This archive report was first published on 22 September 2019.
Published on September 22, 2019, by Joachim Buwembo.
As I watched a Nigerian movie whose title I never caught, I was struck by a scene where the richest man in town, envied by everyone, wore a cap that he never removed.
When a poor man asked him to reveal the secret of his wealth, the rich man took him to his palace and lifted the cap, revealing a rotten and maggot-infested skull.
That image has stayed with me for many years, and I often wonder how the poor man reacted.
Would he have stopped envying the rich man, or would he have been shocked and dismayed by the sight?
Fast forward to Uganda, where politicians have committed the country to guaranteeing a private investor's $378 million debt, only to be locked out of the site where the money is being borrowed.
Would a Ugandan taxpayer, watching this scenario unfold, laugh with satisfaction or cry at the apparent collective national ineptitude?
Or would they be shocked and dismayed, like the poor man in the Nigerian movie?
These are the questions that have been on my mind, and I wish I had watched the movie to the end to see how the poor man reacted.
Now, I'm left wondering how to behave before important people whom I silently pity.
