When mansions of politicians are bigger than schools, hospitals: Cry, Baby, cry!

And when thou shalt perceive that the teachers that labour day and night to raise future generations barely have money sufficient to reward their toil, and people die for want of medicines in hospitals, yet the rulers spend billions on wine, women and song,

Cry, Baby, cry!

Baby Girl, thou Little Bambo;

When thou seest that the rulers, the ones that manage the public purse, reap far greater reward than those who toil day and night and pay taxes,

When it shall become clear to thee that honest, hard work hath become a lost art and a long-forgotten indulgence,

And that the debauchery and depravity of politics now doth pay far more than the discipline and diligence of the private sector,

Cry, Baby, cry!

Baby Girl, thou Little Bambo;

When thou shalt see that the country that thou dost live in is becoming poorer and poorer, and the leaders thereof are becoming richer and richer,

When thou shalt discern that the leaders are content to strip the nation of its every wealth and transfer the same to themselves and their kith and kin,

And when it shall become clear to thee that the greater of thy people’s number is going down in income, and a small predatory elite doth get wealthier with neither toil nor sweat,

Cry, Baby, cry!

Baby Girl, thou Little Bambo;

When thou shalt see that it hath become prudent to act and sound stupid; to wink at foolishness and look the other way when evil is being perpetrated,

When being intelligent and upright becometh an offence in the eyes of the powers that be,

And it hath become fashionable to applaud folly and abhor what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord,

When the intelligent in the country become shy and the fools rise in confidence,

Cry, Baby, cry!

Baby Girl, thou Little Bambo;

Is it not war that maketh generals?

Is it not the audacity and sheer relentless on the battlefield that separates the man from the boy?

Now listen, Baby Girl,

When thou shalt discern that the army of the nation be packed with generals whose shadows never did darken the warfront,

And whose shoulders bear the weight of ranks and medals not anchored in the heroism on the battlefield,

And they be leading men and officers far competent than they,

And that the entire outfit be no more than a pride of lions commanded and controlled by sheep,

Cry, Baby, cry!

Baby Girl, thou Little Bambo;

If it be that certain of thy rulers shalt, without lawful excuse and in defiance of decency and good conscience, raid the territory of neighbouring countries,

And if be that whilst there, they shalt do to the inhabitants therein, things that make the ears of the hearers tingle and even plunder the wealth of those countries,

And if it turn out that in the end, the plunderers, though known by all, shall walk scot-free and the innocent, hardworking taxpayer, albeit not having partaken of the loot of the looters, shalt be required to make good to the neighbouring countries all the losses those countries did suffer,

Cry, Baby, cry!

And if with thine inner eye thou dost perceive that an Old Dog hath lost control of the Kernel,

And it be clear to you that an irresponsible whelp, an impertinent puppy looks set his place to take,

Thou shalt turn up thy nose at the sight of the little puppy and…Cry, Baby, cry!

Excerpts from my coming book “Ode to Little Bambo: Cry, Baby, Cry!”

Mr Tegulle is an advocate of the High Court of Uganda     [email protected]