Some state he's the Ugandan deputy PM, others say he's the minister for sports, the irony surely not lost there..:)
I'll talk more about Uganda later...
**
I had an interesting and tiring week, so this weekend I've really been catching up with as much rest s possible.
My current listening is Bishop TD Jakes. I've enjoyed one inspirational sermon after another. I know many criticise many pastors of mega churches, and in most cases it's a justified critique, yet TD Jakes ... I like.
If we looked purely at their ability to inspire and motivate, it's fair to say many are very gifted.
Woman Thou Art Loosed is a good read for anyone who's interested.
I've found wisdom and comfort in his teachings this week
Anyway
Human Doings
There are times that I simply don’t’ understand human nature. We either hear of cases of extreme generosity, or at the other end of the scale, extreme brutality, both of which appear highly seductive to the media. Fortunately, most of us, live the majority of our time, somewhere in between these two poles.
On the continent, I’m often taken aback by the behaviour of those in power. Either they are guilty of abusing their power directly, or they are guilty of complicit silence.
Our male leaders in Africa, are cut from a different cloth.
Politicians, in general, across the globe, are cut from a different cloth.
The stories that moved me in some way over the past week or two, did so for numerous reasons.
In no particular order, the 1st, is closer to home.
Theresa May dancing. I’ve never seen anything as utterly ridiculous as those odd shapes she was struggling to throw. Even writing these words is bringing back memories of just how annoyingly ridiculous the entire scene was.
My brother told me I was over exaggerating, and that she was doing ‘her thing’. To which I simply responded by turning the clip off all together and wondering why I even bothered to show him in the 1st place :).
To be honest, I couldn’t avert my eyes, such was my enjoyment
What was interesting though is the woman standing beside her with the handbag. The one that looks as though she’s on the starting blocks and about to run a race, only to be called back time and time again
Did she think that because the British Prime Minister lacked rhythm or the fluidity of musical expression, that she also had to comply by having no sense of rhythm also?
Theresa May had the power to make an African woman turn into a complete and utter no rhythmic moron without saying a word.
I’m being harsh, I know
over the top as my brother might say
But I’m being harsh for a reason.
When I watched Theresa May’s inability to dance it brought home to me, just what is wrong with our former colonisers, and our country today.
To move is to feel. Theresa Mays inability to move shows an inability to feel, to connect.
Her dancing is as stiff as her policies. Policies which lack a humane touch. Policies, which impact on the 99% far more negatively than we may desire to admit.
If you wonder what Tory Britain looks like.. well.. it looks like Theresa May's dancing I guess..
Slightly rigid and cold
Yet perhaps that dance was a cry for help.
Maybe it's saying, I’m cold, I’m hard, feelingless, and I need someone to show me how to love, how to feel, how to be compassionate, how to be real.
Don’t believe me? Look into her eyes. I felt her discomfort. I am no stranger to feeling discomfort in situations I'd rather not be in.. so I can relate
Those eyes said.. ‘why me?’, either that, or how much dancing do you think I need to do to get back in favour here.
Britain is keen to seduce Africa again because Brexit ironically has the powers that be looking even more outward than every before.
So our P.M evaded the land question In S.A, agreed a deal with Buhari on security, (training for the military, and anti Terror strategies) and Dankote ( the richest man in Africa) will list his $11b Dankote Cement business ion the stock market
Bet you all thought you were simply watching a woman dance … well, you were watching far more than that.
Disclaimer.. My brother discredited my theory... but he doesn’t count.
**
Story two, Is set in Uganda
Many of you will know about the recent arrest and torture of popular afro beat musician, and independent political candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine
Now released, and in the US, he has released a statement citing the beatings he endured via the Ugandan police.
Many say his treatment was at the hands of elite presidential guards.
Wine was arrested back in August after a campaign rally in the north-western town of Arua where the Presidential convoy was allegedly stoned, he was released, but later arrested again on charges of treason.
Bobby Wine is persona non grata, for the ruling elite because he’s young, he's intelligent, he’s popular with young people, (who make up the majority) and he’s not afraid to speak his mind. Wine is the revolutionary from Uganda that may have ignited the fuse which will change the status quo of the country.
Now as bad as it is, it’s not the arrest and torture that tipped it for me.
It’s was the presidents statement on the issue,
He called the entire thing, ‘ Fake News’
That American inspired rhetoric is shockingly embarrassing. Seriously,
a ‘cheeseburgers and fries’ statement. If he continues to believe himself untouchable, perhaps he should consider the fact that those longest serving African leaders are one by one, being removed from power.
If the only way one can hold onto power is through the violent suppression of people, one is really powerless, and acting like an ole plantation overseer.
In fact, perhaps it’s not Wine that has ignited the fuse, but Museveni himself. Simply by not knowing when to leave office, or how to respect human rights, and political opponents.
**
The last story caught my eye because I love flowers.
I love receiving them, buying them, giving them, admiring them
I think flowers are beautiful and also romantic. They can convey a range of emotion depending on the context they are given or received.
Mohamed Mahamoud Sheik, also loved flowers. He believed that flowers could heal; could restore a war torn country accustomed to witnessing ugly acts, to appreciating beauty. Sheik, wanted to bring back love, romance, and business was doing well. Young couples were beginning to buy flowers for Valentine’s Day, and the sales of single red roses went up, giving hope that love wad embedded gave hope that love was indeed, embedding itself within the culture.
Sheik opened the very 1st Flower shop in Somalia. Mogadishu to be exact.
He was threatened to shut it down but was defiant
This is what he said in 2015 (courteously of the Guardian)
“Most people wonder why [Somalia] is unable to gain peace and stability and have a functioning government. It is not because people do not want peace or a government. It’s because they cannot. They are still haunted and traumatized by the decades of war. “It has not set it into their minds that peace can truly happen.
“On a daily basis [people] witness bombs going off and see bodies and hear of death. They help those injured and bury their dead. They mourn and pray that God helps them. Then they move with their lives. The next day is again the same and nothing seems to change.
“To me flowers bring in a new light, a solution to the problems faced. It provides an opportunity to see beauty and gain sanity from all the problems surrounding us".
He was shot and killed on the 2nd August 2018.
"The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace; it’s true. Yet it’s also true that nothing strengthens authority such as silence".
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