It’s in failed states that pastors need special security

In some cases after casting aspersions and making asinine remarks while piecing the incident together, they came to conclusions that should be the preserve of courts of law.

We shall let the police -and sister security agencies- as Police Spokesman Fred Enanga loves to say; to do their work. But for me, one honorable gentleman carried the day. A Pastor came out and brazenly called upon the President of Uganda to provide/enhance the security of pastors. 

Sounding like a Shepherd who had decided to abandon his sheep and care for himself, the pastor argued that Bugingo was targeted for vehemently and unequivocally speaking out - like himself - against those who practice sodomy or the gay community.

In normal times such a vile incident that takes the life of a man and threatens that of another would witness all round condemnation from society.

The men of the cloth like the pastor would view this as an opportunity to deliver those summons that put the government on notice to be vigilant about the noble duty of protecting lives and property of the citizen irrespective of race, colour or creed. They would remind the rulers of the human rights abuses in the recent past including the abduction, disappearance and killing of innocent citizens, things that don’t please God.

There would be strong condemnation against wanton waste of resources through corruption. This would be followed by advice to redirect them to securing the citizen, by equipping, training and motivating the poli Judiciary to try and convict suspects to demonstrate the risk that awaits those who indulge in killing Ugandans.

Sometime would be spared for all manner of suggestions for holistic social improvement to create more jobs in order to keep people away from the thought of crime as a way of life and above all take security for all, as a priority that cannot wait.

But this is Uganda and we are not exactly living in normal times. The President, policeman, politician, pastor, porter, pauper, prosperous, philosopher, prophet,  philanderer, peasant, prostitute and the prisoner ensconced in the hopelessness of the belly of the gaol, have one thing in common. All are resigned to the fact that we are living in a State that has no capacity or mechanisms to distribute resources equitably.

The State is supposed to hold all social and public resources in trust for all the people. It must by default see to it that everyone, to a reasonable degree, gets a fair share. Take a public road for instance. Every citizen should have unfettered access to it. When that arrangement is skewed a country is tending towards State failure.

A failed State is like the Biblical carcass around which vultures gather to partake of as much as they can grab. Woe unto the man who simply looks on and waits to get a share. Everyone is to themselves. You must devise methods of getting your share in a sea of competing talons. The President knows this only too well that the failed state creates a power relation for the sake of patronage. When people want the benefits of the state they turn to the President who then calls the tune.

Take the Legislature. It is left to determine its own remuneration and other perks like free healthcare in advanced facilities abroad, unlike the rest of us. Such people, including the ones from the Opposition, will not empathise with what the rest go through because their backs are covered. In return they will mutate into a ‘friendly Opposition’. They sit together and break bread with the government as they pretend to be a formidable check on the executive.

The Judiciary enjoys similar privileges with high, tax fee pay and other allowances to cater for their health, security and enviable retirement benefits. They are grateful that their budgets are increasing and they don’t shy away from acknowledging the President’s input. With those vital arms of the State firmly in the bag, the President can then pick and choose from any grouping of the poorly rewarded public servants like doctors, teachers, policemen, soldiers and a multitude of other Ugandans. The Ugandans who want to have a bite of the carcass need to amplify their relevance by demonstrating their importance to the perpetuation of the regime.

The timing of the special request for security from the President and not the police is significant. Pastors who have a huge following of desperate people in search of  prophecies, miracles and wonders; which many pastors falsely claim to deliver, are pointing not only at the center of power but also, of the money. They are asking to be given their share of the carcass as individuals, without minding the rest of society by promoting themselves as vulnerable because of their unwavering support for the government and its policies.  Remember they have a bevy of followers or sheep to deliver to the President as many have shrewdly done though their subtle and at times overt summons.

This opportunistic and selfish plot is obvious because in the failed environment that Uganda is fast becoming we all have threats to our lives. 

Journalists are always beaten in the course of practicing the noble profession. People are waylaid and robbed on Kampala’s unlit, potholed streets where cars are vandalized by car parts thieves. The unemployed mugger who does not have access to the President like the praying Pastor will view the next person as their piece of the Ugandan carcass.

The snatching of possessions, at times with violence that leads to injury or loss of life of the innocent pedestrian or breaking into the house of an odd citizen who is minding their own business, is their way of getting their share in the provisions of the state. They deem this crude redistribution of resources with a misguided sense of entitlement. 

If we are going to go by the logic of the Pastor to have special security for every vulnerable person, then everyone may as well become a police officer. We may all need to all get armed by the state to defend ourselves. That is ridiculous and irresponsible and would mark the beginning of anarchy. 

Twitter: @nsengoba