By Aggrey Baba
As he gave his tribute on Sunday night to the late Omukama Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, Kampala Lord Mayor Engineer Ronald Balimwezo warned that the country is increasingly becoming a society where human beings have become a greater threat to one another than the wild animals people used to fear.
Balimwezo, who was speaking at the Buziga home of the late king, where politicians, friends, religious leaders, and other mourners had gathered to pay tribute to the fallen Tooro monarch, said the country was witnessing a disturbing erosion of humanity, particularly through violence, greed and the abandonment of young people.
He said that during his childhood, going into the bushes to look for cattle was frightening because children feared encountering lions and other dangerous animals. But, according to Balimwezo, the nature of danger has changed.
“Today when you go out, you fear your own human neighbor, a neighbor that God gave the commandment to love you as he loves himself,” he said.
The Lord Mayor said some Ugandans had become capable of committing horrific acts against their fellow people, including killing and abusing innocent children.
He questioned how a society could nurture young people who eventually grow into killers, arguing that the country must examine what it is doing to its children and the environment in which they are growing up.
Balimwezo also blamed part of the problem on the failure to keep children in school, saying thousands of young people were being left without the education and opportunities required to build productive lives.
He argued that education remains one of the strongest tools for shaping responsible citizens and urged leaders to make the retention of children in school a national priority.
“Being in school is the greatest family planning method that we have,” Balimwezo said.
His remarks came as he joined the country in mourning King Oyo, who died at the age of 34 after a reign that lasted for three decades.
Balimwezo described the late monarch as a great leader whose contribution to Tooro and Uganda went beyond his young age, saying that the Omukama had been particularly instrumental in mentoring young people, promoting unity within Tooro Kingdom and supporting tourism development.
“It’s not how many years you spend on the earth, but the legacy you leave is important,” Balimwezo said.
He noted that although King Oyo had lived for only 34 years, the work he accomplished had left a lasting mark on the people he led.
He also condemned greed among sections of Ugandans, saying some people had become so obsessed with accumulating wealth that they were willing to fraudulently take property and resources from poor people.
Balimwezo particularly pointed to the struggle over schools in Kampala, alleging that some government schools had been taken over by individuals and government-linked interests, despite the need for learning facilities for the country’s growing population.
He said Uganda produces millions of children every year, yet a big number fail to progress through the education system, leaving a large population of young people without the skills and opportunities needed to build better lives.
According to Balimwezo, the challenge facing Uganda is therefore not simply economic or political, but deeply social, how to preserve humanity in a society where violence, greed and neglect are increasingly becoming normalized.
He, therefore, called upon Ugandans to use the fallen Omukama’s life as an opportunity to reflect on the kind of legacy they are leaving behind. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
