The Budo saga is merely a microcosm of elitism & status-symbolism inside Uganda's school system. It is no surprise that girls from these "traditional" schools also look down on & denigrate fellow girls from supposedly less affluent schools. The rot is deeper than meets the eye.
When Kasumba (Sam) was abducted by Ugandan security forces last year, the country rallied around him, eventually forcing his release. No one ever asked what he did, or if he was "guilty". The first principle of justice is NEVER to blame the victim. But our memories can be short!
Museveni's unnecessary sprinkling of his speeches with Luganda & Runyakitara phrases reflects Uganda's deep-seated cultural insensitivity. How would we, Uganda's Bantu, feel if our national leader broke into Karimojong proverbs every two minutes during a State speech?
The same Ugandans who would have a fit if their daughter married a Sabiny, are now referring to Cheptegei as "our son" and "our golden boy". What really are the limits of our hypocrisy?
Mr. Humphrey Ahimbisibwe was a Ugandan educator, leader and father-figure for thousands of young lads who walked through the gates of
@Ntare_School
. In many ways, he made us the men we are today. Here are some memories from a happier time:
Uganda's next leader will just force himself on us. We've left them no choice. Muntu is too gentle. Besigye was power-hungry. Bobi is a liar. Kabuleta is a joker. Mao is Mao. Women are incapable. What do Ugandans want exactly? An angel? This is why coups happen.
#Indecision2021
Don't forget that Uganda's first-family, who are behind the slaughter of innocent civilians; are devout Evangelical Christians who have been hailed as "God fearing" & "anointed". Recently, they even hosted a national day of prayer where they rededicated our country to the Lord.
If you're a salary-earner & practicing Christian; always deduct expenses like transport, medication, rent, and food before paying tithe. Tithe is 10% of your SAVINGS, not of your salary. Ignorance of basic economics causes our pastors to cheat us.
Nobert Mao, a suave political actor, has finally realized that relevance is all that counts in Ugandan politics. When NUP emerged in 2016, DP lost its official role as the spokesman of "Buganda & Catholic" interests. With no ethnic/religious constituency, it became irrelevant.
Basically, a family feud & 3-year ego-trip between the ageing patriarchs of two East African families spawned a regional economic crisis, multiple murders & disappearences, and culminated in the unofficial "revelation" of Uganda's crown prince.
#RwandaUgandaBorder
In Ankole, we refer to all Uganda's non-Bantu people as "Abakooko", literally meaning beasts. Our leaders have never publicly apologised or condemned the term. It persists in our homes & private conversations. And then we claim to be African nationalists & de-colonizers.
#Tujooga
5000 fishermen die on Lake Victoria every year. But we don't really care (enough) because they don't own Whatsapp accounts, speak English, or worship at Watoto, Kibuli Mosque and All Saints Cathedral. Let us mourn now, but not forget to reflect after.
#BoatCruiseAccident
Yesterday, a Ugandan Olympian to the Tokyo 2020 Games vanished inside Japan. Julius Ssekitoleko left a note behind, saying that Uganda is simply unliveable. He's now seeking asylum in Japan. It's also true that 21,000 Japanese commit suicide annually. Life is truly a mystery.
After failing at mandatory vehicle inspection, registering bodabodas, distributing Covid money, and vaccinating people--Museveni's gov't now wants to track its citizens' cars. Don't worry Ugandans, the NRM's incompetence shall keep you safe & protect your privacy.
Makerere has been in flames for a long time. Their most vital assest, quality education, was set afire ages ago. The physical burning of a building is only the natural climax to a decades' old culture of decay in this country. Our systems are rotten, why spare the citadels?
Nicholas Opiyo is one of the most loved, respected & well-known Ugandan civilian elites. His arrest is a litmus test. How Ugandans respond to Opiyo's arrest will inform Museveni how far he can go in "dealing" with nosy intellectuals. The junta is watching, fingers crossed.
#Opiyo
The donor-funded NGO campaign asking Ugandans to be "peaceful" during elections is clearly targeted at civilians. Nothing is being said about violence from the army & police, who are already threatening people with death if they dare protest the result.
For most Ugandan elites, paying a police bribe is merely a minor discomfort. But for Hussein Walugembe, the boda-boda rider who self-immolated in Masaka, a bribe was a matter of life and death. Corruption is not an abstract thing to be dismissed lightly, it literally kills.
In 1985, the Obote-II government was brought down thru the combination of an "Acholi coup" and a 5-year "Buganda war". Museveni understands very well the damage an alliance between these two powerhouses could cause. The petty bickering isn't just sad, it's a betrayal to Uganda.
Mbonye's followers, despite proof of the man's fraudulence, remain steadfastly loyal. They are no different from African women who stick to abusive husbands for the money, kids, or social status. Illusions hold us hostage, because we fear admitting wrong.
#Biden
Ugandans, fully aware that the country's education system is broken; will still celebrate their child's PLE results as a "victory". Our elites claim to want reform, but few are willing to tell their kids that high grades often reflect inequality & privilege; not merit.
For those who question my social skills, here's proof! 😅 I spent the better part of the afternoon fraternizing with the movers & shakers of
@DebateUganda
. These young folk are among the most astute & consummate minds I know. The country's intellectual future is in
#safehands
. 💪🏾
Pombe Magufuli, while remaining revolutionary and inspirational in many ways, has ultimately succumbed to the one major flaw in African psyche ... ultra-religiosity. Superstition will literally be the death of our people. Even the so-called best of them.
Norbert Mao is the most articulate & intelligent politician of his generation. And yet Uganda's Bantu, even the elite, have always rejected him. Mao should repackage himself as a Luo leader & rally the country's Nilotes. You can't force nationalism on people who don't want it.
When churches reopen, the same pastors who have failed to cure Covid-19 will be resurrecting dead bodies and healing cancer. And millions of "educated" Ugandans will believe them and raise their hands in worship with teary eyes.
#HappyEid
Museveni's removal isn't quite the same thing as fighting Amin. With Amin, the enemy was easily identifiable: a rouge gang of semi-literate soldiers. But the NRM has succeeded in recruiting stooges from every tribe, religion & class in Uganda. Literally, the enemy is everywhere.
Do Ugandans want to see Bobi Wine's family dead before he can prove his authenticity & political credentials? In 2007, Besigye lost a brother to NRM death squads, and yet we still question his commitment. Ugandans are hard to please!
The future President of Uganda is not among the well-fed kids eating KFC, gorillos, and watching Jimjam in Kampala. It is a village boy being starved & beaten all day. And once he gains power, all the kids eating KFC today will pay heavily.
#Obujoozi
The spike in child pregnancies during lockdown, signifies a major defect in the Ugandan family. We claim to be a "Christian" country, but a lot is terribly wrong with our values, if girls aren't safe in the company of male relatives. We can't blame gov't for this; only ourselves.
Robert Kirunda's spirited defence of tax exemption & relief for the lowest income bracket affirms his credentials as a "Common Man's ideologue". He joins Chairman Mao on this score. Well done!
#NBSFrontLine
The silence of China, India, Russia & the Arab nations during the continued brutalization of American Negroes; should show us who Africa's true friends are. These are alleged "rivals" of America. In the end, only our resources matter to these global powers, never our lives.
I suppose now that Gov. Mutebile is well and gone, Museveni can finally import that long-coveted currency machine and print enough Uganda shillings to drown-out the national debt. We may even start lending to the IMF.
#NRMEconomics
#NRMAt36
While your daughter is learning how to cook, greet properly, memorise Bible verses, and wear skirts without slits; the boy who will marry her is playing video games all day, watching action movies, arguing about Express FC, and experimenting with weed cookies.
#GirlsLivesMatter
Kasese town snuggles in Rwenzori's Eastern foothills. A neat, delightful place with wide streets and no rubbish. The Bakonzo are hardy, tough folk who get work done. Hard to believe, that only a few years ago, this was the site of a bloody civilian massacre by Ugandan soldiers.
After 20 years of fighting "terrorism" in Afghanistan, the US Army is retreating as the Taliban move to capture power. Local collaborators who welcomed US troops in 2001 have been left behind to face Taliban "justice". Poor fellows. But, such is life.
Now that Uganda is to legislate against hooded cardigans, it's only fair in this shining democracy that other wardrobe items don't get ignored. I'm reliably informed the assassins were also wearing shoes. Mr. President, we should also ban shoes. And socks. Please!
Dear Ugandan, if you own a car and drive to work every morning, you have no moral authority to attack KCCA for the pollution over Kampala's skyline. Your "new" Toyota has a combustion engine. Dear Ugandan, you are the problem. In fact, drive to Church and "repent".
#EndPollution
Until all Ugandans own Uganda, tribalism will persist. Condemning it won't help. Gov't must enact policies that attack tribalism head-on: ethnic quotas for public jobs, a national language, sponsoring intermarriages. Army recruitment must be strictly based on ethnic percentages.
The irony about Uganda's
#TortureChambers
is that the torturerers aren't foreigners from Brazil/Russia. They're the brothers & fathers of people we know. We rub shoulders with them in taxis, owino & supermarkets. Some of them will even be attending our churches tomorrow morning.
Capitalism has invented machines capable of extracting precious minerals from the remotest jungles of the DRC. Not even bad roads can stand in its way! Yet the same “capitalism” is powerless when it comes to feeding millions of starving Congolese children… 🌾⚙️🌳
Armies recruit the worst elements of society, and give them purpose. The men torturing Ugandans on behalf of
#NRM
are yesterday's rejects, reborn into a "higher" calling. Ignored as children, they find affirmation in a UPDF whose value-system worships pain, and rewards cruelty.
This morning, Soroti City awoke to the news that the ruling NRM had won a tightly contested MP by-election. The atmosphere here is subdued, and the people's mood is neither jubilant nor festive. What I observe, is really a city in mourning. Welcome to Ugandan democracy!
I'd like to believe Kasumba isn't dumb. He's simply traumatized. Perhaps he needs to protect his job/family. Perhaps, like many middle-class Ugandans, he's scared of losing the "little" he has. It's easy to rage on twitter. But once
#NRM
has you in a dungeon, it's you & your God.
So government has closed NGOs, including those that offer free legal representation to political prisoners, and we are silent. No street protests, no marches, nothing! Ugandans surely ain't loyal.
#CafeJavas
☺
The proliferation of aphrodisiac beverages with dubious tradenames like "Kirungi, Mukama Nayamba, Xtra Mulondo, Kituzi" etc, on Uganda's consumer market, is a sociological indicator of how desperate & insecure the country has become. Virility & manhood are now commodities.
In Apac & Lira, most peasant women own and ride their own bicycles. That traditional symbol of male power has been effectively broken in this society. I also saw several women comfortably riding boda-bodas & large Yamaha motorbikes.
You may be affluent, educated, travelled & even speak English with an accent. But as long as you are black, and remain linked to a continent whose masses are hungry, poor & superstitious; you can never be respected. Unless dignity belongs to all Africans, it belongs to none.
SaudiArabia's Bin Salman is having the last laugh as Biden touches down in Riyadh tonight. The US President, previously a "sworn enemy" of the crown prince, has put need (oil) ahead of emotions. Africa can learn that power stems from resource sovereignty, not "pleasing" the West.
Urbanized Ugandans, who grow no food and drive/commute to work daily, are still able to afford a fuel litre at $2, and $1.6 bread; without public protests or burning the President's convoy. Statistician Museveni could be right afterall, we just might be a middle-income country!
After wasting a full day in national prayer, Uganda will be begging China, Sweden and other countries which have never had "national prayers" for loans to feed its people, build pit latrines, and treat jiggers.
#Tweddeko
Poorly mobilized majorities are meaningless. There are more black people than any other race on earth; and more women than men in most countries. Yet these numbers count for nothing in life's resource cafeteria. Ultimately, power belongs to the organized.
It is interesting how Fr. Simon Lokodo, a self-styled religious purist and Ugandan theocrat, passed-on in Switzerland--a country where abortion is legal, and LGBT rights are constitutionally enshrined. The irony of African politics is that rhetoric and practice never meet.
#RIP
The BBC film on Uganda's 2021 election killings shouldn't "shock" us. Countries spend millions training sections of their populations to be professional murderers. When these guns are turned on us, we feign surprise. Societies built on violence, eventually eat their own children.
The same pastors who only a year ago said that Museveni was Uganda's "God annointed" leader, are now wearing sackcloth and threatening to summon fire from heaven unless their companies reopen.
#MujoogaNyo
Non-access to cheap & flexible credit facilities continues to make Uganda’s domestic investments high-risk & unattractive. Even those we consider “regime connected”—like Aya or Bitature—remain hopelessly indebted to international capital. This is how to mortgage a nation. 💰🇺🇬
American racism benefits from the image of blacks as brainless entertainers. Negro rappers, basketballers & musicians have become Black-America's heroes & icons. When was the last time Africans on the continent celebrated a Black-American Mathematician, Teacher or Historian?
After Museveni's sudden death in office, Uganda will descend into chaos. While the poor are left here to die, the rich & educated will escape to Europe where they will live in refugee camps & work as sweepers, houseboys, and prostitutes. Our current stupidity will cost everyone.
Ugandan Pentecostal pastors have perfected the art of giving marriage advice to women. Tom Mugerwa, for instance, is now famous for his daily courtship tips on how women can get & keep husbands. But where are the "divine voices" teaching men to be dependable husbands?
When Obote married Maria Kalule in 1963, it was to win Buganda's cultural acceptance. Bobi Wine sees his wife's ethnic identity in the same context today; as a gateway to the "western" vote. But in Africa, when push comes to shove, do men side with their wives, or their in-laws?
Japan developed because its elites are frugal, thrifty people who believe in hardwork, a simple life, and saving. In Africa, our elites are show-offs who seek to prove points to their "haters". If their behaviour is condemned, they accuse the critic of having a "poverty mindset".
African states should launch 'child-exchange' programmes where families of different tribes swap children for a few months each year; so that kids can learn to appreciate diversity from a young age. Voluntary schemes are even better. Ethnic hatred thrives on fear of the 'other'.
After weeks of mocking arts teachers for being "useless", Uganda's President is now hosting a Hollywood actor, dramatist & entertainer posing as a "nuclear physicist". The fact that Museveni, a grown man, can fall for this charade--shows how unscientific his own mind is.
#THoward
As low-class Ugandans bleed and die for Bobi Wine tonight, elites on social-media are ranting from the safety of their couches. When the guns go silent, they will drive to work tomorrow and complain about morning traffic.
#Hypocrites
!
It's never enough to raise our children well. No matter how skilled & intelligent, they'll never live in vacuums. A parent must also find time to guide & shape less fortunate kids in the neighbourhood, because these will ultimately become your child's leader, spouse, or killer.
Ugandans who were keen on eating pilau and meat at the Idd celebrations earlier this year, are now silent as their government targets its Muslim minority for persecution, in the wake of recent "terror" attacks.
#kampalabombings
Museveni is evidently out of touch with reality. How can a Ugandan president, in his right mind, talk about "air-conditioning" in public transport? Either his speechwriters have never entered Kampala's taxis, or they downloaded the speech from Google.
This morning, we are in Kumi District, in Uganda's near-East. Apart from being home to Teso's famous Zebu cattle, the land is also very flat, and receives endless hours of sunshine. If you need to invest in solar energy harvesting, this is the place for you!
The Hoima "Oil" City is a place of contradictions. While it's among the most chaotic towns in Uganda; it's also vibrant, and the local economy is brisk despite the disorder. So far, "Oil money" has funded a new Palace for the Omukama, but the town's public library is in shambles.
Angola's MPLA has secured a 51% victory, just weeks after Ruto won the Kenyan vote with a close statistic. Majoritarian politics where "winners take all" and losers take the fall; are unfair, if not undemocratic. Overnight, the 47% who voted Raila/UNITA are rendered voiceless!
Uganda's gov't abducts its own citizens, tortures & abuses them, then casually dismisses court orders of release. And all we do is wring our hands, shout our voices hoarse, and beg the State to "please free him". Why can't we just storm the
#bastille
and break our people free!
In Mbarara, where NUP flamboyantly launched its manifesto a few weeks back, there has not been a single riot to "free" Bobi Wine. None in Kabale or Bushenyi either. These things reveal where people's loyalties lie. Oh Uganda!
Would an NUP or FDC regime be prepared to abolish the armed forces & State violence? How would Mao, Bobi or Muntu respond to an angry group of Ugandans calling for their immediate removal and imprisonment? Is our problem individuals, or systems?
In a year, the US gov't provides about $8 billion in aid to all Africa's 50+ states. Yet within the next few days, the Americans are gifting over $40 billion to Ukraine in its "war effort" against Moscow. Africa shouldn't look West (or East) for saviours. We're nobody's priority.
A petty thief was lynched today in my neighbourhood. Funny that ours is a society that immolates chicken thieves but hardly applies mob justice (the yardstick for social tolerance) to known rapists and child molesters. Speaks to our value system & its priorities.
Museveni works for his own "real" grandchildren because Uganda is a market economy. Under capitalism, politics is just a job like any other. Without socialism, Africa's politicians & civil servants will always put their biological families first. Capitalism demands it.
@wa_Kabwohe
Obote was shot in the jaw in 1969, in an assassination attempt. His articulation became noticeably slurred after that. His second term was marked by intrigue, internal frustration & a growing alcohol dependence. Obote I was Africa's leading statesman. Second only to Nkrumah.
Africans are fools to concern themselves with the Israel-Palestine conflict. Hebrews & Arabs have enslaved and oppressed blacks for centuries. They've equally orchestrated our pain. Taking sides in such a war is like the lamb supporting the wolf in its quarrel with the jackal.
As Ugandan men, Bobi Wine & Museveni can both teach us a key lesson. Manhood involves rebellion against the status-quo. Each man, in his own way, refused to play by the rules of his time & society. They chose instead to be "bad boys". Clearly, conformists & good boys finish last.
A society with skewed values always sets the wrong role-models for its children. As long as Zari or Bad Black remain richer & more popular than the average female Ugandan nurse, chemist or pilot; most of our daughters will aspire for glamour instead of grace.
#ConsciousParenting
Oyam District is hosting us this day. The mornings here are shockingly cold; but by 8am, the sun rises and claims its place. The memory of Dr. Obote is still alive, and I was delighted to see a diligent farmer and his oxen in action!
#VisitUganda
The attack on Katumba Wamala may be the last stroke of the Museveni government. Wamala is the senior-most & longest serving military officer from Buganda. He is a symbol of inclusiveness in an otherwise tribal army. This event will further alienate, justifiably, an entire region.
@Shand_ie
@a_m_patrick
Very gracious response. Acknowledging our own complicity in social injustice, even when we're victims, takes commendable strength of character. 👏
As Ugandan Christians go to bed tonight, they will kneel and thank Jesus for protecting them and their families, as if the people who died were being punished by God. Religious sadism is sometimes unbelievable.
#Tweddeko
The greatest danger of being poor is that you become a human experiment. Others use you as a guinea-pig to test the effects of their second-hand clothes, lifestyles, religions & vaccines. This is Africa's fate. We've become a living laboratory for the rest of the world.
The fact that Africa's historical greatness needs to be trumpeted on the rooftops, is itself cause for suspicion. If our ancestors were so accomplished, they wouldn't need spokesmen. Their legacy would speak for itself. Always mistrust a narrative whose credibility rests on PR.
In 1972, Idi Amin abolished all colonial names from Uganda's schools, lakes, roads, towns & other public monuments. After his downfall, Ugandans branded him an illiterate fool and proudly restored their "heritage". Today, we want to set the country on fire over colonial statues.