Bitter Bananas

Uganda is the land of unpretentious matooke and breathtaking landscapes. It is the land of cash crops and Makerere University. It is also a breeding ground for Idi Amins. The people of Uganda claim to be a peace loving nation. Spectators in the West find this hard to believe. Many have this vague but nagging impression of Uganda as a land of ruthless gladiators and eight o'clock news poverty; a land with an open wound that nothing and no one will ever heal.

Ninety percent of Uganda's population of seventeen million lives in rural areas. Like many developing countries it has had a very tormented recent past. Unlike some, it seems to be heading for what could well be a relatively bright future.

Uganda tastes a bit like matooke. Matooke is the staple food among a number of tribes living in Uganda, like the influential Baganda. A bunch of bitter bananas is wrapped in banana leaves and steamed on an open fire or charcoal stove for at least two hours. The cooked matooke is then mashed while still wrapped in its banana leaves and then served warm. When it gets cold, matooke hardens and loses much of its taste. What people usually do is serve themselves only as much as they will eat and leave the rest of the matooke in the warmth of the matooke leaves.

For many in the West, even the idea of a bitter banana is strange. Bananas are sweet and to talk of a bitter banana is a contradiction in terms. There are many things in Africa in general and in Uganda in particular that a European is bound to find strange or contradictory. There are also many things about Uganda that Europeans simply don't know.

Like matooke, Uganda has an intimate relationship with agriculture. In some aspects it is a young, sometimes bitter relationship, one that is in constant need of warmth. In other aspects it is a mature relationship, one that has taken decades to come to its present harmony. Its not a relationship that one could easily cook in a few minutes, but one that demands slow, consistent steaming.

The great majority of Ugandans live in rural areas. Half of the urban population lives in the capital city of Kampala (primary stress on the last syllable). Ugandans will tell you that there are important differences between life in the villages and life in the cities. In the bigger towns and cities, facilities, from transport and communications to medical care, are scarce; facilities in the villages are practically non-existent. For many villagers, it is enough if they have food, water, shelter and perhaps soap.

The traditional happy family is one that can provide itself and its guests not only with enough food but with food in excess. It is a family that can say to itself: "we have eaten our fill, and yet more remains". Variety is not as important (or even possible) as it is in richer countries. People can eat matooke, or kwon (a cooked meal of millet and water, popular in the North), or any other staple food, for weeks on end. Many people's diet is indeed a very limited one. And yet they work long hours, husband, wife, children and all.

When peasants sell their harvest they get very little for it. But when their harvest is brought back to them as a processed, finished product, they have to pay much, much more. Often they simply cannot afford it.

A Unicef publication about Children and Women in Uganda notes that daily life is little touched by Government services and ideas. In his poem "Barricades of Paper Houses" John Ruganda hits out at the "clean clothes" and "indifference" of Government officials, at their unwillingness to understand "the bruised fortunes / of the wrinkled" and "those born by mothers of tatters".

Like many other poor countries, Uganda has its rich few. The great majority is as poor as its staple food, but as proud of itself as it is of its matooke. In 1991, the Gross Domestic Product per capita was 125, 284 Ugandan Shillings, or approximately $132. Nowadays, primary school teachers in towns face classrooms of some 80 students (or more) and earn 40,000 Shs., or $43 a month. That's when they get paid on time, which isn't very often. The average worker in Kampala today earns about 1000 Shs. a day (about 30 Maltese cents), or 30,000 Shs. a month ($32). There is not much he can do with that kind of salary. But somehow he and his family of four or five survive. Millions of hard working Ugandans know that they will never reap the material fruits of their back-breaking, well over 40 hour, week.

Despite all their misfortunes, Ugandans are a proud people. They are proud of their food, of their land, of their lakes and forests, of their work, and proud of their culture. Indeed they have a great deal to be proud of. Many Ugandans are well aware of the wealth of their country, and artistic groups like the Ndere Troupe have given people who have attended their excellent performances all over the world a taste of what lies in store for outsiders travelling to Uganda. The Ndere Troupe is made up of some thirty performers clad in beautiful tribal costumes who sing, act, dance and play music from all parts of Uganda. Their performances are a coherent, artistic knit of visual art, music, dance, and drama. If Uganda's future will be anything like their performances, Ugandans are in for a real treat.

In the land where bananas can also be bitter, and rough, four-wheel-type tracks are roads, what is impossible can also be possible. People use any means one can imagine to carry anything imaginable along the most unimaginable routes. Young children walk long distances to collect water which bears all kinds of water borne and water related diseases. Young men use heavy, overworked bicycles to carry an average of five 20 litre jerrycans full of this precious, dangerous water from its source to their, or other people's homes. Extended sacks of charcoal are loaded onto the same type of bicycles (all bicycles look the same) and pushed up and down steep hills from sunrise to sunset.

In Kampala Japanese vans are called taxis and the place where you get hit by a van is called a taxi park. The man behind the wheel who has spent a fortune on this second hand vehicle and must work the rest of his life to pay his debts and survive at the same time is called a taxi driver. The people who walk everywhere they go and don't travel very far, are those who cannot afford a taxi. Block or subsidised tickets don't seem to exist. So, for a person whose daily income is 1000 Shs., a trip from Busega, a suburb of Kampala, to the city centre costs 800 Shs..

A Welcome Comeback

Peace, which has eluded Uganda for decades, and which disappeared altogether between 1971 and 1986, has made a surprise comeback. It's a relative peace, but peace nonetheless. Uganda is perhaps the most politically and economically stable country of East Africa. Yoweri Museveni (primary accent on second syllable) and his National Resistance Movement came to power in 1986 after ousting both Milton Obote and Tito Okello. Obote had become President in 1980 for the second time in the wake of widely disputed general elections which he claimed to have won. This came after both he and Museveni had, with the help of Tanzanian troops, swept Idi Amin into exile. Military supporters of Tito Okello overthrew Obote in 1985 but were in turn ousted by the N.R.M. which had been fighting the Obote regime since 1981.

Museveni has been President of Uganda ever since he fought his way to power from the bush in 1986. In 1989, Museveni and his N.R.M. were given a five year extension of their rule in order to prepare a new constitution and prepare Uganda economically, socially and politically for a peaceful, democratic future. At present, a draft for the new constitution is being discussed by the Constituent Assembly delegates elected from all counties of Uganda on March 28 of this year. They have eight months in which to conclude their debate and give the country its new constitution.

Some delegates, however, are calling for a second five year extension of N.R.M. rule, after which the new constitution, which may introduce the multi party system, would come into effect. This option is strongly opposed by those representatives who fear Uganda is in for another repressive dictatorship unless Museveni and his movement, who have already been in power for eight years, are checked. They argue that if Museveni wants to go on leading the country, he should consult the electorate to see whether he has its support. If he is unwilling to do that, it can only mean that he fears losing any future general election.

Some point out, however, that Museveni has given Uganda a good deal of political stability. The economy has been slowly recovering from years of war and Uganda has been on good terms with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for the past few years because of its effort to reduce its foreign debt and its willingness to implement measures that, among other things, reduce public spending. These N.R.M. supporters argue that political parties will only bring division, as they did in the past. Other delegates and observers, however, insist that political parties are the very essence of democracy and that the N.R.M. must face up to the challenge of the electorate.

Peace Wrapped in Matooke Leaves

The future of Uganda lies, at least in theory, in the hands of the Constituent Assembly. If, at the end of the day the N.R.M. keeps its promise of bowing to the will of the people, then Uganda will be administered by a government that has the support of the people. If, however, Museveni and the N.R.M. continue to cling to power by buying time and dishing out empty promises, as some claim they are doing, things may take an unexpected and undesirable turn for the worse.

Uganda has a great deal of resources. Agriculture is the country's largest industry and yet there is a great deal more that can be done not only to cultivate vast stretches of fertile land that lie uncultivated but also to introduce farming techniques like crop rotation that would give better results and be less harmful to the natural environment and those who live in it.

Tourism in Uganda could be developed on a sound and sustainable basis if only the country keeps to the road of stability and peace. With its breathtaking landscapes and wildlife and with its wealth of different cultures Uganda has great potential for eco- and cultural tourism. But much has to be done to build an infrastructure that at present simply does not exist, not only for the good of tourism but first and foremost for the welfare of the people.

As some Africans have repeatedly observed, the people of Uganda will have to cook their own type of democracy and fashion their own future. What we in the West can perhaps do is to stop being spectators waiting for the next African tragedy to hit the news and become active listeners; to stop sharing Africa and start sharing with Africa. Uganda is a bit like matooke: it may taste bitter at first, but it's warmth will eventually win anyone over. And who said bananas should only be sweet, anyway?

Author's Note: I would like to thank Mr. Emmanuel Unenboth for patiently answering my many questions. However, this article expresses only my views.

Ó Adrian Grima

Published in The Sunday Times (Malta, 4 December, 1994)

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