Reporter for @voanews and https://xitter.cf/t.co/uGW1EFPFAl covering Uganda. 2022 Pulitzer Finalist-Audio reporting. Member @FPA_Africa. Co-Chair @IPAUganda
Kampala
Joined June 2009
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Halima Athumani retweeted
A farmer, tired of rats destroying his crops and stealing his grain, came up with a clever but cruel plan. He threw a dead pig into a deep, abandoned well. Attracted by the smell, nearly 80 rats rushed into the well to feast on the carcass. At first, everything seemed wonderful. There was more than enough food for everyone, and the rats ate until they were satisfied.
But when the food was gone, they discovered something terrifying. The walls of the well were too steep to climb. They were trapped. Days passed, and hunger turned into desperation. Desperation turned into aggression. The rats that had once eaten peacefully beside one another began fighting for survival. Eventually, they began killing and eating each other.
One by one, their numbers dwindled until only a single rat remained. Its eyes were bloodshot, and it had survived by consuming its own kind. Then the farmer returned, lowered a rope into the well, and rescued the last surviving rat. But he didn't save it out of kindness or compassion.
The farmer knew the rat had learned to survive by hunting other rats. When he released it into his fields, it would continue killing its own kind instead of eating his grain. The farmer had turned his enemy into his greatest weapon.
And that is the lesson of divide and conquer. Those who control the trap don't need to fight the battles themselves. They simply create the conditions in which others turn against one another.
The rats believed their enemies were the other rats. They never realized that the true enemy was the farmer who had put them there.
The greatest danger isn't always the enemy standing in front of you. Sometimes it's the one who created the conflict and stands quietly watching you destroy each other.
Before you turn against your neighbor because of their political beliefs, ask yourself who benefits from keeping Americans divided. While we fight each other over Republican and Democrat, we may be overlooking those who profit from the conflict. Perhaps the real question isn't which side you're on, but who built the well—and why they want us fighting at the bottom of it.
Halima Athumani retweeted
Activist @AloikinOpoloje speaks about her abduction. How did it happen? What transpired inside the drone? How did she end up at CPS and what we can do as citizens to reclaim our freedom.
Watch the full conversation on youtu.be/fGhWNKXdqIk
Halima Athumani retweeted
‘Australia without migrant workers’
Who made this? 👏
Mandatory viewing for any fool who still doesn’t understand the implications of slamming the gates shut.
Halima Athumani retweeted
Sunday Without Her
She would have woken jolly today,
wrapper, Bible, smile ready,
Phaneroo calling.
But this Sunday,
her bench is empty,
her song is locked in Luzira.
#FreeAloikinPraise
Halima Athumani retweeted
Just had a longer conversation with @AloikinOpoloje, and this is what she told me to put out.
Upon her abduction on Saturday evening, her captors drove with her towards Entebbe. They told her she would be punished for "abusing their president", that is, not Museveni, but his son, Muhoozi.
They beat her in the drone, but kept saying the "real beating" would happen in the "basement" and it was where they were destined. One of them told her they could kill her, put her in a bodybag and dump it away and no one "could do anything about it".
About halfway the journey towards Entebbe, one of the men in the drone received a phone call, from who, she can't tell. The call recipient ordered the car to drive back to Kampala. Praise would not be taken to the basement, he announced. He, like everyone in the drone was disenchanted by the call - heartbroken even! They were so eager to torture her - one of them even said he was supposed to r*pe - her, she told me. After the call, she says they loudly complained that they "spend all their days on missions" only to be given "stupid orders" at the end! He added that for that "mission", that is, abducting 25-year-old unarmed Praise, he had not eaten the whole day!
Still, Praise didn't know where they were going, but given the beastly tendencies of her captors, she could tell that whatever was a disappointment for them may be good for her, after all.
At the end of the journey, the drone (Toyota Hiace Van) pulled up at Kampala Police Station! In total disregard of @PoliceUg procedures, her details were not taken down, but the police simply checked her into their cell for women. The officers who locked her up threatened to kill her if she doesn't keep quiet.
She was kept at CPS. So, it turns out, this whole time, Praise was at CPS in Kampala! Fortunately, the officers at CPS, despite their threats, didn't lay a finger on her. However, she was only given a single meal this time, throughout the ordeal.
A statement has been taken from her, she will be charged for "broadcasting without a license" under the UCC Act. That is, she has a TikTok account without getting permission from the Ugandan regime. A lawyer is with her.
#FreePraiseAloikin
#TheCabbageCaseUg
Halima Athumani retweeted
Someone please take me to the President. I got some money to invest in Kampala
Halima Athumani retweeted
APPEAL FOR THE WHEREABOUTS OF @JengoEriya1
As Chairperson of Baba Media Group, I am deeply concerned about the continued disappearance of our colleague, Jjengo Eria, a journalist attached to the @babatvuganda newsroom.
According to eyewitnesses, Eria was taken away in a Noah vehicle, with a Premio reportedly following behind. The two vehicles were seen speeding off together, heading towards Kisaasi. His continued disappearance is deeply troubling to his family, colleagues and the entire Baba Media Group fraternity.
I appeal to anyone with information about his whereabouts to come forward and help us establish where he is. I further call upon the relevant security authorities to urgently provide an update on his whereabouts and ensure his safe return.
We need Eria back safely. @PoliceUg @MODVA_UPDF – at Kampala, Uganda
Halima Athumani retweeted
*BRILLIANT*
The French made a short film about what could happen after all immigrants would follow the ‘_white, angry old man’s_’ advice to go back where they came from.*
Halima Athumani retweeted
Hala Ghorani schools the ignorant bigot Nancy Mace on head covering in religions. If I were in @NancyMace 's shoes, I'd want the earth to open and swallow me whole!
Halima Athumani retweeted
An institution takes your money.
You raise concern about it.
They run to court.
You are damaging their name.
You smile, for it is a Temple of Justice.
Court orders you to pay them more.
More than they took from you.
And add a Fine to the state, plus costs.
You are raped in turns.
From all angles and directions.
Violent untamed erections.
Penetrating every innocent part.
Judges hold you down.
With huge wooden hammers.
Suffocating you with wigs.
For the institution to sodomise you.
After the bloody orgy.
They masturbate on your pleas.
Singing songs to the Load above.
Celebrating a triumphant rape.
What about the voiceless?
The wretched down there.
With no one to hear them scream.
Does justice ever visit them?
Halima Athumani retweeted
How will we explain our silence? Why have we abandoned this man to his tormentors? Why do we pretend not to see? It is true: People get the leaders they deserve…
Halima Athumani retweeted
Generations and generations will remember Mr Baguma in the field of law and injustice. While a lot has happened in recent times, he seems to be committed to setting the lowest bar possible in the country’s judicial history! Whatever his motivation, it must be bigger than life or any principles. The worst seems to be yet to come though, because they’re handling a man who seems to be ready to die in their hands, if it’s what it would take to resist injustice.
Halima Athumani retweeted
I have always wondered how @kizzabesigye1 always manages to stay calm and respectful amidst the unbearably unprofessional, arrogant and greatly annoying behavior of Baguma. Today he couldn’t take it anymore.