By Stephen Lwetutte
Etymology is a linguistic discipline which studies the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. It is a highly specialised study and there are only a few specialists around the world, with most of them offering it as part of a wider course in languages and linguistics. Yet President Museveni recently used a few crammed examples of the origins of a couple of words to summarily and arbitrarily reduce the proud Baganda to bunch of parochial people who do not know the origin of their own words.
Addressing members of the newly sworn-in members of his cabinet and government on 21 June 2021, the supposed Foundation of Honour had the audacity to dismissively refer to His Majesty the Kabaka of Buganda by his bare names at variance with accepted standard cultural norms, but certainly in breach of protocol standards for a Head of State. “When you go to the palace of Mutebi here,,,there is the “Wankaaki”,,,a word which the Baganda use carelessly without knowing its of Luo language origin,,,or “omubala”,,,from Lugbara,,,l restored these Kingdoms so that the people discover the linkages of words from different societies”, said Museveni to a quiet and evidently embarrassed audience. The man from Rwakitura now seemed to be offering a lecture on etymology and at the same time awarding marks for a test, as well as drawing certain conclusions all at the same time.
While avoiding to pronounce myself on the substance of his controversial views, l will nevertheless quickly point out to President Museveni that etymology is a very highly specialised study for anyone, leave alone the general public. For him to dig up some vocabulary which is not in every day parlance and use it as a yardstick to make snide remarks and draw adverse inferences publicly about a whole nation is unbecoming of the a Head of State and brings into disrepute the Office of the President as well as the accompanying title of Fountain of Honour. It is all the more disappointing that one would have expected him to be thoroughly schooled in official conduct and in the exigencies of protocol after 35 years in that office, albeit unlawfully. Tales are told how the late Samson Kisekka, as the then Vice President, often tried to help Mr Museveni with how to handle and conduct himself in public as a civilised Head of State in the 1980s during the first years of his presidency.
It had appeared that the man had gradually picked up on the expected mannerisms while in public, as opposed to what he was used to in the bush. However, as the saying goes, you can take someone from the bush, but taking the bush out of them is nigh impossible. If President Museveni’s recent public outbursts – from calling all and sundry idiots to now his condescending attitude towards the respected ancient 800-year-old Kingdom of Buganda – are anything to go by, it is fair to conclude that the man is slowly but steadily sliding into a state of mind at which point in a liberal democracy, impeachment proceedings would be in order on grounds of psychological or even mental impairment. We are also told that there is a history of the condition in his family, a fact that would justify and reinforce that view.
As everyone knows, Museveni’s 35-year tenure of office is littered almost exclusively with failures: from economic collapse, to poor governance record to an appalling human rights situation in the country. Years ago, it would have been unthinkable that Ugandans in big numbers would publicly state that they would rather have Amin or Obote back any day than continue to have President Museveni, but that is exactly what is increasingly happening. They argue that, while Amin and Obote were far from being angels, there is at least something developmental they can show for the fraction of the time they were in office compared to the years Museveni has been president. Any big projects built during Museveni’s 35 years have either been several fold more expensive yet of inferior quality to comparable regional ones, or they have additionally had the effect of saddling the country with foreign debt.
All regional competitors have attained the coveted middle income status countries, whereas Museveni’s repeated promises to that effect remain very much a pipe dream. Museveni has just locked down the impoverished population without so much as a loaf of bread. The promised token assistance doesn’t seem to be materialising and, going by past government promises, l would personally be surprised if these promises amounted to anything tangible or meaningful. It has been over a week and families which were subsisting on a hand to mouth existence prior to their businesses being closed, are literally starving now – that is how insensitive Museveni’s regime can be.
Yet, amid all these glaring regime failures, it is astonishing that President Museveni finds it appropriate to stray into irrelevant subjects such as etymology about which he is incompetent to comment, given the fact that he has failed even in the office of the President where his competences are supposed to be. We know that the tax payer pays for hordes of advisers to guide him, whom he never really meets, but somebody ought to advise him not only about his priorities but also offer him refresher courses about protocol procedures and public conduct of a civilised Head of State, very much the way Dr Samson Kisekka helped him at the outset to navigate the choppy waters of national politics, diplomacy and international relations.
He should further be advised that, if running a country is challenging for him as it is evident on account of the state of affairs in the country, then etymology, as a highly specialised academic discipline can be even more challenging, and that he should not use it as a yardstick to judge a whole nation and as grounds to draw adverse inferences, especially if his own skills in a host of areas are suspect, lacking or non existent. Finally, he should be advised the he owes His Majesty the Kabaka of Buganda and the Baganda a public apology.
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