If you were having coffee with me, I would welcome you to my socially distanced corner of the internet for some Gonja Crisps.
For those not in the know, Gonja Crisps are deep-fried plantain slices packed and sold in Uganda, not sure if they are done anyway else, but the practice of frying plantain is not uncommon. I remember when I first heard the idea of frying plantain and wondered if regular bananas could be fried too… So of course I tried it.. Check out from my archives: Coffee With Going Bananas.
If you are having coffee with me I would tell you that plantain is a variety of banana that is staple in the tropical area. I am only familiar with the regular banana but I do now know that plantain is in the same family although starchier and one can eat them raw but are best cooked or fried.
In case you are wondering, I noticed that frying regular bananas made them some-what sweeter with a taste reminiscent of breakfast cereal.
As for Gonja Crisps they taste like crunchy Banana Flavoured Chips. I had the pleasure of trying out two different brands of Gonja Chips. Newman’s Gonja Crisps and Sumz Gonja Crisps with the later seeming to be the more common type, well, at least judging by how they come up when you search on Google, maybe they just have a stronger marketing team and the reality on the ground might be different, will have to await someone from Uganda to weigh in their observations
If you were having coffee with me I would tell you how the two products, lets see I liked both while Newman’s Gonja Crisps had a dry hard crunch to them, the Sumz Gonja Crisps had a softer crunch so it really becomes a matter of choice like how some people like the crunchy crips apples while other prefer the more mushy type.. FYI I like the green apples.
If you were having coffee with me I would tell you while we were having Gonja Crisps… (in my head that rhymes with Ganja another name for cannabis) Each crunchy bite made me think; Hello Banana Republic.. Did you know in the past week 191 Members Of Parliament voted for Amendment Number 2 allowing The President to extend terms of office for judges by 5 years, to promote judges as he wishes; removes the running mate provision and also allows him to appoint 7 unelected ministers; it provides for an extension of the women’s quota to 60 seats and 10 seats for the youth in the National Assembly.
Only 22 legislators voted against it so with more than a two thirds majority, that means the Bill sails through House Of Assembly and now awaits transmission to Senate. While the Bill has some progressive elements to it, it takes away more than it gives under the guise of serving the people who voted.
If you were having coffee with me, I would tell you that through Statutory Instrument 95 of 2021 the government intends to start monitoring communications, but of course, this is just purely to prevent Service Providers and Users from prejudicing the state of revenues… Well that’s what they say anyway. It’s a bit hard to understand what the government’s concerns on its people’s welfare is when only they decide, without letting anyone else be part of the decision making;
Below are images from Dinde Community in Zimabbwe where a Chinese Company was granted a mining exploration permit in the area and they dug exploratory holes next gravesites without so much as a by your leave….
Residents getting arrested for bringing empty buckets to Municipal offices in Masvingo to protest about the water situation where there has been no running water in the taps for days.
Rocky start to a clean-up campaign when the police arrested the organiser but they eventually allowed the clean-up exercise to go on in Mbare, Harare, Zimbabwe
Meanwhile, the police are on large recruitment drive, if you are interested in joining the police force, what can I say the government rally likes to protect and serve the people.
This coffee conversation is more than a day late from my regular scheduling because have been in an electricity blackout for the past 96 hours, apparently someone stole the electricity cables, an where are the police?
Whats been going on in your neck of the woods?
~B
Becoming The Muse 
Your thoughts.. if you will?