The Fantasy of Okot P'Bitek still lives on in Uganda
With powerlessness in a cell, the prisoner survives through fantasy only
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Okot P'Bitek
Okot P'Bitek, whose biography deserves a post of its own, was a victim of the jaws of the state. Born in 1931 in Gulu, Uganda, he was a poet, writer, novelist, and a social anthropologist. He is a reknowned African poet with a collection of poetry; Song of Lawino (1966), Song of Ocol (1970), and Two Songs (1971). His poetry is derived from his Acholi language; P'Bitek participated in traditional dances in Gulu, honing his poetrical prowess (the prefix ‘song of’ is borrowed from Acholi dances).
While he was locked up at the Nakuru Police Station in Kenya while he was in exile, as per historian Levin Opiyo, he wrote the poem "The Song of a Prisoner. " His brief arrest and detention was an incident not related to his political woes in Uganda but a fight that he had with a patron at a club. Nonetheless, coupled with misfortunes in his backyard, this genesised the above poem while he spent a night in a prison. Here is an:
Except
I plead sickness,
I am an orphan,
I am diseased with
All the giant Diseases of society,
Crippled by the cancer
of Uhuru.
Far worse than
The yaws of
Colonialism
The walls of hopelessness
Surround me completely,
There are no windows
To let in the air
of hope.
In his poem, Okot P'Bitek dissects meticulously the post-independence African politics while referring to a prisoner as his persona. The prisoner's trumped up charges range from being arrested while sleeping in a city park and accused of assassination attempts of a corrupt leader to a cabinet squabble truncated to a coup attempt. The poem displays power plays through the prisoner who is incarcerated. This is exemplified by other characters who include powerful, unethical politicians, the uniformed, cell, and the judge. A cell, prison warders, and the judge symbolise the power of prisons in a post-independent African society. The cell's steel gate and the rope embodies physical suffering the prisoner encountered.
Prison, in the poem, is an empty physical space, but in it, lies the total power of the state. It is an institution wherein not only minor offenders are punished but also the state manifests its power. To evade being a visitor to the cell, unquestioned allegiance (and ignorance) to the state is a must. In it, with ropes and beatings, the body suffers from physical torture which translates into further psychological torture. In the poem, while the tortures manifest in excruciating pain, the body displays its power even when subjected to harrowing experiences to signify what it is capable of doing as captured here;
Do you know
I was a footballer
And a boxer
I have been a wrestler
And a runner
I am a great hunter
Locked in a cell, the prisoner uses illusions to harness and consolidate its power through illusions, besides escaping from physical and psychological torture. Like Victor Frankl in his Man's Search for Meaning, he had to change his desolate attitude to accept the reality of the state's marauding power. Illusions, to him, served as a means of resisting the pain of the state's torture to 'create hope where there is hopelessness.' With powerlessness in a cell, the prisoner survives through fantasy only. He visualizes about his village, his family, and the strength of his physical competencies. In the end, the prisoner achieved self-created calmness amidst the aching physical and psychological torture.
The poet, again, presents the paradox of the prison; inside the prison, the prisoner visualizes and creates his own power. Outside the prison, he reminisces with sadness his poverty and the control over the subjects by the state. He reveals he doesn't even want to go back there; he prefers to stay in prison.
The prisoner, out of his body's power, deeply evokes the thought of uhuru, a symbol of African independence from the former colonial masters. While at it, he is ideally delighted by the freedom that comes with uhuru but stops to ponder over again. However, the prisoner is angered that only the minority enjoys uhuru. By default, the majority is denied the power of uhuru; instead, the minority African leaders wield excessive power over the subjects. As the suffocaters of freedom, African leaders turned out barbaric and punished subjects by arresting them over petty crimes; and often without trial.
"Independence, as per Ngugi Wa Thiongo, was simply the removal of racial barriers to social mobility but the pyramid structure remained the same with some Africans climbing up the pyramid to the middle and top zones but hardly any mobility downwards." The attainment of uhuru was a mirage; those at the bottom of the pyramid are hardly free. Freedom, as per the poet, is rarely given; it is licensed. Licensed to write; licensed to gather; licensed to think freely.
Uganda The Prison
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Dr. Kizza Besigye
Dr. Kizza Besigye has been a regular guest of the Uganda’s horrible cells. Almost every year he opens his political mouth, security officers often dash to his home to warn and curtail his freedom. Kizza Besigye has been placed under house arrest when the state gets wind of organized protests. Sometimes, the uniformed handcuffs and manhandles him like a bag of maize and hoist him into the police car. Kizza Besigye has been a fierce critic of President Yoweri Museveni for over 20 years, with his presidential ambitions being always scuttled by the police. Throughout his political activism, he has been in and out of prison countless times, with petty charges. In 2022, he was arrested when he criticized Yoweri Museveni for being insensitive to the vulnerable facing the rising prices of basic commodities.
Stella Nyanzi
A Ugandan activist, Stella Nyanzi, known for her criticism of the government, was arrested during a protest in 2020. Nyanzi had asked the government to reconsider revising stringent COVID-19 measures that worked to the advantage of the rich while women and low-income earners struggled to make a living
A judge sentenced Stella Nyanzi to 18 months in prison on contested charges of being a nuisance to President Yoweri Museveni. Human rights groups condemned the verdict, calling it an attempt to use electronic communication laws to silence political opposition. As she had already spent nine months in pretrial detention, Nyanzi was expected to serve an additional nine months.
Robert Kyagulanyi (aka Bobi Wine)
In 2020, immediately after announcing his presidential candidature, Bobi Wine was arrested outside the electoral body. Reports indicate he was detained by police and military forces, allegedly meted with violence during the arrest. Authorities reportedly prevented him from continuing to his office to launch his manifesto.
Also, Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine, a former presidential candidate, claimed on January 2024 that authorities restricted his movement, effectively placing him under house arrest. This action came before planned protests organized by opposition figures to address the poor state of Ugandan roads, an issue highlighted as the country was preparing to host two international summits. Wine, who transitioned from music stardom to politics, stated that police and military personnel prevented him from leaving his residence in Magere, located north of the capital city Kampala.
Opposition Activists
Opposition activists in Uganda are frequent visitors of the state’s bars. Report released by the Guardian revealed that they are often subjected to physical abuse, forced to sleep in horrible conditions, and denied their fundamental rights. When President Yoweri Museveni began to face political uprisings from the opposition, he tightened his bolt by using his usual detention tool. During the 2021 campaigns, supporters of Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine) were detained for several months for fabricated charges. Those close to the opposition figures are transfered from civilian courts to military barracks to face more serious charges. The National Unity Platform headed by Robert Kyagulanyi revealed that more than 600 opposition activists have been arrested for trivial charges, with others not appearing in court at all. Some detainees are taken to secret prisons, with no access to lawyers and relatives.
The Immortal Fantasy of Okot P'Bitek
Upon his return from exile after the fall of Idi Amin, Okot P'Bitek tried to revive the dwindling poetry in Uganda. With the new government of Milton Obete promulgated (even amid widespread election rigging), there was a bit of political tolerance; Okot P'Bitek was given the green light to revive the Norman Cinema (the now Kampala Pentecostal Church). He even introduced the Island, Athol Fugard's play performed by the University of Nairobi in 1980. Though Idi Amin was gone, Okot P'Bitek's hope and promise was still imprisoned. It meant that the freedom that he fought for poetically didn't belong to him but others. His return to Uganda in 1980 didn't last long as he died in 1982 as a chained and sad man in his heart. But, more than 40 years later, his poetry, fantasy, and patriotism still lives on unfulfilled.
In case you missed previous posts:
Thank you, Edwin, for giving us a glimpse of what it's like to be a citizen in a country in constan t turmoil