Katonda tebamusinikira kko mannyo”, (Never try to ‘Teeth’ with God (creator/omutonzi) the Baganda say. “Ruhanga takyenwa’, (God cannot be ignored or cursed) add the Banyakitara.
These are ancient African traditonal sayings of hundreds of years before any foreign concept about faith in the intelligent design reached Uganda.
Of course, the universe is not stable in anyway as you may observe. The chances of finding a disorganized room that organized itself is zero even to simple logic. There are more ways to disagree than to agree. The Physics law of Entropy proves that everything is trying so much to become disorderly therefore, not orderly. It’s easier to burn a candle but not to cause it to un-burn. You as a human feels more like destroying things or not doing any organizing than organizing if you had a way. If there was no Hunger or Problems on earth for example , no human would work or try to organize anything. We would sit around eating free forest fruits all day like Monkeys.
Infact, the kind of Order seen on this planet Earth is NOT NORMAL in Science. How can a planet made of dead rocks and star dust become ALIVE and Sustain itself for billion of Years without any external help, a Mere ROCK made of Iron and lifeless elements?
From what every eye fan see, everything alive is therefore emerging from inside that planet and going back and coming out recycled again, in different shapes, forms and joy and it’s time never ends. If you dig deeper into the earth crust, you will find evidence of strange creatures that lived millions of years ago before man. Its very easy to date them. Yet NOTHING has ever Left that Rock (earth) and whatever tries to come inside it’s atmosphere is BURNT into ‘shooting stars” and become dead rocks? This is not a JOKE. It’s a Big baffling miracle to a Scientist not only to a religious mind.
Evolution is one of the nonsensical suggestions forwarded by we Scientists therefore to try to explain to whoever asks about our origin but it’s not a fact unproven or proven. We can only tell you what we See and can measure i.e that old animals look more like what live today and must therefore be related. Ignore such. Its not a universal truth that’s what 99% of humans believe we are not from Earth spiritually maybe physically like the Scientists say.
The challenge with Uganda and Africa at large is that Corruption and other retrogressive vices are now part of a NEW CULTURE, mix of imported variety of thinkings which are beneficial but being poorly implemented by those the State Permits to cascade.
But culture is shaped by Politics, Economics according to Karl Marx and Engels and even Chairman Mao, and to me, I add a fourth ,,,a firm FAITH in the Divine, like what is stated in the opening of this first gospel letter to the Ugandans. Faith is not Culture as Engels and Marx may have thought.
A culture may lead to direct materialistic production but not faith. I mean, a traditional dance can be Seen in action but one can’t Believe Food into Existence.
The typical religious and even Traditional divine leaders of Africa and the World, when permitted misled Ugandans overtime by beginning to act contrary to what they were meant to preach, they steal offertory and live extravagant lives. The old missionaries used to build Hospitals and the Best Schools in Uganda and Africa are by the old version of religious missionaries. But when their admins left due to independence, Faith became something else. Someone is a Musodoti but owns a Jajja Muwanga shrine with Skulls of a Man.
The Ugandan faith leader of all denominations abandoned the Exemplary tendon and ligaments of leadership and the followers adopted. The traditional divine healer (omufumu) turned into a quack witch doctor to earn MONEY and extravaganza. Earlier in the 18th century, White Explorers recorded Nyoro ‘healers’ doing surgery more advanced than Western Medicine of that time and by evening the Mother who had a LUKINDO was heading to the Well to fetch water. They followed all rules of surgery e.g sterlization, anaesthesia etc. so where are these doctors today? Replaced by Quacks selling holy magical water and Rice but paying no taxes ? Why would the Followers of such pay taxes??
The Pastors, Imams, Priests, Reverands etc begun stealing people’s wives and land and evicting the Poor. Land grabbing then became a Norm. ‘God grabbed mine, so I can grab another’s” sort of thinking. They taught their flock to Seek to Gain where they hadn’t toiled at all using Dubious means. People are weak and learn by SEEING, like babies and LEARN from those they trust to lead them, like a baby trusts a mother’s actions whatever they are.
A lion can only lead Lions therefore. Lions can also only choose Lions to become their leaders. This is the Ideal but not in African societies of today because the Lion is not a real lion but a Sheep in a Lion skin, leading Sheep.
Now we the sheep also want into the Corruption of our Faith Leaders and we are using the same methods used by our FAITH leaders to Gain where we never toiled.
For a bribe to happen, there must be an unethical giver and receiver and BOTH must be immoral equally. If one of them were fair, the transaction would not pass that accounting stage.
Remember it’s only FAITH that can Soften a Human Heart, which enters this World NOT different from the one of a HYENA. If a society has NO ‘Diini’ in it, there will never be progress as history suggests. All past successful human historical societies were led by FAITH and Hope not in materialism but divinity.
That’s why the Perfect STATE even of today has always had FAITH as the 5th ESTATE. In Ancient Egypt and Nubia, Greece, Rome, Abassid dynasty, Mamluk dynasties, Cwezi and Tembuzi and Biito Dynasties, and even nearby in Abbysinia, the HIGH PRIEST of AMUN (usually the Pharaoh or his wife ) or the King or Chief Himself was seen as the Direct Link from the Masses to the gods,,, the way one sees a Pope of today, a Religious but also a political leader and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of GOD, for God and his Country.
But What the colonialists did before demoralizing Africans was to BREAK apart this Divine role of the leader to the People from its foundations and audience. Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda was defeated and forced to call himself DANIEL to break off the his legendary link to his ‘Ba Jajja” to his people. It’s like Buganda conquering England and forcing all English to become followers of Ddungu till today.
It worked. Now the Biggest SHRINE in Uganda is NOT for the Kabaka as it used to be just 5 days before the Missionaries arrived in Buganda. Mwanga the Buganda cultural protector and freedom fighter against political, cultural and economic invasion is now the most hated Person among the Baganda who lost with him then.
This is not to be insensitive to the believers in the Martyrs and their faith but it’s a Fact needed to demonstrate how Ugandan culture may be very different just 50 years from today if we don’t find a way. How CULTURE changes SO FAST. It’s not even 150 years yet BUT all Baganda are DIFFERENT,,, but NOT the English or Chinese or Germans or Jews???? Why? Should Africans be the only ones whose Cultures and morals are confused by foreign concepts ?
Within the same was for England where the Archbishop of Canterbury crowns the Monarchy. Within the historically successful Islamic political economy and historical leadership style, the CALIPH is not just a Political leader but leads National prayers and intercessions too. He is the representative and custodian of the morals of the creator to his people. The SULTANS of Arabia, Brunei and Emirates are the MAIN most Religious Persons, custodians of the People’s code of conduct and morals, whose FAITH and morality is followed and adopted along by the ones he leads. That’s is why Such societies are VOID of African common Immoralist vices like deeply-rooted Societal corruption and acceptance. In Saudi Arabia people don’t close their Shops when going for Prayers but nobody steals. In Uganda even if you place 20 padlocks, your own husband or wife will break in and steal you.
Uganda and most former colonies of Imperialism are now a Countries where EACH citizen is Related to Someone Who is shamelessly CORRUPT and that society or family don’t criticize that Person because they all THINK that they benefit from such illegitimate acquiring of National Cake pieces. That is a New Culture in Africa. But what did Faith and all the thousands of churches and mosques and Shrines do to avert the learning of this?
It’s high time the Public Leader of Uganda and Africa became a Representative of God (divinity) on earth, or else, whatever the Leader shall be,,, ALL the People Will become in that Society.
Let the RDC for example also be an exemplary Mufti and we see. Let the LC V chairman preach some verses about theft in Church every Sunday and let some LC IIIs become pastors. Let Some Permanent Secretaries become Buddhist Monks and Bayudaya BUT who Follow their Laws of faith to dot.
It’s not that Ugandan Christians are not Christians, it’s Just that they have all REFUSED to Listen to the message of their own Lord Jesus Christ as they are taught by their bible to, therefore. But it’s the faith leader to blame.
Let some MPs become Traditional Medicine men who comfort the society through herbal research and instillment of Morals and Ethics in whoever they lead not leaving everything to Mama Phina and Owobushobozi BISAKA. Let the people you lead know that Life does not begin and end only on earth but from wherever all Planets originated from that none of us knows.
Hyenas can only give birth to Hyenas, but Saints give birth to only Saints. A Political leader who follows their Faith as taught shall be Seen by his/her People he/she leads, and they will follow along, like Moses did, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad (Pbuh), Concfusious, Mary mother of Jesus, Paul, Zoroaster, the Indian Gurus, the ancient Holy African tribal healer who did NOT sacrifice children, like the black Nubian/Egyptian Kings from Napata and Meroe who conquered the World in the Name of AMEN!!!!!
The author is Prof Jago-Minyang Makombo Asiimwe Patrick, Philosopher and Political Economy theorist, Afro socialist Lecturer and Global strategist at FreeMinded Academy of the ACUP www.africanacup.org and Asst RDC of Masindi District of Uganda
