Kampala Tatler #8: Insight into Society

‘Sometimes man sometimes woman’ came out of the house that was located at the other side of the urban settlements, far away from the main well planned city dwellings.
The road to the home belonging to ‘Sometimes man sometimes woman’ was filled with potholes and in some parts water pipes were bursting open to let out water gushing down the nearby valley or to the sides of the road.
‘Sometimes man sometimes woman’ with 22 others of the same human-likeness formed an organisation called ‘Change shared.’ Through the organisation they were able to share experiences about their ‘slider-diva-humanness’. They were colloquially termed ‘sliders’ by so many people who ridiculed them and considered them not of a straight diva-humanness. They were even ridiculed by other sliders.  
A case in point was when they had wanted to partner with another more popular and established Organisation called ‘See change.’  They wanted to address the following needs among sliders: need for employment opportunities; establishing special literacy classes for many who dropped out of school; starting small businesses; need for regular health-care services; need for regular meetings held in a circuit format to avoid people making long distances and there by exposing themselves to effects of visibility; initiate a recognition and reward system for long serving leaders and; establishment of a leadership structure where long-served leaders gave way to others to serve as well. 
This was unheard of! It bordered on a coup! They were ridiculed and shunned by people from “See change’ who felt removal from leadership positions was a blow to their own daily existence. Ambition among people of ‘slider’ persuasion was discouraged. It was seen as competition. Most especially it would deprive established leadership of the trappings that came to them and the funds that enabled them afford extremely expensive lifestyles and apartments in the most prized side of the urban center. The dichotomy of arguments showed up as: enjoyment of liberties and freedoms on one side and; the consolidation of lifestyle for the leaders. The liberties’ side did not have powerful connections to argue their cases effectively and were beleaguered often by the high lifestyle consolidation team which as much as possible ensured it was only select names and presentable faces that became the poster faces of the slider community.
‘Firmly man always masculine’ and ‘firmly woman always feminine’ represented power in Society and had members in every branch of management. They were the lawmakers, society’s rich and elite. They lived in splendid houses spread over hill-tops in walled off perimeters. Even those who could not afford the hill-tops and were on the lower slopes were living in planned urbanised areas. Garbage was picked, water mains never broke or if they did, were repaired on time. They walked forward and had their heads looking straight ahead. They drummed this, like the daily prayer, in the heads of their servants, employees and taught this to their children. They endeavoured to take their children to the schools where all the Straight code was upheld as well as the bench-marks.  They were seen with communities that denounced anyone who walked in a sliding way (not straight and with head facing ahead). They introduced and maintained exclusive member-only clubs such as: The Utilitarian club: Stressing value of practical over aesthetic qualities. The Totalitarian club; of or designating a polity whose main characteristic is considered monolithic unity upheld by authoritarian means. The Authoritarian club: characterized by or favouring absolute obedience to authority, as against individual freedom. The Moralitarian club: characterized by or concerned with favouring, promoting, rewarding and judging absolute goodness over any form of badness of human action or character. At grass-roots they formed lower level clubs which they called ‘bars’. These bars, as they were popularly referred to, engaged in all sorts of activities from: charitable works, canvassing for votes during elections to evicting persons known for not walking straight ahead with faces looking forward. The bigger clubs had accumulated records as follows:
Club Bar 1 with a mission statement, ‘context in which Authoritarianism is encouraged and upheld’ had adherents including people who believed in eugenics and in their superiority because they walked straight ahead. They were lobbying for laws making it possible to weed out lesser humans (especially the sliders). Club Bar 1 had provided support to children, mother, elderly, fathers, disabled persons in various regions that had faced hunger and famine. This had made them popular and many people had joined. Through presented appeals in form of proposals they had an ambitious goal to provide housing to many poor members and to establish schools and social services to complement those of Society. They joined hands with several other clubs to address common matters that were brought to their attention.
Club Bar 2, with the mission statement ‘to promote Authoritarian totalitarianism’ had lobbied Society leaders and with so much funds and enticements sponsored various bills that if passed would make Society a Totalitarian State.  In order not to be left out Club bar 5 with the mission statement, ‘to promote Moralitarianism’ joined hands with Club 1, 2 and 4. Together they formed the ‘Total grip on government coalition’. They had 3 demands which they wanted to put into action.
Demand 1: Speedy passage into laws that will make Society the model of morals and Utopia. They called this state the ‘Moratopia’. Every one now dreamed of the Moratopia. Breaking news and all broadcasting media showed the benefits of Moratopia. It was the nirvana, the promised-land that would flow with honey. There was a disclaimer: All is possible only of the sliders are gone by all means. This last point was left to anyone’s imagination.
Calls for caution were made by Club Bar 4 on this last point with its nihilistic overtones but they fell on deaf ears. There were secret meetings to lure club bar 4 to join the coalition. Means used included; threats, exposure and business sabotage.  In the long run club bar 4 joined the ‘Total grip on government coalition-TGGC.’ The TGGC became the most powerful lobby in Society. It was able to sway Society people towards their case.
Demand 2: To establish straight walk cameras at every point in Society.
Demand 3: To report all persons known to ‘slide’ or those who even talk to sliders by way of greeting, providing Tender loving care or even behold them with respect.
Society was in state of emergency. The TGGC provided means for people to engage in sponsored trainings and camps to renew allegiance to Straight Code and the Bench-mark. People took up arms and formed vigilante-groups. They were involved in patrolling and searching for ‘straight walk defaulters’.  They called themselves the ‘3-D club’ and always proclaimed they represented the sword that would cut off the rotting parts of Society. They claimed they were doing all their work on behalf of the TGGC and were to be paid handsomely. All the young people without work joined these 3-D clubs. Day and night, they were heard sharpening machetes and other killing instruments. ‘This is a call to battle’ became the rallying call.

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