Open letter to the prime minister

Uganda's new and first female Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabbanja. PHOTO/FILE 

What you need to know:

  • Amb. Kemerwa Alinemary Kenyangi says: Society has for many years been made to think that a certain gender, figure or class must not command certain positions in society.

All hail the power of God in the Highest. He knew and chose you before you were born. Majority of Ugandan women and men were in jubilation when your name was announced. 

To us who know your capacity and capability, we say shine on country girl, your time has come to shine. We are grateful to the appointing authority whose keen eye identified you and distinguished you from among many. It is of no surprise that the waging tongues are sporadic. But be assured the majority are firm and trusting. Demystifying governance and identifying talent is another area where President Museveni beats them all hands down.                   

Some people from day one will want to pull you down. These include some former leaders who unfortunately forget how and where they all started. I can assure you; they were not any near to where you are in terms of knowledge and skill, and now, they have the audacity to assign themselves the duty to criticise and put you on a weighing scale. 

Some Ugandans are not ashamed to call you a grassroots woman in a degrading manner, who says a grassroots woman is not in a position to handle national issues? In their decision-making time immemorial through the unpaid labour of social economic activities, grassroots women have shaped who we are today. In the real sense, madam prime minister, your work is well cut out by your detractors, because the grassroots are the people who need your services the most, and you have the required credentials,not mere exposure!

Your appointment and that of other women is an indication that the NRM government is putting in practice the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 5. This is, therefore, a call to every Ugandan of good will to embrace your appointment. As you embark on your new assignment, you are confronted by negative forces in different categories, these include but are not limited to in built entrenched traditional patriarchal tendencies.

This is where society has for many years been made to think that a certain gender, figure or class must not command certain positions in society- the stereotype that a woman or a girl child should not be in a position of authority. Those who have given themselves the weighing scale to judge who has the capacity and who doesn’t have; who has the knowledge and who is a sycophant; who is weak and who is strong; who is “exposed”; who cuts a figure etc. All these categories include both men and women.

As one of the proud mothers of the nation, I am asking, what are their credentials, where do they derive the authority to demean, despise and judge who should occupy certain positions. Are they God who created us all equal?

Such negative outbursts point to a façade of patriarchy, supremacy and misogyny that our society needs to get rid of. I do not know where some Ugandans pick the audacity to belittle, the new Cabinet. This negativity, sadism and bad mouthing cannot move Uganda from the lower state to the middle-income status.  Needless to say, Ugandans know that this movement requires collective responsibility.

I congratulate you once again Ms Robinah Nabbanja and appeal to the people of Uganda to have an appreciation, respect, trust and confidence for one another in the national spirit of Patriotism. 

Amb. Kemerwa Alinemary Kenyangi  ,Deputy Head of Mission Rome, Italy.