Our dream of freedom must never die

Dear Tingasiga:

The air in the Kampala area rings with music of national anthems this week. The Non-Aligned Movement, and the G77+ China meetings, give Africa reason for musical serenades through our glorious national anthems. Those masterful works by our great composers, captured in song the spirit of victory and optimism that imbued the hearts and minds of their newly liberated compatriots.

Africa’s anthems offer an aural feast of majestic music whose melodies and rhythms invite the listener to march along, with head high and a proud bearing. Ghana’s anthem moves me to tears. I imagine Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972), that supremely self-confident dreamer, smiling as the Gold Coast morphs into Ghana, nearly 67 years ago. I see him dream of a free United States of Africa, as millions of Ghanaians sing their majestic anthem, set to music by Philip Comi Gbeho (1904-1976).

They sought God to bless their homeland Ghana, to make their nation great and strong. They pledged to boldly defend forever, the cause of freedom and of right. They implored the Lord to fill their hearts with true humility, to make them cherish fearless honesty, and to help them resist any oppressor’s rule, with all their will and might.

Great words that invite reflection, for Ghana is us, and Nkrumah’s dream is ours. It sounds like wishful thinking, of a man whose dream was our freedom, but we live with hope that one day, freedom shall be realized. That freedom will be when a pregnant woman in Kumi and Nangara, will receive the best care for herself and her baby, at par with what her counterparts in Kololo and Naguru take for granted.

A time will come when the least of God’s children will receive quality education at par with what the little ones with nannies and flats in London, consider their human right. Yes, freedom will come one day, and most of our people will regain their dignity, and reject handouts of cash and drink, from people who claim to be their representatives. Why, freedom of thought and speech and assembly, without harassment by state authorities, will come to all the citizens, not just those who sing to the rulers.

How sweet that day will be, when churches receive the poor in pocket, with honour and celebration of their two pieces of copper, and given time to share their testimonies, the way they do to the honoured and the excellencies, whose bags of cash and iron sheets, gain them moments to campaign from the altars.

From Mali to Mozambique, from Liberia to Lesotho, Africa’s anthems have a common theme, namely, freedom, peace, unity, service, justice, set to glorious song. And what great songs they are! The question that follows, of course, is how well the people of Africa have heeded the exhortations of our musical poets who penned our marvelous anthems.

Sadly, most countries still score poorly. Citizens have stood at attention, sung their anthems and cheered their rulers, while their fellow countrymen are denied their freedom, and while the rulers steal from them.

Naturally, one listens to the Ugandan national anthem with a very special feeling, not just out of patriotism and familiarity, but because it is a true masterpiece by the Honourable George Wilberforce Kakoma (1923-2012), our great psalmist of blessed memory, now sleeping among his ancestors. He lives in the hearts of those who treasure the love letter he penned for us. Sadly, his words are much ignored, by those for whom the bands play the anthem, after they emerge from their luxurious vehicles, to celebrate with pomp and circumstance, the power they exercise over the Wretched of the Earth.

Imagine what Ugandans felt, when they first sang the words of our anthem, laying their future in their motherland’s hand, pledging to always stand together, united, and free in the name of liberty. I was one of those who sang the anthem on October 9, 1962, uttering words whose meaning I did not understand, but whose melody was most uplifting to the spirit of a little lad from Kahondo.

We sang of a land of freedom, to which we gave our love and labour, and pledged to live in peace and friendship, with our neighbours all. We acknowledged the land that fed us, and vowed to always stand for the Pearl of Africa’s Crown.

The sight of the state beating a citizen, brings discord to the great anthem. How do we claim to be united, when some enjoy the best health care, while others make do with nothing, and die before their time? Is it love of country when we spend billions on a few, and watch the many raise arms to the heavens, with tears rolling down their cheeks, in the hope of divine intervention, to heal their treatable illnesses?

Kakoma’s was not just a love song, but a social contract of citizenship, whether you are the speaker of parliament, or a sweeper of public toilets. It was a commitment to equitable sharing, between the president and the populace, for that’s what standing together means. We all must ask ourselves, to what extent we honour the words we sing with pride, in a land of widening disparities.

One listens to Africa’s anthems, and affirms that they have been desecrated, and our psalmists have been betrayed. But there are countries whose people have heeded their national song writers, and fulfilled the dreams of those, who sang their anthems with hope, and pride at the dawn of independence.

If one must choose the best anthem on our continent, one whose people’s story is in accord with the words of the lyricist, surely Botswana it is. In the words of Kgalemang Tumediso Motsete (1900-1974): “Blessed be this noble land/Gift to us from God’s strong hand/Heritage our fathers left to us/May it always be at peace./Word of beauty and of fame/ The name Botswana to us came/ Through our unity and harmony, We’ll remain at peace as one./Awake, awake, O men, awake!/And women close beside them stand/Together we’ll work and serve/This land, this happy land!”

Tingasiga, Botswana, haven of peace, home to democracy, and sustained economic progress, can rightly claim that her national song tells her real story. It is not too late to emulate them. At least we must keep trying. For the dream must never die.

Muniini K. Mulera is Ugandan-Canadian social and political observer. [email protected]