Should the Pro women battering MP be suspended?

Mable Twegumye Zake - @MableTwegumye

Mable Twegumye Zake

Will Hon. Twinamatsiko's sentiments and attitude change overnight because of the lash back towards him? Was his apology genuine from his heart or probably the growing pressure forced his hand and those around him advised that if he didn’t release a statement, his utterances towards wife beating will send his Parliamentary career and reputation into the grave.

On my blog mabletwegumyezake.wordpress.com I wrote a motivational quote that should be our daily guide and more so a lesson to all of us and Bugangaizi Member of Parliament Onesmus Twinamatsiko. Words are dangerous, know when to speak. The same words that breathe words of love can also breathe words of hate. This even more so to agents of change for which category Members of Parliament fall and all members of society with influence.

The moment one is singled out by society as a leader or an exception in their trade, they become a symbol representative of a country’s beliefs, aspirations and DNA. Uganda, despite its parallel political facets between the ruling party and the opposition, it's position against gender based violence is very clear, meaning all Members of Parliament, men or women should stand by this position even when their upbringing didn’t teach them that violence is a no-go.

So, Hon. Twinamatsiko must have forgotten that even under circumstances where he believes that a woman needs a beating to be placed in line in marriage, he should never have come out to dare the lion's teeth worst of all within the walls of the media.

A statement made by an agent of change is an action foreseen in future, what symbol is such an MP to society or any other person for that matter who condones violence. Not even in a midst of a drunken feast should the people society looks up to engage in such nosensicals for the walls have ears.

Now If the same mouth that breathes love can also breathe words of hate, it can also mean good people can also do bad things right? I don’t know this Member of Parliament on a personal account but what usually matters in a situation gone bad is the recovery effect as much as the affected in that moment might be agitated with swords in hand to attack and destroy.

One's reaction after messing up will determine and divide perceptions of the dreaded deed on whether some people will still stand by the wrong doer to be punished while others could even say that he should be forgiven.

Now this is where MP Twinamatsiko missed the silver lining in my opinion by imagining that he could turn his statements about beating women into conversations that could have been between the drunken lad and his Shaulin master. You don’t do that! Trying to laugh out loud at something you believe is funny when the audience around you is crying about it is a death sentence.

It is no wonder that Hon. Twanamatsiko's apologetic statement in Parliament was thrown out because words that say but don’t speak are nothing but lies.

Uganda is a very forgiving country, however, whether women activists call for the resignation of Hon. Twinamatsiko or Parliament takes action against him in one way or another, the lesson from all this should be Bugangaizi East MP Onesmus Twinamatsiko is not alone. There might still be those who are silent from within the walls of power with the same beliefs as his. I speak to you who can listen to change and be the champions against gender-based violence. Today it is MP Twinamatsiko who has been marked but we don’t want it to be you tomorrow because this country needs to move away from what Kampala Central MP Muhammed Nsereko called primitive and uncultured behaviour.

Whatever the outcome for MP, Twinamatsiko, I recommend counselling for him and if possible for his family too otherwise who knows if his revelation was a blessing in disguise and this could be his new beginning.

The biggest scare is the fact that this war against gender based violence won’t be over until men and with those in power taking the reigns to end it. Lest I forget, If there are women out there beating men and worst of all bragging about it, you are a disgrace and soon, you will be marked too.

Dalton Kaweesa - @DaltonKaweesa

Dalton Kaweesa

Early this month, I posed question to my tweeps (people on Twitter). For the benefit of the unconverted here is the question, everybody is busy empowering women, who is preparing men for these empowered women? The unfortunate comments that were attributed to the legislator Twinamatsiko explain the very question I am posing. Did we have a false start, what happened when we embarked on the journey, did we realize the several setbacks on this emancipation train? Did you ever ask yourselves what was done to the setbacks? Did we just tear back this wall called patriarch, what happened to the crumbs it of it? This is a conversation that we should have.

I have heard voices calling for the resignation of the MP because of what they have termed as unfortunate comments from a modern man, later on a journalist by training and a member tasked with legislating laws among which are those that protest the rights of women. I call this hypocrisy with a sense of unity without purpose. As a society we have turned reactionary as opposed to people who do a surgery of a problem at hand. By extension, we are like a man who upon getting a jigger a toes, decides to cut off a leg.

What the legislator said is what happens in many homes including those of powerful politicians, Lady justices, and CEOs in this country, perhaps Twinamatsiko’s crime was to say publicly what many of you do under the cover of darkness. Going back to the question I started with, we have empowered all women but have not prepared the men for them. The struggle to clean men of the barbaric traits that under looked women doesn’t start with the women, it starts with the men. Let us not put the cart before the horse. In only concentrating on empowering women we have pitied the emancipation drive with women against men. This is not leading us anywhere and should we continue the way it is; we will continue producing many Twinamatsikos in this country.

Does therefore expelling him change anything? I guess it only humiliates an individual without addressing the many of his ilk out there. I would therefore think we need to understand how society operates and get more sensitization of men on the paradigm shift of the role of a woman today. One day I was last in bed. I just jumped out of it and raced for the bathroom. In no minute I was behind the wheels racing against time to be in time for my morning show. Fast forward the day ended and I retired home to an unmade bed. The first question to my fiancée was why and how the bed could be left unmade. She just wiggled away to organize it, without a word. You could imagine the guilt that run through my body especially realizing that I was the last person in bed, and beside my fiancé had been to work like myself and she was into making dinner when she returned. Could I have lost an arm if I had made the bed, no! This is a mind game. As a nation we need to reaffirm our spirit and culture towards prepping men for the emancipated women. And for those who seek for the expulsion, we would have done nothing but God given promise that we all not beyond reproach and need to forgive.