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Caption for the landscape image:

Hon Ssegirinya is gone, but some of his plants will live on despite lack of water

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Emilly C. Maractho (PhD)

On Friday last week, Parliament paid tribute to Hon Mohammed Ssegirinya, whose entry into the political scene was fairly short-lived.

Not even the mention that close to a billion shillings was spent by the government to save his life seemed to matter in the larger scheme of things – a case of too little too late for some. His death is a stuck reminder, of how precarious our politics can be. As is the case with many deaths that occur when a person is really young and especially in politics, the temptation to point fingers is very high. The problem with pointing fingers is that it does not bring back the person who has died.

The hope is that if there were mistakes made that could have cut short the life of a person, those would be avoided in future. For many, the year 2025 will be defining as we enter an election season. The uncertainty that some members face in keeping their political lives going can complicate things even for bystanders.

Maybe, the death of political actors, especially those who are in the Opposition can be blamed on government, especially when a particular government action put them in harm’s way. May be this is indeed about the challenge of freedom of expression in our country, may be it is about the freedom of association and shrinking space for diverse political opinion.

Maybe it is none of these things. Politics in whichever form we choose to practice it, cannot be wished away. Even when one actor goes to the next life, there will always be someone else to fit in their shoes. It does not matter the quality of the person filling the shoes, the point is there will be someone.

If nothing is humbling as we go about our roles in various places, the fact that one day we shall not be there should be. Rarely do problems of organisations go away because some individuals are out of the way, if not enough is done to focus on the issues of the day rather than the people. The problems may subside with their exit, but perhaps only for a while. It is different when people abuse systems of course.

It remains to be seen if the crimes for which the Hon Ssegirinya and others were accused will go away. Yet,the death of Hon Ssegirinya is a good reminder that people come and they will go at some point. We only hope they go with dignity. We are in ever changing times.

What counts is what they did while they were on stage, if they had been fortunate enough to get onto one.His death reminded me of what the Brazilian writer, Paulo Coelho refers to in his novel Brida, as people who build or plant as a result of one of two attitudes each individual takes in life. I like it so much so I may have cited it somewhere before. Those who take the attitude of builders‘ may take years over their tasks, but one day, they finish what they are doing. Then they find they’re hemmed in by their own walls. Life loses its meaning when the building stops.’

For this group, although they may continue living, they are in prison, doing things from within the prison walls they have built. They may build other structures, but each will be completed and continue with the cycle if their attitude in life is that of builders. However, those that take the attitude of planters, Coelho notes, will plant.

‘They endure storms and the many vicissitudes of the season, and they rarely rest. But, unlike a building, a garden never stops growing. And while it requires the gardener’s constant attention, it also allows life for the gardener to be a great adventure.’

Most importantly, that gardeners recognise each other because they know that in the history of each plant lies the growth of the whole world. In a way, gardeners are of a tribe. Many people may be full of sadness for Hon Ssegirinya because he died young and did not have ample opportunity to participate in Parliament, among other things.

Others are angry that his death could have been avoided while some are kind to recognise his contribution to his people. Judging by the things he did, he may have adopted the attitude of a planter in his life and endured the many storms of a gardener. Yet, his garden will never stop growing. Killing some plants, planters know, can be in many ways like killing a mockingbird. They show up in the most unexpected ways. When people do things in the service of humanity, they may endure things, but their lives are never in vain.

Ms Maractho (PhD) is an academic.
Email: [email protected]