saava wrote:
QUOTE:
Nze ndowooza omuntu eyaleeta ekigaambo 'kyeeyo' yali muyaaye ate nga mukopi, kuba olaba nabakeera mu park okusala ensawo tebakibayita olwo oyinza otya okiyita abantu abakola mumbeera embi ennyo ate nga mubugubi naye nebasalawo sente zaabwe obutazisigaza bazeliire nebaziwereza nandibadde ngabanyi nti zonna tezijja kutuuka, naye nebaziwereza.
Nosalawo bbayita 'bankuba kyeeyo?' Olaba nabeeru abaali abazzi be misango bwebagenda okuwamba ensi za balala te babayita bakondo, ggwe atakimanya gye baava era tokimanya okutuusa ngosomye ku byafaayo, oluyaaye bwe luyitilidde nelujjilawo ddala ekyo kwewangana ekitiibwa kitalo nnyo
Saava thanks for this. My reply to your post is in English to enable even those who may not speak Luganda to follow.
We at Connect Uganda have been fighting this. It is a very degrading term. It is not a term I would use to describe even the lowest of class that I know. It is a filthy term. So why use it on us?
I'm made to understand that this term was coined in the early eighties, where most people who left sweet motherland for opportunities elsewhere had first failed at home. And the only opportunities they ever found, though money generating, were literally akin to sweeping. Hence the term 'Nkuba Kyeeyo!'
From how this term sounds, it must have been coined by people in the Diaspora referring to themselves while in conversation with people back home. As I think more of the origins of this term, I tend to imagine a conversation like; ‘Munnange ndyeno nkuba kyeeyo.’
Such a conversation could only have been from a person drawing sympathy on themselves mainly because of the nature of the jobs they did at the time and the conditions they worked under. The people home seem to simply have adopted it, and of late used it wrongly and sometimes spitefully.
This term is also wrongly popularised by my favourite singer of all time - the legend - Philly Bongoley Lutaaya. Philly, in his song 'Naalikwagadde' describes the sort of life he was going through at the time while living in Sweden; "Ekyeeyo kinfuukidde olukokobe, nkolentya maama …….." goes part of the lyrics.
I like to believe it was a loose term. Coined to reflect what these people were going through at the time while in the Diaspora.
Times have changed. They may not have changed very much, but they have. We now have qualified Ugandans leaving voluntarily to come and work in developed countries as Doctors, Nurses, IT gurus etc. Others have gained success in various fields since coming to these lands. We have supervisors in chain stores, hospitals etc.
I’m clear of the fact that we still have people doing the sort of work and under the sort of conditions that could have been the origins of the term.
In my opinion which I stand strongly by, the jobs we may be doing in these new lands are satisfying. They may not be motivating as such, but they pay the bills, educate the relatives, build us decent houses, and allow us a somewhat comfortable lifestyle with some level of savings.
It is from these grounds that we at Connect Uganda took the step early enough to see that the term 'Nkuba Kyeeyo' gets changed.
A few cynics always wanted to know what the new phrase could be, and how we would point people's vocabularies to the new phrase. My answer was always simple. Charity starts at Hoima. Sorry Home. If anyone is going to change this, it is us. And the timing couldn't be more right.
'Nkolera Bweru wa Uganda' was and is the candidate in my opinion. Queenie and I have fronted this term during the 'Family Sunday Shows' here on Connect Uganda in the hope that it will be adopted and eventually used to replace the filthy term 'Nkuba Kyeeyo.'
We can only work in unison. If we start to refer to ourselves as ‘ba Nkolera Bweru wa Uganda’ and correct every single soul that refers to us as ‘Nkuba Kyeeyo’ then the revolution can start.... and roll. I doubt anyone can stand in the way of a positive social change.
Your opinions are much appreciated.
