All Truths Are Half-Truths

 *All truths are half-truths—Alfred N Whitehead
*Seek ye the kingdom of power afore seeking the illusive truth—Soko

What characterized Olara Otunnu’s recently concluded election campaign strategy was an obsessive quest for the truth on past events: who did what to whom; who was right who was wrong; or what people’s intentions were. This strident bug was injected into the minds of some of his supporters who went on a rampage of noise-making ad infinitum. Now the questions that scream out are: All for what? What was the intended payoff? Gotcha!? Disaffection of the Ogre? Votes? The man never even voted for himself. If he marries, what will he tell his children? May be it will be: Hey kids, I was so principled that I ran for the presidency against all odds, and I was even more principled not to cast my vote for myself! ^#*$%! Master salesmen keep their messages simple.

The results have been deplorable for Otunnu and his UPC—even with the caveat of blatant lopsided conditions that did not favor the opposition. Especially heart-wrenching to my vociferous friends is that UPC did not take over Acoli subregion—no single UPC MP candidate won.

The question that lurks in the minds of some observers: Was Olara Otunnu an advocate for a cause or was he a political candidate with a cause?

Advocacy usually likens crusading in search for “truth.” A political candidate’s forte often calls for dealing with danger, food and sex in all their permutations—the basic survival ingredients that have become instinctual since Stone Age and are beneath the veneer of hot buttons. Know how and when to pick and/or blend them, and you can become king. They are the strings of the Adungu that a good maestro can strum to the delights of the hearts and minds of the masses—most of whom just survive and reproduce, with vague clues of the what and why of their existence. While some of the masses may have had “reading, riting, rithmetic” (even at the level of PhD), they live in confusion and, as Thoreau would say: in quiet desperation.

But, let us go back to “truth.” Is there anything like Absolute Truth? It seems there is none as such in law. In religion you just have to believe. Even in the purest of sciences—mathematics—is based on certain assumptions. So then, if one speaks of “truth,” you have to check out her programming. Political truth is a contradiction in terms, tainted with perspectives: power or lack of it, special interests, national interests or classified information. The latter two are especially nauseating because it is just a form of covering some boils in the rearend.

Here is the thing: If you don’t have the power to find the truth and, if you don’t have the power to enforce the findings of a report, then why not first seek power by any means necessary (including coalition). As they say: change is the only constant—that is, of course, if you play your cards smartly. It will happen. When you get power, then you can write your truth as you perceive it. Confusing issues confuses the masses and confuses outcomes. Seek ye the kingdom of power afore seeking the illusive truth.