Human beings are an evolving creature. We always
have hope for the future; a future shinning bright with all potential of
possibility. In the beginning of a certain struggle it was nothing more than a
scandal to stand up to the existing administration. But the struggle of our
forefathers changed things and presented the rest of us, both born and unborn
with a future. In their struggle through a warped political system called
colonialism, they found the possibility of understanding each other and belief
in a brother or sister that shares no blood tie to you, regardless of tribe.
Our ancestors embraced hope for the future the
moment that they fought for independence. They saw a Uganda shinning with great
potential ruled by the children of their children and not by one of them. No
matter how deep the despair is, hope always rises from it. You are light and
there will be a time when that light shines bright over all of us.
You see as children of this great country we were
all blessed the moment we came into this world. The trouble is that fathers
never say enough to their sons. Children are forced to fill in the blank spaces
all on their own. But that is what makes growing up beautiful. As children we
should make our own mistakes. We should take the country forward as best as we
can, falling down and rising up along the way.
One man cannot sit on the throne and claim to be the
greatest mind with the vision forward. Nay, I should not only blame the one
king seated on the throne, I should say all the old and once young men and
women of Uganda should let the children take over. Just like their fathers
fought to place them in positions to take the country forward, they too have
fought long and hard. The time has come to let the children of the forefathers’
children take the country forward into the new age.
It has taken centuries for mankind with constant
struggles and successes for humans to say that they have evolved. The battle
for independence started with a simple desire for a brighter future. A future
where Ugandans had power to take the land known as the Pearl of Africa into new
possibilities; a thing some people would call a god all on its own.
But this power created some problems. This power led
to individuals using it as a bargaining chip to stay in power. Instead of
seeing the potential in each and every one Ugandan, some saw the potential in
themselves and unearthed a hunger that sits deep inside of us. This hunger led
to the world becoming a smaller place where power was centred in one person
with the possibility of the future envisioned by the forefathers dead.
The roles of master and servants changed. Leaders
meant to use the power to bring the possibility on all Ugandans out used it to
stay in power. In the end we had the likes of Milton Obote, Idi Amin and
countless others who might not be in the history books who took on that power
and hungered for more. It is something that I would like to call the Curse of
Our Forefathers.
Steady Progress.
That is what they have touted it as. But move around
this country. What is Steady Progress? In the eyes of many this is just the
slow and steady decline back to the Stone Age. Yes, schools are built. Yes,
roads exist. Yes, there has been security and development. But in reality these
milestones are being placed on a pedestal.
They talk like they are not affected. They talk as
if all Ugandans are not their people. They need to see the future for all
Ugandans. They should see the light of warm desire of all Ugandans to forget
the petty feuds brought about by the divisions of political ideology. The
problem with this light always glowing and fading comes from the fact that as
Ugandans we always sweep the possibility of our future under the rug. The few
times we pull off the rug, someone with that hunger for power uses it as a
reason to start a war.
However, the power that is the presidency is not
meant for one man alone. That is our reality. It is not meant for one person
that seeks to rule believing that others do not understand. With the world
changing and ever evolving, with children being born each and every day, time
comes and goes. But as it passes so does it leave behind those who had their
chance.
In this time when the world changes, is it so hard
for those in power and cursed with the curse of our forefathers’ hunger for
power, to believe that the time has come for the reins to be handed over to the
children?
The time has come for the older people to understand
that as their children grow, they try with all their might. Children are not
inhibited by experience. Children trust the possibility of growing up. The way
their feel is not wrong. They try with all their might and have the chance to
get out of the accursed hunger that dogs our fathers.
If you are reading this open your eyes and usher in
the new age of our country with goodwill in your hearts. Though we have our
different faiths, there is another thing we can all believe in called
possibility. We need to reclaim the world that our forefathers fought for, the
world we desire from the moment we understand. That is my only desire as a
young man growing up in this nation, but mine is just one desire in billions of
desires on this planet.
The world progresses with one tiny bit every second
because a few fathers trust their dreams to someone they know, someone who is
not a stranger…their children. They are that lucky. Hold on to your dreams,
don’t give up and don’t become close minded. That is how dreams live on beyond
fathers, and that is something that Ugandans have forgotten. The chance will
come and we should not hesitate.
Do not walk the same path as our fathers that have
forgotten the true ideals that their fathers entrusted to them.
You see the future that the old fathers that passed
on left one belief that they had for our future. They saw the possibility in
each Ugandan; themselves, their children and even us the unborn children of
their children. The reality we live in now is not the future that our
forefathers dreamed for us as they bled to have self-rule.
Isn’t the future supposed to be a time that is different
from the present; a Uganda that is better than the Uganda we have now? As the
children of those who came before us we have inherited that particular dream
for the future. But we have not just inherited that dream of the future, that
faith in possibility; we have inherited a responsibility. If we accept the
status quo as a fixed reality we will not achieve our responsibility.
Even so, without a clear notion of how it will turn
out, as a human being, a Ugandan, a young man in this ever changing world, I
want to believe in the future of our country, in Ugandans and the possibilities
that Ugandans possess to take over the world and make Uganda into a place where
Steady Progress means progress that envelopes all of us.
So, what is your desire from the bottom of your
heart for this world?
