Prime
Life is a journey, what we do with it defines us
Emilly C. Maractho
What you need to know:
- It was easy for him to find his way into people’s hearts. He never failed to leave a deep impression when you met him and listened to him. He was a leader you could trust, someone you felt you could work with. He spoke and laughed from the heart.
It is still hard to accept that former Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah is gone. He seemed like a person destined to live 100 years, literally. He was not supposed to be gone soon. He had a lot to offer. To many of us, he seemed larger than life, that he would be around for many more years.
It is now clear, he approached life with grace, if details emerging from his illness is anything to go by. He endured pain with grace, and still gave of himself when he could. What a gift. Many glorious things have been said about him, and not because people say nice things when you are gone, but that he was those things and more.
It was easy for him to find his way into people’s hearts. He never failed to leave a deep impression when you met him and listened to him. He was a leader you could trust, someone you felt you could work with. He spoke and laughed from the heart.
Even for those of us who wished and prayed that Ms Rebecca Kadaga would have another term, we thought he was a young man and could still be Speaker in five years, and lead for 10 years and perhaps, one day be prepared to lead this country. That seemed to be his destiny.
And that is the lesson isn’t it? That we often don’t know anything about tomorrow. It simplifies life, to know that if life lasts a long time, you will lose something dear - a friend, a dream, a job, a family you have built and even money you have worked hard for. And you think of death in light of being wronged, stolen from or denied opportunities, it ceases to really matter. Facing imminent death, or that of loved ones, makes it very easy to be forgiving and to be grateful for what we have.
Once he was elected, many of us accepted our loss and hope that Ms Kadaga would have another term. We accepted him as the Speaker of Parliament. He made it easy with that speech, sounding so focused, forgiving and forward looking. We wished him very well and trusted that he would be okay.
Instead, we prayed that life would be a little kind to Hon Kadaga, for all the years she had given to this country, and for the grass she slashed so that many young women would be inspired to dream, albeit different dreams.
And that is the thing about representation. Most people do not get it. They think it means little to have women occupy positions of influence. They do not connect the dot to the millions of generations of younger women who will dare to dream because they saw a woman occupy one table or another, normalise the idea that a woman can. They quickly reduce their presence to tokenism and patronage and all. Research has shown, presence matters.
We have to accept, that these spaces on the highest table may not be easy for the women who occupy them. One thing is clear, they come to it with determination and work very hard.
Everyone does their part. It is now time for Ms Anita Annet Among to occupy the top seat at Parliament. Congratulations to her and Mr Thomas Tayebwa. I hope they both have the courage to lead Parliament well. There is no apparent reason for them not to lead Parliament very well.
For Ms Among, let there be no pressure to prove anything. You have been given a position in trust and you have claimed that space too. There are millions of girls going to be inspired because you occupy that seat. And there will be citizens counting on your decisions to improve their lot. We pray that you use this platform well.
The President has been reported to have said, it is not about who, but the mission. Please thank the President and get on to work. The who, including your gender you already know I am sure, will matter to many. It will define how some people see you as a leader. But let that not bother you.
Remind yourself often, of your hard work, diligence and the commitment to your dreams, even those thrust upon you by circumstance. Trust that the process that led you here will guide you.
There is no need to hope that you will be perfect. Accept that you will make mistakes and some of them will get people coming at you with everything. Take a backstep and remind yourself that you are human and sometimes you cannot have it all together.
What matters is that we see you as having the best interest of those you lead and the people counting on you.
Finally, when people say those things that make you wonder if it is you, just tell yourself that, ‘they don’t really know me’ and move on with your work. Congratulations.
Ms Maractho (PhD) is the director of Africa Policy Centre and senior lecturer at Uganda Christian University. [email protected]
