Why all this hubbub, the minister asks
About the killing of 10 people in an accident
On our potholed roads
Or the death of 16 women daily in labour
Or 20 murders in a city
Or 20 rapes in the suburb
Or 30 defilements in Katanga Slum
Or 30,000 school dropouts
When we are a country of 45 million people?
Aren’t those just a drop in the ocean?
Dear honourable, yes they are if:
The bullet- riddled corpse isn’t your father’s
And the blood-letting rape victim not your wife
Or the unconscious defiled toddler isn’t your daughter
And the woman that bled to death not your cousin
Or the dropout is not your son-turned-lunatic
And the car-shattered head not your uncle’s.
But for those who’ve buried the victims of bloody roads
And murders
And foetuses
And their mothers who breathed their
Last while bringing forth life
And nursed rape and defilement victims
For those, dear honourable,
Death is not just a number
Rape victims aren’t just statistics
But an indelible mark of
Horror and with this they
Everyday walk: hearts paining.
About the Poet
Samuel Kamugisha is a Ugandan journalist, poet and fiction writer. A Journalism and Communication graduate, his poetry and short stories are inspired by his work as a journalist and as an observer of events in his country.
Kamugisha’s poem, ‘The Honourable Weevil,’ was published in Wondering and Wondering of Hearts: A Collection of Poems from Uganda, while his two poems, ‘Flying Papers’ and ‘Priorities’ were long listed for the 2016 Babishai Niwe Poetry Award.
His other prose and poetry have been published by Brittle Paper, Parousia Magazine, DwartOnline, Praxis Magazine, and Africa Crayons, among other places. You can read more of Samuel Kamugisha’s journalism, prose and poetry work on pearltimes.co.ug.
You can also read Painting Soulless Kampala, Priorities and The Stream Here, There, and Over There.
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