Nambi

By William Odinga Balikuddembe

Nambi, Nambi

Oh Nambi!

the most beautiful woman on Uganda’s soil

Your nails are made of gold

Your legs, long, shiny, smooth

Your waist is a diamond ring

Your hair, a silk weave swaying gently in the wind

Your smile tells all that is in your heart

Love

You are a mountain whose streams never dry

an open bud shining in the morning sun

a little tree bearing every fruit that is sweet

Oh Nambi

I will love you like Museveni loves Uganda

For thirty years he has her gripped in his embrace

His heart beat she feels each minute of the day

Look at her

there, in his embrace!

Those you hate I will hate like Besigye hates his life

mad man!

Always lining his body at will for flogging

teargas, bullets

Uganda, what charm have you given men?

Muteesa, Obote, Amin, Lule, Binaisa, Muwanga, Lutwa

They all loved you

They would kill for you

They would die for you

Uganda!

Nambi

Your co-wife, Mama Mooze, was once pretty

Slender

That is no more

Greedy like a pig she became

Now she is a warthog

and her children, hyenas

What a seed Mama Mooze has sown!

On my riches they have fattened

My animals

My gold, my diamond, my silver

Now they think they own it all

Nambi

That is my family

Those are my children

They are my blood

Yes, my blood!

I am their father

Do not resent them

Only, only, give me a better seed!

I have more than they know

I am rich below and above

My riches are numerous like millet, sim sim

they spread all over this land

Turn around

My riches are spread as far as your eyes can’t see

Your children will never lack

Nambi, Nambi

Give me a better seed!

A seed that is clean

A seed that is pure

A seed that is wise

A seed that is kind

A seed that is caring

A seed that is sharing

A seed that can produce good seed

A seed I can be proud to call my seed

For this seed I have

This blood of mine

These hyenas can only produce hyenas!