2.1. Flyer showing Ekimeeza topic at Club Obbligato
3.1. Club Obbligato’s coordinator establishes two lists of orators, 2007
5.1. Audience at Simbawo Akatii, 2008
5.2. An orator addresses the audience at Mambo Bado
5.3. Club Obbligato’s Ekimeeza show, 2005
5.4. The chairman sitting with popular orators in Club Obbligato, 2005
6.1. Front page of the Weekly Observer, 20–27 August 2008
6.2. Cartoon by Mozeh published in the Monitor
6.3. Opinion piece on the ebimeeza published in the Sunday Vision, 8 December 2002
6.4. Opinion piece on the ebimeeza published in the New Vision, 4 December 2002
6.5. Opinion piece on the ebimeeza published in the Monitor, 6 April 2004
7.1. The Code of Conduct at Club Obbligato’s Ekimeeza
7.2. “Issues to Consider” list distributed at Club Obbligato’s Ekimeeza
7.3. Mambo Bado’s Code of Conduct
7.4. The Simbawo Akatii executive committe, 2008
7.5. The coordinator at Club Obbligato’s Ekimeeza, 2008
7.6. Letter to the editor, New Vision, 28 July 2003
7.7. Timekeeping and registration desk at Mambo Bado, 2008
7.8. Timekeeping and discipline monitors at Simbawo Akatii, 2008
7.9. Timekeeper at Mambo Bado, 2005
7.10. Mambo Bado membership card
7.11. Letter of apology #1 from a Simbawo Akatii orator, 2008
7.12. Letter of apology #2 from a Simbawo Akatii orator, 2008
8.1. The house system
8.2. View from the entrance, behind the microphone, at Mambo Bado, 2008
9.1. Message #1, photographed by author at Club Obbligato, 2008
9.2. Message #2, photographed by author at Club Obbligato, 2008
9.3. Message #3, photographed by author at Club Obbligato, 2008
9.4. Member’s notes #1, photographed by author at Club Obbligato, 2008
9.5. Member’s notes #2, photographed by author at Club Obbligato, 2008
9.6. Cartoon published in Ggwanga, 3–9 February 2011
Tables
1.1. Age of audience members at three ebimeeza
1.2. Sex of audience members at three ebimeeza
1.3. Ethnic and regional origins of audience members at three ebimeeza
1.4. Completion of primary school by audience members at three ebimeeza
1.5. Diplomas held by audience members at three ebimeeza
2.1. Topics of Radio One’s Ekimeeza
7.1. Organizational chart of the Mambo Bado executive committee
7.2. Organizational chart of the Simbawo Akatii executive committee
Acknowledgments
Talkative Polity is, as it should be, the product of a series of conversations held over the years with many different people to whom I am greatly indebted. I want to thank, first and foremost, all the women and men who were kind enough to answer my questions during my stays in Uganda. Not only did they give me time and knowledge, but I was always met with generosity, consideration, and patience. I am extremely grateful for all they agreed to share. Every one cannot be named here, but my thoughts go in particular to Dr. Edward Kayondo, Church Ambrose Bukenya, J.L., James Wasula, G.F., Dick Nvule, Hon. Moses Kasibante, Benjamin Bbaale, L.N., B.W., P.S., M.B., Robert Kabushenga, the staff at the Media Centre, Hon. Kaddu Mukasa, all the team from Radio Buddu, as well as Patrick Otim, Innocent Aloyo, William Pike, Andrew Mwenda, Kalundi Serumaga, Wilfred Mukonyezi Abooki, Patrick Bamanyisa “Ambassador,” Johnston Baguma, Solomon Akugizibwe Apuuli, Jon Bosco Tibeeha, and Gerald Kankya. I cannot but single out Angelo Izama, whom I am honored to have as a friend: I learned so much from our conversations; thank you for everything.
The wonderful staff of Radio One and Radio Two Akaboozi, particularly Lynn Najjemba, Hakeem Booza (my thoughts are every day with their little warrior), Enock Kiyaga, Michael Kisenyi, RS Elvis, the late Kizito Kayiira Sentamu, and all the others I have interacted with on the many, many occasions I wandered their corridors, deserve special praises. Among them is Geoffrey Mulinde Kiwanuka, whom I cannot thank enough for providing me with a real home in Nakulabye, for his friendship and for his unfailing support since the very, very beginning. In Nakulabye, I could always count on Mali Kirubine’s warm support over the years.
Translations into English from Luo, Lutooro, and Luganda were provided by Patrick Otim, Irene Kangume, Betty Hasacha, Michael Kisenyi, and Robinson Samuel Kisaka, whose input has been invaluable.
This book bears the mark of my years in Cambridge and the profound influence some of its astonishing scholars have had on my work. Sharath Srinivasan first opened for me the gates of Cambridge when I joined CGHR as a research associate. I will always be grateful for this opportunity and for the intense and highly enjoyable brainstorming sessions (and scary whiteboard filling!), with which Iginio Gagliardone and Alastair Fraser were also closely associated. A portion of the research for this book was carried out as part of the New Communication Technologies and Citizen-Led Governance in Africa project, developed by CGHR through the support and generosity of the Cairns Charitable Trust and the Isaac Newton Trust.
While in Cambridge, I became a junior research fellow at Trinity College and joined the Centre for African Studies (CAS). I am extremely thankful for the support both these institutions gave me. Formal and informal discussions with historians and anthropologists at CAS profoundly shaped the way I thought and studied the ebimeeza. I am particularly indebted to John Lonsdale, who, in addition to providing me with constant friendly encouragement, led me to explore how the ebimeeza were part of a deep and older conversation about what being a Muganda meant, and how the citizenship of distinction they harbored made sense within wider debates about civic virtue across the continent. I was also very lucky to engage in fascinating conversations with Harri Englund on vernacular and unorthodox uses of communication technologies in Africa. Emma Hunter’s timely and fruitful interest in the plural forms of citizenship in Africa, as well as Jonathon Earle’s captivating insights on the history of political thought in Buganda, considerably enriched my reflections.
This book is the product of the intertwining of these years in Cambridge with the French Africanist approach of political science in which I was originally