For a number of days now
I think so much of ways to write about you
Send you flowers
Just like somebody that looks up to you just like me said
I have failed
“Putting you” in words is an entire mountain to carry on my shoulders
You are that special
See….that is a box you can’t even fit in, no matter how much they try to squeeze, fold or punch you in!
The other day,
I was debating on whether to begin with Doctor
As a title to my piece about you
Turns out I failed at that, too
No title deserves you….none of us do….not even, I!
Funny…
I vividly remember that day in 2015
When I first heard your name
We were at Reach A Hand Uganda
And we were weighing our options on who to invite at the #IGDUg15
The way these guys spoke you, anybody could tell you are a legend
They kept on talking about how fearless you are
How you speak up to power and injustice
And wrong-doing that gets in your sights
How you boldly speak about sex and sexuality
How you love playing with words and language
I made myself a promise to get a glimpse of you on the day of the Inter-Generational Dialogue
That day was a busy one but I kept true on my promise
And I believe it was in the room where the second-breakaway session was held
That I saw you
I didn’t move an inch from then on till the end of the session
My oh my….you are truly a sight to behold!
You know a treasure you find and know that you must protect…even if it means to do that with your own life?
That’s you….if we lose you, everything will have gone to shit….literally and metaphorically!
I have read your academic works and pieces time and again…over and over again
The world is sitting on a pit of treasures and we don’t even know it
When you speak,
You are speaking for millions
Even when you don’t,
You are still speaking for millions
When you smile,
You give so many of us hope…in millions
I love your defiance and wit
Your resilience and humour
The size of the fighter in you and your big heart
Your way of demonstrating and organizing us
You are doing what (many of us) I have failed to do till now….which is, “free myself from the white peoples’ ways
You are a real leader ….not these criminals and lumpens we have!
I love you every day!
Sigala nga osabula.