We shall miss Spe’s scents and spins
Jun 03, 2003
She has gone. Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe has left the post of Vice President of Uganda. There are things that will be missed about Kazibwe: the droopy eyes; the flashy smile; her uncanny knack of bursting into song
By Dorothy Nang’wale Oulanyah
She has gone. Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe has left the post of Vice President of Uganda. There are things that will be missed about Kazibwe; the droopy eyes which many men have been known to call romantic; the flashy smile that made her so radiant; the forefinger which she was so fond of raising when stressing a point and her uncanny knack of bursting into song even when it seemed inappropriate.
Also to be missed is the constant reminder from such a high office of the pride and importance of being a mother — even when one is doing ‘a man’s job’.
Spe never ceased to remind all that she was a woman. In spite of her short comings, it was good having her there — girls and women can now aspire to be vice presidents and men can be brave enough to appoint women to the post. But one thing remains with me about Spe; the perfume she wore the day she sent us (then students), into potential political oblivion.
I was elected to represent Makerere at the Uganda National Students Association (UNSA). We were working closely with the Ministry of Gender and Community Development, whose minister was Dr. Kazibwe. We lobbied and worked closely with Spe to get the Youth Bill enacted into law and to establish the Youth Councils.
When finally the Youth Council law was passed, we converged in Kyambogo for the elections. I thought I was no political novice in students politics and that I would enjoy active participation. I could not have been more mistaken. Spe and her team including Baguma Isoke now Hon. and Byabazaire had other plans.
At Kyambogo, I realised that the cards were staked against me and my fellow NYC member elected from UNSA — Odrek Rwabwogo. Rwabwogo’s crime, apart from coming from a constituency without numbers at the meeting, was that he was objective.
He had resigned from Rwomushana’s (now Presidential Assistant on Political Affairs and former RDC) Guild government on a point of principle. There was no room for objectivity and principle in the Kyambogo meet, at that time.
One was either completely Movement or completely multi-party and this simply translated into the central and the west versus the north and the east. Coming from the east and closely associated with the north, I saw my chances dissipate.
Before we went into elections on the final day, Spe came to address the meeting as the Minister responsible for youth. She made us sing a song I had last sung in nursery; ‘Home again, home again...’ I could not believe it!!
But Spe figured that since we had been away from home for a couple of days, it was appropriate for us to sing a nursery song to express our feelings. She said she did it in her capacity as a mother. We obliged. Then she made her remarks and contrary to Karooro Okurut’s findings, she stabbed us in the back!!
All of us who came from the north and the east were branded ungrateful for the fundamental change ushered in by the NRM. She in essence said that because of this we would not attain and be trusted with positions of leadership.
The total effect of her remarks was the direct extinction of the easterners and northerners from winning any position on the NYC. The Basoga, true to the stereotype, dumped allegiance to the east, cut their loses and allied wholesale with the centre and west. There was no case for principle — and Rwabwogo gave up on politics, to this day.
As she left the room after her remarks, Spe passed by me and I smelt her perfume. It was a nice perfume but it has since left a weird mark in my memory. She and Baguma Isoke had done their job well. The youth were under control.
So I stepped aside and watched Spe’s feature on the political stage: From the smelly socks, through the valley dams, media criticism, the divorce and all the way to Harvard. Through it all she has shone. She was never drained of energy, never silenced, never stabbed in the back and never asked to step aside — until Harvard that is.
Spe always seemed to follow the President — even when it meant stabbing her fellow women in the back. That was her degree of loyalty.
It was indeed amazing when she came out to openly oppose the co-ownership provisions in the Land Act, that women of good standing had thought out and were building a strong lobby for. Nothing hurts like a snub from one’s own.
But Spe, she stood her ground and helped drive the dagger deep into the women’s cause. We wished she had stuck to the smelly socks because this indeed smelt worse. As she made her case, if any at all, I could not help but wonder whether she had since changed her perfume.
Spe I believe would have stood her ground and defended her view in whatever fora. With or without benefits, Spe is rich enough to rule and bold enough to be the envy of any woman true to herself.
Many women women wish to be able to castigate men openly for their poor hygiene standards or be vice president while being a mother and a Nnalongo at that; many women would like to be brainy and also have captivating smiles and romantic eyes. Spe was brave enough to be all these things and be herself as well. Now that smells nice.
So as Spe heads for Harvard, many wonder whether that is it for her. Somehow a bitter/sweet scent is left lingering in the political atmosphere. She is not gone for good. She will return!
She has gone. Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe has left the post of Vice President of Uganda. There are things that will be missed about Kazibwe; the droopy eyes which many men have been known to call romantic; the flashy smile that made her so radiant; the forefinger which she was so fond of raising when stressing a point and her uncanny knack of bursting into song even when it seemed inappropriate.
Also to be missed is the constant reminder from such a high office of the pride and importance of being a mother — even when one is doing ‘a man’s job’.
Spe never ceased to remind all that she was a woman. In spite of her short comings, it was good having her there — girls and women can now aspire to be vice presidents and men can be brave enough to appoint women to the post. But one thing remains with me about Spe; the perfume she wore the day she sent us (then students), into potential political oblivion.
I was elected to represent Makerere at the Uganda National Students Association (UNSA). We were working closely with the Ministry of Gender and Community Development, whose minister was Dr. Kazibwe. We lobbied and worked closely with Spe to get the Youth Bill enacted into law and to establish the Youth Councils.
When finally the Youth Council law was passed, we converged in Kyambogo for the elections. I thought I was no political novice in students politics and that I would enjoy active participation. I could not have been more mistaken. Spe and her team including Baguma Isoke now Hon. and Byabazaire had other plans.
At Kyambogo, I realised that the cards were staked against me and my fellow NYC member elected from UNSA — Odrek Rwabwogo. Rwabwogo’s crime, apart from coming from a constituency without numbers at the meeting, was that he was objective.
He had resigned from Rwomushana’s (now Presidential Assistant on Political Affairs and former RDC) Guild government on a point of principle. There was no room for objectivity and principle in the Kyambogo meet, at that time.
One was either completely Movement or completely multi-party and this simply translated into the central and the west versus the north and the east. Coming from the east and closely associated with the north, I saw my chances dissipate.
Before we went into elections on the final day, Spe came to address the meeting as the Minister responsible for youth. She made us sing a song I had last sung in nursery; ‘Home again, home again...’ I could not believe it!!
But Spe figured that since we had been away from home for a couple of days, it was appropriate for us to sing a nursery song to express our feelings. She said she did it in her capacity as a mother. We obliged. Then she made her remarks and contrary to Karooro Okurut’s findings, she stabbed us in the back!!
All of us who came from the north and the east were branded ungrateful for the fundamental change ushered in by the NRM. She in essence said that because of this we would not attain and be trusted with positions of leadership.
The total effect of her remarks was the direct extinction of the easterners and northerners from winning any position on the NYC. The Basoga, true to the stereotype, dumped allegiance to the east, cut their loses and allied wholesale with the centre and west. There was no case for principle — and Rwabwogo gave up on politics, to this day.
As she left the room after her remarks, Spe passed by me and I smelt her perfume. It was a nice perfume but it has since left a weird mark in my memory. She and Baguma Isoke had done their job well. The youth were under control.
So I stepped aside and watched Spe’s feature on the political stage: From the smelly socks, through the valley dams, media criticism, the divorce and all the way to Harvard. Through it all she has shone. She was never drained of energy, never silenced, never stabbed in the back and never asked to step aside — until Harvard that is.
Spe always seemed to follow the President — even when it meant stabbing her fellow women in the back. That was her degree of loyalty.
It was indeed amazing when she came out to openly oppose the co-ownership provisions in the Land Act, that women of good standing had thought out and were building a strong lobby for. Nothing hurts like a snub from one’s own.
But Spe, she stood her ground and helped drive the dagger deep into the women’s cause. We wished she had stuck to the smelly socks because this indeed smelt worse. As she made her case, if any at all, I could not help but wonder whether she had since changed her perfume.
Spe I believe would have stood her ground and defended her view in whatever fora. With or without benefits, Spe is rich enough to rule and bold enough to be the envy of any woman true to herself.
Many women women wish to be able to castigate men openly for their poor hygiene standards or be vice president while being a mother and a Nnalongo at that; many women would like to be brainy and also have captivating smiles and romantic eyes. Spe was brave enough to be all these things and be herself as well. Now that smells nice.
So as Spe heads for Harvard, many wonder whether that is it for her. Somehow a bitter/sweet scent is left lingering in the political atmosphere. She is not gone for good. She will return!