KAABONG AGAIN. The year was 1989 –I confirmed this time through a brief ring to mommy who is over 100+ kilometres away in sweet Morulem, Abim district. Gifted indeed by nature, Kaabong district in Karamoja region is where I spent my preschooler days until 1989 when the family had to move closer to the birth place of mom and dad in Abim.
Today am here again, God! I can’t even remember a thing in this place. How time runs, mom on phone asks me to go see Komukuny girls’ primary school, where she used to teach and Komukuny boys’ where daddy was second to the head teacher then. I visited Kaabong Secondary and, - boy; all is beauty – the packed rocks done by God, yet looks like man’s handiwork. A Bududa man would live here on constant heart break, but here- naught, the earth is tacked in Karamoja.
Situated in the middle of squatting rocks, kaabong town has just about four streets; Main Street, campswahili road and some nameless ones. Oh.... but you can’t easily visualise these roads because good structures are yet to be born.
The best accommodation for you diplomat visiting Kaabong district is Memabo Lodge and restaurant located at the centre of town.I took the trouble to engage Mike Mudi the proprietor of Memabo into some non-formal interview for some 180 seconds. Friend, talking to people is such a good! Even to strangers, some can show you a greening line in life.
Out of the blue, I discovered that Mr. Mudi actually knows daddy. Muddi was head prefect in Kaabong S.S, 1988 when Ben my dad was deputy head teacher Kom boys’ and also part-time coach of the English language subject at the secondary school.
A robust engineer, credulous of the availability of funds would cause lots of cries and mourning for land owners in a bid to re-organise the town council of Kaabong. Am not implying that the town is disorganised and needs to be sorted out, I just think a civil engineer whose head has a clear picture of a fairly ideal town in the contemporary world would think of opening up more streets that might crash down most houses and other old style property in Kaabong town
Nonetheless, am joyous to be back again here in this small town that my family lived in 23years ago when I was a mere toddler. I can visualise some young beautiful ladies also decorating the dusty town. Wait! Am not just being funny or womanising in this statement –no! A man who is not interested in ladies is not normal...am just being normal.
The only injustice I can see is that imposed on the town by Kampala just like many other juvenile towns across the country. Despite the gold deposit, the famous Kidepo National Park, the beautiful scenery and the presence of a unique iik tribe that have attracted tourists to this part of the world, things have not changed.
Amin’s Kampala would simply say UNRA, I want a tarmac road from Lira to Kidepo and the road would be there the next day. Or Ministry of energy, I want electricity power in Kaabong so we can employ modern technology to exploit the gold deposit in that district and it would be straight there.
But let’s pray for the best tomorrow. End of a one day’s quick refreshing visit to dodoth land, bye-bye KAABONG.
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