There is a novel I read many times in high school and also later at university.
Besides the moving love and tragic storyline in Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the lines that left a permanent impression me are in the preface to the 1985 edition. There, Thomas Hardy, recalls that when the novel first appeared in 1891, it was met with an incredible amount of anger and vitriol for the things it said, especially about Victorian England being superstitious and invested in voodoo!
Many didn’t like this portrayal of an otherwise Christian English society. Five years later, Hardy and his intellectual adversaries – after many bitter exchanges – had “gone down into silence,” while the novel lived on.
Hardy concludes that the silence was a reminder to one another “of the infinite unimportance of their say and mine.”
Something like, naye twali tuffa ki? In the Islamic tradition, we are taught that the Almighty God gave us treatment for all sorts of illness. Except old age. (Science is behind as some of the treatment is yet to be discovered, but is surely available). Old age is considered illness in Islam.
Obukadde bulwadde as the Baganda say. Indeed, the original notion of age-limit is God’s notion. One could have a long life – maybe up to age 150 – but there is a limit. At one point, without illness or accident, every sinew, every vein is so loosened and exhausted that the body finally shuts itself down.
But before death, God put an age-limit on almost everything that humans so voraciously love: giving birth to children, travel, intercourse, etcetera. A time comes when the body cannot respond.
This limit is so humbling – almost humiliating as it subdues the arrogance and appetites of men. Again, Islam instructs us that to refresh their Imaan – as long as they are alive and well – to visit either (a) hospital or the bedridden or the cemetery.
Visiting the bedridden softens our hearts, and reminds us about the bounties we would be enjoying already. In the cemetery, one finds graves – marked and unmarked – of men and women who were once oracles of their time; folks for whom the world stood when they arrived: Julius Caesar, Napoleon, King Leopold II, Captain Lugard, Queen Elizabeth II.
Had the dead had the chance to somehow see their own tombstones, they would surely appreciate the “infinite unimportance” of all their labours and aggressions.
Dear reader, I am not proselytizing, but two recent deaths of men with power and status have forced me onto this journey: In the week that we buried Gen. Moses Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), we also buried our LC I chairman in Maganjo B, Haji Jaberi Musoke Ssegujja (may Allah be pleased with him, too).
Like Moses Ali, Haji Musoke was 87. He had been Local Council chairman for over 40 years, having started as member of the Resistance Council in 1986. Both men were still in office to their last days.
While Gen. Moses Ali was decrepit in his last days, Haji Musoke was just sickly but fairly steady. Aging. God gave these two men a long life, and being men of industry and high standing, they had accumulated some wealth – mostly through rightful channels. Being Muslim, both men were buried in plain earth. Muslims do not bury in coffins.
Indeed, both men left behind all their worldly possessions – both material and relational – which they had spent years earning and building. Consider their titles – a General of the UPDF, and a chairman of the village.
These titles had value in the material nature of things: the signatures of both men had power to turn into money or earn one a promotion or recognition (say as a citizen of Uganda).
Except to previous signed documents, their signatures became useless forthwith. They left behind automobiles, estates, children and beautiful wives. Thinking about these deaths – in the context of life more generally – those lines in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles even became more powerful: the “infinite unimportance” of our excesses, and aggressions.
Many men have accumulated immense amounts of power and wealth simply through dispossession. But why kill another for power or wealth when you are also a walking body simply waiting your time?
Why not insist on fairness and goodness to other humans? Why not simply be good to other creations of nature, including the environment, knowing that, once the last breathe runs out, all your aggressions, and accumulation become entirely useless?
Indeed, lucky to beware of this reality – of absolute immortality – men and women with power choose to spend their time worrying about their tombstones, and the memories they will live behind for their children and grandchildren.
Although one may not care or even be affected by that which is said after they are gone, the collective mental health of their children and grandchildren ought to concern them immensely.
Besides, all humans cherish the idea that chroniclers of history will be kind to our legacies and memories. There is no mortality in more accumulation as American-type capitalism has come to delude humanity. Those who die don’t die because of limited accumulation, but rather because every soul shall test death (Quran, 3:185).
Consider the recently deceased NRM-Chairperson for Kayunga District, bwana Moses Karangwa. Watching jubilant crowds in market-squares and on social media platforms rejoicing in his death – as a ruthless landgrabber – was such an ugly sight. I sympathize with the relatives he left behind.
Down this road, I could not help but think about the men and women in President Museveni’s government who seem to find pleasure or even safety in torture, abduction, and absolute ruthlessness.
Surely, “every soul shall test death”– and will be humbled, subdued. Even humiliated. Buried in different locations, thousands of mourners went to pay their last respects to Gen. Moses Ali and Hajji Musoke, not out of cynicism but love and sadness. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
yusufkajura@gmail.com
The author is a political theorist based at Makerere
Doc, your article immediately reminds me of the Luganda proverb you previously cited: “omusota oguli mu ntamu” (a snake in the cooking pot). This metaphor suggests Uganda is caught in a trap where trying to strike the threat risks destroying the nation itself. Essentially, it counsels appeasement of the current leadership to preserve stability. However, your conclusion attributes state violence generally to “men and women in President Museveni’s government.” In reality, this ruthlessness is concentrated within a specific family, tribal network, and military inner circle that took power by the gun and maintains it through terror. General Muhoozi’s open boasting about abductions and torture proves this isn’t just governance—it is a family-led military occupation built on nepotism and corruption. By advising citizens to leave these “pythons” alone, you inadvertently validate the regime’s hostage diplomacy, famously echoed by Museveni’s threat to turn Uganda into Mogadishu if removed.
There is a lot wisdom in this article . We appreciate Mukulu Sserumkuma for finally retracing his courage and dare talk about the elephant.
Well ,a lot was said about Gen.Moses Ali before he was placed in his last address ; most of it frankly mechanical ( a down side of civility is our love for the dead ones )
Personally , I only noticed the words that come out of Hon Adeke. She said :” let us respect human life..” Her tone and body language indicated that she really meant what she was saying. If context matters , she was aware that those NRM high-ranked ladies and gentlemen who sat on the front bench mourning Moses Ali are the same people who stayed silent when Waiswa Mufumbiro lost his dear wife , but was not only denied the chance to go home and be with his wife in her last days on earth , but also stopped him from attending her funeral . Waiswa loved his wife just as Moses Ali was loved by his relatives .It was cruel and barbaric what these NRM him did to her during her last days, or are we supposed to forget that and just move ..?!
Hon. Adeke and others looked on as agents of rampant abductions were making perfumed speeches about a man who died of old age , yet they said nothing as Erias Lukwago`s life is slipping away in their jails. Are we in for yet another bombastic “state funeral” if the thinkable happened to Erias Lukwago ?
Mwami Sserunkuma himself : ” I could not help but think about the men and women in President Museveni`s government who seem to find pleasure or even safety in torture , abductions and absolute ruthlessness ”
Yeah !!!!!
No need to remind the owner of the above timely statement that one of the men in President Museveni`s government is his SON , Gen , Muhoozi Kainerugaba. So far , he is the only man in Uganda who has gone on record to declare that he is the abductor ,that he is the torturer of Eddie Mutwe , that if it was not for his Dad , Dr.Besigyeand Kabobi would not be alive . Muhoozi is the man who celebrated the humiliation of Barbie Kyagulanyi and Mrs Matembe . Muhoozi is the one who boasted that he had killed “terrorists” inside Muwanga Kivumbi`s house . As we speak , Muwanga Kivumbi`s where abouts remain unknown two weeks after he was abducted .
Soooooo, it remains a great puzzle why Mukulu Sserunkuma still thinks that one of the MEN in President Museveni`s government, Muhoozi in particular , is the one who will save Uganda from future abductions and absolute ruthlessness ?
Ah !
Just as I was posting a remark over Hon.Muwanga Kivumbi`s unkown where abouts , two things were happening:
1- The almighty CDF was publishing something to the effect that “they ” had no idea where Muwanga Kivumbi is . Our blessed Police was echoing the same chorus. ( Gen. Nalweyiso gave us another version )
2-Armed men with face masks were dumping Kivumbi Muwanga at Nateete Police station , with orders : to not allow anybody to see or talk to him and to immediately drive him to Butambala. The story is still unfolding hours later.
A few days ago , Ugandans were ordered to drop everything and clean up the horribly dirty streets , greens , blocked sewage outlets , etc etc etc.
What our Masters seem to forget if they themselves cleaned their horribly dirty minds and hearts, everything else would follow . Mukyala Nabbanja commanded the garbage to disappear ; hardly does she realize that we the ruled expect her to make John Bosco Kibalama to re-appear .Alive or dead .
Betty, my dear, I hate to disagree with you, but we are the ones who need to change our mindset. When you say, ‘What our Masters seem to forget if they themselves cleaned their horribly dirty minds and hearts, everything else would follow,’ you imply that these leaders will actually change. In reality, the opposite is happening. They are doubling down, and things are getting worse by the minute. Why expect them to clean their hearts when they have failed to do so over 40 years of Museveni’s autocracy?
The other day, I watched an interview on Sky News where the anchor confronted M7. He arrogantly asked, ‘If I’m not senile, why wouldn’t you want me? If I’m available, not dead, not on medicine, and still around with some knowledge, why wouldn’t you take advantage of me?’ When asked about the youth wanting a change in leadership and that is what he wanted when he was a rabble. He claimed he was ‘dying to work with old people’ because big problems need experienced hands. When questioned about high youth unemployment and the hopeless silence felt when the government shuts down the internet, M7 claimed, ‘We’re the ones who built the internet. Shutting it down is because we are dealing with criminals who want to use that infrastructure to destabilize our country.’ He went on to dismiss the lack of new leadership over six electoral cycles by saying capable candidates simply weren’t elected. He even blamed election rigging entirely on the opposition, confidently adding that the NRM is too popular to be overturned anyway. The point is this: M7 will never change. We must stop asking him to change and instead demand his departure. Unfortunately, many NUP leaders and supporters still expect a change of heart. By chasing Besigye’s path rather than directly confronting M7’s electoral grip, Kyagulanyi has inadvertently crushed the hope for real change. This is exactly why M7 speaks with such supreme confidence—he believes true change will never see the light of day in Uganda.
No dear , you do not disagree with me . Indeed , you and I are saying the same thing , only using different words and approach .
Mine was simply a hypothetical observation , if I may call it that.
I was just saying that if the rulers tried to use their brains ( which many of them were blessed with before they converted to robotism) they would know that people do not have to be instructed or ordered to clean up : meaning that if a society stops doing what makes them feel a sense of dignity , it means that that society such a society has ” switched off” and needs a healing. Uganda has been here forever and was never ever known as a dirty country: in fact , Uganda , ( or Buganda if you like) was famously known as the most hygienic awareness nation in all black Africa. What has happened—!!!!
I think I have named some of the things that form the basis to the presumption that Prime Minister Nabbanja ( and whoever else conceived the idea of national cleaning day stunt ) is unaware of their own lack of mental and sociological hygiene. In modern thinking , garbage has more than one definition .
PS :Where we differ though , is that I do not believe that our Supreme Leaders actions or inactions , his statements or his bad judgment are as result of someone else`s actions or inactions .
Sula bulungi Ssebo !
Thank you, my dear Betty. It all comes down to a crisis of leadership. I dislike M7 for very valid reasons: he has deliberately sunk our nation into a seemingly irreparable state. By nature, M7 is a heartless, corrupt, and inherently violent individual. His obsession with violence is clear in his speeches, which constantly focus on past wars and threats of future conflict. He led the Luwero bush war, costing a million lives, only to become the worst autocrat Uganda has ever seen.Tragically, those of us yearning for change completely lack effective leadership. Just as M7 is our worst dictator, Kyagulanyi has proven to be the worst opposition leader we’ve had. Ever since he took center stage, the struggle for transition has taken a massive dive, and hope has vanished. It has gotten so bad that Muhoozi openly brags with absolute impunity about abductions and torture. Take the case of Kivumbi you mentioned. The government denied knowing about his abduction, yet he suddenly appeared at the Natete police station. The police failed to arrest the people who dumped him there, just as they failed to arrest those who originally took him. This proves our vulnerability under weak leadership; it is just business as usual. Figures like Ssenyonyi and Lubongoya are merely running around like headless chickens between courts and police stations as if they are in a relay race, while the nation sinks deeper into ruin.