And so he waits.They wait. In the dark of the night, lonely bush paths and fuzzy mornings with blurred vision, Bobi and Barbie look forlon figures at home – once a scene of laughter and merry. Outside their precincts is a world that is now foreign. They are prisoners in their own home.
Courage and hope have not left them, but they now have to deal with fear of the unknown. A home once filled with human activity is now desolate. The reason for their comforts – the children – are tens of thousands of miles away. Their sadness is unmistakeable. The shepherd dogs; man’s best friend in lonely times, are also no where to be seen. The couple is on trial.
Loved and worshipped by millions out there, Bobi and Barbie find themselves alone and frightened. For days they’ve gone without food, drink or sleep. Yes, they too, are human. Physically they are broken yet mentally and spiritually, they remain strong.
The backyard where acres of garden and farm land provide for their daily subsistence, looks desolate. A disconsolate Barbie can’t even tender it or harvest for her husband’s providence. She’s been told, it’s a no go area too. In one momentus effort to force her way through her own gate, her breasts were indecently violated when a female police woman gropped them. Barbie, as harmless as a dove, was provoked and she barked. Bobi is not the only courageous one.
Their visitors have been turned away, some even battered, if not maimed. Even being the US ambassador doesn’t help in this cause.
So, months of joy ride on countrywide campaign tours where he was welcomed and mobbed by tens of thousands at every turn have been replaced by seven days of isolation, and extreme pyschological torture. It’s brutality in the extreme but one which still, won’t break Bobi.
In stolen messages to his supporters the world over, he decries the dehumanisation they are being subjected to but affirms his commitment to pay the high price . In one audio, he praises and thanks Barbie for sacrificing herself just to be beside him in his darkest moments. That’s heartbreaking.
Not once has he regretted the decision he took on behalf of his people. He even encourages those crying for him not to. ” If you want to go to heaven you must be ready to die first,” he once sang. Was he preparing for days like these?
Those with weaker resolve have begged him to give up because it’s not worth it. Instead, he cites many of his friends behind bars amidst torture and those that have lost their lives as a sacrifice, and says he can’t betray them or the millions who answered his call to cast the vote..
“It’s not about my safety. It’s about about the cause which is for all of us. No one lives forever” he says. God bless his soul!
Watching him as he looks at his tormentors speechless is an emotional experience. Even his bounce, has briefly left him. He now moves wobbly. He’s in pain. Lately, instead of smiling, he grins. He still punches the air with the customary fist but he does it with sunken eyes and an unkempt look. The result of several nights without sleep.
All he says about his children is “I thank God they are not here to watch us being humiliated.” For any parent, it’s piercing. Always thinking about others but himself. What a boy!
And so, as millions keep wondering what is so special about this boy that he is almost turning into a cult, this is why. A ghetto boy who decided to stand in the gap and shoulder the burden of a nation and pay the high rice. “If I die I die” he says.
And now many have decided, they will not be referring their children to Nelson Mandela’s biography or history anymore. Bobi has relived the iconic South African’s life and some believe perhaps even given much more. His joyous and agonising images will be imprinted on our minds forever.
Whichever way this story ends far into the future, generations will recount the life of this ghetto boy and thank God he was Ugandan. So often the world remembers only the bad things about our motherland but for this ghetto boy, Uganda will finally have a great story which will reverberate throughout the anals of history.
All we do now, is pray.
And all Bobi and Barbie have to do now, is wait.
Again, it’s heartbreaking.
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