Poet Jerry Ssesanga: The four stages of Ugandan misery

He tried out business
It flourished and printed a smile on his lips
But inflation ensured it wouldn’t last
He heard of all crazy stuff
Of the dollar vs shillings
And failings of the shillings. The regime was to blame.

So the solution was to change leadership
But the dictator in chief wants life presidency
So he thwarted any attempt to change.

The election was rigged tenfold, so all hope in political change was lost.
Being a young, love was the option.
He invested in a love of a woman.

But she had studied the art of infidelity.
She played him well enough among a list of men.
She ended up married to the owner of a Mercedes
Yet the child she carried belonged to the barber.
He tried another one,
She was about herself, posting nudes on Facebook,
Polishing her nails, colouring her hair,
Bleaching and returning in the morning.
He gave up after she mothered a child with a club bouncer.

He went to the last resort.
Religion,
Pastors made it appear all his life would come back.
It was as simple as accepting Christ and having a good life.
But pastor was about money.

His gospel was about giving to the church and buying holy stuff.
To be blessed holy water was at a fee, holy rice came in as well.
Anyway, scripture says it.
For whoever has will be given more, and
they will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.
When I looked at his story,
I wondered if it was any different from mine, or that of my sister, all the same.

The deaf mute poet 2017