The Blankets and Wine edition was the best event for UG Pineapple to shine as it resonates with the Gin’s niche market, lounge in the sun and catch a cocktail. As the afternoon turned to evening and into the night, Kampala party revellers flocked Lugogo cricket oval in their hundreds.

The event is a good excuse for girls to show off their fashion sense and Kampala girls do not disappoint. Girls in hot pants, girls in overalls, girls bringing African Fabric to the fore. Every fashion imaginable. The best place to harvest some eye candy was the UG Pineapple photo booth because if fashion must walk the Blankets and Wine red carpet, then the world must see in it pictures.

Uganda’s legend music goddess Joanita Kawalya bellowed her most favourite hits over the years, bringing a relaxing mood to the evening sunset.

By 8pm when Distruction Boys stepped on stage, Cricket oval was filled to capacity. The due put up an energetic performance, picking songs from all over Africa and crowning their performance with their all time favourite hit, Omunye.

Speaking during the handover event held at Kirinya Catholic Primary School, Vincent Omoth – Marketing Manager Fresh Dairy said, ‘Fresh Dairy has for two consecutive years run a schools program aimed at educating children on nutrition with an inclination towards encouraging the consumption of 1-Yoghurt-a-Day as a healthy and nutritious snack. This year’s Fresh Dairy’s School Program which started on 15^th March 2018 successfully reached at least 300,000 primary school pupils as well as teachers and parents in over 350 primary schools across Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono districts, a time during which free yoghurt was given out to all students for sampling to further re-emphasize the 1-Yoghurt-a-Day nutrition message.’

Omoth further added that donating the classroom desks to Kirinya Catholic Primary School will aid a better learning environment because the learners spend an average of eight hours seated each school day while attending class lessons. These desks will also better concentration in class, as the students don’t have to bend their backs anymore to write classwork, but instead sit in an upright healthy position.’

The desks were commissioned by the Assistant Town Clerk of Bweyogerere Division – Kira Municipality – Kavuma Ronald who applauded Fresh Dairy for the donation thanked the school staff and pupils for using their efforts to win the desks. ‘As Government, we can’t do everything on time because of resources and schedules. The Municipal council had already set up new structures at Kirinya Catholic Primary School without desks. Fresh Dairy has answered our call and at least one of the structures has acquired desks. This is what everyone out there ought to do. Thank you for honoring that aspect of Corporate Social Responsibility and giving us desks.’

Omoth added, ‘Yoghurt as one of the products we produce at Fresh Dairy is an ideal nutrition booster for children because it is a healthy and nutritious snack that is rich in Vitamin A, B, D, E, Calcium and Potassium. School going children not only require adequate nutrition in order to meet their growth milestones and lead healthy lives but also need to learn best  health and nutrition practices at an early age that they keep as they grow.’

Head Teacher Kirinya Catholic Primary School – Nalongo Settimba Christine thanked Fresh Dairy for the new classroom desks and said that in today’s modern world, there is need to be creative to out beat the market. ‘Fresh Dairy has given our children the opportunity to be creative. We used to see yoghurt but we didn’t know the values it had but these days our students demand the people in the school canteen to stock Fresh Dairy yoghurt.’

Settimba added, ‘Kirinya Catholic Primary School has a total of 981 students and this year we collected 3,000 Fresh Dairy yoghurt cups which we used to make a dress and a water tank for a period of one month and a half, a model that earned us the second runner-up position.’

Champion Teacher Muyombya Patrick who teaches Primary Six said, ‘We decided to make the dress and water tank because the water tank is unique while we made the dress because no one can go around naked.’

Kituyi Peace, a Primary Seven pupil at Kirinya Catholic Primary School said, ‘Thank you Fresh Dairy for the desks. Before we got the desks, we used to at times write from the floor or squeeze between 4 to 5 students on the few desks we had. But now Fresh Dairy has given us a new look. During the Fresh Dairy schools program 2018, I learnt about nutrition and the different nutrients in yoghurt like calcium which makes bones strong. It was also fun making the models with my classmates.’

The 1^st Runner-Up of the 2018 Fresh Dairy School’s Program – Murchison Bay Primary School – Luzira Prisons was rewarded with a newly renovated multi-purpose hall from Fresh Dairy while the overall winning school Mutungo Primary School will receive a newly constructed permanent nursery classroom block from Fresh Dairy. Omoth concluded by noting that Fresh Diary will continue running the Fresh Dairy School Program next year in order to reach out to more schools with its health and nutritional message.

Some of the new features added include contributions payments for voluntary savers and employers whose payments are less than shs4m monthly, member contacts update, retirement benefits projections, employment history, e-statement and direct contact to Relationship Manager.

Addressing media and selected members at Café Javas, Patrick Ayota, the Deputy Managing Director, said that the app was an affirmation of the Fund’s commitment to transparency to its members by giving them access to monitor their NSSF accounts anytime, anywhere.

“Our plan is to improve our business processes to make them more efficient & convenient to members through innovations by 2025.The new app not only increases efficiency and service delivery to our customers, but also puts the power and control of their money in their hands” he said.

The upgraded app also gives members an opportunity to track their savings in a more detailed way and hold their employers accountable regarding their contributions.

“We expect to increase the compliance levels now that members are able to access more details of their account statement easily, like when last contributions were made, how much they received in a particular month, total contributions made by each of their employers including the first and current ones.” Ayota said.

In future, more features will be added to the app to include both member and employer registrations without having to NSSF offices. This will be through partnerships with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) and Uganda Registration Services Bureau. I

n addition, eligible members will be able to initiate their benefits claims and track progress using the NSSF Go app.

The NSSF Go App is part of a variety of electronic channels the Fund introduced to improve its service delivery.

Other e- services channels include; The E-collections portal that allows employers to remit their employees’ contributions directly to their NSSF accounts through the Bank, within 24 hours, Mobile money payment platform, NSSF Payway and SMS alerts.

“When I moved on to Kampala, I planned to come and continue with my education, get empowered with life skill that would help me sustain my life even when not behind the mic” Said Jenneth Prischa, the Pe-Apore gospel hit marker and co-founder of Rockstar Edutainment.

According to Prischa she has enrolled for a two-year training in fashion and design at COWA centenary vocational training school, located in the premise of Nsambya catholic parish, a school dedicated to skilling the next generation of entrepreneurship with basic life skill for improved livelihood.

She further noted that, in between she will be seating for her Directorate of industrial training (DIT) craft exam soon a move which will see her join YWCA for further studies.

Prischa who had initially studied garment cutting and making from Northern Uganda Youth Development centre in Labora, Koro sub-county, Omoro county in Gulu district urged that she realized whatever she studied was insufficient. “The fashion and designed world keep on getting new trends every day, so one needs to be creative to remain relevant in this business, being passionate about fashion I did the obvious by returning to class to find a befitting skill for a better future”

And your music? I am still in game and not about to give up soon, I am just busy but slowly releasing great songs like my latest on corruption dubbed, Corruption anthem, Gang Myel, Tim Pa kongo and Simple Gyal which just need on air promotions. Meanwhile, “I wanna be Jesus’s follower, Mony Polo and Take me home under my gospel collection have been recorded pending mastering and release soon they too will be dropping out”

Prischa noted it was her prayers to go back to school because there is no future without a firm foundation and self-realization.

Whereas music fetches money at any given time its occasional but with a permanent job you will always be sure of bread in your house than anticipating gigs and surviving on hands out. I think a permanent job regardless of home small is an opportunity for a sustained life than being unemployed.

“as a musician you don’t know when you get a gig most of the gigs are on the peak time of the year based on calendar of events so its equally hard to know when you will get one or not.

This for me as a woman is petty survival that does not define my true meaning of being a celebrated. She appealed to her true fans and those who love her music to continuing enjoying the few she has to offer with a promise to make a mega return when the right time comes.