Idi Amin walked to a state funeral!

 

How Idi Amin walked to Nzee Jomo Kenyatta’s Funeral! 

By: Odhiambo Levin Opiyo

Before Idi Amin travelled to Kenya to attend  Kenyatta's  funeral he   invited  a team of Western   expatriates to join his delegation.

"His Excellency is inviting you to be a member of the presidential delegation to the funeral of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. You will be informed of the arrangements", read the invitation sent out  to those  selected.

Isolated by the West,  Amin was keen to   capitalise  on Kenyatta's  high profile  funeral to show that he was friendly  to Britain  and America  despite  what was being written  in Western press.

As a result,  In addition  to the main Uganda government delegation ,  there was  a presidential one that was made up of six expatriates, British and American,  who were to be tangible evidence of the friendly relations that  existed between Uganda and those two countries

In the event it was five-to-one in favour of the British, there being only one American who qualified, the managing director of  Caltex  oil Uganda .

On the day of the funeral, 31 August  1978, they  converged  in the house  of Amin's  security  advisor Major Bob Astle at Kololo  at four  in the morning.  From  there they   were to be driven to state House  Entebbe  to  meet Amin at 07.00 in the morning. 

They left  Astle's residence  exactly  at 06.00  to begin their  journey  to Entebbe.  However  the  journey took twice as long as usual as they were  driven round Kampala three times before heading to Entebbe. According  to Astle's  explanation, this  was to outmanoeuvre any enemy  who was planning  an ambush.

After meeting Amin the expatriates  were joined  by two Uganda ministers  and together  they boarded the presidential  Cessna plane to Kenya.

Amin occupied  the swivel  chair at the front which enabled him to turn to face those onboard. He talked freely. "Why does the BBC trouble me?" he asked at one point. "They make false accusations about me. They even say I have Cubans to run my country."

He also said how he was  looking  forward to meeting Dr Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia at Kenyatta's funeral. 

"I  have brought him some new handkerchiefs; he cries too much and has to wave them around for them to dry. His people think he waves at them," he said with a hearty laughter. 

When they  landed in Nairobi,  there was no question on who the media was really interested in . Other heads of state were also arriving   but Amin's plane attracted by far the most attention. 

The  six expatriates  and Bob Astles  were ushered by the protocol people into waiting cars.  By this time Amin,  his  son and the  two ministers had already  sped off towards  Hilton Hotel, which was to be Ugandan  base for the day.  The delegation  was to occupy a suite on the 16th floor  of the hotel.  

But there was a problem.  Despite  Amin leaving the airport  before everyone  else to head to Hilton,  he was nowhere to be found.

20 minutes  earlier he had been seen  entering the lift accompanied by his little son  Moses, the two ministers, his private secretary,  and  an American general manager of  Hilton  Hotel. 

Along the circular  corridors of Hilton,  security  men  ran up  and down as though they  were  on a race track. One shouted at the expatriates, "Please go straight to the suite and stay there: we can't find the President!"

In the suite  the  expatriates  were ordered by Bob  Astle  not to close the door, 'for security reasons', as  he too went out to join the search for Amin. 

It turned out that the lift had   jammed between the fourth and fifth floors.  Instead of waiting to be rescued  Amin  prisised  open the doors himself, and forced himself  outside, followed by those who had been stuck with him.  Fortunately  the floor level was chest-high 

 They then walked  up eleven floors' worth of spiral staircase to reach the 16th floor. As they made their way  to the suite,   Amin displayed little more than bemusement at his companions who were struggling  to climb  the stairs.  "These people, they are not fit like me. They never like to play basketball and swim. Look at them, they nearly die!" he joked.

"Time for your breakfast,"  he said, "you people must eat before we go for the funeral. I am hungry too, but it is Ramadhan."

Soon  Bob Astle reminded  everyone,  "We must be in the foyer by 10.30 .The cars will pick us up at 10.45."

Amin gazed at him and asked   "What for?" Astle  replied,   "Your Excellency, it starts at eleven."  Amin  immediately   got to his feet and announced "We will walk! We go now!" . 

Thus  this was how Amin and members of his delegation ended up walking  from Hilton  to Parliament  Buildings for the funeral of Jomo Kenyatta . "This is how my friend would have come to my funeral," said Amin as the delegation  set off from Hilton. 

After  the funeral  a   crowd stayed outside Hilton , cheering Amin "Simba, Simba!" (`Lion, Lion!'). The   American who was  in the delegation  would later tell him , "Mr President, if they'd been electing their noo man today, they'd have elected you!"

As the delegation  prepared  to return  to Uganda, Amin  came aboard  very  furious about  what he heard  from the BBC.  The BBC  had claimed  that Prince Charles  had snubbed him during  Kenyatta's  funeral. 

"This BBC!"  he exclaimed. "Do you know what they say about me now? They say Prince Charles refused to shake my hand and turned his back on me! Why? I was never near him, you know that. You can tell them they lie about him just like me. I like the look of that young man — he is clean."

Once the plane was  airborne and the seat- belts off, Amin disappeared into the cockpit to make some  phone calls to Uganda. Ten minutes later he returned, smiling  broadly. 

"I  have spoken to Bombo and Masindi barracks" he announced. "The country is quiet, so we can go to Entebbe." 

Pointing to the black briefcase his private secretary was holding, he told  members of the delegation  not to worry. "If there was a problem we could have had a nice weekend in Libya with my friend Gaddafi. Plenty dollars in this case!"

IDI AMIN! True Pan African

The Last Known PanAfrican! Idi Amin Daada

 By Hussein Lumumba Amin

Idi Amin championed the cause of African liberation and self determination for black people. He was instrumental in the fight against Apartheid, and in 1975, he led the Pan-African struggle for the independence of southern African states. From Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa, Amin provided, sanctuary, training and weapons to African freedom fighters and liberation movements across the continent.

Before Amin, Uganda was a British Imperial economy. An economy that only served the colonial master and his imported cronies.He was called Conqueror of the British Empire because in 1972 he kicked out the British and their cronies who had monopolized the economy at the expense of the indeginous Ugandans. He then nationalised the properties and sent government valuers to evaluate each property. He then compensated the British/Asians for every single property that was nationalized, and then redistributed the properties to the Ugandan people.

Indeginous Ugandans from all over the country applied and took over the departed British/Indians properties and started engaging in businesses that Ugandans were once excluded from practicing. Amin was a stern personality. Demanding discipline and determination for success from the people of Uganda.

But he was also very down to earth and people-friendly in every day life. Much loved by ordinary Ugandans from all walks of life. That is the reality. He was loved because he made major contributions in building his country. Investing in infrastructure, industry, telecommunications, and the airlines and railways sector. He built more education facilities and opened the once exclusive "Asians" schools to all Ugandans. He turned these schools into public institutions administered by his government. Thereby giving access to quality education to far more Ugandans than ever before, and all free of charge.

Western powers were insensed to see a black man being carried aloft by white people. They went even more crazy when they saw pictures of white people kneeling in front of Amin and reading the oath of citizenship to their new country Uganda.

Amin Kicking neo-colonialism out of Uganda and subscribing the country to the non-aligned movement (neither communist, nor pro-western) made many in the west red angry. Their envy continues to paint him with blood and murder, and with the darkest tales of cannibalism and greed.

They completely buried the story of an honest, incorruptible, selfless African hero who came from humble beginnings where his poor parents couldn't even afford to give him an education. Upon his release from prison, Nelson Mandela himself refused to remain quiet and publicly recognized Idi Amin and Colonel Gaddafi as part of those who contributed immensely in the struggle against Apartheid.

In Uganda, nobody is quiet anymore about what they know is the truth about Amin. The real-life stories passed down to them from their parents and grandparents, many of whom had a chance of meeting Amin who was regularly seen in the streets of Kampala walking or driving past alone, usually even without a single body guard. Something that would have been completely impossible to come out from alive if he had been the blood-thirsty animal who was killing 500,000 of his own people.

Join us: Pan-African Renaissance Redacted from Hussein Lumumba Amin

Makerere On fire

Grad School

Hello and welcome to the Fundamentals of Leadership - EDLD 5311 course. The course officially begins on Monday, October 7 and ends on Sunday, November 10, 2019.

• First, review all of the content on the Start Here page. Make sure you read all the resources in the "How to" folder below. This information is vital to your success.
• Then, complete the Orientation Module. This is required before you can access the course content.
• Next, review the Blackboard Principal Program Resource course, specifically the "Student Practicum Handbook," "EDLD 5311 Program Requirements" folder and the "EDLD 5311 Field Experience Video Resources" folder.  This Blackboard course is a separate course with resources to assist you to be successful during the program. 
• Finally, proceed to the Week 1 Module and begin the course activities.

If you haven't already done so please purchase the required textbooks as listed in the syllabus.

• Amazon is the fastest, and often the most economical source.
• Do not rent the textbooks. You will use them throughout the program.
• We do not recommend purchasing e-books. The pages don't align with the hard copy and we will not provide additional information to accommodate.

Please download and read the Course Syllabus found on the link on the left menu (or below). Also, print out the Course Schedule so that you will know where we are each week, what you need to do, what to turn in, and when each item is due. During week one, there are several program requirements due on Thursday. 

To access the web conference, go to the "Weekly Webinars" link on the left menu. The course materials are found in the Module links in the course menu on the left. For this course, there is one week per module (Module 1 – Week 1, Module 2 – Week 2, etc.).

We will be using your lamar.edu email during in this course. Please check this email daily! Be sure to include your course and section numbers and copy your section professor and your instructional associate (IA) on any email you send. Finally, to be successful in the course, it will mean that you need to log into the course frequently, at least three times a week to check for grades and feedback comments on your assignments.

We look forward to working with you during the next five weeks!

Dr. Fong & Dr. Washington

So what makes a great teacher?

1) Passion for teaching. This can manifest itself so many ways. I’m the “jump around the room” kind of teacher, and sure, that comes from a lot of passion, but some of the best teachers I’ve known have had a passion that students had to be quiet to catch onto.

2) Love of kids. You laugh, but it’s true! I’ve seen people come in and talk about teaching and talk about how much they love their subject and know about their subject, but they never mention the kids. Worse, we had an interview once where the teacher clearly knew his stuff, but he basically admitted that his classroom management style was fear and intimidation. Not who I want teaching kids I care about.

3) Love of their subject. Again... pretty important. I spent four years dropping by Mike Thayer’s classroom because to watch him explain physics or calculus was, for me, to understand how you could have a passion for something that was always a mystery for me. Great teachers not only love their subject, but they love to share that joy with students.

4) Understanding of the role of a school in a child’s life. High school is more than the sum of the classes the kids take. It’s a time to grow, explore, try on identities, find joys that might just last a lifetime. Sometimes the best teaching we do happens on basketball courts, in the halls after a class, at a local coffee shop or in a drama studio. The best teachers know that they are teachers for much more than the time they are in the physical classroom.

5) A willingness to change. This one gets overlooked sometimes, I think. I’ve written about this before, but it bears repeating. We talk about how schools should be transformative for kids, but I think they can be just as transformative for teachers. If you expect kids to be changed by their interaction with you, it’s got to be a two-way street.

6) A work ethic that doesn’t quit. It’s a hard, draining job that will demand all that you can give sometimes. You’ve got to be able to have some balance in your life, but there are very few teachers who can be effective by cramming everything they need to do into the hours allocated by the average teacher’s contract. (And for the record, the overwhelming majority of the teachers I’ve met put in hours well above and beyond the contract.)

7) A willingness to reflect. You’ve got to be able to ask why things went the way they did... both on the good and the bad days. And you have to be able to admit when the reasons it went bad were because of what you did, not what the students did. (Equally important is the understanding that often things go right because of what the kids brought to the table, not because your lesson plan should be bronzed.) Teaching requires a willingness to cast a critical eye on your practice, your pedagogy and your self. And it can be brutal.

8) Organization. My personal Achilles heel, and one of the things I’m always working to improve. My Palm Pilot helped, really. But I hate paperwork and official looking documents, and it kills me. I am amazed at the people like Dale Lally who seem to get his papers handed back before the kids hand them in or seems to be able to put his hands on every unit he’s ever taught within a moment’s notice. Kids know what to expect, they know he’s going to be organized and have a structure to his class... and he’s still creative and spontaneous and interesting. I can only imagine how much better of a teacher I’d be if the structure of everything I did was just a little more organized.

9) Understanding that being a “great teacher” is a constant struggle to always improve. I think I’ve had some moments of great teaching in my career, but I also still see all the holes in my teaching -- sadly, often times mirroring holes in my self -- and I still want to get better... because I think I’ve got a long way to go to be a great teacher every day. And even if I get better at everything I see as weaknesses now, I can only imagine what new challenges will face me on that day.

10) Enough ego to survive the hard days. The tough days will leave you curled up under a desk, convinced that you can’t teach or the world is too hard for these kids or the work is too much or whatever the problem was that day... you have to have enough sense of self to survive those days.

11) Enough humility to remember it’s not about you. It’s about the kids. If your ego rules your classroom, if the class turns into “me vs. them” or if you can’t understand that a sixteen year old might be able to tell you something you don’t know, then don’t teach. Or at least, don’t teach high school.

12) A willingness to work collaboratively. Sure, there are some great teachers who close the door to their classroom and do what they want, but I think you send a strange message to the kids that way sometimes. Teachers are part of a school community, and even where that community can be flawed (and lots of schools are), a great teacher should be willing to work to make the community a better place.

10 Things You Need To Stop Doing If You Want To Be Successful

1. Making Excuses

Stop blaming other people for why you don’t get what you want. Stop refusing to accept responsibility for your mistakes. You make your own choices and you make your own mistakes.In general, stop justifying your poor choices and stop attributing your lack of success to things outside of your control. Successful people don’t do this.

You are going to err. You are going to fail. When this inevitably occurs look within, in a non-judgmental manner, and figure out what you can do better next time. Don’t waste time looking externally by creating excuses for why you didn’t achieve success.

2. Focusing on the Negatives

Yes, there are negative circumstances in life that you have no control over. There are also plenty of positive experiences in your life. I am willing to bet you have more positives in your life than negatives. You are capable of living with a positive perspective. If you want to cultivate success in your life than you need to concentrate on all the good. You shouldn’t disregard the negative, but you don’t have to give it so much of your attention. Otherwise you are never going to be satisfied because you are so focused on the unfavorable conditions of your life. Even if you reach a level of ostensible success, your continued focus on the negatives will prevent you from relishing your accomplishments.

3. Fearing Failure

As I previously stated, YOU ARE GOING TO FAIL! There is no reason to fear it. Rather, you should embrace it. Learn from it, and ultimately improve from it.

When you are successful you know you are always trying your best. When you fail it is not a reflection of you as a person; you are not a flawed individual. View failure as an opportunity to grow, not as something to be feared.

4. Looking for the Easy Way

I want to preface by stating that attaining success isn’t supposed to be an improbable venture where you have to overcome a certain amount of adversity and hardship. I am opining that successful people don’t look for the easy way through life.

Merely strolling through life on cruise control is not the blueprint for success. You need to challenge yourself at times. Push yourself and stretch your limits. Aim to reach your maximum potential, and then go beyond that. That is a success in itself.

5. Beating Yourself Up

You wouldn’t ever beat yourself up physically so why would you do it emotionally and mentally? Learning how to skillfully deal with your thoughts and emotions when you are facing adverse situations is crucial to being successful.

Get upset over things. Express your emotions in an appropriate manner. Be unhappy from time to time. It is going to happen. But don’t ruminate over unpleasant memories and beat yourself up over things that already occurred. Too much time and energy spent on this diverts your attention away from more important endeavors like progressing toward your goals.

6. Being Ungrateful

The best way to establish more contentment in your life is to be more grateful. If you want to push away happiness, joy, and bliss than be ungrateful. Gratitude breeds happiness but it also breeds success. If you are grateful for your life and everything that comprises it you are going to have a less complicated time attaining wealth and accomplishing your goals.

I don’t just mean financial wealth because wealth includes all kinds of valuables. I am not proposing that all financially wealthy people are grateful, and therefore, successful, or that all financially poor people are ungrateful, and therefore unsuccessful.

Being ungrateful is not congruent with getting ahead in life. If you crave success than observe everything you are grateful for. Your gratitude will serve as a compass for your life. It will guide your decision-making, and lead you to success.

7. Concentrating Solely on Your Needs

Hopefully this goes without saying but focusing only on yourself is not going to help you attain success. You could be the wealthiest person on the planet, and it is apparent that you are extremely successful. If you accrued your wealth by taking advantage of people, or by being selfish and egotistical, you are not successful in my book. You probably wouldn’t be very happy either. The best way to succeed in life is by helping someone else!

8. Getting Distracted

You were going to start your book but…You were going to launch your dream business idea but…You were going to travel through Asia but…
I get it. Things come up. Life takes you on a different course. It happens sometimes. But don’t allow yourself to become distracted from realizing your dreams. When distractions obstruct you from your passions than you are moving further and further away from claiming your ultimate successes.

This starts with your daily life. It is fun and often necessary to log onto Facebook and check emails, but don’t allow the modern technological age to prevent you from the work that needs to be finished today. Success is based on working toward your goals while not letting disruptions hinder that.

9. Living Aimlessly

It is your responsibility to ascertain your life goals and objectives. Being successful means you are fulfilling your life’s purpose every day.
Whether your purpose is super ambitious such as solving world hunger or more feasible like being happy, doesn’t matter. The point is that you are aiming to be the best you can be. Steadily wandering through life without any ambitions or without contributing anything to society is not what successful people do.

10. Giving Up

When you face an improbable obstacle in life how do you respond? Do you give up, or do you keep pressing on? Successful people don’t give up. They commit themselves to reaching their final destination. They may not ever get there, but they don’t allow impediments to prevent them from trying. This means continuing on despite failures and disappointments.

Success encompasses a lot of different arenas. What works for financial success may not translate into relationship success. Being successful as an athlete doesn’t necessarily make you successful as a student as well. There are varying degrees of success depending on what situation you are in.

Regardless, the fundamental backbone of success is trying your best. If you put forth your best effort, without harming others in the process, than you are a successful person. This can apply to work, family, friends, relationships, hobbies, etc. As the late great John Wooden said, “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” I think that sums it up beautifully.

EXPLAINING SOME EDUCATIONAL THEORIES:

Preparing the student based on popular educational theories 

When I started to observe classrooms for my observation project. I notice that a lot of things happen in the classroom and that teachers must do a lot to ensure that the learner is well prepared. The three teachers I observed for this project use a lot of different strategies and activities to teacher the learner that are developmentally appropriate, that encompass physical, cognitive and affective development. Each style of teaching follows a theory associated with learning style. And each style is set up to not only teach the student the syllabus and other lessons, but the different styles of teaching prepares the students in other parts of human development such as brain development, social development to make the student a better person all around.

The first classroom teacher I observed.  One of the theories I observed was Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which has different stages but with an actual goal and final stage as Self- Actualization.  The classroom teacher was in no doubt aware of all the different needs of his students that are part of Maslow’s Theory. To support the student’s physiological needs, Mr. Peter whom I was observing ensured that students had access to frequent restroom or water breaks. His restroom pass was always available for students to take the break and at times they did not have to ask him they just got up and grabbed the pass. These breaks helped students regain their energy levels to sustain them during the entire class period. Mr. Peter supported the student’s safety needs through his classroom rules. One rule that stood out was the “no bullying” rule. This ensured that students were safe. The teacher also monitored the students very close and made sure that all safety rules in the classroom were being followed. He frequently referred the students to the classroom rules when issues arose in the classroom.  Mr. Peter supported the student’s love and belonging needs by making sure that all the students were treated equal and treated fairly. I could tell that he cared for their wellbeing of his students  when he called on students by names and when he supported them to find the right answer if they got a question wrong. This also supported the student’s esteem needs in the learning environment because the teacher’s feedbacks were positive, affirmative, concrete and transparent and gave the student a chance to know their specific strengths and can articulate when they’ve used them to succeed in the classroom.

A weeks later I went to observe another classroom teacher. This was a Health Science class at Madison High School. The day I came to observe Coach Johnson. The classroom was working on a group project. During group work the students were provided an opportunity for peers to share specific positive feedback. This teaching, the teacher expected students to perform at their best, even if they need support. I saw first hand how Vygotsky’s Theory of Social Development played part in the learning environment by how they were relying on each other for the answers instead of waiting for the teacher to reach their group and answer the questions they need to know. They were working together to find the answers to the solutions and the students were working on getting along.

 Although the students were working on completing their work. The way they did work helped in assuring esteem needs were met especially when the teacher praised the students on how good of a job they were doing. Also, when they were talking among themselves; at times they would give compliments to each other. That that the student worked on a project where they were going around the room to research elements of extreme weather and the effect it has on our wellbeing. They had to work in a group; one person had to read the information. One had to record it. One had to read it. Their social needs were being met through this exercise and indeed Vygotsky’s Theory of Social Development was met.

The students had more than one class period to work on the project. One time when I returned to observe the class for a second time. I saw that students started to strategize more with each as the due date came near. Zone proximal development was evident when the students depended on one another to collect the needed information and input about the project.  As the due date got closer.  Erikson’s Theory of Psychological Development was also evident when different groups began to compete against the other groups about who was getting the project better than the other and who was getting the best information.  This competitiveness in found in stage four of the theory: Industry versus Inferiority. Students were able to feel self-confident in their success and the teacher was able to keep a easy going and positive learning environment which is found in Jensen’s Brain Based learning. The teacher kept the project fair by setting the rubric and the rules and by encouraging the groups that were falling behind to catch up before the deadline.

Because I mainly observed high school classes. The students I was observing were in the formal stage of Piaget’s Theory of cognitive development. The students were thinking in an abstract manner and they reasoned fairly about hypothetical problems that were happening in the classroom. There were many times that students demonstrated theoretical and abstract reasoning while accomplishing their work. I could see this in Ms. McLain’s style of giving instruction. she always challenged the students through her methods of checking for understanding. By doing so she gave the students a chance to demonstrate higher thinking and therefore better transition occurred during transition time because the students were aware of what was happening next.  Each day students were tasked with doing different tasks of the lesson plan. Ms. McLain used various learning style. This is when I saw other elements of Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. I saw the linguistic part of the theory based on the word wall Ms. McLain had up and how she encouraged her students to use it. When the students were working in a group. The teacher played music and allowed the students to move around. Through this I saw the musical, spatial, bodily and intrapersonal needs of the students being accommodated. The teacher showed videos during the lesson. At times she asked students to use the textbook. There were many opportunities for students to discuss the lesson with their peers by allowing the students to do group work.

In conclusion I witnessed these three teachers utilizing all different kind of teaching styles and in so doing applying different educational and psychological theories to the learning environment. As I have mentioned above I witnessed Jensen’s Brain Based learning theory by keeping the learning environment safe and positive. I saw Erikson’s Theory when the teacher encouraged students to use different graph, climate cartons to explain certain points of views all which had real life implications. Gardener’s Theory was express all the time especially when the teachers called on different students at different time to explain and express different aspects of the lesson. Altogether, the three teachers I observed incorporated all the above theories and learning styles into their lessons as a motivational strategy. In the end, each teacher’s goal was to have their students master the lesson and that they were successful in all aspects of development while in class.   

Jeremy Jjemba 

September 2018