Africa-Press – Uganda. I am certain that you have heard the fable of ‘The boy who cried wolf’. You know, the Shepard boy assigned to take care of sheep, close to a forest on some mountain.
That story. It goes that because of boredom, he figured out a way to amuse himself – much to the chagrin of the villagers.
Twice, he ran to the village screaming, “Wolf! Wolf!” and the villagers rushed to his rescue – machetes, sticks and stones in tow.
But there was no wolf. However, the wolf really did come one day, and no amount of screaming and remonstrating would
get the villagers moving. They had been fooled twice and weren’t about to fall for his pranks yet again. Problem is, he wasn’t lying; and the wolf actually did have a feast courtesy of his sheep.
The story ends with the wise man of the village advising that,
“A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.”
I have never figured out whether the moral of the story is to not tell lies or to do so but be sure that you are not telling the same
lie twice – to the same person(s). But it certainly does speak to the crisis of confidence that deceit – especially consistently and unashamedly – begets. Inversely, that the truth really does set one free.
This November week will go down as perhaps the darkest in our collective modern history. It is not clear whether this is how things have always been or if it is the weight of internalized political violence, but Uganda isn’t what you would call a very emotive country. It feels like the dehumanization from decades of violence have eroded the value of life and desensitized our collective psyche.
In one WhatsApp group, a friend wondered how, if at all, there were plans to remember the deaths of tens of Ugandans who had been killed on 18 November 2020. Most were innocent
civilians shot by security forces working to quell riots after the arrest of then Presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi. There has actually been little explanation or move towards justice for families that lost their loved ones.
Someone advised against expecting much, if our national remembrance of the victims of the 7/11 twin bombings is any yardstick. This was before the horrific Kampala bombings of this week, whose shock most of us are still trying to process. Experts will, for the foreseeable future, make suppositions and recommendations as to what could have or must be done.
They are more qualifi ed and indeed paid for it – and we hope that those in charge can continue to make us all (feel) safer.
Even then, the refrain continues to be a call for public vigilance and cooperation – as that is, apparently, the best way to curtail terrorism. Basically, “see something – say something”. It should be an effective strategy if you consider that the names and identities of the suicide bombers as provided to the media by security are Ugandan.
Ergo, they must have relatives and friends and former colleagues, through whom a lot could be learned about them. Uganda, for all its poor data handling, is like a village where sociocultural interlinkages should make it easy to find dig up information.
However, there is a small problem, which takes us back to that story of the Shepard boy, his sheep and the big bad wolf (not pun). You see, our government is like that boy and the rest of us are the villagers. Those in charge haven’t always been honest, which has made it hard for them to be believed – which is fatal for times like this.
Also, the deficit of truth – especially in the face of apparent state-sanctioned violence – has consistently eroded public confidence and I dare say cooperation. Yet, both of these, we are told, are vital ingredients to winning this fight.
In the fight against terrorism, like on everything else that guarantees us greater quality of life, we must root for our leaders and government to succeed. Those who are charged with making things work certainly deserve the benefit of the doubt and cooperation.
Yet you also feel that it will be easier for the villagers to cooperate if the shepherds aren’t taking them for fools at every turn. Wanton rights abuses, subversion of justice, and deceit
don’t sound like a good introduction to collaboration.
Mr Rukwengye is the founder,
Boundless Minds. @Rukwengye
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