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Friday, April 3, 2015

President's Visit to My Home Street;

By Esther Nakkazi

Today, the President visited my home street, Firidina Road in Kiwatule. It is not a necessarily clean street. There are goats and chicken running along it and a vacant plot where lazy residents who do not want to pay for rubbish pick up, throw theirs at night.

Then the plot’s care taker, an old woman, occasionally burns it off while quarrelling loudly. The residues of the burns fly out all over, masking us with smoke if we are at home. Children play on the road side, and sometimes in the road, dodge ball, skipping, anything.

Half of it is tarmacked and the other half is murram. Boda boda 'engineers' and iron works artisans work here too. On the upper side of the road. It is just about a kilometre and half long.

But the President was there to visit my neighbour's home Joan Kagezi and a call to rename the street after Kagezi, by one of the clergy during her memorial service, yesterday. His visit was captured by media http://chimpreports.com/photos-museveni-visits-kagezis-family/

I live near the late Joan Kagezi’s home. Her home is just about five gates from our gate. Although, I have lived here for the last 6 years, and bumped into her on this street, with no exchange of greetings, I never imagined she was the Senior State Prosecutor. She was a humble neighbour, never with ‘airs’ to even show that she was at that level.

Occasionally, when I was doing my exercises, I used to run past her two-stored house and then back up this half dusty street. There was nothing to show her presence. When she passed on, we went as neighbours to console the family. And you could imagine the heavy police deployment.

Yesterday, while listening to the evening news bulletin, I heard a request from one of the clergy to rename this street now called Firidina Road ( I have no idea where this name came from) to Kagezi Road. I just wondered why not rename one of the Kampala streets after her. Is this the best way to show appreciation? Its a shabby road.

She lived a humble life. She worked hard for this Government and its people. Her home may be here but this half-tarmacked road does not deserve her name. She deserves better, unless of course they fully tarmac it, puts street lights and does some beautification on it. That maybe could show cause of a job well done for a fallen hero. Fare the well my humble neighbour Joan Kagezi.
Firindina Road, Kiwatule


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