28.06.2010

The senseless circumstances under which Khan Kakama, the innocent one-and-a-half-year-old toddler who was kidnapped from his home in Bugolobi and killed, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.  We join Kakama’s parents, family, friends and indeed the entire nation in moaning the loss of an innocent Ugandan child.  Of course, it goes without saying that we condemn any crime, let alone such a senseless crime, in the strongest possible terms.  Sometimes it takes a single incident for an entire nation to wake up.  We hope this is it!  In death, Kakama will have achieved what powerful Generals have failed to achieve in nearly 25yrs.

While it pains us a great deal to point this out at such a time, we feel that it’s important that we do.  Ugandans shouldn’t be surprised by our national moral decadence.  The widespread corruption and greed for quick wealth that we have seen over the last 10-15yrs can be directly linked to the proliferation of immoral behaviour; which, we regret to say, includes the rise in cases of gruesome murders.  Corruption is not only depriving our nation of its wealth and social services.  It is also slowly destroying the very character of our nation.

So while as a matter of principle we do not, and can never support the death penalty that is being called for in respect of the suspect/s accused of little Khan’s murder, we call upon the government to make sure no stone is left unturned [within the law] in the pursuit of justice for little Kakama.  But we would like to go even further.  Museveni’s government, for once, must show strong political will by swiftly prosecuting all those who have been accused of corruption regardless of whatever position they hold in government or within the extended ruling family. 

By letting well connected cooks off the hook, the government is sending an unhealthy signal to ordinary Ugandans who find the “get rich quick” craze fashionable that it’s acceptable to do anything, including ritual murders, if it helps you get rich quickly.  That cannot be right and must not be allowed to continue.

Finally, being a weekly publication, we have had sufficient time to reflect on the circumstances surrounding Kakama’s death.  So we are not over reacting by any stretch of imagination.  We would like to see the law amended immediately to make sure all those who are convicted of corruption serve very long jail terms; perhaps even 35-40yrs without having the right to be released on parole. 

Secondly, every single penny and asset that will have been accumulated through corruption by the convicted crook must be seized and entrusted to the Consolidated Fund.  Where Uganda has reached, we believe nothing less than that will serve as a sufficient deterrent to all wannabe crooks.

editor@ugandacorrespondent.com