Title: Ugandan Society Observed

Author: Kevin O'Connor

Publisher: Tourguide Publications

Available at: All leading bookstores

Reviewed by: Steven Tendo

Being Ugandan is more than skin deep. After more than a decade of living in Uganda, no matter how blond one's hair is and how pale their skin is, one is bound to take on all the characteristics of a Ugandan through and through.

Kevin O'Connor, the author of the new book, Ugandan Society Observed (Tourguide Publications, 2008) has produced a book that anyone coming to the country for the first time and wants to bring themselves up to speed should procure as a matter of importance. Or they could get it for the sheer wealth of informative anecdotes.

Ugandan Society Observed is not a funny book, or rather, when you read it, do not expect to laugh out loud, splitting your sides. The author's take on life, his almost sarcastic style can be mistaken for attempts at humour.

The title is taken from O'Connor's weekly column, Roving Eye in Sunday Monitor, which in turn was inspired by the first article the author wrote for a Ugandan newspaper. This was on October 22, 2004 in Sunday Vision. Subsequently, the column moved to Sunday Monitor, continuing up to date.

The book is divided into 14 sections, ranging from topics as disparate as Sex and Love, The Environment, Religion and Bazungu and Potpourri. Throughout, the author gives a commentary on the absurdities that many locals usually ignore because of familiarity.

O'Connor's take on the life of Ugandans is what one would expect from a foreigner looking in. He has been around long enough to learn the local lingo, though he modestly says he has not learnt anything in the section of language.

Having lived in Uganda for more than a decade, the author's tone suggests that he feels for the country passionately but it is hard to ignore the niggling feeling that one is being harangued. The pontifications at the end of most of the articles make this a book that forces one to reflect on their contributions to the crooked way their country is.

O'Connor loves sports and this affection is evident in the sports section. He hates religiosity and he makes this clear with his ruthless shredding of pastors and their shameful conduct, taking on Christian media outlets and televangelists. The likes of the American Joyce Meyer and Ugandan Pastor Martin Ssempa are not spared.

The book reads like a challenge to a duel, with the author taking to task generally accepted behaviour and forcing the reader to re-examine their value systems. Gender inequality, NGOs and their financial excesses, the tobacco industry and traditional cultural practices are tackled fearlessly. O'Connor can always hide behind his wistful, "I am just a muzungu. I don't really know how things are done around here."

The language used is easy to understand and the ideas are mostly indigenous and that is alright. You will not, however, put it on the same level as, say, Joachim Buwembo's How to be a Ugandan (Fountain Publishers, 2002) in as far as bare cynicism and laugh-at-yourself humour goes. Maybe that is where the lines are drawn; one easily makes you laugh at your own weaknesses while the other teaches you to examine your motivations as you go about being a Ugandan.