Prof Yash Tandon, Gang of Four and the little boy from Kiburara

When football was still futubolo and childhood so sweet, there was the Myth of China and Football (and many others).

For me, the source (and explainer) of all myths was Adam Asuman, my encyclopaedia elder brother (five years my senior). A good story teller (and feeding off my innocence and thirst for knowledge), Adam knew everything there was to know (and delivered it awesomely).

I learnt the word ‘journalism’ from him. Seeing bazungu in our neighbourhood with rucksacks strapped on their backs, he told me they were ‘journalists’. ‘Journalists are people who go on a journey around the world,’ he told me. I immediately wanted to become a ‘journalist’ because I wanted to go around the world (like these bazungu).

In April 9179, Prof Yusuf Kironde Lule became president of Uganda. That was my first time to hear the word ‘professor’; and Adam was on hand to teach me.
‘A professor is a person who has six (university) degrees. Someone with one degree is called a ‘Bachelor’.

If you have two degrees, you are called a ‘Master’ and if you have three degrees, you are called a ‘Doctor’. A person who has four degrees is called a ‘Mister’; a person who has five degrees is called a ‘Sir’. And if you have six degrees, you are called a ‘professor’.

The more educated one was, the more the titles became ordinary. We addressed all our teachers as ‘Sir’ and all men in our father’s age group were addressed as ‘Mister’. Only ‘professor’ was special (and new).

**************
I recently claimed I was the author of a book titled, National Handbook for RDCs. One of the people who sent me feedback was Yash Tandon; yes, Prof Yash Tandon of the ‘Gang of Four’ fame. Prof Tandon wanted to get a copy of National Handbook of RDCs. His Google search had returned zero results.

I must confess I was spooked when I received this email. I immediately woke my son up from his mid-afternoon nap and told him that Prof Tandon had emailed me.

‘But daddy, who is Prof Tandon?’ he responded in a disinterested tone. This small man was killing my excitement…; he didn’t know who Prof Tandon was.
National Handbook for RDCs was an internal job I did for the venerable Office of the President.

To the best of my knowledge, they have never launched it; neither am I familiar with any knowledge that it was distributed to RDCs. I recently gave my last (legacy) copy to a senior official in the Ministry of Local Government.

Now, I had wanted to respond to Prof Tandon in a lengthy write up telling him how he was my childhood hero; for that, I needed good time. But I seem to have inadvertently deleted the email. That’s why I was on Facebook asking friends to get me Prof Tandon’s telephone number.

I got it and later talked to Prof Tandon. For my known braggadocio and name dropping affliction, I may have to insist that I am addressed as amicus professae (friend of a professor).

***********
I first heard of the term ‘Gang of Four’ from my brother Adam (who else?). What does it mean? ‘A group of highly educated people opposed to a government is called a gang. The Gang of Four are all professors because president Lule is also a professor.

Only a professor can oppose a professor,’ he explained. Phew!
For my son Ashraf Rahim Bisiika’s generation, the Gang of Four was made by Prof Dani Nabudere (RIP), Prof Tandon, Prof Edward Rugumayo and Prof Omony Ojok. That’s when political activism was super...

Mr Bisiika is the executive
editor of the East African Flagpost.
[email protected]