The idea to start a newspaper and a media house focused solely on pushing the development agenda of Busoga came in September 2021 as we sat at Budhumbula Palace in Kamuli during that year’s Gabula Day celebrations.
Prior to that, I had had the chance of traversing Busoga implementing the Gabula Royal Foundation’s Gabula Talks project and I had noticed that whereas the people living in Busoga are working so hard and are indeed amidst plenty; they are ignorant of opportunities outside their villages and, also, even those that are doing good and great, their stories never get told. That success and hard work are seldom highlighted with a goal of encouraging more and that development information and opportunities only remain with a few connected to the political class.
My partner on the other had an intriguing concern or question so to speak.
“Who tells our story,” he quipped as we watched speaker after speaker pontificate during the Gabula Day celebrations. “How come if you meet five people from this region and ask them what our interests as a region are and where we are going, you get five different answers; why do we lack coherence in agenda representation and why is that whenever the country is discussing the region it is only the bad stories that get told, is that the only thing we contribute to national development,” the conversation went on.
It ended with the decision to set up an independent media house, beginning with a newspaper, as a strategy to contributing to the development of the region through informative publications and through celebrating innovation, hard work and success. A media House that calls out wrong and holds leaders and other development actors accountable without batting an eyelid. A media House that recognizes the fact that deep-rooted National development is a function of grassroots development and therefore it is the media house’s role to play a key role in grassroots community mobilization for development.
One year later, this month, since our first publication, the resolve and focus remain the same.
The reception has been unexpectedly awesome, phone calls from unknown people have been received praying for the newspaper to stay the course.
The demand to reach the nook and cranny of the region is getting bigger by the month. It is a gradual process and we will indeed be in every corner of the region within no time. That is precisely the reason the newspaper was started.
The only way you can join in developing the region together is by subscribing to the newspaper. It is only shs2,000. It is by reaching out to us to allow us to tell your story so that you can inspire the next person to even achieve more than you. It is by allowing to advertise with us. Without adverts it becomes difficult to remain independent. It is by partnering with us for content generation and publication if you are an NGO working in the region and would want your message to reach out to people. It is by allowing to grow with us.
To those who have believed in the goal this far and allowed to advertise with us. Allowed to have content partnerships with us, may we continue to develop the region together.
May the next one year continue to challenge us to do better and be better as we continue Developing the Region Together
