Our Independence or dependency.

Oppression, becoming.

Part 1: The Age of Covid.

It has been nearly 2 years since the world heard about the coronavirus, we were uniquely introduced to it as the temporary flu that was just passing by in countries beyond our borders, and honestly, that’s all we saw. It was a genetic flue that will eventually die down like the normal outbreaks that have occurred throughout history. We thought this was another Ebola and yet here we are almost about to mark our second anniversary with this deadly virus, Covid 19. At the start of it no one knew about it they had ideas but not convictions, people especially here in Africa could only understand that it was a virus and it killed but with us having the greatest disease of them all poverty we gave a blind eye.

I really sat down and got thinking what will happen after covid or is there ever going to be an after covid.

So much has happened during the time of its reign that we might just end up with a shamble of a world highlighted by warfare and pampered suffering. We start by looking at how the economies have halted. The majority of us being hand-to-mouth workers and when  W.H.O shut down the world many of us were left jobless and hungry. The pandemic is surely going to leave its mark on the world.

Starting with the unfair negligence of human rights and dignity, the current strides taken by the world to push the proper expression of human grievances in a nation, were put on hold in the majority of African countries. I might be pan-African but that doesn’t make me remotely blind.

Are we advancing or being retrogressive?

The pandemic did not just bring the death of the body but of spirit, we see how we had a growing platform of activists who demanded change for our nations by calling out the hidden transgressions that were being faced by people. This was all moving smoothly before the lockdowns. We saw how these lockdowns were weaponized to create a breach that enabled any political movements or dialog. This was happening in Uganda where the rising leader Bobby Wine was deprived of his right to campaign and share his vision with everyone because rallies were against covid regulations.

Oppression, becoming.

I remember watching in awe at the Ugandan elections taking place at a time like this and thinking how did manage to pull this off, I could see the civil unrest that swept over the whole country from the arrest of the opposition leaders’ wife to the kidnappings that took place. This was just the chip of a larger iceberg but still, the world went on and Africa seems to be standing still with democracy now slowing becoming a distant echo for some countries, and autocracy is becoming the new thing however smoke screened by backyard elections that crush more spirits with every ballot. It’s sad how we are looking forward to the betterment of our nations when we have created a mirage of comfort in poverty, men fighting for scraps to survive and with all honesty Covid 19 has made it so easy for us to be passively hopeless and enjoy nothing.

The streets were empty at a time and so were a lot of people’s stomachs, we had heart-wrenching headlines of mass suicides and what we could call mercy crimes. Many were seeing death as the only way out as they saw poverty knock violently on their doors. Some resorted to crime as they saw that they had no Robin Hood but themselves, they say steal from the rich they will get more. I always wondered if it was justified to commit a crime because of circumstance. I remember one of my first lectures on criminal law we were asked why do people commit crimes. I was quick to say because they are criminals before I knew that no man is born a criminal but the world makes us criminals. This pandemic surely showed me this, it has chosen new paths for a lot of people that many never dreamed of. It has left us swimming in poverty and searching for lifeboats that well, were probably stolen and stocked away somewhere by bigger sharks, and now, they watch us tear each other apart limb from limb. It’s all hypocrisy laced by slogans, false teachings, and donations.

All I can say as my country turns 41, happy independence to us a day that the literal shackles were taken from us. The day we were given the taste of a life of freedom, a life of not being owned until poverty took the crown from our oppressors and deemed itself a worthy successor. Honoring the ones that fought and died to make sure we had the country we deserved.