Alex, It is me, Charles, who was thinking loud and threw out the proposal for a special ministry for west nile (WN). At least I am glad we agree that WN needs to lobby hard for government services.
I still stand by my proposal and will pursue other means to bring it to the relevant authorities. Nothing to lose by asking! They can only say yes or nay! If we are afraid to pursue something because we failed in the past or some similar initiative failed in the past, we will never advance. FYI, cow skin, like OX tail, cowfoot (molokonye) is a delicacy in Ghana, Nigeria and the Caribbean. These are normally prepared for a sunday meal by the most senior lady in the homestead -- in most cases - the grandma! They are aphrodisiacs too! In fact, growing up as children - in the 70s we use to overhear adults speak in code words that those blocker boys who ate molokonye where highly demanded by the concubines of the army officers who were often preoccupied by their other spouses. Often, the most despised parts of foods are the most nutritious...The French aristocracts used to despise baked irish potato skin and ensured this was only eaten by their servants. Well, as the Lord would have planned it, over time, the aristocracts realised that servants had smoother and none wrinkling skin. Studies conducted on the potato revealed that the despised potato skin carried the nutrients that led to the smooth skins of the servants! So as teh sayign goes...one man's food is another one's poison... So my friend Alex, we just have to teach the Karamojong how to prepare, preserve and cook the cowskin.... *Please read below re cow skin* *We sometimes want to retch when we learn of some of the meats enjoyed by other cultures. And as human nature goes, we consider our dishes normal and acceptable. * ** *Foods such as tripe, that is, the intestines of animals, is a part of a broad group called the offals and includes the entrails and all internal organs, the brain, tongue, lungs and so on. The tail of the cow is also a very expensive delicacy in Jamaica. The cow's skin also has pride of place especially with men as they associate the high gelatine content with aphrodisiac potential.* *Jamaicans are not exceptional in the use of offals in cooking as this is practised by all cultures. Some offals, such as the 'liver pate', even take pride of place in fine restaurants. There are anecdotal reports by Jamaicans in the US that Caribbean people have caused the cost of oxtail, tripe and other offals to skyrocket in New York because of the demand for these delicacies.* *Cow's skin<http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100224/health/health1.html#>and ponmo ** * *My most amazing discovery, however, is the popularity of cow's skin in many African countries. I believe, like many other dishes we now enjoy in Jamaica, such as our many popular stews, they have their genesis in the motherland. Cow's skin is popularly called 'ponmo' and is eaten on such a wide scale that it has become a threat to the leather industry in Nigeria. According to a BBC article some years ago, 'Nigeria eats its shoe leather'. Those in the industry are calling for a ban on the consumption of ponmo to save the industry.* *Some people, it is believed, eat cow's skin because meat is expensive, and others, out of a traditional attachment. Unlike frying and roasting in many of the African countries, in Jamaica cow's skin is prepared in stews and soups and some people use it along with the cow's feet to make a jelly which they flavour and eat for medicinal purposes.* Not sure On Sun, Mar 13, 2011 at 12:04 AM, alex free <[email protected]>wrote: > I just got curious to read some link some colleagues have sent suggesting > that we could lobby for a "Ministry of West Nile" affairs to address our > needs! It could be good, BUT...Well, according to me, West Nile doesn't need > a ministry. First of all, such a ministry would provide an unnecessary > avenue for the people in charge to "eat" free money without doing anything. > After all, the main cry in the villages is for medicine in the hospitals and > health facilities, clean water; poor standards in schools, inaccessibility > of quality education for majority of the folks, etc. Secondly, it wouldn't > directly benefit West Nilers because a ministry is a government property so > you could still get somebody from Bundibugyo to head the "ministry for for > West Nile affairs" and the secretary from Busia. For me, the critical issue, > as a good measuring yard-stick, is to rather ask: have the special > ministries for Luwero and Karamoja yielded tangible results to those areas > to the effect that they are now doing better? A few weeks back I saw a > terrifying and a shameful picture in one of the newspapers where a > Karamojong family-both mother and children eating a dry hide (cow skin) > because of hunger! Sometime back in the 90s a woman Victoria Ssekitoleko was > accused of having eaten huge sums of money meant for building valley dams > for Karamoja...etc. All these are indicators that a special ministry (in the > current Ugandan setting) is a white elephant for the target group. As all > are all too aware, Uganda already has loads of problems of an unwantedly > huge public administration and administrative costs (districts, RDCs, > myriads of presidential advisors, of course our CORRUPTION, etc). Do we need > to create more avenues for people to mint money from where they don't > deserve it? The tax-collector in Uganda, according to me, has been > over-exploited to their bones! > I would rather suggest and insist that, without a special ministry, we > demand for ELECTRICITY (we shall miss MP Arumadri, our voice on that...read > SundayVision,13th March, titled: "Faces we shall miss in Ninth Parliament"), > BETTER ROADS, UNIVERSITIES, well-equipped HOSPITALS, CLEAN WATER, FACTORIES, > JOBS-e.g. through limestone mining in Moyo area, then cement factory, etc. > Why do I say that we have to demand? because we pay taxes. If we pay taxes, > it means we expect benefits-services out of the taxes. Therefore we deserve > equal treatment and justice just like people of Kampala, Tororo, Kasese, > Mbarara, etc, who have many of those good ammenities which we lack. Just > like former MP Arumadri also said, we shouldn't be allowed to feel as though > we were part of DR Congo. We are Ugandans. We pay taxes in Uganda and we > need services from the government of Uganda that we support. In addition, I > would also want to say that we need not fear to ask for what is our due. If > we didn't pay taxes, if we belonged to Congo or Sudan, then it would be > right to deny us of services in Uganda. Lastly, a schoolmate of mine (from > Rwanda) was shocked to hear when I told him that the entire region of West > Nile doesn't have electricity yet Uganda sells electricity to its neighbors > apart from DR Congo and Sudan! > > I greet you all ans wish you all the best! > > _______________________________________________ > WestNileNet mailing list > [email protected] > http://orion.kym.net/mailman/listinfo/westnilenet > > WestNileNet is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > All Archives can be found at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including > attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. > _______________________________________________ > >
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