A rose by any other name
WHAT'S in a name? A rose by any other name smells as sweet!†That is how I have often remembered this line from Shakespeare’s <i>Romeo and Juliet </i>(Act 2 Scene 2, if you want me to be pedantic.) But, sometimes, memory misses a beat! Accuracy demands the true order of words: “What’s in a n
By John Nagenda
WHAT'S in a name? A rose by any other name smells as sweet!†That is how I have often remembered this line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (Act 2 Scene 2, if you want me to be pedantic.) But, sometimes, memory misses a beat! Accuracy demands the true order of words: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.â€
If I were to be sacrilegious I would say my memory is a bit smoother than the original, may The Bard forgive me! What brought on this line of thought about names was the current Ugandan NSSF scandal; although its dreadful smell is as far removed from the lovely smell of roses as it’s possible to be!
However that may be, my old friend Amama Mbabazi brought on these reflections when he called himself a Rock, going on to allege it was the kind of hard rock (not the music variety) on which the small weapons of his enemies would shatter! He also referred to these as vultures, but we will come to that. Rock is what we shall always call Mbabazi now: (“Oh you mean Rock?†we shall say, in various shades of exaggeration!)
He is not the only one. There is The Man Called Mahogany who is another friend - none other than our most amiable Vice President, H.E Prof Gilbert Bukenya. That is a name now immortalised in verse, song and cartoon: Mahogany, we utter in wonder.
Another friend, the now not so well-remembered Col Kizza Besigye (in fact should that not be spelled Kiiza through pronunciation: but a Kizza is just as sweet!), called himself a Hammer, which is all very well but he always seemed to hammer nobody but himself: a suicidal tool? It would be high summer jinks to imagine Hammer vs. Rock, with Mahogany watching from an imperious height, and then heavily smothering the two.
I must confess that your humble columnist also went in once for a spot of self-nicknaming and came up with Thunder. I blush still! Until now I have kept it a well-hidden secret. I did it the once, and once was enough.
What about the vultures attacking the Hon Minister of Security Mbabazi, as if they would dare! Well, up to now vultures have been famous for attacking those (how shall I put it?) who had stopped breathing! Of one thing you can be a hundred times sure.
Hon Mbabazi, also Secretary General of the ruling National Resistance Movement, had no intention, as he confirmed, of being dead. Oh what fun it is to be in our lovely homeland: (sang to the tune of “Jingle Bellsâ€)!
***************
But of course the serious business of the more or less looming total collapse of the NSSF leadership still needs to be solved. The longer we dither or prevaricate, the more certain it will be that the Ugandan workforce, for whom the National Social Security Fund had been started in the first place, will become completely disillusioned.
The whipping horse (and why not?) will be Government, because it is a Government priority to look after its workers and protect them, in this case from the ravenous greed of those who manage their Fund. A good part of it is compulsorily taken from the workers’ pay packet.
To now read garish reports, whether ultimately true or false, of how the workers’ contribution is being orgiastically raped by a few rapacious individuals at the forefront of the pig-swill will bewilder and enrage all workers, especially if they can see no redress. What price the Bonna Bagaggawale (Let Them All Prosper) drive, which the President has been busily crisscrossing the whole country to popularise. Shall all prosper except the workers!
I have no doubt that the NRM government has the interest of the workers at heart; besides, it would be suicidal not to. Thus the only questions now must be: when will Government act, and how severely?
The dire fall-out if no action is taken is at least three-fold: the social one, which led to the creation of the NSSF, the financial, since the collapse of the Fund would have very deep ramifications in the entire financial sector, due to the huge NSSF reserves, and the political. Of the last, it is no exaggeration to say that governments rise and fall on such turmoil.
**************
Turning to the first-part culprit in this sorry saga, obviously it must be the NSSF highest management. But here I stand the chance of being seen to hit the smaller fry while the bigger escapes. It is not my intention. Both parties must be brought before the law of the land, and, if they have broken it, face the consequences. I say the NSSF first, because it was the initiator in this land buying case.
Everything stems from that. But that does not mean it will end the only one in the dock. The court of public opinion seems very clear, but it is not the legal instrument; although not without consequence, especially where the Vote is concerned; never forget the power of the vote! As for your humble columnist, for the next three weeks he will be watching (but still agog!) from afar.
The high point of the trip, on 29 September, will be a one-day high-level symposium in Hamburg, Germany, on Uganda. What in his near dotage your man never expected is to be asked do the final summing-up, at the end of the day! Cheers.
WHAT'S in a name? A rose by any other name smells as sweet!†That is how I have often remembered this line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (Act 2 Scene 2, if you want me to be pedantic.) But, sometimes, memory misses a beat! Accuracy demands the true order of words: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.â€
If I were to be sacrilegious I would say my memory is a bit smoother than the original, may The Bard forgive me! What brought on this line of thought about names was the current Ugandan NSSF scandal; although its dreadful smell is as far removed from the lovely smell of roses as it’s possible to be!
However that may be, my old friend Amama Mbabazi brought on these reflections when he called himself a Rock, going on to allege it was the kind of hard rock (not the music variety) on which the small weapons of his enemies would shatter! He also referred to these as vultures, but we will come to that. Rock is what we shall always call Mbabazi now: (“Oh you mean Rock?†we shall say, in various shades of exaggeration!)
He is not the only one. There is The Man Called Mahogany who is another friend - none other than our most amiable Vice President, H.E Prof Gilbert Bukenya. That is a name now immortalised in verse, song and cartoon: Mahogany, we utter in wonder.
Another friend, the now not so well-remembered Col Kizza Besigye (in fact should that not be spelled Kiiza through pronunciation: but a Kizza is just as sweet!), called himself a Hammer, which is all very well but he always seemed to hammer nobody but himself: a suicidal tool? It would be high summer jinks to imagine Hammer vs. Rock, with Mahogany watching from an imperious height, and then heavily smothering the two.
I must confess that your humble columnist also went in once for a spot of self-nicknaming and came up with Thunder. I blush still! Until now I have kept it a well-hidden secret. I did it the once, and once was enough.
What about the vultures attacking the Hon Minister of Security Mbabazi, as if they would dare! Well, up to now vultures have been famous for attacking those (how shall I put it?) who had stopped breathing! Of one thing you can be a hundred times sure.
Hon Mbabazi, also Secretary General of the ruling National Resistance Movement, had no intention, as he confirmed, of being dead. Oh what fun it is to be in our lovely homeland: (sang to the tune of “Jingle Bellsâ€)!
***************
But of course the serious business of the more or less looming total collapse of the NSSF leadership still needs to be solved. The longer we dither or prevaricate, the more certain it will be that the Ugandan workforce, for whom the National Social Security Fund had been started in the first place, will become completely disillusioned.
The whipping horse (and why not?) will be Government, because it is a Government priority to look after its workers and protect them, in this case from the ravenous greed of those who manage their Fund. A good part of it is compulsorily taken from the workers’ pay packet.
To now read garish reports, whether ultimately true or false, of how the workers’ contribution is being orgiastically raped by a few rapacious individuals at the forefront of the pig-swill will bewilder and enrage all workers, especially if they can see no redress. What price the Bonna Bagaggawale (Let Them All Prosper) drive, which the President has been busily crisscrossing the whole country to popularise. Shall all prosper except the workers!
I have no doubt that the NRM government has the interest of the workers at heart; besides, it would be suicidal not to. Thus the only questions now must be: when will Government act, and how severely?
The dire fall-out if no action is taken is at least three-fold: the social one, which led to the creation of the NSSF, the financial, since the collapse of the Fund would have very deep ramifications in the entire financial sector, due to the huge NSSF reserves, and the political. Of the last, it is no exaggeration to say that governments rise and fall on such turmoil.
**************
Turning to the first-part culprit in this sorry saga, obviously it must be the NSSF highest management. But here I stand the chance of being seen to hit the smaller fry while the bigger escapes. It is not my intention. Both parties must be brought before the law of the land, and, if they have broken it, face the consequences. I say the NSSF first, because it was the initiator in this land buying case.
Everything stems from that. But that does not mean it will end the only one in the dock. The court of public opinion seems very clear, but it is not the legal instrument; although not without consequence, especially where the Vote is concerned; never forget the power of the vote! As for your humble columnist, for the next three weeks he will be watching (but still agog!) from afar.
The high point of the trip, on 29 September, will be a one-day high-level symposium in Hamburg, Germany, on Uganda. What in his near dotage your man never expected is to be asked do the final summing-up, at the end of the day! Cheers.