In 1996, I voted for Dr. Ssemogerere. In 2001, Dr. Besigye. In 2006, Dr. Bwanika. In 2011, it needed no Professor to determine the outcome. Well, I stuffed my room with books and scones just in case a war broke out. In Ntinda, voting went on as usual. My scones ran out and I took pictures of the expectant and constitutionally forward-looking Ugandans staining their fingers symbolically. I know the elections should affect me but unless I write a poem that causes as much national upheaval and news as Wael Ghonim's Egypt's facebook revolution, then...
But what if I did? I mean, the larger population does not appreciate the gravity of poetry but I could make it into a popular rap song. Out with the despot and out with the rot. Let's go to town and create change now. I really do have talent,no? However, since we are not a predominantly muslim nation, there will be no revolutions this season. Let the Arabs tussle it out first. I hear on Tuesday there will be a yellow party in Kololo or is it kampala town? Good for them. They've had it for 24 years, I mean when we get fed up we can always hire the Egyptians, right? I would have worn a rainbow coloured dress on Tuesday but rainbow is no longer the sweet array of colours with the gold at the end of it but synonymous with other divisive elements.
How about you? What colour are you? In Sironko, where I am from, everyone voted FDC, and I mean literally. When Mt. Elgon blushes, it turns blue.
So, what colour are you?
Its my first time here on your blog and I have seen interesting stuff. Keep doing it and your efforts are much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
at the pyre of my nation
ReplyDeletei mourn my nation;
as billows of gray democracy
rise up and disappear to nothingness
tears of oppression and autocracy
flow down my sunken cheeks;
my nation burns to ashes
at the pyre of national elections!
Bev, the above is what presidential elections mean to me! i may not be a poet, but i know what it means to try to choose your destiny but find that someone else has made the choice for you! on Friday i realized i had an unknown twin who voted on my behalf when i went to cast my vote! lucky you who stayed at home!
..Well, I stuffed my room with books and scones... i love that so much; it's just too much for me; i'm almost falling apart with laughter; ha ha!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kim,Joel I love billows of gray democracy, so u have a twin! This nation impresses me with every passing day.Hillary, books and scones are my dual delight.
ReplyDeleteI voted. I keep in mind that whereas some people do not like something, there are others who do. We need to respect that and not assume that everyone is on our side.
ReplyDeleteIn other news: Titus 3:1 Remind your people to obey the rulers and authorities and not to be rebellious. They must always be ready to do something helpful (CEV)
oh of course, voting is a must for every citizen of Uganda and there were reasons beyond my control that I could not vote this time round. You have to admit though, it is hilarious that Joel went to vote and found someone has done so on his behalf. These are the moments that make the electoral process interesting. I am also glad we are a nation of different interests because life's goodness comes from variety.
ReplyDeleteDon't you think that just one poem 'Building the Nation' by Henry Barlow fully justified his life and to this day still resonates in his passive complaint? I think it does. I think it has given and will continue to give so many people strength to go on when they did not think they could go on anymore. Poets, as Shelley says, are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. Those Arab revolutions were brewed in the revolt of the Arab musicians, artists and writers of the 1950s-1990s.
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