However, in speaking the language of the oppressor – impunity – Ggwanga embellished it with own identity and crafted a uniquely difficult-to-hate persona. Being personally austere and overly self-confident, his military escapades had accentuated this confident and braggadocious character. Eloquent. Daring. Brave.
Kasirye never minced his words, and was not “joking subject” as kickboxer Golola Moses would put it. Just going by some of his most memorable (infamous?) incidents, you would tell Ggwanga was simply a movie character come to life. Involved in a shootout in Kampala in at attempt to steal his car, Ggwanga emerges victorious shooting dead two of his attackers, who were also armed.
He would then shoot in the air to disrupt night churchgoers whom he described as “noise crusaders.” He would then burn a grader of an alleged land grabber, and in another incident, shoot the car tyres of a celebrity singer who was polluting their silence with loud music (?).
For taking the law in his own hands – ironically, in response to systemic lawlessness – Ggwanga attracted the ire of many sanctimonious Ugandans. In truth, the ire of Ggwanga’s haters over his approach to life in Museveni’s violent environment was simply misplaced.
Kasirye Ggwanga famously wondered why the brutally assassinated Afande Felix Kaweesi was not ready to shoot back as the murderers approached. He also scoffed at Maj Muhammad Kiggundu’s decision to emerge from his vehicle with raised hands when the shooters were simply shooting away.
They are all dead – for supposedly being “law-abiding” and peaceful. If it were him, Kasirye Ggwanga noted in that interview, he would have shot back in equal measure. In truth, all those families, friends and relatives that have lost women in the kidnaps and murders in Entebbe and Nansana wish they had Gen Kasirye Ggwanga as relative or that they were him.
The men and women whose plants are slashed by connected land grabbers wish they had Ggwanga in their family. The ordinary folks being jailed or simply killed by land thieves and are displaced en masse, wish they were Kasirye Ggwanga or at least his relation or neighbours.
Strangely, oftentimes, it has been Ggwanga’s colleagues in the military, their kindred relations or business associates that brutalise Ugandans. The record is straight that this tough-talking soldier hated thieves – especially the primitive accumulation of his colleagues and their associates.
Many of Museveni’s associates (soldiers, businesspeople, near and distant relatives and in-laws) have dispossessed many Ugandans on their highway to accumulation – exploiting just their closeness to power.
On the other hand, Kasirye Ggwanga dispossessed no one. But instead fought on the side of the wananchi. If he was not directly fighting thieves, he would be on the road chiding them. Indeed, Ggwanga identified as a mukopi, the Luganda word for “the wretched of the earth.”
Becoming more visible in the public domain as Governor of Mubende District – not “Chairman” as was legally defined – Ggwanga became renowned for his strictness in providing services and guiding the people in the district.
If a family did not have a pit-latrine, and plate-stand, which are core primary healthcare requirements, Ggwanga would make their lives uncomfortable. He closely supervised road works, if he never involved himself directly. This endeared him to the district to the point that they so intimately pleaded with him to carry on as their governor, but he declined.
One quickly appreciates that in addition to his straightforwardness, bravery and candour, it was his distinctive sonorous baritone of voice, charm and witticism that rendered Ggwanga admirable.
A baroque conversationist, Ggwanga punctuated his tales with stories of valour and bravery that gave him folkloric heroism. His free-flowing tongue attracted him public attention, making him material for prime time TV and radio audiences.
Ordinary folks tend to admire men and women with power. The feeling is even much more in jungle republics were survival is not only for the fittest, but everyone is on their own. Whilst Ggwanga epitomised power, his candour, brilliancy and valour is the dream for many ordinary folks living in Museveni’s violent environment.
yusufkajura@gmail.com
The author is a PhD fellow at Makerere Institute of Social Research.
