{UAH} If you hate noise, stay away from Uganda
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6:49 AM |
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- Written by DR JIMMY SPIRE SSENTONGO
The list of awkward things that have acquired the status of normal in our society is quite long. Today, I focus on noise. Does it really bother us in Uganda? I think it depends on who you ask. But overall, one would say that noise is one of the many nuisances that have been normalised over time.
Bertrand Russell seems so right in his observation, which I cite so often, that "if a person does [or witnesses] something wrong for a number of times, it starts appearing normal". Little wonder that notices reading "do not urinate here", "do not dump rubbish here", no longer amuse us despite all that they suggest about our way of doing things.
Similarly, we have learnt to get along with the noise that can neither allow us to reflect, rest, or choose what to listen to – except if you carry earphones or ear pads.
You are in the middle of a lecture, discussing ethics. At that quiet moment when the entire class is attentive, a truck advertising a musical concert approaches blazing louder than thunder, the song: 'mulimu kiiii, mu mpale yo mulimu kiii ...?' (what is inside your trousers?)
The truck, with amplified speakers, moves a little faster than a tortoise and makes several rounds with some hooligans (they call them DJs) hoarsely squeaking along the already irritating music! The class bursts out laughing, some humming and nodding along. For a moment, attention is disturbed. The lecturer has no option other than waiting for the thing to pass.
Just as you are starting to utilise the reinstated normalcy, the lawnmower guy reports to duty right outside the classroom. He switches on the engine of his machine and starts to work like nothing is wrong, apart from the wiseacres in class pleading with him to postpone his mowing. This is on top of the noise from ongoing renovations at the next block where the concrete mixer is at it!
Move on to Lubaga road, beside Lubaga hospital, Uganda Martyrs University and other schools, notorious mechanics from nearby garages are known to loudly race their rally cars up and down the hill as and when they want.
The police, stationed in the very vicinity, simply looks on. It is normal!
In a residential area, a bar is set up. If customers refuse to come by the mere appeal of the place, then the bar calls them with the music boom. The level of the noise suggests that residents either go to the bar or they won't be allowed to do anything else in their houses. You can't listen to radio, can't watch TV, can't talk to each other, and can't sleep!
You report to the local council chairperson, nothing happens. You proceed to the police, same story of "we shall work upon it". As you are focusing on the bar, churches sprout up – built with no attention to soundproofing. Yes, several full-blast churches in one residential area!
They sing, drum, trumpet, do their hullabaloo of talking in tongues, scream, and ululate on loud speakers in a manner that would defeat any combination of vuvuzelas.
As if this were not provocative enough, in the middle of their 'worship' night, they start preaching to those in their houses: "You in your houses, how can you be sleeping instead of joining us to praise the Lord? Repent! Otherwise Jesus will find you asleep".
Dear God, did you permit them to do this to us in your name? Yet it is the same people that remind us that Jesus asks us to do to others what we would want them to do to us.
Would they like it if worshipping became a shouting competition between the different faiths? Can't each of us enjoy our freedom of worship without encroaching on others' legitimate space?
There is no longer any real choice when it comes to worship. At home, they forcefully preach it to you. In the taxi, a random preacher takes over, shouting at the top of their voice whatever he/she chooses for you for the day. Out of it, another one is standing by the roadside with a speaker: "Brother, get saved.
Jesus will not ask you to first comb your hair. He loves you as you are". The pregnant lady behind you laughs, just before the 'man of God' redirects his sieve-less mouth: "And you sister, I hope that pregnancy was gotten in ways acceptable by the Lord". Poor woman pretends not to be hurt, but her popping eyes do not conceal her shock over the pastoral nuisance.
Then these so-called 'community radios' with speakers raised upon high poles! Who gives them the permission to wake us up every morning with kadongo kamu music, before making random announcements of the dead, lost property, this and that? Do we have any right to choose what to listen to or not?
In the view of my professor friend, "the only choice we have is to shift to Kololo, Muyenga, or Munyonyo. If not, we should stay quiet because no one will help us". Wow! In other words, some noise only qualifies as pollution when it reaches where our opulent leaders stay.
As for the National Environment Management Authority, the empty noise that they make about noise pollution should also be added to the several types of pollution.
They do not even qualify to be the scarecrows that they irritatingly mimic. If they stayed quiet, we would at least be sure of one source of noise sorted.
jsssentongo@gmail.com
The writer works with the school of Postgraduate Studies and Research at Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi.
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