It is time to reflect on the spirit and text of our national anthem

Former British prime minister Winston Churchill visited Uganda in 1907 and was awed by her natural beauty, resource endowment and citizen’s intelligence. He subsequently proclaimed Uganda the Pearl of Africa.
More than a century later, in 2012, Lonely Planet, the world’s largest tourist travel guide, named Uganda the number one tourist destination in the world. This, in many ways, augments Churchill’s assertion. Uganda is certainly one of the most beautiful and resource endowed nations on earth.

That is why our founding fathers in their effort to make Uganda a nation, composed a national anthem that reflected the natural beauty and resource endowment of this country and enjoined her citizens to be patriotic, united and work hard to build a prosperous country for current and future generations. The national anthem also enjoined us to exploit our soils and natural resources to feed Uganda’s children. Most importantly, the national anthem commanded us to lay our future in God’s hand.

Over the years, however, successive political leaders have paid a deaf ear to the message in our national anthem. In fact, in performing our leadership responsibilities, we have always acted contrary to the message.
We are selfish and use leadership positions for our own good and the good of our cronies. The idea that we should be our brother’s keeper finds no place whatsoever in our body politic. For political expediency, we set fellow citizens against each other. We steal with reckless abandon. We lie with straight faces. We blaspheme our Creator. Etcetera.

Consequently, we are entrapped in political and economic crises of no mean proportions. In order to get out, we need to deeply reflect on the spirit and text of our national anthem. We need also to realise that leadership, especially in the political realm, demands from us, time and again, a certain level of flexibility and adjustment in our beliefs, practices, attitudes, political stance, dogmas, etc. This should, however, be done in the interest of the people and the country.

Therefore, in searching for solutions to our country’s current and future challenges, we should refuse to be ruled by our past political experiences, practices, beliefs, attitudes or even ego. We should also rise above mere politicking and electioneering and summon our deepest patriotic and statesman attributes so as to face the challenges that are crippling our country. In the same spirit, we should as a people, do a deep reflection and soul searching about the future of our nation.

Our nation is facing monumental challenges. Our economy is retrogressive and registers growth figures that are hardly reflected in the lives of the citizens. We are basically living from hand to mouth. We are deeply polarised along sectarian contours. We are hurting as a people and living in utmost fear for our lives and property. The ruthless kidnap and murder of Ugandan women and assassination of Moslem clerics, Joan Kagezi, Felix Andrew Kaweesi, Col Ibrahim Abiriga, etcetera, are symptoms of a deep malaise plaguing our body politic.

Combating these challenges requires us to unite and collectively search for solutions to our problems as a people who share a common aspiration for the future, but most importantly, as a people bound together by destiny. We should as a people, in spite of our differences, learn to always find common ground for resolving our problems. That way, there is no problem we shall not overcome.

In fact, we can and should always use our diversity to build this beautiful and resource endowed nation. When put to good use, diversity is wealth, because with it, comes different talents, attributes, competencies, etc. We should under all circumstances, reject leaders who choose to use our diversity to undermine our nation building efforts. The time has come for us to unite and change the course of our history.
Let the problems that we face today in our nation unite more than divide us. In the spirit and wordings of our national anthem, we must unite and find common ground for resolving our current and future problems.