As I was growing up, it was not possible to see a man carrying anything on his head. Women, going to the well, would carry pots or tins of water on their heads, or any other luggage, say when going to the market, or on a journey. But not the men; and certainly not in towns! It would have been extremely embarrassing, if not regarded as the action of a madman.
This is the norm now in Kampala, especially when you go to the markets like, Owino and Shauri Yako. Men shout loudly for you to give them way as they lug the heavy loads on their heads. Phew!
And by the roadsides, you see youth carrying baskets-full of roasted groundnuts, baghia and sim sim bound in plastic sachets. To our generation, this is shameful!
It marks the dysfunctional nature of this country. One time, a minister even said at a function: Even if you are a graduate and you get a job making beds in a hotel, you do it. Do you go to study for a degree only to come and make beds in a hotel?
The NRM Government has simply failed. Now, they constantly, deceptively and desperately refer to; Bazukulu, bazukulu, bazukulu!
Yokosafati Okilangole, Lira
