COLUMN: MIND YOUR LANGUAGE. How possible can somebody loss his genitalia!!!?

DAR ES SALAAM: IT is weird. There is a wave of belief that there are people, who now have special powers to walk away with a man’s private parts, by merely touching the victim’s shoulder. If this remained in the world of fantasy, that would not matter.

But there has been injury and loss of life among people suspected to be perpetrators of “private parts snatching”. So, it is a matter of national concern, leading to the breach of law and order.

That is why one commentator on social media posed a question: “How possible can somebody ‘loss’ his genitals!!!?”. I would have posed the question differently; particularly because “loss” is a noun, not a verb. A quick version would be where “loss” the noun is changed into “lose” the verb. The sentence would the read as follows: “How possible can somebody ‘lose’ his genitals!!!?”

I would still not be happy with that version. Instead, I would go for: “How can it be possible for somebody to ‘lose’ their genitals, from a mere touch of the shoulder?” Nobody, among those who have claimed that their private parts had gone missing, has been found without them, on physical examination.

It is all a cooked-up story, which, sadly, is accepted by many people, to the extent of taking punitive action (including killing) against the suspected men’s private parts snatchers. Sad, indeed. We now move to the ongoing deliberations in Parliament. On page 2 of the Daily Blog (16 April), is a short news item titled: “Government keen to pay 5.7bn/= compensation”.

This is attributed to the Minister of Defence, when answering a question from an Honourable Member of Parliament. The issue is about land which is earmarked to be taken over for military purposes. The valuation, to pay the land owners compensation, was concluded and approved by the Chief Government Valuer in 2022. Payment is yet to be effected.

The Honourable Minister is quoted as saying: “The Ministry continues to work with the Ministry of Finance to ensure TIMELY payment of compensation in accordance with the valuation”. This is a misuse of the word “TIMELY”, which means: “happening at the right, opportune, or most useful time not too late”. The law requires payment of compensation within six months of concluding the valuation exercise. It is now four years down the road.

“Timely payment” is no longer applicable. The Honourable Minister could be quoted as saying: “The Ministry continues to work with the Ministry of Finance to ensure that the payment of compensation is made in accordance with the valuation, AS SOON AS FUNDS BECOME AVAILABLE”. On the same page, is an item titled: “Authorities urged to protect open spaces”.

ALSO READ: Four children die in Bukoba wall collapse

Here, a Special Seats lawmaker is quoted as wanting to know from the Minister for Lands, whether there are laws protecting open spaces and play grounds in cities and towns. The law maker was possibly misquoted. It is Parliament that passes the laws, so it is highly unlikely that a Parliamentarian will ask about the existence of a law.

She is supposed to know this. Most likely, she wanted to know whether laws protecting open spaces and play grounds in cities and towns were being enforced. In response, the Minister for Lands is quoted as saying: “all open spaces will remain as they are in accordance with the law, and those allocated ownership should know that the Land Commissioner has a mandate to revoke title deeds, especially when it is ‘proven’ beyond reasonable doubt that the laws have been violated”. Should it be: “It is proven”, or, “it is proved”?

I would go for the latter: “A title deed could be revoked, if it is proved (not, if it is proven) beyond reasonable doubt that the law has been violated”. It is halfway through April. The way the days slip by is alarming. lusuggakironde@gmail.com