By Ndawula Ronald
I woke up for an early morning walk trying to listen to my heart about so many issues. Am kind of person who does thinking on the move, either driving or walking.
Then I was distracted by a rooster running from my chicken house to the neighbor’s compound.
This dude was met by another rooster that was coming also from the chicken house with other hens. Then, immediately a battle ensued and my rooster looked stronger because it was given to me by a team from Butuntumula who paid me a courtesy visit last weekend, and they must have selected one of their best and reserved it for me.
The chase ended in a distance then my rooster reversed to come back to the hens only to find another young rooster which had taken long to come out of the chicken house.
Another battle began immediately!
The hens didnt care what was going on and were busy scratching for their feeds and going about life. The chase ended some distance in the coffee plantation and my powerful rooster started coming back to the women like a king!
I was starting to feel proud about the escapades of my rooster, then it realises the first rooster was back.
Damn! Another chase began after a small scuffle.
I stopped my morning walk and decided to look at the end game of this live free movie.
Finally, my strong man becomes the owner of my neighbor’s many chicken and it started eating the goodies. I thought this champ is going to use all the 12 or so hens in the neighbor’s yard!
Disappointingly, the super rooster only used one and after it was not even able to do other chases.
The others came back and they also stealthily chewed some of the dispersed and scattered hens roaming the yard beyond reach of my giant.
I cancelled the walk and decided to come and feed the pigs as usual but kept thinking about the gluttonous chicken nature!
Wanting to devour 12 hens and not giving a chance to others was a little too much!
Guess what I find in the pig sty?
There’s this pig which whenever it sees anyone carrying anything it’s like about to jump out of its house.
Even if you serve it food it can eat while on the look out for more.
When someone approaches its house it forgets what it has, then with optimum exuberance and anxiety for the next service and salivating in the process!
This aggressive push to get more is I think unique to male creatures, pigs and roosters.
I then expanded my thinking to humans, wondering how people steal from covid donations to drugs.
From taxes to kiitu kidogo!
In spite of the huge salaries people get they go ahead to steal the drugs and allowances.
They started from Uganda airlines jets to oxygen for patients!
They steal from high security expenses to covid relief food and will never be satisfied!
They eat from Uganda railways to ministry of finance.
They siphon from Umeme to oil exploration but never satisfied.
They plot, kill and crash all but satisfaction is a mirage!
When I finished to serve food I walked deflated as i thought about this useless life.
I found myself standing near my father’s grave, I remembered the time he died in 1990, and the grave diggers had an argument about the size of the grave. Some were saying 3×6 and others 4×6. I don’t remember who took the day but I realized life is useless, even for my powerful rooster this weekend it shall be no more!
I wondered why it was chasing others yet it has less than a week to live!
King Solomon said it better, “it’s all wind”.
The big lesson I got this morning was PIGS AND CHICKEN R’ US.
we behave like them by wanting too much yet we are here for a short time and occupied too little space.
Ndawula Ronald, the author is a former chairperson of Luwero district
