Nantaba’s face powder, gun powder and gun power
Before the invention of gunpowder technology, war was a contact game. With gun powder came the limited human contact and the consequent reduction in the human cost of war. With reduction in human cost, what we know as contemporary empire building ensued. That is how and why backwater states like Britain could espouse imperial attitudes.
By the time Africa made contact with gunpowder technology, it (Africa) was on the receiving end of gun powder. However, when Africa fully adopted the technology, the African state turned it into an instrument of imposing authority with actions bordering on brutal coercion visited unto citizens. While the inventers of gunpowder used it to build empires, African rulers used it as an instrument of coercion to exercise power; gun power. So, gunpowder as a technology led into what I will describe as gun power.
A man who has a gun in his hands has power; but the actions of his hands should be evened out by the brains he carries in his skull.
The death of Ronald Ssebulime last Sunday was so sad. The poor fellow had no power to stop a man with gun power. Not even Ssebulime’s pleas could appeal to his killer’s sense of judgment (brain in the skull) and responsibility (administrative and professional demands) associated with carrying a gun. Sad!
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I really don’t want to delve into the particulars of Nantaba’s proximity to the story of Ssebulime’s demise. From the beginning, the whole story looked dirty. The only statement the press can get from me is: ‘A junior minister in Mr Museveni’s Cabinet must have mistaken the power of her face powder for gun power.’
But for the practicing journalist, the real story is in how and why the Uganda Police Force retracted all their earlier statements on the matter and accepted responsibility for the murder of Ssebulime. Who ordered that the police owns up to the mistakes of rogue officers? And where does that leave the said junior minister’s unreasonable rants? To what extent will poor training be blamed for the incident? A bodyguard who lets his object of guard and protection out of visual sight is not worthy the job.
I have personally had my gun power moment. On Tuesday, February 7, 2017, the bus I was travelling in was stopped at Kabirizi (next village to Kiburara). All passengers were asked to show their National ID cards. But the woman with whom I was sharing a seat was a Congolese with no papers allowing her beyond that road block at Kabirizi. As she was pleading, Paul Kaggwa (an Immigration officer) slapped her hard on the face. Like any serious Ugandan citizen, I protested this kind of behaviour.
When the woman was dragged out of the bus, I followed her. I openly challenged Kaggwa. Typical of Ugandans with power, he asked who I was to question his actions. Hoping that he would scare me, Kaggwa just went to a vehicle and returned with an old rusty AK47, pointed its muzzle at me and threatened to shoot me. I just laughed… and told him he can shoot whichever part he wants, but I will die protesting the physical assault on a Congolese woman. Kaggwa could have shot me dead. And I would have been accused of being Kilhumira Mutima rebel leader.
Postscript: Kaggwa’s rusty AK47 gun was not even documented. I was advised by some friends (in the system) not to make noise about the incident. Kaggwa was transferred to Goli Border Post (a backwater post in north-western Uganda). And unfortunately, he died last year.
Mr Bisiika is the executive editor of East African Flagpost.
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