Sam Mugumya displays a copy of his book: "We Refuse to Be Victims." .PHOTO/COURTESY
Some books are born out of pain—others transform that pain into something greater: a call for freedom, an enduring testament to resistance. Sam Mugumya’s We Refuse to Be Victims is both.
Mugumya, a political activist who has spent more than two decades opposing the Ugandan regime, has paid a heavy price for his struggle. In 2014, while attempting to flee into exile, he was arrested and spent eight years in the notorious Ndolo Military Prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It was in this bleak confinement that the poems in this collection were written—often on smuggled scraps of paper, inspired by the suffering of fellow inmates, fuelled by an unwavering hope for justice.
The poems in We Refuse to Be Victims are more than lyrical snapshots; they are a wake-up call, a chronicle of oppression and defiance. Through powerful verses, Mugumya captures the grim reality of African prisons, the stark inequality between the powerful and the powerless, but also the resilience of love, memory, and humanity.
Poems such as The African Jail vividly portray the suffocating conditions of imprisonment, while I Survive, Your Dog Lives delivers a scathing critique of social disparity, highlighting the grotesque contrast between the privileged elite and the destitute. And yet, these are not merely cries of despair but declarations of perseverance: “Together, we are indomitable,” he writes.
Mugumya’s language is direct, rich in imagery, and often laced with bitter humour. He shifts perspectives, speaking as the prisoner, the oppressor, the marginalised, and the hopeful dreamer.
His poetry is not only a condemnation of political repression but also a deeply personal reflection on the meaning of freedom and dignity.
We Refuse to Be victims is a book that moves and unsettles. It is a reminder that words have power that poetry can be a form of resistance, and that no one must remain a victim if they choose to stand against injustice.
About the book
A bold, compelling work that deserves its place in political literature. The book was published by The World is Watching. As part of its publishing programme, The World Is Watching publishes books by authors whose works are not allowed to be printed or distributed in their home countries. The book was launched on March 14, at the Freedom Café of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Nairobi, Kenya.
The celebrated actor and poet Raymond Ofula recited selected poems, and the former Kenyan minister of Justice Martha Karua gave the keynote speech. The event was livestreamed and can be viewed on the YouTube channel of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation Africa. The book is available at the NURIA bookshop in Nairobi and can be ordered online. Nuria also delivers to Uganda. The book is also available worldwide through Amazon.
