Why we need deep soul-searching

I did not know Col Shaban Bantariza well. I met him only once, when we both appeared on a talk show at NTV. Off-air, I found him nice and warm, quite different from the one I had seen or heard speak combatively and with unwarranted bellicose.

For anyone who remotely followed Ugandan politics over the past two decades, Col Bantariza was a common figure and constant fixture in our public discourse. He served as army spokesman for many years, including at the peak of the armed conflict in northern Uganda. 

He later headed the National Leadership Institute in Kyankwanzi, supposed to be a public training institution, but singularly commandeered and used exclusively for the narrow partisan interests of the rulers. Until his untimely and sad passing early this week, Bantariza was the official deputy spokesman of the government of Uganda. 

Given what was ordinarily a long and distinguished public service, in uniform and as a retired officer, the tragic passing of Bantariza, falling to the menacing Covid-19 pandemic, should have elicited enormous national grief and a deep feeling of loss.

True, in some circles it has, but among many other Ugandans, there has been a shocking display of celebration rather than sorrow, at least from social media platforms. This is most unfortunate. 

For someone who has served his or her nation in war time and during peace, put on the national military uniform and was officially retired honourably, went on to serve the public in a civilian position as a government spokesperson never mind many Ugandans may not agree with the government he spoke for and disliked positions he defended, in a sane and civilised society, we would all be mourning Bantariza’s passing.

But not in Uganda today. We have rapidly gone down the drain of socio-political division and national discomfiture. In our African traditions, we generally refrain from speaking ill of the departed, even when they did wrong while they lived. We all do wrong. There are no saints on earth. 

As it is, though, we have reached the point where norms and traditions of decency and propriety do not constrain our public speech and discourse. And with social media and the boundless digital infrastructure, all caution is thrown to the wind. Behind the keyboard and anonymously, uncouth remarks are hauled effortlessly and insults can rain down uncontrollably.  

However, the fuel of digital age is only added to an objectively existing real fire – the sheer grievances and deep feeling of abuse, deprivation and humiliation that runs through the imaginations of many Ugandans. People have been pushed to the Swall for far too long. 

Bantariza was an intellectually astute person and I suspect he genuinely believed in diligently serving his country. Yet, quite often when he spoke, he betrayed gratuitous bravado and the conquering attitude with which many Ugandans now associate the current rulers.  It is an attitude of militarism and daring anyone to challenge the rulers, especially in a violent confrontation. 

The government spokesperson, Ofwono Opondo, who was Bantariza’s boss, best epitomises the utter disregard of any sense of humility and the fact that all Ugandans, regardless of political persuasion and social standing, have an equal stake in the present and future of the country that we all call home.

Death is always a rude reminder of our humanity and the need to do good while we live, aware that we do not have control over the random course of nature. Our country is currently in the throes of social disharmony and political hopelessness. We urgently need to take a moment to pause and reflect, to think and soul-search. Uganda is a powder keg.

The writing has been on the wall for long. As always, my message is especially directed at the rulers. The onus is on them because they wield the massive resources of the State and can deploy them towards positive change, reform and reimagine a different Uganda. To continue the current course will only lead us down the dark alleys. 

Mine is an appeal to the moral conscience, which, of course, can be flatly ignored. But what will not be successfully ignored is the train of history that is always on the march. It is random and cannot be defied or defeated!

Mr Khisa is assistant professor at North Carolina State University (USA).
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