{UAH} OULANYAH WILL BE SWIFTLY FORGOTTEN AFTER APRIL 8. THAT IS LIFE

By Edris Kiggundu 

OULANYAH WILL BE SWIFTLY FORGOTTEN AFTER APRIL 8. THAT IS LIFE

The death of Speaker Jacob Oulanyah has predictably led to an outpouring of "grief" from many sectors. 

Like satirist/cartoonist, Jimmy Spire Ssentongo put it in his brilliant piece in The Observer last week, it appears as if some people are competing to "outcry" themselves.

Any one who has lost someone close will testify that death hurts like an arrow to the chest.

Yet amidst the anger, emotions and grief, sometimes death brings out two seemingly contradictory aspects of what constitutes our lives. Our real selves and our pretentious selves.

When the CJ profusely apologized for his emotional outburst against an ethnic group, as a sociologist, I instantly knew he was being his "real self" when he made the offending statements. 

This was not a mere slip of the tongue. It was something that he had probably rehearsed before he went to the microphone only that he could not withstand the backfire/social ramifications.

But it is our pretentious self that takes the biggest part in death. 

We shower praises on people we otherwise despised or hated just for the sake of "fitting in." 

If it is a public figure like Oulanyah, we make grandiose promises in front of the cameras, promises that we know deep in our hearts, we shall never fulfil. 

We praise the late as a "very close friend" when in reality you only went to his home for the first time during the vigil. We even did not know the name of his village. 

How can I claim to be your "very good friend" when I don't know where you live? 

Perhaps I am an acquaintance, colleague at work or fellow MP but I am certainly not your "very good friend."

We make public proclamations on paying school fees for the orphans yet when the time comes, we switch off our phones or claim to be experiencing financial hardships.

The truth is Oulanyah, like Paul Hasule, Gerald Kiddu, Robinah Kiyingi, Apolo Nsibambi, Eriya Kategaya, James Wapakhabulo, Cyprian Lwanga, Aronda Nyakayirima and others will be forgotten swiftly once he is put in the ground on April 8. 

Many of his projects will suffer a natural death (pun intended) and some people will never never visit his home to check on his children and other relatives.

Even if some people have assured that no employee who directly worked in his office would lose their job, the truth is the vast majority will become jobless after Oulanyah has been buried. It will not be immediate but it will DEFINITELY happen. 

When it happens, some people will give justifications for the changes and life will go on normally. 

In a few months, newspapers and online platforms will be awash with stories of promises not kept, of service providers who were never paid, of many things. 

That is life. The dead are quickly forgotten.

--

"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"

--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ugandans at Heart (UAH) Community" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ugandans-at-heart/CAFxDTfoO8Ty1OkK-y5H9yt9qfFTJZejZQg1xLPBG5aBwQeSmzg%40mail.gmail.com.