John Musiime

I FIND GREATER BUSHENYI TO BE INCREDIBLE! KAMPALA SACCOS MAY WANT TO MAKE STUDY TOURS HERE Over this Easter holiday in Bushenyi, I was hoping to find some time to write a more formal piece on law. Instead, as you can see in these clips, Kabagareme, the booming Saturday meat market got in the way. You will never find a better meal, a better price and the extra satisfaction of actually supporting the local people’s “hustle” Deeply satisfying on all fronts. Kabagarame is yet another example of the high levels of civic awareness and organization of the people here. Apart from always being well represented in National since independence, Bushenyi has achieved social-economic transformation through embracing formal education very early on. It’s not uncommon to find families with three generations of university graduates here unlike almost anywhere else in Uganda. Most 50-60 year old Ugandans are one generation removed from peasantry. And, I think that Bushenyi’s case is not the case of the “diploma disease” that afflicts Uganda, generally. There’s a big difference between papers and an education. The former, I hear, you can buy at Nasser road, the latter, you cannot. It must translate in the way you think and live. The people here for example, organized their land holding as early as the 1960s when most land here got surveyed and titled. Elsewhere, land fragmentation, disorder, disputes and violence still block economic progress. Access to credit for example, is much easier when you have titled land. The per capita income here is even by visual estimation only, high. Generally, every household has a combination of any of the following crops; coffee, tea and bananas or all three. They will generally keep at least a few crossbred cows. Each of those is a cash crop in its own right. I have never seen a grass thatched house here. Especially tea factories dot the magically beautiful green hills along with several schools whose performance in the National exam, a National obsession, is among the very best in the country. The stretch between Kyamuhunga and Kasese covering the present day Rubirizi and Bunyarunguru districts is perhaps, the most beautiful part of Uganda. It spots the beautiful magical twin crater lakes of Kyema and Kamweru (“Africa”), the Kazinga channel, lakes Edward and George. One can have the breathtaking, sweeping panoramic views of Queen Elizabeth National park, Mountain Rwenzori, and all aforesaid lakes, atop the West arm of the great East Africa rift valley. There are so many hotels in Bunyaruguru of which Kyangabi Crater Resort has always been my favorite. Although, it has to be said, the views are at King Fisher Lodge. The big revelation to me this holiday however is how well the SACCOS here seem to be doing. I took interest in taking a closer look at upcountry SACCOS from my friend Muhimbise Atiki and Kakande Alex ‘s recent analysis of Y-SAVE’s no dividend in two years situation. From anecdotal evidence, the biggest SACCOS here include Kyamuhunga, Mushanga and Muhame. At least two of these SACCOS have a loan portfolio of ugx. 50BN each! Today, one declared and gave dividends. SACCOS might be the local solution that has been brewing to building local capital. SACCOS might also finally break the back of the trust deficit and therefore high risk that underbelly Uganda borrowing resulting in high interest rates. Kampala SACCOS may, after putting down The Intelligent Investor, need to come here for a practical education. There’s a lot to admire and learn.

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