By Stella Nyanzi
Stanza (1)
I am a voice from the graves of kidnapped and murdered women in Uganda.
My voice retells the trauma of dehumanisation these women endured.
Kidnappers brutalised my femine flesh.
Kidnappers axed off my fingers and toes.
Kidnappers sliced off my soft breast.
Kidnappers stuffed my womanhood with sticks and metals.
Kidnappers dug out my womb as harvest.
Kidnappers plucked out my uterus for rituals.
Kidnappers demanded for my ransom in haste.
Kidnappers eventually strangled my throat.
Kidnappers dumped my naked corpse by the village pathway.
Must I resurrect to catch my kidnappers and sentence my tormentors?
Stanza (2)
I am a voice from the coffins of kidnapped and murdered women in Uganda.
My voice rejects the haunting silence of these endless feminized murders.
The silence of Museveni’s Cabinet entrenched by insecurity and tension.
The silence of Kadaga’s parliament too well-fed to care.
The silence of Katurebe’s judiciary that is yet to give any conviction.
The silence of religious leaders who only come to bury us in death.
The silence of a civil society that fears police raids and de-registration.
The silence of political parties drowned by divisions and debt.
The silence of foreign partners hell-bent on diplomatic ommission.
The silence of feminists and women activists too burdened to dare.
Must I resurrect to speak out against my kidnap and expose my murderers?
Stanza (3)
I am a voice from the graves of kidnapped and murdered women in Uganda.
My voice bemoans the barrenness of your staggered interventions.
The botched simcard-registration
simcard-registration
simcard-registration
Inconclusive police investigations
Inconclusive police investigations
Inconclusive police investigations
Endless trials without conviction
Endless trials without conviction
Endless trials without conviction
The lack of any compensation.
There is no compensation
My orphans lack compensation
Who is paying for my orphans’ education?
Who is paying for my orphans’ education?
Who is paying for my orphans’ education?
Who is guiding my orphans’ maturation?
Who is guiding my orphans’ maturation?
Do women matter in this nation?
Must I resurrect to show you the people who kidnapped and murdered me?
I am a voice wailing in the graves of kidnapped and murdered women of Uganda.
I am a voice crying and whispering in the graves of kidnapped and murdered women of Uganda.
I am a voice from the grave!
