Looking Through the Eye of a Writer
continued from the front page
War
There is a joke in Uganda that no Ugandan leader can lead without an army backing him. Wars have been fought as a beacon to freeing the nation from injustice and dictatorship. Military leaders have consolidated themselves by colluding with the military, and military leaders proclaim to revive the nation from past atrocities which they think had bedevilled the nation. They assume that the gun can liberate the nation and bring peae and freedom.
Civil wars are carried out by those who can't clarify their position. They justify their actions and think it is their birth right to go to war. One must praise the strength of people who are governed by the gun. They live through hardship and suppression and can't raise their heads above the parapet. People are oppressed and they have tried to live a normal life even though they have no political clout.
Uganda has had its fair-share of dictators, but it can't shed its military attire. Anyone who governs with a gun is brutal and merciless. There is nothing like a peaceful war, for all wars spill innocent blood, and whatever reason is purported to justify peacful wars, it is a travesty of justice. A peaceful settlement that avoids war can be called justified.
Wars are disguised as an emblem to bring peace and justice. Coupled with that no peace is attained when warriors fail to give up arms in order to create peace. Many wars were fought to end colonialism, but after the British departed, no peace has reigned since independence. There is consant political wrangling. No one can comprehend the necessity of war to establish peace.
Citizens' Voices
Under a dictatorship no opposition is allowed to participate in the political process and no one can oppose that rule. Citizens live in fear and lack self-determination. They feel they are disfranchised and find they have no one to represent them. They are powerless; their voices drowned by the sound of gunfire. Citizen's voices are undermined for fear of arrest. Those who are not heard leave a lot to be desired. One citizen who is marginalized makes the rest unheard, and it is similar to one rotten grape which spoils all other good grapes.
A dictator cannot listen to the grievances of his people, but is an introvert and he is not visible. The lack of citizens' voices causes apprehension and paranoia; there is fear of arrest which causes citizens to retreat. Citizens' voices are like a sound of a beautiful song which cheers the heart, but oppressed voices are not free to pick and choose. They can't pick a leader because they lack that privilege to do so. A military leader superimposes himself over his citizens and justifies his rule as genuine and legitimate. Citizen's cannot express or speak about their predicament, opinion, and beliefs because of fear of reprisals and adverse results. Citizens must have the right to be politically active without fear of being victimized, and must hold any leader to account in how that leader assumes to govern them. Citizens who have no voice are like a child crying in the wilderness.
A writer must look through the eye of history, politics and try to make sense of it and to acknowledge and try to sanitised it.
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