We say we are civilized, what a lie

Dear nephew Milambo

GREETINGS from this confused city, where people are terrified of rain more than fast moving cars.

I hope that by the grace of Limatunda you are all doing okay, and that the watchful eyes of the ancestors have been watching over you and your family, and all the people in my beloved Ukumbisiganga.

Here in the city things are not bad my dear son, we are just dealing with the crazy weather, where the sun can be blazing in one minute and is replaced by heavy rains in the next.

As I am writing to you, the rain is pounding outside as if it is on a mission to prove a point, and I know if it continues this way, then most parts of this city are going to experience heavy floods.

Yesterday I talked to your uncle Sadicky, and he shocked me when he told me that he is planning to marry a fourth wife.

That information did not shock me my dear boy…what shocked me is the news that the new bride is your sister in law, the younger sister to your wife.

My dear son, when he informed me of his intention, my mind went back to the day I saw that poor girl for the first time, and I pointed to your aunt how frail she looked, and the worst part is that I believe that the poor child is barely 17!

Of course I told him my dismay, and chastised him on his bad decision, but it seems that the old fool has made up his mind, and from what he told me, he has already paid the bride price.

But if your uncle revolted me with that decision, then your father in law disgusted me for even thinking of marrying off his daughter at that tender age.

I know life is tough sometimes, but I don’t think selling off his daughter for a measly dowry money is going to solve their financial challenges.

When I told your aunt, she threw a fit my dear son, and it took great effort to stop her from making a call to your uncle Sadicky to tell him what she thought of him.

I pray to Liwelelo that he will rescind his decision and at least look for someone who is a bit older if he must marry a fourth wife.

Anyway, as I am writing this, I am in the living room with your aunt watching news on the television, and they are showing people carrying bodies which were exhumed in a mass grave in Kenya.

My dear boy, I don’t know if you have seen this story, but it is a very sad affair, because it is claimed that a fellow who called himself a man of God convinced his followers that the quickest way to go and see Jesus is through starvation followed by death.

I still don’t understand why when the people are supposed to be more educated and more advanced than the old days, they are now more unwise and act in very weird ways.

There are some things which do not require one to be a rocket scientist to realise that something is not right somewhere, it just requires a little use of the brain.

Maybe these false prophets and dubious religious leaders use some dark supernatural powers to brainwash their followers, because the things people do in the name of religion are becoming outrageous as the years go by.

My dear boy, I think this is also brought about by the fact that nowadays people love shortcuts to life, and they can go to great lengths to avoid an honest living.

It is unimaginable that a human being can convince a group of people that the world is ending on a particular day so they should book their tickets to heaven, which is by starving themselves to death.

These people are too lazy to take time to read holy books like the Quran and the Bible to see that they are being taken for a ride, they bury their heads in ignorance and instead believe conmen disguised as men and women of god.

They say that so far they have exhumed more than 100 bodies and still counting, but as I always say, if you don’t want to use your brain, someone will use it for you.

My dear son, it is sad because these conmen and women who pretend to be servants of God are everywhere, even here in our country, and you will know them by the stupid and weird things they do in their places of worship.

There was a time when you were still young, a certain fellow in Uganda convinced his followers that they should sell everything they have, hand the proceeds to him and come to church to wait for the end of the world.

As stupid as those people were, they went ahead and did what they were instructed, sold their properties and handed the proceeds to the fellow, went to church and locked themselves in before their leader torched the building and disappeared, resulting in the deaths of more than 700 people. That fellow I believe was called Joseph Kibweteere.

Closer to home, there was another fellow who convinced his followers that they can board planes to Europe without any passport or visas, and you guessed right, those fools believed him.

Can you believe these people, young and old, were told that they will be able to go to Europe without valid papers, after they were convinced by their leader that Jesus will provide the documents, and they were further told that when they land in Europe, they will be filled with holy spirit and they will be able to communicate in any language…..and we believe we are educated.

Let us pray to Limatunda to give us wisdom my dear son, because the things which are happening in the world right now, some are worse than what animals could do, and still we lie to ourselves that we are civilised.