It has been a habit of most opposition politicians to take Politics to burials. Most dramatic events that Ugandans have watched oftenly happen at burials and this is very wrong. As Africans we believe that when a person dies, he or should be accorded the highest honor during the burial because that’s his final day on earth. That is why we choose to speak only good things about them during eulogies, Even when we are aware that the person has been very bad at least you look for one or two good things about them and that’s what we usually speak about.
This is also done by religious leaders during their speeches and preaching, whereas it has been debatable that when someone dies and the person has been very bad, people should speak about it but I think it hasn’t been embraced by most people and that’s what defines us as Africans.
NUP leaders and politicians have really found fantasy in funerals and I don’t think that the relatives of the people who lose their loved ones are always impressed seeing NUP leaders turn burial into a scenes of drama.
Dr Kawanga Ssemogerere, a calm politician who hardly attacked anybody wouldn’t have loved Bobi Wine’s speech, a speech that was full of chest thumping, attacks and insults. a man, whose wife said that he wouldn’t have loved gun salutes wouldn’t be happy to hear someone to declare himself “Elected President” of Uganda even when it is clear that he lost and even feared to go court to challenge the results. Saying that they won elections whereas they lost is a foolery that the NUP leaders and supporters have found fun in.
I hope Ugandans are aware that the constitution allows any candidate who is not satisfied with the results to go to court and challenge results. If there’s enough evidence to that matter the election can be overturned and the elections be held again. If they’re confident that they won elections why didn’t they go to court? Again, how can a political party that got only fifty members of Parliament win a presidential election? Were they going to lead the country without parliament? It’s simply illogical for someone to allege that he won elections in front of Ugandans who know all those facts and who actually participated in that process.
Dr Kawanga Ssemogerere wouldn’t have loved to hear Bobi Wine releasing the information they shared in private, if indeed he told him about who killed Kayira and how it was planned, I think he was at liberty to release that information to the public when he was still alive. Even when he chose to let it out to someone else, Bobi Wine wouldn’t have been his choice because Bobi Wine was a new comer who knew nothing about Uganda’s leadership and politics. He instead needed polishing and mentorship but not that sensitive information. It is of recent that Bobi Wine has started picking a few things in politics and started knowing how to make speeches, otherwise it has always been difficult for him to make a simple speech in public. It is also possible that Bobi Wine concocted the information which he says he got from Dr Semogerere but because he was dead, he was at liberty to tell lies to the mourners.
I don’t think Dr Ssemogerere would have loved to hear Bobi Wine declare that there’s no peace in Uganda a country where he served as Prime minister and retired honorably without any disturbances. How can someone say that there’s no peace in a country where they move several kilometers from Kampala without being interrupted to attend a burial which is presided over by the state, The person is given a chance to speak in front of the Prime minister and even declare himself Elected President of Uganda. That’s the foolery that Bobi Wine has been riding on and unfortunately most Ugandans especially the youth have succumbed to it to the extent that they can sacrifice their lives to unnecessary violence sometimes fighting with armed Police. If the youth were aware that Bobi Wine simply takes advantage of their ignorance about the politics of the country they wouldn’t give him even a bit of their attention, they would be busy engaged in productive activities that give them some income.
On the contrary, I feel the late Dr Semogerere would have loved to hear the speech of President Museveni which was read for him by the current Prime minister of Uganda Robina Nabbanja because the speech gave a story on how the President was a former youth winger of DP and that means he was an active member of a party that Semogerere founded and loved so much. if Dr Ssemogerere was alive he would have smiled because the President of Uganda appointed the current President of Democratic Party as his minister of Justice, that’s the cooperation and the politics of tolerance that he embraced because in several pictures that were released Dr Semogerere was seen with people he disagreed with politically an evidence that he was tolerant and accommodative.
However, it’s high time Bobi Wine and all the NUP leaders start respecting the dead and the people who lose their loved ones. They should tame their tongues and leave people to mourn without the interruptions of unnecessary politicking.
The writer is a deputy RDC Sheema District.
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