Open letter to Kakwenza Rukirabashaija

Dear Bwana Kakwenza,
I’m happy that at last you left the place you were confined to, tortured and humiliated. I thank the Lord that they tortured your body, but not your spirit. For you saying you’ll return to Uganda without sneaking in like you fled shows your spirit is still fresh and committed.

However, I have some nuggets of wisdom for you. It might be too early to think about coming back. But you also need to underscore the power dynamics between you and your tormentors. First, please first read Festo Kivengere’s book, I Love Idi Amin: The Story of Triumph under Fire in the Midst of Suffering and Persecution in Uganda.

Bwana mdogo, when Kivengere wrote that he loved former president Idi Amin, it was to the contrary. And he got away with it. Sometimes, you can show your displeasure through laughter and vice versa. I’ll give you an example of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta. When he wants to say a serious thing, he usually says it jokingly.

Second, never use obvious innuendos, metaphors or anything close. Instead, you can think of what we call ‘creative deconstruction’. I know your intention is well and you’re sick and tired of lowbrows and their hangers-on. But remember, God sends meat and the devil sends cooks. Who knows if your tormentor’s cooks are the ones who misconstrued your message and told your target to mercilessly descend on you?

Third, Africa has millions of greedy barbarians. If your title were about them, you’d have safely gotten away with murder my brother. The saying is that if you want to hide a tree, hide it in the forest. 

Anyway, I don’t want or intend to tutor you on how to write about something controversial you believe in. But I want you to understand that freedoms and liberties we hear our politicos sing about are but theoretical. Even those gurus of human rights who encourage us to fight for and enjoy our freedoms and rights such as the right to expression, in our humbly views, are the ones who have maintained our tormentors simply because they rob us and vend them the pillages. They’re the same ones that killed our radical leaders such as Patrice Emile Lumumba and Kwame Nkrumah.

Fourth, never write something even a buffoon can crack. If your satire were highly knotty, those that tortured you would not get it easily as they did. I’m sure they don’t read books. 

Fifth, before writing, you need to gauge your target. For example, there’s no reason whatsoever to write about something that’d cost your dear life.

Pole sana bwana Kakwenza Rukirabashaija. To those persecuting Rukirabashaija, you’re tarnishing the good name of Uganda.  You can kill or torture one Rukirabashaija, but there are many more under your noses. To avoid their poisonous arrows, accountably and equally do justice to everybody. Stop corruption, hooliganism, and nepotism, among other ills. 

Nkwazi Mhango ,Lifetime member of the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador  

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