Integrity

Amin would have probably asked: Who is this man, called Integrity?! If he is a real man, I want to challenge him to a boxing match!

Integrity is one of those words that are rare in the Uganda common lexicon. It is about personal wholeness, consistency, authenticity, and commitment to values and principles in all daily interactions and activities. (Koslow 1999).

In His bargain with Abraham, God promised that He would not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if He could find 10 good people. In a similar vein, can one find 10 people in Uganda with integrity? Hardly. However, in the political realm people like Bidandi Ssali, Amanya Mushega and Besigye can be counted as authentic and capable of correcting the tortured legacy of the nation. One would wish that the first two could have more fire in their bellies. On the other hand, the man heading the NRM has no integrity at all. Many of the rest of us would also as easily compromise our integrity for short-term gains as he has done on many occassions. This is because we have a deluded sense of “self” as we look for happiness in all the wrong objective realities.

Here are some tidbits on Integrity by Koslow.

1. Always keep your word. If a change in circumstances means that keeping your word would be life threatening or otherwise devastating, renegotiate with the intent of maintaining integrity

2. Integrity requires consistency between your public statements and your private thoughts

3. Highly effective people never blame circumstances for their lack of results. Instead, they accept responsibility and recommit to the actions necessary to produce intended results.

Who Can Judge Good from Bad?

In a Taoist story, a farmer's horse once ran off into foreign lands. The neighbors all said it was terrible, but the farmer shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not." Later, the horse returned with a foreign horse of fine breed. The neighbors all said it was wonderful, but the farmer shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not." The horse mated, and the farmer became a wealthy horse trader. One day his only son was riding and fell and broke his hip. The neighbors all said how horrible, but the man shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not." Next year, foreigners invaded. All able-bodied young men were drafted. Almost all died in battle. The army had taken all the man's horses, but his son, because of the broken hip, was spared.

The moral: you never know. The other day a good friend of mine asked whether I thought a certain African dictator was grooming his wife to succeed him. She wanted a definite answer, and didn't like my wishy-washy one. You never know; the universe has its own laws. In the chaos theory and complex theory the results of interactions between A & B is dependent on the environment C, plus factors D, E & F.

It Can Never Be Taken Back

Once you say something, it can never be taken back even if you do a Munyankole dance.
Many times what are supposedly careless talks come from the unconscious, reflecting what has been buried deeply—a Freudian slip. But Rubanga pe wany (God is not stingy)—she gives you what you want when you least expect. And that includes the darkness that festers in our hearts unbeknownst to the rest of the world. Then, kaboom!: “Those Jaluos are mad.”

This was the “beloved” President of Uganda in his truest elements. Of course, now there is backtracking and calculated explanations because he wants the East African Community, a concept to accommodate his large ego. Some Ugandans are used to this kind of reckless ethnic slurs. But will the Kenyans and the Tanzanians take such slurs like sheep? He can’t help himself. Next time he is frustrated, we may hear about “those promiscuous Bakusu!”

Isn't It Ironic?

The world is very strange. Take the case of American blacks. I cannot even imagine the kinds of sufferings their slave ancestors went through. One aspect of these sufferings was the fact that the master would take the women and have them for pleasure and/or the production of more slave heads in the plantation. Thus came the category of lighter skin blacks. Here is the irony: soon these lighter skin blacks became of “higher quality”—they had “better” skin tone and “better” hair. To this day the lighter skin tone and flowing hair are at a premium in the black community. Those that did not have had to use skin corroding soap and hot comb. Thanks to some chemistry wizard who has concocted chemicals that take the kinkiness out of black heads. It is a multi-billion industry that is supported by even village women in the remotest jungles of Africa. Poor Africans have but to latch on.

What else is strange? The swashbuckling guerilla top dog marched into Kampala in 1986. One of his proclamation was that Africa’s problem was leaders who stay in power for too long. A predecessor, who did not last long in the caretaker seat once commented that the presidential chair was very sweet. Our guerilla top dog certainly agrees with that as he “forgot” his earlier statement and has clung on to power like a tick on one of his cows. He still wants more after twenty plus years and counting. Isn’t it ironic?

Africans were colonized and abused. We could not wait and were euphoric for Independence. Then we got new masters in black skin. Now we can’t wait to get out of the continent and go to the lands of the master colonists. We lie, starve and undergo all kinds of humiliation to get to the “promised land.” Isn’t that ironic?

In America it used to be that if you much as looked at a white woman, you might be hanged on the next tree. Now some of my brothers specialize exclusively on white women. Our uncle, Hussein Obama got on the bandwagon and produced for us a dynamic president. Isn’t that positively ironic?

Size Isn't Everything

A time in the men’s gym locker room is a study in comedy. There is the tall Rastafarian with a member almost to his knees! He knows what he has, and is not shy about intimidating with it. Then there is the white dude with his fat belly folds almost covering his member. Then there is the rest of us in-betweens.

Men are so hung up on size. So do many women. Yet the mechanics of giving satisfaction does not require reaching the womb. Tantric techniques can make a woman explode without much ado. It is not the size; it is the intelligence in the winnie. But this is not going to stop the myth and much low self-esteems. Incidentally the dude with the navel size has a bunch of kids--testimony that something is happenning to keep the memshahib around.

Talking about size; it has of late been a major theme song of the president of Uganda. Not that size! Rather the relationship of population size to economic development. Most recent one was in a lecture to the students at university of Dar-Es-Salaam. He, ostensibly, wooed for the need for a East African Community as a means of a larger economic free flows. Tanzania has been dragging its feet to the creation of the common market.

Size is not decisive in bringing about economic development. There are numerous economies with small populations which are prospering in this globalized world. Uganda has for several years now had the markets of Southern Sudan and Eastern Congo to exploit. It only stole stuff from Congo. It could not take full advantage beyond petty commerce. The obsession with the East African Community is a misplaced effort. With the dilapidated public structures and leadership-by-whims, Uganda will only be a dumping ground for the goods of those more prepared, and the fledgling Uganda wannabe-industrialists will be snuffed at birth.

Tanzania should stick to its course. Better later than sorry.

The Monkey Mind

Ever heard of the “monkey mind”? That is how some people describe the seemingly uncontrollable activities of the wondering mind. Like a monkey, constantly jumping from one tree branch to another, the untamed mind jumps about from one thought to another—now it is thousands of miles in London, next it is thinking about Odiya who did me wrong years ago, then it is to the future when life will be milk and honey with a knight with shining armor and on a white horse—hither and thither it wanders.

The other day, instead of biting the morsel of food I was taking to my mouth, I bit the fork and chipped my tooth! The reason: my mind was miles away from eating. Many accidents have occurred because the mind was not with the activities at hand. Besides accidents, the danger to the monkey mind is that it can cause us a lot of miseries. This has nothing to do with the “mind” that can comprehend such arcane concepts as quantization in digitizing analog communications signals, brain elasticity, or fractal geometry. The monkey mind is an equal opportunity phenomenon that afflicts the high and mighty as well as those who eat grass to subsist—unless, of course, one tames it.

All who know agree that a pristine mind is one that dwells in the now. The now and the here is the only earthly reality. The past, a series of the now, is long gone and is reflected in the present circumstances. The future is illusive but can be influenced, to a large extent, by the now.

So, when a snake-oil salesman comes and tells you: “ keep your health and do not die because the future Uganda is a jewel, not unlike Britain or even better,” beware. Just role your eyes and wonder about the state of his mind. If you live in the now in a certain way and hope for a different future, you are either stupid, ignorant or insane. Mismanagement of resources will not change even if Acoliland begins gushing oil in the billions of gallons. Those who are “eating” will continue their gluttonous eating at the expense of the multitudes. A dog will always go back to its vomit.

Onen, the Cause Célèbre for the Nile Republic?

Who can remain patient
while the mud gradually clears?
Who can remain still
while the moment for action so slowly emerges?
Lao Tzu

It was a long time ago. He came, he saw , he conquered. That was Julius Onen. He had come from another school for his A Level. I was may be in form One or Two. His good friend Ocan (now judge) also came over from another school. While Ocan had a heavier soul, Onen was light—a likable personality by anyone. Soon he was elected house prefect. He was the school’s football goalie. There was no fire and brimstone crusader disposition about him. No wonder other countries would recommend him for the East African job, and the Northern MPs would rally to his cause. What is surprising is that his job cause would become a rallying point for the Nile Republic.

It is difficult to understand why groups would want their own to be a minister or a high-level government appointee. Would Onen’s appointment bring a paved road to his village in Layibi? Such is the kind of question a Museveni would cynically pose. The counter question is, in spite of preaching non-sectarianism and, if it doesn’t matter, why has he filled most high-level government positions with his westerners? The point is: it matters. Such appointments have a feel-good and motivational effect for the rest of us. When Onen passes by in his sleek car and throws dusts on my face, I can proudly point and exclaim: the ambassador is in Gulu this week-end and may be, if I am lucky, I may get to shake his ambassadorial hands! It tells a young man or woman that s/he can be all s/he can be unhampered by tribal affiliation. It says, if I excel, I can get a road-sweeping job without having to talk Lunyankole.

A government appointment is a good litmus test that a group belongs. If such appointments are not forthcoming, however qualified, it means you don’t belong. Why then stay? Coupled with various other forms of marginalization, it is time to seriously consider other options. There will be no love lost if the North went its separate ways. One wonk opined that it is wishful thinking. Yes, may be, but it is a good start. Even the Protectorate from which Uganda was cobbled was initially a wishful thinking when some people were peeing in their kanzus in fear of the fearsome Kabalega.
What the leaders need to do is to prepare the Northern population. Causes and conditions will come when the Nile Republic can be effected if the collective psyche is ready. In the meantime we should streamline and consolidate our votes to the side of the forces of overall genuine fairness and respect for the rule of law.