{UAH} A LETTER FROM ACHOLI TO BUGANDA!

As a i sat outside the shop veranda in the humid air after the first rains, with my grip tight on the soda bottle i was swigging from, my glance caught the flying debri from a truck as it eked slowly, southward out of town, a proper look informed me it was mud that was flying from the dual hind tyres, typical of a track that has just left the muddy village track. Covered under tuntubari was green banana packed to the top.

The guy sat next to me noticed my curiosity and duly informed me it was banana being transported to Kampala. Of course, i thought to myself, it is from Koch and other surroundings that traders from Buganda go and buy matooke, that was something not new to me; as it's that memvu from Paida taste better than those from Acholi and gonja from Lugazi is far superior in taste than those from Luweero. The guy went on to say, "the Baganda traders say the banana from Acholi tastes much better". Turning to him i said, " well about time the Acholi traders started labelling their banana and market it as such". The guy answered that, "if Acholi were to do so, it would not sell, that is the truth the Baganda cannot buy and eat". looking in his direction, i decided to wash down his statement as it sunk, with my last gallop of soda, with the bottle screaming for another. Slightly out of breath i said, "maybe nobody has dared to sell it to them in the first place". With that, i stood up to return my empty bottle to the shop thinking to myself, there is a market in Buganda, a market for truth telling.

In Acholi there is a saying ni, "ka pige wac ci kiliyo" meaning that if the vegetable (malakwang) soup is too sour, then it must be pour out. This means that you cannot hide the truth in the vegetable. Which brings me to the fact that Acholi people and indeed the rest of Uganda should start selling truth to Buganda and vice versa, why not! Truth such as Buganda is naturally well endowed, green and lush, the hills in Buganda is the romance that entice the Acholi to Buganda especially those Acholi who come from the plains and not the hills of Labwor dwong and Latuturu, but what is there other than the hills? In Buganda the hills are habited with modern buildings albeit the valleys underneath are held from erosion by favelas, a play ground for those who live further up the hills and a setting to remind those who have made good, a village scene they left behind some years ago.This is the Buganda most non Baganda know but the Baganda i want to sell my truth to are the Baganda who are relatively, as poor as those Acholi in Amuru, the Baganda who have very little opportunity to be heard, the ones that have forever been promised air and those that have never ventured to Kampala leave alone, know that Acholi also grows banana. These are the grassroot Baganda who despite living in the shadows of the capital, the economic powerhouse and the window to the outside world, still have no healthcare or school with sheet roofings. They are the Baganda whose back hurts, as year in year out, politicians and the NRM party take in turn to ride on it for free. The Baganda whose only wealth is a vote. The truth i have packaged from Acholi to Buganda to these Baganda, is that they don't owe any politician or party anything, it is they, that politicians and party owe health care, schools and infrastructure. So they should stop accepting empty promises from politicians and party that forever promises them hot air. They should discard them, take control of their want and demand for the right to obtain their needs. This is the truth they should face and buy!

I am hopping that the package of truth from Acholi will reach Buganda intact and it will sell. I will continue to brand packages of truth and ferry in my next episode, for i know its a bitter taste to swallow, but with time, i hope they will have acquired the taste and start begging for more. It's this packages of truth that will unshackle Buganda from a quarter of century broken promises and living in denial. It will set Buganda free to aspire for the skies; for they can!

Akim