An open letter to Bobi Wine 

Dear Comrade, 
I will not ask you how you are because being constantly monitored doesn’t commend itself to a “how do you do?”
Rather, I should be asking “how do you undo?” the bind we find ourselves in as a people. 
I say “as a people” as opposed to “as a country” because we are not a country when we’re divided against what it means to be a people. 
To be sure, our country is not a geographic expression of colonial borders nor is it a zone of influence for neo-colonial forces which maintain the same. 
Our country must relate to our shared aspirations about where we are going as Ugandans. As we stand now, we are not going very far. 

Honourable, I shall not anthologise or condemn the failures of President Museveni’s regime. Partly because such condemnation will inadvertently invite his blind disciples and paid supporters to offer views as to why they think I’m wrong. 
Yet, the time for debate is over.  It’s now time for action. 
I heard you talking about “Plan B” (Ed. Note. Plan B is the brainchild of former FDC leader Kizza Besigye), then you withdrew your electoral petition from court. 
It seems to me that, so far, your “Plan B” is short for “Plan Backed-off”. 
So I have an idea to share with you which might help you go forward. No. Not as Amama Mbabazi, but as a young revolutionary who never says die.
 
Let us recall that in 1973, Steve Biko was banned by the racist apartheid government in South Africa. Under this ban, Biko was restricted to King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape Province. So he wasn’t allowed to speak directly to the public. 
This didn’t stop him from creating the Zimele Trust Fund to aid political prisoners and their families. 
Against this background, you must realise that your own restrictions may serve as limitations turned inside out.
As you’re aware, children have gone back to school under the hardest of conditions. 

Their parents were largely deprived of their livelihoods, courtesy of Covid-19 and the government’s handling of it. 
Hold your horses, dear Movementists. I’m not judging you, only God can do that. 
I’m just saying we need to expand the frontiers of our imaginations when solving national crises. 
This brings me to what I propose should be your Plan B, Comrade Kyagulanyi.
In January 1969, the “Free Breakfast for School Children Programme” was started by the Black Panther Party in the USA. 
Under their Oakland Community School, Black Panther leaders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale got together in St Augustine’s Church in Oakland, California, to provide free breakfasts for school children. 

They established kitchens across the USA which fed more than 10,000 children every day before they went to school.  
It was a massive success which can be copied here. 
We witnessed you organise Ugandans countrywide to challenge President Museveni, so I’m certain that mobilising goodwill nationwide to feed our children is within your benevolent power. 
The breakfasts need not be elaborate, nobody is expecting you to serve sausages and eggs. 
You may begin with porridge for school children in Kamwokya. Then, as well-wishers get on board, expand the diet and its reach across the country. 

If the authorities attempt to shut you down, they would’ve have declared war on our children’s wellbeing. If they facilitate you, then we shall be coming together as a people in the spirit of “Ubuntu”. 
There shall be those who claim you’re using our children to politicise Covid-19, yet some leaders have done worse. Like, for instance, using “Kadogos” during the Bush War. 
Comrade, if this is your Plan B, then I shall actively join your struggle.

Mr Matogo is the managing editor Fasihi Magazine. 
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