By Ian Ortega
I would rather have a milligram of Prof. Mahmood Mamdani than tonnes of Stella Nyanzi. First, both are Ugandans. So that should end the racist talk being spread by the ignorant ilk.
Secondly, we cannot call it political persecution of Stella Nyanzi. We all know, Mamdani has been consistent in always speaking truth to power and has published works to the effect. Indirectly, he could be termed as in bed with the opposition.
Going to works by which I believe men should be judged. Stella Nyanzi’s works have had negligible impact on society as a whole. To know whether one’s works were great, we ask what would have happened had they not been published? The asymptote for Stella Nyanzi’s works approaches Zero.
The same could not be said of Mamdani. In fact, it’s an under-grading to compare Stella Nyanzi and Mamdani in the same line. We could understand why Nyanzi picked him as an opponent, she found him worthy of helping build her own failed career where her nudity is more popular than her published works. They say, pigs enjoy the fights, don’t they?
Should Makerere University lose Mamdani, it will mark the slow and steady decline of this institution. Perhaps it could catalyze the rate of the decline since many argue that the decline is in motion.
Losing Mamdani will mark a loss of reason, academic rigor and sophistication to mob rule, demagoguery and a return to the dark ages.
Last year, I happened to speak to a number of Ugandans, very respectable who wanted to begin think-tanks in the country. All donors, partners and associates could not hear of it. They said Uganda was no more a place for think-tanks. They would only offer their 110% support if these ventures happened in Rwanda.
The current battle that pits Stella Nyanzi and her mob on one side and Prof. Mamdani on another explains why many are abandoning Uganda for Rwanda.
Uganda needs Mamdani but they do not want him. They would rather go by the impulses, short-term subjective impulses and feelings, they would rather the populist Stella Nyanzi wins as Mamdani loses.
These times wretch tear glands…. no a much more sadder time than now to be a Ugandan and watch a Ugandan Socrates, for that is Mamdani be forced to take the hemlock!!!
