Right on the mark but running ahead of times

Literature: With faith as his guide, Hillary Turyagyenda wrote 16 books in three years, something not many authors can boast of, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza

April 6, 2013, was the launch, in Kampala, of 16 books —a function codenamed “4x4” because the books were divided into four packs, each pack containing four books with interesting titles like God’s Economics, The Grand Scheme of Things, Miracles Don’t Just Happen, Days are Daisies, to mention but a few.

It is the first time this many books, by the same author, have been launched together in Uganda by a young man of 31 years. And these are not works patched together by the Nkrumah road printers. They are works of quality, published by the US-based Amazon.com company Createspace, and are available on Amazon.com in paperback at the average price of $12.

The author

Writer and Pastor, Hillary Turyagyenda

The inspired author is Hillary Turyagyenda, also a musician who plays the keyboard dexterously and has written more than 1,000 songs in the praise and worship category, and recorded four albums with 15 tracks on each. Little wonder that some of the guest speakers at the launch described him as “a man who is running ahead of times but right on the mark” – the spur to young people to tap into that dimension of doing things astronomically.

Dr Albert Rugumayo, who taught Turyagyenda at Makerere University in the Civil Engineering class, said, “he was always a top guy, always very cheerful and modest. To write 16 books of this quality in three years shows you what capacity he has – it really is phenomenal!” He compared Turyagyenda to the man in the parable of talents who maximised his talents and was praised and rewarded by his master (Matthew 25:14-30).

“He is highly motivated, disciplined and does everything with excellence and integrity. He has defined his purpose and is fulfilling it by engineering people’s hearts,” Dr Rugumayo added.

On top of his books and the music, Turyagyenda is a panelist on the radio talkshow, Concerning Spiritual Things, that airs on 96.6 Spirit Fm on Tuesdays at 8pm. He is also an associate pastor at Spirit and Word Church, YWCA, George Street, Kampala.

His life
The ambidextrous man was born in Entebbe to Sam Turyagyenda, an airforce pilot and Anne Kyomugisha, an electrical technician. As the first of five children, Hillary needed no prompting to grow up with a sense of responsibility. But like any child, he had his naughtiness playing out at Lake Victoria Primary School where he even joined Scripture Union to be near the beautiful girls therein.

But his true spiritual metamorphosis began in 1996 in Senior Two at Kako Secondary School in Masaka. There was a born-again crew in the school known as the “Upper Room People.” He was inspired by their knowledge of the Bible and unflagging belief that those who are in the Lord do “mighty exploits.” Turyagyenda got hooked, got saved and was soon filled with the Holy Spirit complete with the gift of speaking in tongues.

In A-Level at Makerere College School, Turyagyenda excelled and made it on government sponsorship for Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. It was in his first year at Makerere University that he first felt deeply within that he was going to become a minister of the gospel. True to his intuition, he resigned his professional job after five years to join full-time Christian service. The story of a young man of great promise quitting a coveted profession and a lucrative job at Shell Uganda Ltd, to preach the gospel dumbfounded most of his colleagues, relatives and friends.

“They saw it as signing up for poverty. But it is their insecurities that made them think so. Maybe they thought I would be bothering them, asking for money,” he says retrospectively, “But to me engineering was not it, and it’s very hard to go against your heart.”

His inspiration
It is also by heeding his heart that his writing began taking shape. It was during a university fellowship in 2001 that he felt driven to write devotionals and share them with brethren. He kept getting new insights and revelations as if God was telling him “write about this”, “write it this way.”

“There were bursts of inspiration reverberating inside of me —this fire that could not be quenched,” he says fervently. He found escape by spurting these inspirations on paper.

Today, he admits all the books and music have had a toll on him but whenever he sees the results, he rests and rejoices in what the Lord can do through an individual surrendered to Him. Turyagyenda recalls how he used to devour the works of American thriller authors Sidney Sheldon and Robert Ludlum of the famed Bourne trio.

Not wanting to embark on his writing technically unprepared, he read Plain English by Harry Blamires, which taught him the art of conveying his messages with powerful simplicity so that the principles of life he explores in his literature can be understood by everybody who can read English.

He attributes his success to “six faith-builders” headed by his close friend Ronald Niyonshima that provided an environment in which he flourished: “They are big thinkers, great believers and people of limitless possibilities that nurtured by faith, sparked my love for the Word.

“Niyonshima tended to see the unusual elements in me, and would prophesy over my destiny, saying, ‘I see your ministry growing exponentially. You can hardly shrink from any challenges when you are surrounded by people like these. They have been the greatest spiritual catalysts in my life and continue to be the source of the drive to excel and achieve more.”

His purpose
Everything he does, he concludes, is designed to inspire people’s faith toward receiving from God: “The Lord is putting us to saturate the market with these things which will build His people. I encourage people to support the ministry financially and spiritually so that they, too, can be part of changing and transforming lives.”

--Saturday Monitor, April 27, 2013

Caine prize anthology launched

By Dennis D. Muhumuza

For a true story lover, it is a great feeling being so near writers of fine fiction; listening to their diction and vocal modulations as they read from their works, watching their facial expressions, and wondering what notions rotate in their ever creative minds.

For that, Uganda’s literati could miss anything but not last Tuesday’s launch by the British High Commissioner in Uganda, Alison Blackburne, of African Violet and Other Stories, an anthology of 15 stories including the five short-listed for the 2012 Caine Prize, published by the Uganda Women Writers Association (Femrite), one of the eight co-publishers of the Caine Prize anthologies.

All eyes were on last year’s winner, Rotimi Babatunde, as he read an excerpt from his winning entry, Bombay’s Republic, a hilarious, albeit poignant account of a Nigerian soldier whose heroic exploits in World War II gets into his head so much that upon return he forms his own republic.

Uganda’s only flag bearer in the anthology, Beatrice Lamwaka also read from her story, Pillar of Love, about a lesbian who seeks to divorce her spouse because she wants to have children, but changes her mind when a date with the only man she has some interest in goes wrong.

The book launch was part of annual Caine Prize workshop – the first of its kind in Uganda – that took place from April 16 until April 25. It brought together 12 writers from seven African countries, with Uganda represented by upcoming writers: Lillian Aujo, Davina Kawuma, Hellen Nyana and Daily Monitor’s Harriet Anena who earned applause after reading from her work-in-progress, The Small World of His Highness, an exposé of the intrigues and sexual politics in Uganda’s corporate world.

“We believe in the intrinsic value of artistic interaction,” the Administrator of the Caine Prize for African Writing, Dr Lizzy Attree, said of the importance of the workshop. She meant a comprehensive interaction that involved serious writing, critiquing each other’s works and learning from the more experienced writer Veronique Tadjo and animator Pam Nichols – brought to sharpen the participants each who at the end of the nine-day workshop were expected to have completed writing a story for inclusion in the 2013 Caine Prize anthology to be published on July 1, 2013.

These stories are automatically entered in the 2013 competition. Hopefully one of Uganda’s four, will swing us back to the front page and save Monica Arac de Nyeko from the ‘lonesomeness’ of being the only Ugandan Caine Prize winner for her story Jambula Tree in 2007.

Not that we are doing that badly. Dilman Dila is on this year’s 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize shortlist just a couple of months after Angella Emurwon won the 2013 BBC World Service International Playwriting Competition. It is clearly not by accident that Uganda was chosen to host the 2013 Caine Prize Workshop. Our literary stature is considerably growing from glory to glory, thanks largely to the consistent efforts of Femrite.

Although no male Ugandan writer participated, Femrite in collaboration with British Council, took the participants early on the day of the book launch, to St Mary’s College Kisubi to “highlight the importance of creative writing and literature to people of all ages and backgrounds,” said Femrite Coordinator Hilda Twongyeirwe, and “inspire the next generation of writers.”

The launch also coincided with the International Book and Copyright Day, which celebrates the role of books in civilisation and promotes copyright. Charles Batambuze, the Executive Secretary of Uganda Reproduction Rights Organisation (URRO) discussed the copyright question, urging all to respect the intellectual property of others by not pirating or even photocopying for personal benefit without seeking permission from the rights owner.

The combination of literature, at the launch, with other art forms like music and poetry performances is an acknowledgement that literature cannot flourish in isolation and that interdependence is important for the industry to develop. Spoken Truth freak and culturalist Nakisanze Segawa put up a rhythmic and forceful performance in Luganda, of a political poem about corruption and selective justice that excited many.

Then Ife Pianki who describes herself as “a poet who sings” first gave the artists some advice of sheer significance and timeliness when she challenged them to always “take creative risks and try new things.” She unlocked the emotions of her audience with a moving performance of a motherly poem on how to treat and not mistreat children.

Overall, you could tell the future for Ugandan literature is more promising. African works are likely to infiltrate every part and inspire the world to look at our works with new, profound interest.

--Saturday Monitor, April 27, 2013

Secrets of Effective Student Leaders

BY DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

Some leaders stop at serving and others take to grooming as well. Ronald Bills Agaba among the latter. The former Head Prefect of Mbarara High School, former Guild Speaker at Kyambogo University, former Chairman of Inter-guild Parliaments of Uganda and now a member of Strategic Leadership Forum, after failing to find a local book on leadership with relevant tips to help student leaders serve better, decided to do something about it.

Early this year he released Secrets of Effective Student Leaders, a 92-page book of sheer simplicity but rich with 51 tangible principles and secrets that student leaders can apply to excel. The book is also a passionate challenge to school authorities to invest in developing the capacities of students in leadership at all levels, and to parents to encourage their children to take up active leadership roles as early as possible.  

“I firmly believe the cliché that today’s young people are the leaders of tomorrow,” says the graduate of Procurement and Logistics Management, “but how much are we doing in equipping these young people with the necessary skills, knowledge and insights about leadership?”

His book is part of the answer that empowers student leaders to not just leave an indelible mark in their schools but to go on and influence the course of events in their communities and contribute to national development. This is something Dr. Ruhakana Ruganda re-echoes in the Foreword: “Though the author focuses on student leadership, his work goes beyond student leadership. This is simply because leadership exists at all levels of society as a necessity for social order, social development and resource allocation.”

Agaba’s book is different from most motivational books because he draws largely from his leadership experiences and what he learned from the challenges. He begins each secret with a motivational quote from an acclaimed leader or achiever around which he builds his ideas. For example while tackling the importance of good time management, he starts by quoting David Norris: “How you spend your time is more important than how you spend your money. Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever.”  

Like in any other field, those who excel at leadership are those who are deeply interested, he writes, “Student leadership is not about doing but being.” That without deep personal interest, one cannot serve the students’ cause effectively because he/she might bow out during tough times or make terrible mistakes.  “So before you think of entering this endeavour, hold a meeting with your conscience and ensure that your interest is the basis of your enthusiasm to serve fellow students…” 

The author uses hilarious anecdotes to drive some points home.  Like the story of a sub-county chief who on being served a notice of his impending transfer realised he had nothing to show for the 15 years he had served at the same station. So he hastily changed the direction of his office door as a mark of change. He uses this story to remind leaders to quit lazing and work harder for positive and meaningful change that will outlive them. 

Overall, the author gives a convincing coverage of open secrets to effective leadership such as self discipline, confidence which goes with standing for what is right, leading by example, respecting those you lead, forging unity among them and winning their allegiance, understanding your jurisdiction inside out, the beauty of delegating, the power of prayer, whetting one’s negotiation skills, how to let bureaucracy work for you, making friends and among others the importance of mastering the art of communication. He believes “failure to effectively communicate has been and continues to be the leading cause of unjustified strikes in most schools in Uganda.” 

Printed in Dubai, Secrets of Effective Student Leaders is devoid of the grammatical and factual mistakes that often saturate self-published literature. It truly is a timely and insightful work that our leaders and civil servants can learn a great deal from. But students particularly those interested in leadership will benefit more. As Gayaza High School Head Teacher Victoria Kisarale notes, “If all the students in leadership walked the talk in Agaba’s book, what a wonderful world we would have.” 

Book Review: God's Economics

GOD MEANS BUSINESS: If you assumed that there is no correlation between wealth creation and God, you may need to think again. Reviewer Dennis D. Muhumuza writes that Hillary Turyagenda’s book shows you how.

Life is tough business and unless we learn God’s way of doing things and toe his line, like good apprentices, we shall continue to maunder about unable to maximise our potential. That sums up the content of Hillary Turyagyenda’s latest book, God’s Economics. The book, set to be launched this evening (yesterday) at Amagara Restaurant, is divided into four chapters: The Art of Receiving, The Joy of Seeking, Heaven is not Silent and Being Rich Toward God. 

The author draws from the Bible and life to argue his case out. He contends that everyone who is rich regardless of being a believer or not has been blessed by God who “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” So there is no such thing as “self-made” millionaires; they are all God-made!

Quoting Matthew 21:22 that whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive, he says we just have to ask God unreservedly, in faith, and all the desires of our hearts shall be granted. That a person who has learned to receive from God cannot remain the same no matter what condition you might be in.

Turyagyenda writes: “What needs to be borne in mind is that the poor person is changed after contact with God. He does not remain in his state. If it meant one was poor in physical terms as a general thing, the result is to become rich because Jesus became poor for us to be rich.”

The author says the reason people don’t enjoy the power of the Word of God is because they “just let it wash over them like water off a duck’s back.” That is, they don’t take time to understand and examine it.

The first point of understanding and enjoying God’s economics, writes Turyagyenda, is to believe: “Once we are saved three things happen to us: we come under the Lord’s protection, provision and supervision.”
He says heavens and the earth vividly declare the abundance and wealth of the God who set it all up, and that the fact that he gave planet earth to man shows how big-hearted and wealthy God is. To corroborate the freewill largess of the Creator, the author quotes Psalm 145: 16, “Thou openest thine hand, and satisfies the desire of every living thing.”

Turyagyenda also presents the definitive definitions of true wealth, which has nothing to do with possessions. He particularly criticises the modern-day pastor’s obsession with material possessions: “Preachers ought to be well off financially but I do not think every preacher should try to top what all the wealthy people in town are doing…” The main point of the second chapter is that knowledge is power, and that to access this knowledge, the source of it who is God must be sought with the passion of a treasure hunter, or of a man chasing a woman he loves.

“To seek him means seeking what he is giving out; putting premium on what he puts premium on,” writes Turyagyenda, the point being that seeking the things of God first aligns us to God’s economic system that is not susceptible to theft or inflation, but instead brings greater rewards.

He cites the early church believers who shared everything: money, food and possessions to meet the needs of everybody but led more fulfilled lives, unlike today’s avarice and individualism that have spoiled things.
He argues that money is the starting point in learning about God’s economics; that those who use it to support the needy and advance the business of the Kingdom of God generally have grasped God’s economics. The author reminds those scampering after riches that a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things, which he possesses. He, however, clarifies that God is not necessarily against riches in the same way he is not pleased with poverty, but that if you follow him, you will wind up better off materially and in every other way.

God’s Economics is a content-driven spiritual book, written simply, with a convincing interpretation of the principles of the Bible. It also contains some hard truths that might rub the greedy modern-day man of God in the wrong spot. This is a book about success the God way that you might want on your bookshelf.

--Saturday Monitor, April 6, 2013

The man with a lion's heart

At a time when his faith was banned, Pastor Jotham Mutebi stood his ground and believed that his prayer would save him. Dennis D. Muhumuza writes that his courage has enabled him to touch many lives over the years.
In April 1978, Pastor Jotham Mutebi was leading prayers at Makerere Full Gospel Church when Idi Amin’s soldiers invaded the church and started shooting at the pulpit manically. The preacher knelt down, raised his hands and started praying in tongues. His congregants did the same. The soldier
s suddenly ceased fire and drew nearer to hear the strange language. Just then, the pastor heard the voice of God telling him: “You are not going to die now because there is work that you have not yet done.”


Pr Mutebi and I



The soldiers whipped the believers and drove them to Nakasero State Research Bureau, a place so dreaded because whoever went there rarely returned alive. There, Ps Mutebi was charged with treason for defying the president who had banned Pentecostalism. He either had to deny his God or face death by firing squad.

Pastor Obed Rubaiza, who was among the 200 believers arrested then, describes Pr Mutebi as a man with “a heart of lion” because he refused to denounce God with the jaws of death around his neck. He recalls a vicious soldier threatening to douse them with petrol and set them ablaze to see if God would save them like He had saved Daniel, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace.

But Ps Mutebi kept his trust in God and his faith was rewarded when Mustafa Adris, the then Internal Affairs Minister, who was supposed to sign their death warrant got an accident. That day, Amin demoted him on grounds that he had been plotting to overthrow his government. The death warrant was never signed and the prisoners were released with a warning never to preach the gospel again.

“When the church reopened after the fall of Amin, church leaders in exile and former missionaries were all coming back, wanting to take their former leadership positions in the church and Pr Mutebi who had endured the worst of times stepped in and ably steered the church to safety,” says Ps Rubaiza.

His stellar performance inspired by loyalty to the truth of the gospel got him elevated to the top leadership as General Overseer of Full Gospel Churches of Uganda. He held the title for more than 10 years, earning the revered title of “Bishop.”

Ps Jothan Basil Mutebi was born the eighth of 10 children in 1944 to an Orthodox father, Erika Mukasa, and a Catholic mother, Malita Namusoke. In 1964 he attended a Morris Cerullo crusade at Nakivubo Stadium and saw the blind see and the lame walk. He remembers that although the clouds were pregnant with rain, when the preacher prayed for the clouds to hold back that rain until all the people who were attending the crusade had reached home, it happened. “The preacher also preached from the Old Testament whereas the Orthodox priests, whom I was accustomed to, preached only from the New Testament.

The fact that it did not rain and the miracles that I had witnessed at the crusade all seemed new, and touched my life deeply,” he writes in his autobiography, Life Through the House of Death. “This marked the greatest turning point of my life and an entire new beginning. I pledged my allegiance to Jesus Christ and started to follow Him from that moment to this day.”

After completing his Cambridge examinations (the equivalent of O- level) at Chwa II Memorial School, he attended Bible school and preached a lot over the weekend in Kivulu, Nakawa, Kibuli, Kisenyi and Nakulabye. This is when he met Lovincer, his wife of 43 years and mother of their four children.

He got his first pastoral job in Entebbe, and part-timed as a clerk at the Kampala headquarters church. “There’s no joy in all the earth greater than that of winning a soul for Jesus Christ,” he justifies, regarding all the open meetings he held in Entebbe converting many for Christ. After planting a Full Gospel Church there, he was wooed back to Kampala in 1972 and made Principal of a Bible College and Treasurer of the Full Gospel Churches of Uganda.

He would occasionally interpret for the missionaries preaching the gospel in Kampala. When the missionaries were dismissed by Idi Amin in 1973, Ps Mutebi took on the responsibility of the gospel work as the secretary and one of the directors of the Gospel Mission in Uganda. In addition to all these responsibilities, he became associate pastor at Makerere Full Gospel until 1980.

In 1979, Pr Mutebi went to Glad Tidings Church in Canada for a Diploma in Ministerial Studies. Upon his return, he pastored Masaka Full Gospel Church for eight (years/months) before returning to Makerere Full Gospel Church as senior pastor. In 1989, he was appointed the General Overseer of Full Gospel Churches in Uganda and president of the Gospel Mission to Uganda up to 2011.

It is in recognition of his selfless contribution to Pentecostalism in Uganda that last Sunday (March 3rd), pastors around the country gathered at Makerere Full Gospel to celebrate the man they described as a model of service above self and an exemplary warrior of Christ.

“This special Sunday we have come to thank God for His faithfulness and grace in using Pr Mutebi for a long time; it’s good for the church to honour him, bless him, encourage him and reward him,” said Pr Fred Wantaate of Makerere Full Gospel Church. “Mutebi is still an elder and counsellor and we are praying for him to stay with us and continue to serve the Lord.”

Among other distinguished guests was Gen David Sejusa, who gave Pr Mutebi two cows for taking care of his grandmother and preaching the gospel with her for m

any years, and Princess Muggale, sister to Sir Edward Mutesa II, who too got saved in the 1960s and got baptised by immersion in the Kabaka’s Lake in Mengo along with Pr Mutebi.

So much was said about the transparency and exemplariness of Pr Mutebi as a pastor, leader, mediator, mentor, educator, supervisor, counsellor, husband and father that if all the great things said about him were gold medals, they would have filled the huge church auditorium. His autobiography Life Through the House of Death was launched, and a cake in the design of an open Bible was cut and shared. The sage was given a cheque of 50million shillings as a token of appreciation.

--Sunday Monitor, March 17, 2013

The activist poet who does not stick to the script

BY DENNIS D. MUHUMUZA

When he first came to Uganda in 2005, he advised writers not to constrain themselves by labelling their works. “Do not go out of your way to say this poem is about peace,” he said. “It might not be.”

An intriguing statement considering that a writer is expected to know the subject matter better. But that is Prof Jack Mapanje – ever unpredictably interesting in his sayings as in his writings.


Mapanje shows off some of his books. Photo by Dennis D. Muhumuza

The celebrated Malawian poet, once jailed by President Hastings Kamuzu Banda for his critical writings, was in the country, courtesy of the African Writers’ Trust (AWT), to deliver a keynote address at the Uganda International Writers Conference, held in Entebbe, from March 7-12.

AWT is a London-based organisation, founded in 2009 by Ugandan writer Goretti Kyomuhendo, to link and coordinate African writers in the Diaspora and on the continent to share skills, resources and experiences.

Mapanje, who has lived in exile in UK for 21 years, jumped at the chance to come to Uganda again.

Not just because his daughter is married to a Ugandan, but also because he “owes” his life to Ugandans who he says played a significant role in his release from prison in 1991.

Then, members of Makerere University Travelling Theatre staged a play in which they wore costumes that read: “Release Jack Mapanje.” His release was on the day the play premiered, after spending “three years, seven months, 16 days and 12 hours” in the then dreaded Mikuyu prison.

Prior to his arrest in 1987, he was head of Department of English, University of Malawi, who had caught the literary world’s eye with his poetry collection, Of Chameleons and Gods (1981) which won the 1988 Rotterdam International Poetry Award.

After his release, Mapanje went to UK where he continued to write. He also taught literature of incarceration and creative writing at University of Leeds for three years.

He also edited the acclaimed Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing (2002), the same year he won the African Literature Association’s Fonlon-Nichols Award in the US. Meanwhile, University of Stirling, Scotland, awarded him an honorary doctorate for his contribution to poetry and human rights.

He is now a visiting professor at York St John University, North Yorkshire, who is on sabbatical leave working in the Department of English, University of Botswana.
Mapanje’s 2011 memoir, And Crocodiles Are Hungry at Night, proves that his relationship with writing continues to glow and grow.

At the sagely age of 69, he has certainly seen it all; the beauty and the ugliness as a writer in Africa and in the Diaspora. AWT could not have found a better candidate to speak on the theme: “Talking Across Diaspora Across Continents.”
"Honorary lovers and supporters of the word; colleagues and friends in writing, let me start with the conclusion of my address,” he said, catching everyone by surprise that they laughed. He thanked AWT for bringing together writers in the Diaspora because they rarely meet to talk about their writings.

“Gatherings like these help us to know each other and keep Africa writing,” he said. “We should not separate ourselves, we should not be discriminatory, and we should continue working for the good of each other.”

He said the best of writers “represent the conscience and memory of their generation”, arguing that there should be no “prescription of what a writer should write about. Let them just write and write well.”
He said African writers living abroad should drop the label of African writer in the Diaspora but simply consider themselves as in their adopted homes.

On Tuesday, March 12, Mapanje had an interactive session with literature students at Makerere University at which a student, Brenda Kyarisima, recited one of his popular poems, Skipping without Ropes.

The students asked all sorts of questions and professed how much they had been inspired by the poet’s narrative poems. On his part, Mapanje encouraged them to form writing groups and find their own metaphors to represent the new age.

“Don’t be afraid of experimenting,” he advised, adding he was willing and ready to receive and comment on their poems.

Asked if he feels he has achieved his intentions of writing, the poet said, “I feel I’ve not done anything at all. We’ve not even touched some of the issues we ought to touch. That’s why the young generation must come in.”

The AWT-organised dialogue in Kampala brought together writers from Uganda, DR Congo, Liberia, Kenya, Ghana and Malawi; some of whom live abroad.

It is hoped it provided the spark for the participants to strive for the best. The young writers and students who met and interacted with the distinguished Mapanje were particularly motivated to read like never before and pick up their pens to tell their stories as well.

In the words of Goretti Kyomuhendo, “Writers may not have the skill of engineers to build bridges across the Limpopo river but we have pens and words with which we can accomplish much if we come together to learn from one another.”

--Saturday Monitor, March 16, 2013

Looking at the women’s cause

If there is anything Robert Bake Tumuhaise’s latest release does more, it is pushing for the cause of women, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza.

Tears of My Mother is a story of a woman who has long travailed but eventually prevailed. It is the story of a woman in a male-dominated world who despite being scorned and ridiculed for her barrenness clings to faith in God until her 40 years of patience pay off with her delivering a child who, as the subtitle reveals makes history by becoming the first female president of Uganda.

Here I could not help but indulge my curiosity as to what President Museveni might think of a title like this. In painting a character like Nyantahurira who personifies today’s political mafia that run the system, the author is speaking for Ugandans displeased with corruption and all the ills that have contaminated and stagnated the country, for which we would be justified to demand that it is high time the mantle passed on to a female leader. After all Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Joyce Banda are doing well in Liberia and Malawi respectively. And with tested women like Winnie Byanyima, Julia Ssebutinde,Rebecca Kadaga and Beti Kamya we would be spoilt for choice!

Feminists would love this novel not because it bashes men (it has its share of female characacters with unenviable foibles) but because of the way it depicts the steadfastness and pragmatism of women. Through its two central figures Hannah and her daughter Nyamishana, the endurance, resilience and fortitude of a woman is persuasively brought out.

They are portrayed as assertive in an inspirational way, challenging today’s patriarchs to give the girl-child a chance and tap the woman’s potential in the development process. Hannah becomes a pacesetter when she defies the position her prejudiced society has assigned women, choosing to see unlimited possibilities for her daughter, delivered shortly after the death of her husband. When the elders pick a name with negative connotations, Hannah rejects it and names her daughter Nyamishana, which means sunshine.

This sunshine in Nyamishana’s personality is what dispels the darkness that threatens to destroy her. She comes out of prison and makes history by occupying the top office in the land. Nyamishana’s self-belief is nurtured by her mother who gets her to confess every day that she’s destined for greatness.This is confirmed by a prophetess who appears on the day the child is named and proclaims that Nyamishana would “grow into a warrior dreaded by everyone” and liberate the nation. You wonder if this bit was inspired by the Biblical story of angel Gabriel telling Mary she would birth a child (Jesus Christ) who would redeem the world.

Then again, the prophetess could be a symbol of magic realism in which case the gods are responsible for Nyamishana’s success just like Ihuoma in Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine has no control over her conjugal life seeing that every man that comes into her life is destroyed by the powerful sea god.

Tears of my Mother, can as well be classified as a historical novel since it begins by taking us back to the last quarter of the 19th century when a real-life famine, Rwaramba, devastated south-western Uganda, turning some of the natives there into cannibals.This famine coincided with the arrival of the Europeans on their civilisation/colonisation mission in Africa. Anyway, the reader gets an inside-out glimpse of what traditional life was like then with its legends, myths and endless rituals.

Published by World of Inspiration, the 138-page novel is simple but captivating. If you are not into sophisticated humour, you will find “Kay the rib-cracker” hilarious. But the touch of experimentalism is what makes the novel uniquely fresh. The author blends fiction-writing techniques with those of non-fiction; switching from unpredictable manoeuvres that characterise most novels, to the motivational style he is known for in his non-fiction works such as Tapping God’s Blessings. 
 
It reminds me of Irish writer James Joyce who distinguished himself with the characters’ inner thoughts and memories are transcribed as they arise. Maybe we can as well coin a name for Bake’s new style.

--First published in Saturday Monitor, Marh 9, 2013