By Barnabas Iga Matovu
‘A GOOD MUGANDA IS A DEAD ONE’: TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT
Former president of Uganda, Dr. Apollo Milton Obote reputedly said that ‘a good Muganda is a dead one’, a statement that has been taken out of context.
Obote married a Muganda woman (Miria Kalule). Obote’s children are half-Baganda.
The statement ‘a good Muganda is a dead one’ was/is taken out of context by some sections of people, perhaps.
Obote made that statement in relation to the death of his friend, who was a Muganda.
In life, the deceased had been forsaken by his relatives because of his close ties with Obote. Even in his illness, they didn’t show up (baamuboola).
However, immediately after his death, several Baganda relatives turned up crying sorrowfully, claiming the body for burial.
It is at that point that Obote said, “I didn’t know that a good Muganda is a dead one!”
We have a ‘habit’ of claiming the dead yet while still alive, we care less or not at all.
It’s in their death that we contribute sums and sums of money for ‘mabugo’ (sometimes for purposes of ‘showing off’) yet in life, we forsook these people.
During a funeral, you hear only good words about the deceased. Such sweet speeches can even make you think Satan will be alone in hell!
This is what Obote meant.
The story was first published on Kyaggwe TV Facebook account on July 1, 2021