounts of the lives of elderly Asian and other migrants following the change of legislation which allows the elderly to join their sons and daughters who have made new lives in the US normally based on professional achievement or through success in business. Please see:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/us/31elder.html?pagewanted=1&hp

It should be pointed out that all the cases presented by the New York Times are not the typical subject of this blog- the East African Asian. But the stories also reflect how the Wahindi Mzee are going through difficult times in many cases. For the uninitiated, the ‘Mzee’ is an elderly person and the word also conveys a  form of respect in the way elderly persons are addressed in the Kenyan culture.

The temptation of the elderly to join their sons and daughters does not always bring peace and happiness for all in the family and also in the community.  The elderly spend their time in the streets for a combination of reasons, all a consequence of accepting an invitation to uproot themselves from their homes in India and elsewhere  to live a better life in Fremont, Southall or Toronto, to

• Live in with the sons and their families especially where daughters-in-law will agree or where the son is the dominant partner.
• Live in own accommodation provided by the sons (and daughters in many cases) and planned for in advance of their arrival- the best option- and still visit their grown up children and have the best of both worlds.
• Live in rented accommodation or at the bottom rungs of society in isolation, even in poverty. When the families fall apart, the culture of the extended family takes a hard hit and the older people suffer in the fallout.
• Live in own accommodation in the inner city areas. They may be enjoying the fruits of their retirement and may be enjoying their pension just as many other old-age pensioners. Why should they not venture into the city, they say?

 

In a few cases, the migrant elderly are on the street as a result of misfortune, excessive alcohol abuse and inability to go to the Sikh and Hindu Temples where active alcoholics may even be barred.

 

The comments that I make here focus on the Sikh elderly mainly because their arrivals into these cities are well known and almost predictable in numbers. The fact that the elderly are able to migrate is not entirely due to changes in legislation; the strong joint-family cultures can provide an extremely useful cushion for both the elderly and their sons and daughters where the arrangements work well. The pull of family values must still count otherwise it is difficult to see why some elderly people will give comfortable and secure lives in the home country to live in isolation in the US, Canada or UK.

 

What also merits discussion is the academic analysis of migration, the politics of decisions made by Western governments and the economics of the decision.

 

• The costs of assimilating elderly migrants must be lower than the cost of losing competent professionals whose parents and relations the elderly people generally tend to be. There is no evidence of such an analysis that I have seen and besides, should cost be the sole criterion for decision making in relation to the migration of the elderly? Do policy makers in immigration policy carry out a cost-benefit analysis of the decision to accept elderly migrants? Do they indeed and should they really?

 

• It also depends at what age the elderly first arrive in the new countries of choice. It is most likely that the majority will have worked in the labour force, paid their taxes and made a contribution to their pensions. They may also have their own homes, savings and in some cases, even a motorcar.  

 

The problem is not of economics but sociology. It would appear that the elderly migrants who tend to resort to spending their leisure time in the street could come from a combination of backgrounds; they could be relatively new arrivals, they could have fallen out with their sons and daughters or they may prefer to be on their own. But there is also the distinct possibility that a very few of them could be brave and adventurous and might have deviated from the trodden paths of other elderly migrants to go have a look at the ‘big city’, to learn how it works and see the sights for themselves.

 

However, the three New York Times articles tend to highlight the lives of the elderly who are not in the street by choice. These people are unhappy and reflect a sad and unplanned turning point in their lives. In that respect Fremont, Southall and Toronto have sadly a lot in common as far as the quality of the lives of the elderly migrants are concerned.

 

But it is not doom and gloom in all cases. In my next posting I look at some humorous aspects of extended family in the West. There is another dimension – the word ‘Mzee’ has been used in the above introduction.  Its true meanings are reflected the Kenyan culture and its attitudes towards the elderly. There are also many other interesting approaches to how the African in general treats their elderly in traditional and modern societies. This will be covered in a future post but any advanced thoughts are welcome, especially from East Africans. I am interested in how forms of address reflect cultural recognition of the elderly, how the emerging African societies in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are coping with strains and stresses of changing times in Africa and also the impact of urbanisation on traditional values.

Wilbur’s Reincarnation?…A new role for Wilbur in British public life

A True Story

 

This, as I say above, is a true story reported in today’s Sunday Times of 9th August 2009.

 

Wilbur the cat was sniffing around in its owner’s garden and enjoying the warm weather. During this time of year, the grass grows very fast and if you do not cut it regularly, it can become even harder to control, not to mention that it provides safe havens for visiting animals, pests and vermin.

 

Getting back to Wilbur, its sniffing and enjoyment of the smells of the new grass did not last long. The neighbour’s 13 ft python (Named here as ‘Taboo’) had escaped but the neighbour had not realised this.  Wilbur must have come face to face with Taboo and in one swoop at lightning speed, Taboo must have struck Wilbur and taken care of his feeding requirements for a few days. It appears that a python can take as many as two weeks to digest large animals… and so no trips to Sainsburys. But how do they know that Wilbur has been eaten by the snake?  Well, Wilbur’s remains were found in the snake and ‘x-rays’ have showed the metal tag that Wilbur has been wearing. The tag was a good idea..Wilbur never ran away from home but the tag helped its owners to identify the snake in its death.

 

Wilbur’s owners are reported to be devastated and feel very strongly that the neighbours’ python must be put away as well. The only problem is that pythons are not covered in the UK’s Dangerous Animals Act. They are not animals; therefore they cannot be classified as dangerous. There is no need even to build prisons for snakes. Taboo is safe and well for the moment. Wilbur’s owners have started a campaign to have snakes included in the Dangerous Animals Act so that Taboo’s relatives can be apprehended in every corner of the UK. The sleek, slimy, slithering Taboo has caused a problem for its entire community. Wilbur’s owners are also reported as saying that its death should not be in vain. Wilbur has become a campaigner from his cocoon inside the snake! Taboo goes around with utmost impunity as there are no indications that it was killed when it was found – the people who may have tried to kill it would have fallen foul of the law.

 

I am reminded of the many dogs that the Wahindi had in East Africa and how they were always at the mercy of Taboo’s African ancestors. The Asians did not seem to like cats as much as the English do and I have never fully understood the reason. Was it a cultural difference? Are cats considered to be evil and dirty? Did the Asians find that they could not cope with the cat’s dietary requirements? One thing I do know that Gujaratis had vegetarian dogs. They ate daal, bhat, vegetables with relish. I am not sure if they were fed with yogurt or ladoos because I have never heard of a dog with a sweet tooth. And the Sikhs fed their dogs with meat and left over bones in plenty. No research was carried out to show whether diet had a special effect on the dogs’ ultimate purpose – to provide security for its owners. Very few dogs enjoyed the comforts of the sofa in the owner’s house and almost all dogs belonging to the Wahindi slept outside and offered splendid service throughout their lives. Their favourite areas for sleeping was under the owner’s car…what fun to sleep under a sleek, brand new Mercedes? 

 

Our dogs were looked after by the house worker… that task was in his job description right from the start. The owners provided the essential cleaning agents and powders to keep the dogs clean and free from fleas and smells. It is not known which dogs were prone to more illness – the vegetarians or meat eaters. One would expect that the dog as a carnivore must have missed their true diet when they were brought up as pets in vegetarian households. Our dog was known as Jimmy and there so many stories to tell. Jimmy came to our household as a puppy and lived till the age of 13; in the UK Jimmy would have had a bus pass and could have claimed a pension if we had been skilled enough to register it as a human being. All I can say here is that the UK benefits system has been exploited by many people of all backgrounds…it would be very sad if our Jimmy was to spend some time in prison. Thankfully, Jimmy spared us the trouble; he died in 1971 and who knows? Jimmy might have anticipated the expulsion……

 

Talking about Jimmy, there are many stories to tell. He did a perfect job as a local guard dog and by feeding him with ghee and meat, we turned Jimmy into a local legend. Many Africans said that to hear Jimmy’s loud bark was enough to stop people passing by the roadside where Jimmy could see them from the gap under the door of the sakati, or yard. Did you have a Jimmy? I think the naming of the dog also conveyed a story and created the cultural framework between the dog and its owners. I am yet to figure out why many Asians spoke to their dogs in English, as we certainly did. Perhaps if Jimmy had been named Ranjit or Kaku would we have spoken to him in Punjabi? I am aware that one family of Gujarati dog owners had named their dog as ‘Moti’. But I am not aware if Moti was spoken to in Gujarati. There is certainly no information to confirm or deny that Moti enjoyed the poetry of Kavi Kalidas. By the way, if you happen to get your hands on a musical rendering of Shakuntala, one of Kalidas’s epics, do let me know. You wont, because I think I have the rare copy of the dance-drama which was performed at the Bhavan Centre nearly 20 years ago.

 

Let me hear your stories about dogs. The Chinese say that the best way to judge the character of a person is to ask him to describe his best friend or his worst enemy. Their comments can be so revealing. Let us beat the Chinese; they have no monopoly of wisdom. How people describe their dogs in this blog will emerge as a new science…and very soon we will attract competition. You see, copycats can be ruthless.

 

In the meantime spare a thought about Wilbur. If you are a lawyer, please send your suggestions which can be passed on to Wilbur’s owners on how they may proceed to work non-violently to change the law. In the meantime, it is clear that Taboo the python certainly had no respect for Gandhi ji.

Leadership at the time of need -2

I am going back to my views on Asian leadership at the time of expulsion. Let’s revisit the second question which was:

• Did the Asian leaders fulfill the implied obligations that the departing Asian community had expected?

On reflection, why was there an ‘implied’ need or obligation? Leaders are appointed as leaders because they are expected to lead. Are they? Really? It really depended on the interpretation of their role by the leaders themselves. In the absence of a politically affiliated framework, Asian leaders in East Africa saw themselves as religious or faith leaders most of the time when they were elected in faith- based organisations. It was also a role which many performed extremely well – making arrangements for regular events according to the cultural calendar, such As Diwali, Gurpurb, Eid and New Year celebrations. Arrangements for marriages, deaths and other functions connected to the rites of passage were also well managed considering that many volunteers were involved. Even the cleaning of the food halls and the communal kitchens was carried out by volunteers – in most cases the paid African workers were not particularly welcome in the communal kitchens, where ‘kosher’ food was prepared under vigilance. This policy reflected more the puritanical outlooks of the management and the members of the organisation.

Were the Asians fully aware of the implications of African independence on their status as non-citizens? It would seem that they understood the meaning of independence more in relation to concerns for work permits, jobs and trading licenses than in the context of self-determination of a people who were taking control of their own destiny. Besides, independence was not altogether a new experience! One did not need to be reminded that it was India that had first attained independence! A few farsighted leaders arranged the odd talk or advisory session during the period immediately before independence of Uganda. One that I went to attend dealt with ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ after the country became independent.  There was no mention to the people they would do well to have valid travel documents for the whole family. It must be granted that if the briefing process was not carefully managed, the leaders could be exposed to risk and accused of creating a panic during the run up to independence.

However, when the Asian expulsion was announced, there was no advice given to people who had been caught unprepared. Most of the leaders did not organise meetings to discuss the situation with the communities that they were leading. There was very little mention of support that could be arranged or really, needed to be arranged to help the departing families prepare themselves for the ordeals ahead of them. It seems that the leaders either failed to rise to the challenge or did not recognise that they had a responsibility. This is the reason for describing their leadership role as real and ‘implied’ roles.

One of our friends, Ranjit (not his real name) was caught in a situation where his British passport had been replaced by his newly acquired Ugandan Citizenship. He did not wish to stay in Uganda. The best option for him was to queue outside the British High Commission and to seek support for his application to go to the UK, a nationality which he had only recently given up. It had become known that the average waiting time before one could see an officer in the British High Commission (BHC) was twenty four hours. So about six of us went to offer moral support and also to queue for Ranjit…and give him breaks.  We arrived at the BHC at around 9 am hoping for the best. A long queue had already formed and people who were joining it the back could not even see the BHC building. The queue was moving at snail’s pace but people were talking, comparing their passport ‘situations’ and reasons for being in the queue, their family needs and how they were facing immense challenges. There was some humour from time to time and also commotion when the queue became unruly. The policemen would walk over to the queue and ordered the people to sort themselves out. The queue itself was very vigilant; making sure that no one was jumping the queue by performing a number of ingenious tricks backed by spurious explanations.

 

It was early evening and some of us had left our homes 12 hours earlier. There was a constant number of people coming to the queue and speaking to the person in front or behind. Almost all of these people were family members or friends who making sure that their relative was safe and comfortable. Then it was noticed that a particular man who was carrying a large bag with a strap over his shoulder was receiving quite a lot of visitors and all of them were very polite and formal towards him. Every conversation ended with      “So you’ve got everything, all the documents and everything will fine, Okay? Okay, yes? Yes.”And the man would reply with confidence that they would get their entry visas into the UK by noon the next day. He even said to some people that he had already spoken to a Mrs. K at the High Commission and ‘Kai Wandho nathi’ i.e. there was nothing to worry about. Then, a man came to check that the person in front of me was really the person who had his case to present to the High Commission. I asked him how many entry visa cases he was going to present to the BHC officers when he reached the desk. He ignored my question. “How many passports are you carrying?” I asked with some sternness which even surprised me. He replied “Not too many, don’t worry”. “How many passports are you carrying?” I asked loudly. He replied the number was 25 but most were for families with similar problems. I said that how I wished that his services were widely available and asked him how much did he charge per case? Maybe Ranjit, my friend should have asked for his help? He replied that he charged up to 1000 Ugandan shillings or more depending on the case, per passport. I suddenly told him very confidently that I estimated that he had 200 passports in his bag; which he contested with equal vigour. Then he said it was only 50 passports and it dawned on me that my friend Ranjit’s case would not even be heard as we would run of out of time. I asked him how many passports he was carrying for his own family. He replied, with considerable irritation that he was just acting for other people. I then told the person behind me that the man probably had 200 passports in his bag. The word started to spread and then someone shouted “Get rid of the Passport Agent, get rid of him”.

 

The policemen on guard suddenly realised that they had a worthwhile task to deal with and so they walked up to him, with me, aged 22, looking into his bag. “He is an agent and making money out of the needs of desperate people,” I spoke with great confidence, drawing on my investigations and feeling morally very superior but almost addressing the police. The policemen decided to deal with the easy issues first and said “Misita Seengh, you keepi quiet or I willi senda you home.” That was it. He had succeeded in silencing me with those few words. Then another man in the parallel queue said to the policeman,” Bwana, he is an agent and he is not here for his own family. He is making money…look at him, the evil bastard.” The policemen turned to him and said,” You! You willi not sweayar in thisi q, I am in chargi”. That brought the other man to silence. The policemen and the ‘agent’ were then involved in a conversation for quite some time. And then he turned around and summoned the Military Police van “He is an agent, take him away”. A loud cheer and hundreds of claps were followed by a sudden silence.

 

What were they going to do with him? It was too late. My intervention was probably going to lead the agent to prison and even death, I thought with increasing remorse. I spoke to the man in the parallel queue and he replied “Don’t worry, Sardarji, he will pay a few hundred bob and will be back in this queue tomorrow.” That sounded very reassuring. By this time it was dawn and in a few hours our friend Ranjit would be back from home and make a case for his entry into the UK. I moved out of the queue and someone else took my place to await Ranjit’s arrival. At exactly 9.36 am, Ranjit was called into the British High Commission by someone who said that she was Mrs. K. By 9.43am, Ranjit was out of the building. His case for an entry into the UK had been rejected. We had queued for over 24 hours and it took 7 minutes to dismiss his application.

How many hundreds or even thousands of people had a problem similar to Ranjit? Did the Asian leaders have a role if not a duty to help the very people who had donated small amounts of money to build the institutions that had given the leaders the power to lead?  Here are the scenarios that a proactive and problem solving leadership might have considered:

1. Start negotiations with the British High Commission to try to agree some issues in principle. They could have tried to negotiate a simpler method for processing documents.
2. Appoint a few lawyers with experience of immigration law to work urgently with families needing support. Once their documents had been validated, the lawyers could have been supported to work outside the queuing system since the principle of  ‘first-come first served’ did not apply.
3. Seek collective guidance from the embassies of other countries to help arrange safe passage of Asian families to their countries.

 It is not known whether any such attempts were made by Sikh, Hindu and Gujarati community leaders. The Ismaili community stole the honours; they were well represented, supported and also funded by the community leaders and The Aga Khan, their spiritual leader. Having said this, it became known later that a few poor Sikh families were offered confidential help to buy air travel tickets.

It remains to be judged by posterity whether Asian leadership had failed to rise to the challenge of supporting their communities immediately after the expulsion. It is difficult to be conclusive at this stage because more reliable information and evidence is needed. However, it is unlikely that accurate information will be available for very much longer. The majority of the older leaders are no longer alive. In the absence of records, an issue to return to at another time, it is almost certain that Asian community leaders failed to lead conclusively and comprehensively. Their communities were on their own, with little or no support.

 

 

A few responses- but not as you would like them!

 

My post on ‘Nyama Choma’ was critical of lifestyles of the wahindis in Kenya who seem to be caught up in a life of ‘aish-o-ishrat’ or indulgence.  Now, it was not a criticism of young Sikhs only. But they do tend to have the ‘resources’ to make the daily evening barbeque a possibility. Here are the ingredients. Start by developing an interest in spicy food and alcohol. Add the bucketful of friendships and fellowships they have forged over a lifetime. Mix the two generously with good humour and freedom to speak their minds when the women are not within earshot. Bring the party to a boil everyday and you have the ultimate matata of your choice. The access to a workshop or a personally owned building (because many Sikhs run building and technical trades) creates the right environment to serve the nyama choma without incurring the wrath of the wife or neighbours and also make the task of cleaning up much easier as the workshop staff look after those boring details.

Are young Sikhs more hedonistic than the Gujarati or Muslim youngsters? I am afraid I do not have answers or the evidence to be able to sustain that assertion or to deny it. Occupational choice or decisions to work in certain types of business are probably no longer dictated by family histories or inheritance. In the past, the most of the young Sikh entrepreneurs ran building related contracting firms which were started by their fathers. The new generation brought more insights and confidence to the business; they were more organised and in some cases better qualified than their fathers. Business was invariably male dominated unless the enterprise belonged to Gujarati or Ismaili families where women could also be involved.  

The next point which attracted significant comment was that the highly hedonistic lifestyles, with their incumbent challenges to health and welfare are no longer the preserve of the Sikhs. This impression was not intended. Yes, non-Sikh men, largely Gujarati and Hindu Panjabi, may also be indulging in similar spicy barbeques and other pursuits and successfully harming themselves on a daily basis. Isn’t that great? No. Why? Because sharing a habit of persistent substance abuse with other communities does not make it right.  Then why does the young Asian go through the celebratory ritual of nyama choma or other forms of male dominated hedonism on a daily basis, as I have seen and reported recently? The answer lies in culture and sociology to a great extent.

One can only ask challenging questions. The answers tend to vary. There is no ‘one solution fits all’ cases.  Some of the men are possibly very lonely and do not have close friendships with their spouses. Arranged marriages and differences in religious practice may have impact on relationships. Other men may be bored by the discipline and conformity expected at home. Most wives will not support large number of friends of their husbands to ‘storm’ the house regularly and make demands for large quantities of food. The presence of noisy men may also send wrong signals to children. So the best solution is to have the ‘time of their lives’ as some see it by hiding in the firm or workshop. Finally, where the wife runs a strictly vegetarian and ‘kosher’ household and where ‘meat’ is not allowed to be consumed in the family home, the men may be ‘driven’ to find other venues.  Let us also not forget that where there are ‘grown up’ daughters in the home, the intrusion of strange men cannot be a source of comfort to a protective housewife. All these explanations may be relevant but other factors may also prevail.

It’s the end result; the impact on family life and health of the nyama choma men that needs to be addressed. As good old Mukesh, the popular Bollywood playback singer used to say, “Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai; sabh ko mera salaam”. This was translated in the original context as ‘I salute the Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian as equals.’  

 

 

‘Nyama Choma’ – Happy Days

There are real stories, based on reported facts which confirm unexpected outcomes from a life of leisure. Not really, the majority of Asians still work hard and earn their day’s worth. The focus of this ‘story’ is more on Nairobi but also centres mainly on the Sikh community according to reliable reports.

Young Sikhs, of which I used to be one, tend to love their nyama choma of barbequed meat with lots of ‘daru’ or drink, mainly alcohol to help wash down the food.  Poor men; how could they be forcibly stuck with such hardship?  Not really. Which comes first; the drink or the drumstick?  Ahem. If you answer this one well, I will buy you … er.. a drink. And yes, another myth has also been shattered. There used to be a time when the Singha Singha used to rejoice the fact the Gujaratis were ‘weaklings’ who were too loyal to their religious beliefs and did not how to get a life. They were the ‘choroko’ eaters who calmly ate their daal (lentils) and drank their ‘phanta’.  Yes, the Sikhs knew how to enjoy life. Reports indicate that the Gujaratis started eating and drinking big time in the 80s. They discarded their life of ‘grass eating’ and went for the drumstick and in the process became ‘real’ men. Lo and behold, Gujarati women also enjoy the same poisons with equal measure. Who can complain about lack of equality?

The concerns reflect a life of indulgence, for many young men and others wanting to pass as ‘young’, there is a great life of enjoyment which ‘you can never get in the UK, you know’. They can have their barbeques every day of the week. You work hard in the office, factory, construction firm or technical services firm during the day, put in a huge amount of work and when the time comes to go home, the barbeque beckons. The wife and children who may be waiting at home can wait a little longer “A couple of quick drinks and a bite of chicken thigh and I will be home’. The wife can be easily pacified. Just as these thoughts begin to crystallise, the car automatically drives the young man to the garage or workshop where the nyama choma usually takes place. However, today it could be a sports club or a community space and since all communities enjoy the same food and drink, the Sikhs have more choice.

It goes without saying that everyone has their own ‘safe’ limits and ‘you cannot generalise, bhaji (big brother’, says my informant. And so the nyama choma seems to take over their life and regular drinking has started to impact on their health. There are reports of escalating liver disease, alcoholism, shaky hands, memory loss, impotence and diabetes, all depending on the margin by which the Sikh has beaten the Gujarati or how the latter can now proudly say that they can out-drink the Singha Singha. No one can dominate their lives anymore but the silent dominance of drink and indulgence appears to be breaking up families…. with occasional reports of wife beating. You also see the odd man with a black eye, where the wife has the power to retaliate or where she has been drinking with her own girlfriends during the afternoon.

Humour aside, this is a serious situation. Young men and women of all backgrounds need to curb their daily drinking in the workshop and the eating spicy barbequed food. The stomach that they are harming may be their own.  People also suggest that the life of indulgence is affecting the men’s motivation to work and others are no longer interested in emigrating. ‘You cannot have such a great life in the UK, you know’.

A Rafiki Returns to Kampala

Travel Notes- January 2008

There will be several short ‘Travel Notes’ from me but here is the first. I went to Uganda after 36 years but not in the type of situation that I had wanted- I had gone for a funeral. However, I managed to see a bit of town and country in between prayers and receiving people at the funeral.

The population has trebled; now at 30 million and suggesting the struggle for survival is intense, with failing services, intense traffic congestion on the roads… but five new 5 Star hotels for the tourists and the business and conference circuit, but located in a busy urban scrawl that seems to have been missed the attention, possibly, by the city council. There are several new buildings in Kampala, some noticeably bigger and smarter than a vast number of smaller ones that have sprung up in the city and its surroundings. Does this reflect progress and prosperity? All that investment must suggest that there is a growing market. The Ugandan taxi driver, a Baganda who took us around was quite proud of the achievements. He was driving a neat and clean taxi, over 20-year-old Japanese Toyota, which was working very well.

I spoke to around 10-15 Ugandans during my stay. Only two, both Makerere academics were around my age but a little younger. The majority of Ugandans are very young. A ‘muzungu’ friend said that over 95% of Ugandans were under the age of 15. Imagine the demand for goods and services in a country where the population is skewed towards the very young. The young were everywhere, offering to clean your shoes, carrying your shopping, clean your car windscreen or selling anything that catches your fancy – I was offered the type of goods that are all very normal in developing countries.  The area of central Kampala was a treat and very nostalgic. But you only had drive out of any of the exits, and you saw uncontrolled growth – a few shanties, overcrowding, cars and trucks parked precariously, hundreds of minibuses ( Japanese, of course) doing a brisk trade – all full of passengers at all times. Owing to acute congestion, normal buses seem to have been taken out. There was only set of traffic lights (donated the Japanese, I was told) that was visible and working. All other traffic lights seemed to have been removed! There were no police with crisp and brilliant white armbands to guide the traffic…. it was mayhem. However, the minibuses with crazy and aggressive young drivers whiz their passengers around with alarming efficiency… you stay out of their way or otherwise suffer scratches on your vehicle. There was no traffic police or enforcement for bad parking. If you parked badly, only you suffer – the bumps and scratches on your vehicle was the penalty or the fine…The predominance of things Japanese was highly visible. But many cars, motorcycles and scooters, were in good condition suggesting recent importation. They must have the money to pay for them. The taxi driver said that loan capital was abundant and terms of payment, while strict, were affordable. However, there were serious penalties for default. Taxi drivers have been known to lose their homes, which were pledged as collateral. Second-hand prices were very high — a ten-year-old high mileage large car could fetch £4,000 to £5,000 i.e. five times the UK price.Makerere University has at least 7 new faculties and many new departmental buildings, but roads are again, in atrocious condition, with raw human waste from one sewer, flowing down and covering one of the roads. Maybe it was just a bad day but the sewer did time itself very well to greet me on my visit. My old student hall of residence does not appear to be maintained, at least externally and the old Northcote and New Halls were identified by yellowish-grey-streaky colour- having not been painted for ages. Northcote is now Nsibirwa and New Hall looks like an old warehouse.  So is Makerere going downhill? Far from it, but there are new “universities” including private ones which have offered immense competition. Makerere is reported by lay observers as expensive but no one referred to it as low on standards. Only, the private universities seem to have multiplied suggesting there could be a problem with qualifying criteria to register new universities. The old Asian rafikis could start one at any time. I have been thinking of a plan to help them raise money.

The Ramgharia Sikh Primary School was allegedly ‘ vandalised’ after being out of use for over a year- the lease expired and the surroundings have deteriorated so much that a school is no more viable on that site. However, any child is likely to throw in a brick if one or two windows are already broken.  The Khoja Shia Ithnasheri School has been demolished to make way for commercial development. Norman Cinema is now a church and Odeon has been converted into an ice cream factory. The Aga Khan School is running, as is the new Aga Khan University, a testimony to the Aga Khan’s continuing commitment to the country. Arya Girls has survived, Norman Godinho Primary is a dusty yellow  building but still running. It was sad to see my primary school, the Sikh school, in such a sorry state. We used to have a stunning green field opposite the school for sports – it now hosts hundreds of shabby and densely packed market stalls…all very busy. Old Kampala Sec School is still running and at first glance, in very good order. I did not go to Kololo, it was too much out of the way and time was  at a premium.

The traffic congestion in Kampala has led to every road out of the city being used to bypass the congested centre, leading to gridlock at most key points. There are no reliable traffic lights except for a major junction on Kampala-Jinja Road, a traffic-monitoring complex that has been donated by the Japanese as I have stated earlier. In the UK we refer to the illicit use of side roads to bypass central traffic as “rat runs”. Kampala could offer many lessons to rat runners in the UK and USA/Canada. This means that all side roads are densely clogged, with a 10-hour gridlock almost every day. On one day, a journey from Norman Cinema to the Sikh Temple, along the steeply sloping road, down the valley and uphill to the temple took 40 minutes.

Life goes on. Almost perfectly, it appears. People are said to be happy and enterprising. Many hundred small traders and street vendors prefer trading to manual jobs. 

The current worry is about a vast refugee influx from neighbouring Kenya; it seems to have started. That worried me a lot. Add to this the concerns over breaks in the running of the trains to Mombassa – how is a landlocked country like Uganda going to cope with the disruption of its key transport arteries?I did not see a single beggar, no one had rags on their bodies… and no one (compared to New Delhi) harassed you persistently for a ‘gift’ which stands for the sale of a useless item. There was a sense of dignity even amongst the street vendors. They made a discrete approach, offered you’re their wares and left you alone if one was not interested.

The best thing I witnessed was a remarkable degree of Press freedom. One of English dailies was criticising President Museveni’s credentials for acting as a peacemaker in neighbouring Kenya – how could he have credibility, the paper seemed to be saying, when he has failed to manage tribalism at home? Museveni had warned Ugandans to stay away from Kenya on one day. Two days later Ugandan trucks and buses were burnt in Kenya. Two drivers were burnt or hacked to death. When I had read the president’s warning, I was rather alarmed but obviously he knew much more about the risks than I did!

It is not up to me to comment on how they run their country. Population growth has caused huge demand on resources. The youthfulness of the population meant that out of 10or 15 or so Ugandans that I spoke to, none had been around at the time of the Asian expulsion. Critics point to high level of spending on defence and growing corruption. I wanted to take a picture of my old hall of residence but a security guard ‘officially’ demanded Shs 500/- (about 18 UK pence) as the ‘fees’ for taking pictures. Just look! How much money are they losing by setting such a low chargeable rate for taking pictures! I am joking- the money went straight into his pocket. Don’t even think about proof of payment.

When I told the people that I was returning after 35 years and was a former ‘expellee’ they thanked me for going back and all said,” Welcome Back”. Maybe I was too quick to draw conclusions but no one made me feel unwelcome or showed any signs of a racist streak. Uganda has changed – there is vibrancy, expectation and most importantly motivation.

More later.