Who Are Your Heroes?

Do you still have heroes? Right! 

Or we have villains inside ourselves?

I grew up in a politically volatile country,

A nation that kills its citizenry without mercy,

Young or old, children, mothers and husbands!

Today, we live in the purgatory of political robbers! 

The days of political fog are with us now,

Smothering the tide of change.

 

No matter what the circumstances were, 

You always did the right thing.

I am forever grateful for your instruction,

On how to write, calculate and work hard,

And to be honest and endearing in my relationships,

I congratulate you for reminding me of a man's ethics,

Your ability to understand me, was your strength.

Sometimes, I overstepped my bounds,

I fought in school, right after small provocations or insults, 

You said that the value of a man is his brain,

Not his fists or his vile strength. 

You also said a pen was mightier

Than a weapon or a baton or a prison, 

 

You reminded me that the world

Has changed not by military force,

But by smart people like patriots,

Writers, doctors, politicians, poets,

Musicians, scientists and teachers, and activists. 

These men and women have made known

The principles of democracy,

Love of liberty and self-expression.

 

But in the Banana Republic,

A man's worth is measured in a cup of maize grain and beans, 

Father, you said, I shouldn't mention these things,

But our country bleeds everyday.

Imagine a bush rat costing millions of shillings,

And a goat costing a billion shillings, 

And in between, we have deep state monopolies, and mafias!

As the prices rise every day,

The citizenry cannot afford basic needs and school fees.

What we have, is a rhetoric of cassava over bread,

Tighten your belts, and "POW POW" airplane dives of our "money" minister!

We have sold this country to faceless strangers, and fake investors.

 

Father, you never allowed anybody to have the best of you,

Yet, you were funny, and loved merry-making.

You deserved a gold medal from Nile Breweries then!

But now, you found a new religious catapult.

Your colleagues still call you "Peroni" for your

Support of the tenets of democracy,

 

I recall your love for Kadongo Kamu,

Country music, reggae, and contemporary music.

I learned to listen to and talk about the themes of these songs, 

Your old Gramaphone always woke us up for household chores. 

The Afro rhythm and acoustic guitars of the fallen singers

Gave birth to the memories of a whole generation.

No one ever forgets Masagazi, Ssebaduka,

Mutebi, Wamala, Kawalya to Mugula, Luyima,

Ssebata, Basudde, Kasozi, Kafeero, Nabiryo and others.

 

I can still hear Dolly Parton's songs in my head, just like yesterday. 

The hoarse voice of Porter Wayne Wagoner,

Along with others like Don Williams, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash.

No one ever forgets Bob Marley and his wailers' lasting legacy. 

Today, we have no patriotic song to rally us.

Father, is this the new country you had envisioned?

 

The death of your children, Eve, Job, Romeo,

And Peter Pan upset you much. 

But my grandmother's death, Jaaja Kate,

Tormented you more, you were sad for years.

Then, came the passing of Mother Cecilia.

Now, you have accepted death as a fleeting feeling, an obscurity.

You know it is a lonely and meandering journey,

A blind man's trek to the next celestial world,

Another evolution of life.

Rest well, kinsmen! A lush, green

And paradisaic meadow awaits you.

 

Father, what we have now is tribal sentiments, and partisanship.

The "revolutionaries" continue to stifle democracy

And they have glued themselves to

The political offices until death absolves them.

A new wave of "beta" successors is warming up!

It is the façade that these freedom fighters

Erected on the ignorant citizens in the 1980s.

 

As we commemorate Heroes Day in Uganda,

Let us remember the sacrifices of these dead,

Missing, imprisoned and living heroes.

Sometimes, our heroes go unnoticed,

And it is the wicked ones who we remember the most! 

A new dawn will break tomorrow

And our country will rise from the new ashes just like the legendary phoenix!