By Okello Odong
Apollo Nelson Makubuya loves to speak English with a British accent. He loves to remind even those who are not interested that he got a master’s degree from Britain. He wears a British suit every day. He once claimed that he buys his suits in London. Sometimes he puts on a 3-piece suit. At his office, his breakfast is a typical English breakfast.
His hotel is Springs Hotel. His three known daughters carry English names. He says he is a prominent member of the Anglican Church. His law firm has British partners.
If you want Apollo Nelson Makubuya to struggle in his speech, not that he is a great orator, ask him to speak Luganda. He can’t speak Luganda for 15 minutes without throwing in English words even though he was born and raised in Buganda. If you want Apollo Nelson Makubuya to hate you, ask him to write a sentence in Luganda. If you want to be in his bad book, ask him to take a Luganda reading in church.
Yet Apollo Nelson Makubuya wants all over us to believe that Kampala streets should be named after African ‘heroes.’ He has been online collecting names in a futile campaign to rename the streets of Kampala. He even suggested that Lake Victoria should be named after Julius Nyerere. I didn’t know Makubuya was so comical. Julius Nyerere, the same man, Makubuya’s bosses at State House are campaign to become a Catholic saint.
Makubuya will convince us more that this isn’t a self-promoting campaign for his political ambitions both in Mengo and at the national level if he changed his name and adopted Kiganda ones only. Springs in Luganda is Ensulo. We would love to see his hotel renamed Ensulo Ekisulo. Ekisulo means a hotel. We would love to see his daughters use only Kiganda names. Makubuya is a lawyer so changing the name is the easiest thing in law practice.
We would love to see him tweeting in Luganda. We would love to see him publishing books in Luganda. We would love to see him denounce his beloved Anglican church and publicly joining Maama Fina in the shrine. If we see Makubuya doing that, then we’ll know his campaign is not just about posturing and piggybacking on Black Lives Matter. We would know that those who claim that Makubuya is an opportunist are liars.
The author is Ugandan based in Clayton, Georgia
Childish thinking from the auther