Why donors don’t wash smelly parts of the dead

In most African cultures we have a cherished ritual of washing the bodies of the dead before interment. 

It is the last act of love and care before they depart to the next world.

Friends and neighbours may take part but when it comes to the privates and the posterior, it is the blood relatives or the ‘owners’ of the departed that will be summoned. A spouse or parent endures the sight and deal with whatever hygienic conditions the parts serve up.

So the Baganda say ‘nnyini mufu y’akwata awawunya (it is the closest relatives of the dead that clean the smelly parts.)

Uganda finds itself in the middle of a storm. The matter of torture in the news at the moment is an old one. It keeps springing up like a sore thumb only to die down until another person or an expose by the media stirs it up.

The rotting wounds on the suspects in the alleged murder of the late Andrew Felix Kawesi displayed in court made news then there was a lull. Now it the lashed body of author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija. He was arrested and purportedly tortured by security agents. His crime? Allegedly writing and tweeting stuff that annoyed President Yoweri Museveni and Lt Gen Muhoozi Keinerugaba, Museveni’s son.

The reaction has not also been unusual. The media has dedicated space to highlight torture. NGOs have condemned it. Ugandans lamented especially on social media. Others, especially some supporters of NRM, have ridiculed the victim and praised the security agents for doing their work of protecting the state.

The Opposition walked out of Parliament and are gathering information about the tortured, disappeared and dead. They plan to censure the Security Minister, Jim Muhweezi; a censure veteran.

Then came the international community; the people who provide aid and rule over the world. They have written letters condemning torture and recommended prosecution of the perpetrators.  They have also hosted members of the opposition who have ‘reported’ the government for the violations of human rights.

The opposition has gone further to ask the international community to do more by way of sanctions that target the perpetrators.

Significantly, one would have expected that the people are called upon to sanction a supposedly errant government that is maiming and killing them. After all Article 1 of Uganda’s 1995 Constitution states that “All power belongs to the people...”

We are in a situation where we have put our hands up and acknowledged that the government is too big for us but also too small for the donors. The donors pay the piper and call the tune. They are the real people Article I of the Constitution talks about.

The Ugandan merely watches from the sidelines and woe unto him if they fall foul of the government. They will pray that the donors take up their case to save them.

The Judiciary, the Legislature, Human Rights Commission, the police, the Inspectorate of Government are all working on a tight leash. This has watered down their independence and ability to work valiantly and impartially. The people there are earning to look after themselves and pay school fees for their children. After all they are also Ugandans and can be tortured.

But there is a short coming with the donor community. They have a relationship with the sitting government that a client has with a bank. The bank values the debtor for they enable it to prosper by taking loans and returning the money with an interest. When such a client defaults or goes against one of the terms and conditions they will not withdraw their money because that will be killing the goose that lays the eggs. They will see how they help them to get out of their predicament so that they continue working normally -lest they go to another bank. In this case China that wants to establish a foothold and enjoy the abundant African resources.

The condemnation by the donor community and targeted sanctions against individuals for the abuse of human rights by the Ugandan government simply helps to put out the fires. It pacifies ordinary Ugandans. It gives them a false confidence that they are chilling with the big boys of the globe against the government.

It cools tempers so you will not have riots and violent opposition to the government; things that disrupt the economy, put investors deposits and those of donors at risk. A government being fought by its people will not be focused. It will spend more on unproductive defense and security which will mean it will struggle to repay its debts.

That is why after the donors and world powers have condemned the government, they finance it with more aid and budget support to keep it alive. They even fund, train and equip the security agencies they accuse of violating the rights of the people.

The government also makes it a point to be relevant to the donors by providing ‘aid’ whenever called upon. In case of these dubious wars against terror, African governments will provide the cheap boots on the ground. So the body bags will not go to Alabama but to Amuru. They will provide safe havens for refugees that the donor countries do not want to accommodate like the ones from terror infested Afghanistan.

In case there is a ploy by international capital to clear areas for mineral extraction, a smart neighboring government will capitalize on that to gain favor. It simply designs a ‘friendly refugee policy’ so that the displaced people are shipped across the border and settled peacefully. This defuses the option of them hanging around and fighting for their land and resources.

Reporting Uganda’s government to the donors and the later issuing strongly worded statements is something that cannot end torture.

Dealing with torture is like handling the smelly parts of the dead. If the ‘owners’ of the body do not have the guts to wash them, then the body will smell. It is those at risk of being tortured that need to address this issue. Donors are not at risk of being tortured.

Mr Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issues

Twitter: @nsengoba