awakula ssemakula

If My Brother Is in Trouble, So Am I: A Farewell to Cedric Babu Today, Uganda lost a son. A @SmackObs old boy. A father. A friend. A sportsman who flew Uganda's flag on tennis courts far and wide - @CedricNdilima . And in his death, we witnessed something more troubling than grief - we saw a country losing its soul. Cedric’s final days were clouded not by illness alone, but by an ugliness on social media that left many of us breathless. What should have been a moment of collective empathy turned into a theatre of Schadenfreude. People didn’t just fail to help - they mocked, they speculated, they judged. Why? Because of who he was born to, or where he stood politically? Let it be said clearly: Cedric Ndilima Babu did not oppress you. He did not steal from you. He simply was. And that should have been enough to grant him peace in his final hours. This is bigger than politics. When a country celebrates - or is indifferent to - the pain of another human being, we are not engaging in resistance. We are becoming the very thing we claim to oppose. In Alur culture, those who celebrate misfortune are called 'Ja-jjok' - witches. And Twitter has become a coven of 'ju-jjogis'. The words of Owek. @dfkm1970 ring true: “We shall never see the Uganda we love, until we develop a central nervous system that enables us see the pain in the other.” Let us rebuild that nervous system. Let us feel again. For #CedricBabu. For #EddieMutwe. For the many Ugandans whose suffering becomes viral content instead of a call to conscience. If my brother is in trouble, so am I. Yap, that line from Jeffrey Osborne's oldskool hit. Let that be the thread that binds this seemingly torn nation back together. Rest well, Cedric Ndilima Babu. Rest well, Old Boy. YOU DESERVED BETTER! cc: @WilliamFBlick #UgandanLegends #Uganda

@patrickoyulu Writing like a real Smack guy, remembering like a real friend.

NOT JUST ANY FRIDAY -THIS ONE'S FOR PATRICK! On Fridays, Kampalans shut down their laptops early, wind down, plotting nyama choma joints, happy hour spots, or that last-minute plan that somehow always comes together. Patrick Kateihwaho (RIP) would’ve been right in the mix - talking politics with fire, business with vision, and throwing in that signature laugh that made even the heavy stuff feel light. But this Friday is different. This Friday, we pause. We gather. We remember. Oh yes, we do. It’s been a year since we lost our dear friend from Kabale, #PatrickMuhumuzaKateihwaho - a brother, a classmate, a childhood friend to many of us. And while the pain may have softened, the void still speaks. So before the city lights call you out, how about we do the Friday thing he would’ve truly loved - showing up for each other. Let’s meet at Our Lady of Africa Catholic Church, Mbuya, for his memorial mass on Friday 30th May at 5:00pm. Let’s honor his memory with prayers, stories, and presence. Let’s remind his spirit that the love lives on. Come for Patrick Kateihwaho. Stay for the memories. Then, yes -you can still chill after. #ForPatrickKateihwaho #OneYearOn #Uganda

BEATS, BEEPS, & BLOOD CLOTS: My Musical Thrombectomy at @RWJBarnabas Hospital, NJ. If you're ever unfortunate enough to need a thrombectomy, might I suggest requesting VIP surgical suite service with a side of personalized DJing? Because that’s exactly how it felt last Friday at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, where the vascular wizards not only saved my life but also ensured that my pre-procedure jitters were drowned in some good ol’ Oldskool R&B. Now, first things first -HIPAA, if you’re listening, I promise I’m not naming names. Just celebrating the fact that modern medicine has not only conquered deep vein thrombosis but has also apparently mastered mood lighting and Spotify playlists. It all started with a simple yet loaded question from my nurse: "What kind of music do you like?" Ah, an existential moment if there ever was one. Do I go hardcore hip-hop, like Lords of the Underground, and risk a room full of scalpels breaking into an impromptu head-nod session? Or do I go with something more… poetic? Like Naughty By Nature? I briefly considered Feel Me Flow -but considering the reason I was on that table was because my blood wasn’t exactly "feeling the flow", I figured that might be tempting fate. Maybe some Afrobeats or Amapiano? Pineapple Jam sounded tempting, but then again, pineapples = sugar = potential health risk, right? No unnecessary risks today. I wondered if I should seek special permission to put a call through to Oweks @dfkm1970 , maybe he could recommend a hit from his "Gutandika Butandisi" or "Kikube Okitte" music mixes on @mixcloud . Oba I tell them "Nkwatako" by @Ksheebah1 ? Nanti abasawo babadde bankwatakwata wano na wali, mbu attaching gadgets. Then it hit me. Johnny Gill. Smooth. Classy. Unproblematic. I dropped my final decision like a decisive chess move: "Johnny Gill. Anything Johnny Gill." Cue my Gen-Z nurse’s blank stare. "Who’s that?" Sigh. Luckily, the one African American sister on the team immediately cracked up. "Oh, we KNOW Johnny Gill." And with that, the monitors appeared to stop beeping, the room acoustics shifted, and for a brief, glorious moment, the sterile, high-tech operating theater transformed into a velvet-lined jazz lounge. "Put on your red dress… And slip on your high heels…" Was I about to undergo surgery or slow dance under a chandelier? Who’s to say? The team got to work, removing that pesky clot while Johnny serenaded us. At one point, I almost expected my surgeon to snap his fingers to the beat while fishing around in my vein. By the end, as I lay there -alive, grateful, and still basking in the afterglow of R&B-induced anesthesia -I quipped: "Now that was a proper party." Someone replied, "You’re welcome!" But notably, no one said, "Come again soon." A fair point. Some things -like a near-death experience -are best enjoyed once. One for the road: I would like to thank Ugandans, especially my 'twitter-fam' for your overwhelming response to wish me well following my experience in the article "I stepped on a 'Landmine.' I appreciate you all. Thank You Doctors and Staff at Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Hospital. You Rock! Musically too. #Uganda #ListeningToWhispers

On Jan 14th, bamboo enthusiasts gathered at The Great Outdoors, Busiika, hosted by Leonard Muteesasira, to brainstorm gaps & opportunities in Uganda’s bamboo value chain.

On 7th January, our GM Robert Ssemakula met bamboo sector players at UIRI, including Ndejje University, Great Outdoors, Green Vocational Institute, and Bamboo Tena. The talks focused on building strong collaborations to grow the value chain and more. #BambooUganda #ValueChain

I am Baptiste Parravicini: • Tech entrepreneur & API visionary • Co-founder of 'apidays', the world's leading API conference • Passionate about AI integration & tech for the greater good Follow for insights on how APIs are connecting our future Repost for your network 🔄:

DIFFERENT.