Anti-corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU) last week rewarded 20 youths with presents for use of art and poetry to fight corruption in the country.
The annual awards ceremony was held at National theatre June 10 in partnership with Uganda Youth Network and Youth Equality Centre. ACCU Communications Manager Maron Agaba said the youth were engaged in a competition designed to encourage the youth to understand the effects of corruption in the country.
The executive director, UYONET, Lillian Bagala, explained that the competition was well received.
“We received overwhelming numbers of entries but 20 were shortlisted after their pieces received more reactions from the public,” she said.
The wining poem was by Wabwire Wa’Waheirire, titled My Nation is Married to Corruption, which talked about how politicians use the people as a ladder (political hypocrisy, deceptive yet very corrupt in the poet’s words).
Below is his poem
‘I wonder if she will ever see redemption,
He had come to her with sweet scent and song.
His aura full of attraction.
She couldn’t refuse the temptation.
For she was so naïve and young.
And didn’t see the hidden danger.
Behind his charming façade.
If she had warily observed the stranger.
She would’ve seen that all he had was damage.
And what was in his eyes was not love but evil.
She would’ve seen he was a devil.
Didn’t she hear of his story?
That he put his lovers in misery
And before his evil deed is noticed,
He must have gone far.
And if ever the pain is erased.
There must be an undoable scar.
But she accepted him whole
And embrace him with an open soul
He responded by grinding her heart
Instead of a caress, he gave her a thorny scrub
Took her from the light to the dark
Sapped her beauty and made her an ugly muck
I wonder if she will ever be free
Because when I look at her, lost hope is what I see
I wonder if she will ever have a divorce
Or is the marriage for better for worse?