Old wine in new bottles is an expression you might have heard countless times. It sums up much of how you feel when you say “same old, same old” upon being greeted by someone who doesn’t know that your life could be circling the drain as they ask. American rapper Jay-Z was more apt when he simply said “same crap, different crapper” or words to that effect. Now, the title for Epajjar Ojulu’s book, Old Wine in New Bottle, is intriguing.
It implies that the container (bottle), a situation where something old or traditional is presented as something new and innovative, comes in singular fashion. This is why you see the dropping of the plural “s” from the singular “bottle.” It might be an error or it might simply suggest that no matter how complex and seemingly insurmountable an issue is or some issues can be, the underlying substance remains the same.
Life is the ultimate irony of ironies. This is captured and incarnated to you by the author in every chapter. This tale, as you can imagine, starts on a high (at a low point) with the chapter ominously titled “The Suicide”. Ekwec Eranga, an evident glutton, settles down at a banquet to wolf down generous helpings of boiled rice, matooke, fried and boiled Irish potatoes, atap (millet bread), yams and cassava.
Throw in a drumstick, half a dozen big pieces of beef, a piece of tilapia, a grilled piece of Nile Perch, a dozen pieces of roast pork and a long ten-piece stick of roast goat meat. Are you full yet? Well, Eranga also served himself a ladleful of thick groundnuts paste, cow peas, fried cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, five pieces of a huge avocado and a virtual mountain range of other foods piled up to Himalaya heights on his capacity building plate, as it were.
No, Eranga does not commit suicide by extravagant helpings of grub. Suicide is the fate of somebody else and sets the tone for an epic story. It is set in the context of war in Teso region. Atap, the staple food of the Iteso people of Uganda, partly gives this away. Amidst plenty, there is war. The "Teso War" so-called was a period of conflict in the Teso region of Uganda, primarily between the Uganda People's Army (UPA) rebel group and the National Resistance Army (NRA) government, from 1987 to 1992.
It was fuelled by factors like the disbanding of Teso militias, leaving the region vulnerable to Karimojong raids, and the perceived neglect of the region by the central government. “The rebel supreme commander, Antagan Orugeng claimed he became a renegade to fight for freedom but those who know him dismiss the claim.
They wonder why he chose to fight after losing an election miserably,” writes the author, harping on a familiar subject in our politics. “His critics claim he did so to avoid the long arm of the law after he was suspected of murdering many prominent people during his days of guerilla warfare.
They say Orugeng had for long been involved in guerilla operations where his gang killed many prominent people with the objective of stirring up resentment locally and internationally against the incumbent Emperor. Each time his guerillas abducted and killed prominent people, they rushed to the international media to lay blame on Emperor and his army.”
This book is fiction, with composite characters who point to a larger historical reality, by their very existence, while rendering a unique story in atypical circumstances. In other words, it is a roman à clef (a novel in which real people or events appear with invented names) and very much worthy of your time.
Title: Old Wine In New Bottle
Author: Epajjar Ojulu
Pages: 165
Price: Shs40,000
Availability: [email protected]
Published: 2025
