Posts tagged uganda

The recent news of Ugandan innovator Kabwama Leonard Alvin who got a training opportunity at NASA has been followed with another positive story on the strides of African tech-entrepreneurs. Three African tech-entrepreneurs, Gerald Abila of BarefootLaw (Uganda), Alloysius Attah, founder of Farmerline (Ghana) and Tonee Ndungu of Kytabu (Kenya) have each been awarded €75,000 for the King Baudouin African Development Prize awards.

Not being able to live in one’s own home country because of disturbances such as violence and natural disasters can be an emotionally and socially disturbing issue. Finding #refugee in another country hoping for a better life but then being subjected to humiliation and non-acceptance is a double blow. How can we avoid displacements when conflicts are the order of the day?

Young Africans are the future of the continent. African innovators are taking the bull by its horns and exploring what they can to the best of their abilities. Leonard Alvin Kabwama is a young Ugandan innovator, and the co-founder of Innovex who recently landed a training opportunity with the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) research centre in Silicon Valley, USA.

Uganda and Tanzania have decided to have their new standard gauge railway lines built with electric capability, as they plan to eventually upgrade to electric trains when energy supply needs are eventually met, a vast difference from Kenya’s diesel fuelled trains.

People with albinism face multiple forms of discrimination worldwide. The United Nations reports that Sub-Saharan Africa has more people with albinism with an estimated 1 in 1,400 people being affected in Tanzania and prevalence as high as 1 in 1,000 reported for select populations in Zimbabwe, and for other specific ethnic groups in Southern Africa. Albinism is still profoundly misunderstood, socially and medically leading to an unsafe environment for people with albinism particularly in Africa. We have to remind each other that people with albinism are no ghosts but human beings.

Andela – the Nigerian-based innovative software training company which Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has invested $24-million in and that already operates in Nigeria and Kenya – is opening its third African headquarters in Uganda.

Today Africans across the continent celebrate Mother’s Day. With musical contributions from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Burundi, Ghana and Tanzania, join us in our celebration of mothers. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in the world, and we thank you for all the sacrifices, and love.

Today Africans across the continent celebrate Mother’s Day. Google used its doodle to pay tribute to mothers. The animated doodle shows the story of a cactus mom through various stages of motherhood. The doodle honours mothers across the world and celebrates the sacrifices mothers make for their children. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in the world, and we thank you for all the sacrifices, and love.

In Uganda, Lake Bunyonyi and Lake Mutanda had islands referred to as akampene or Punishment Islands for unmarried girls who fell pregnant. Almost a century ago, this practice led to the death of many girls. A girl’s value was determined by her virginity. The same rules did not apply to the boys who made these girls pregnant.

Writer Mary Hirsch once said that humor was a rubber sword – it allowed you to make a point without drawing blood. When African journalists have to tread softly in their criticism, it is often left to cartoonists and other satirists to hold leaders accountable. But these days the freedom to laugh at African politicians may be dying.