Madam Slay Queen before you get angry with your partner over women’s day, can you sing the women’s anthem?

As I type this away, there is a litany of women or girls out there lolling in their beds, engaging on snap chat, Twitter, Facebook and swiping their fat phones with long artificial fingers colored like a charity organisation’s flag.

Among messages they are pushing on social media are red faced emojis to their supposed partners for forgetting to wish them a happy women’s day.

“So you wont wish me anything on my day?” I don’t know why they call it their day. Then they will add; “I wont even cook, take me out.”

Well, well, I have bad news for all of you, women’s day is far more than a clamour for messages, a full day treat, or a special pedicure offer.

If you want to spoil someone’s day today, ask them to sing the first stanza of the Uganda Women’s anthem….oh wait, ask them who composed the anthem and you will notice we have a bigger problem that refusing to send messages.

The day always goes and ends without the mention of Ms Rose Mbowa (RIP), the woman behind the beautiful lyrics of the Uganda Women’s anthem.

Ms Rose Mbowa was born in Kabale in 1943 o Eva Nyinabantu Mbowa, and Kasole Mbowa, a laboratory technician.

Mbowa went Gayaza High School and Makerere University in Kampala where she did literature in English. In 1969 she went to Leeds University, returning with an MA in theatre arts and drama.

She was appointed to the newly established music, dance and drama department at Makerere as a lecturer, but had to take over and run the department on her own, when, with no notice, the head of department was forced to flee the country.

Rose also worked for a year as producer for Radio Uganda. Later in the 1980s, she worked with the rural "Magere Women's Cooperative", and encouraged the women to use their culture and to market their agricultural produce.

She published a number of articles on theatre in Uganda and presented papers on Ugandan theatre at the annual conference on African literature at the University of Bayreuth between 1989 and 1994. She also performed with a number of different theatre companies in Uganda. She was named best actress at the National Theatre and received the Presidential Meritorious Award for Acting in 1973. She also received the National Theatre Best Production award twice: for her own play Nalumansi in 1982 and for The Marriage of Anansewa in 1983.

Rose Mbowa, dramatist, actress and activist, born January 18,1943; died February 11,1999.

But before her death, she had composed a song for the women which letter became the anthem;

Chorus

Mothers, Daughters All women everywhere Stand up and embrace Your roles today

1. We are proud mothers of our nation The backbone without which it can never stand We wake up, wake up We wake up at the crack of dawn And feed the nation with our brains With love and joy we care for our baby Uganda.

Chorus

Mothers, Daughters All women everywhere Stand up and embrace Your roles today

2.Step by step with tender care We nurse her we mould her at home and in school Leading, leading Spearheading her identity production and development In government and profession Name it women are there

Chorus

Mothers, Daughters All women everywhere Stand up and embrace Your roles today

1. We call on you women of Uganda Wake up if you have not yet embraced your role Wake up, wake up Beside our men let’s play our role In solving our nationals’ needs In every walk of life to develop Uganda

Chorus

Mothers, Daughters All women everywhere Stand up and embrace Your roles today.