Isaac apunyo

It’s funny to watch this selective outrage. I made a comment about Wekesa, pointing out how seemingly obsessed he is with the money he makes from the tourism industry that he is willing to overlook almost everything ugly happening in Uganda, including human rights abuses. Yet the moment something threatens tourism, he suddenly finds his voice and begins expressing concern. When I made that observation, his defenders immediately jumped to his rescue. They told me to leave him alone, accused me of wanting him to join my cause, or suggested that I expected him to think like me. That's really laughable. First, wanting to see an end to the abduction, torture and killing of innocent people is not some political cause. It is basic morality. It is basic human decency. It is common sense. Second, I don't need Wekesa to think like me. I am perfectly capable of expressing an opinion about someone's public conduct without demanding that they adopt my worldview. Do you realise that all I did was comment on his reaction to the United States placing Uganda under a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory? Rather than direct his anger and frustration towards the people responsible for creating the insecurity that prompted the advisory, he seemed more interested in finding everyone else to blame. His reaction caught my attention because he appeared genuinely heartbroken about the potential financial losses to his safari business. Yet the abductions, torture and brutal killings of innocent Ugandans had never seemed to attract the same level of urgency from him. That is the contradiction I was highlighting. Others asked, "Mordecai, should everyone be concerned about human rights abuses? Did you even care about human rights when you were appearing on television in Uganda?" First, yes, I believe everyone should care. Human rights are not the exclusive responsibility of activists, politicians or people who have chosen to make a career out of speaking about them. Second, I cared enough to eventually abandon my professional career and dedicate myself to exposing what I believe is a criminal regime. That is a personal decision, and I would never suggest that everyone must make the same sacrifice. But even if I had been someone who never cared before, I would still be grateful that my eyes had finally opened. There is absolutely no shame in discovering that you were previously indifferent to something that deserved your attention. However, this conversation is not really about me, Wekesa or his defenders. It is about a much bigger and more fundamental question: How long shall we continue living in a country where people are abducted, tortured, killed and disappeared, and somehow convince ourselves that this is normal? How long shall we continue rationalising brutality simply because it happens in other countries too? Since when did the existence of suffering elsewhere become an excuse for tolerating suffering in our own country? And why have we reached a point where the economic consequences of human rights abuses provoke more outrage than the actual violation of human lives? A country should not have to become bad for business before its citizens become concerned about the suffering of its people. Human life must matter even when there is no financial loss attached to its destruction. And yes I know about all those good things Wekesa has done as pointed out by you folks. It’s too much to ask him to add more to his resume? 😅