Sunday
Walking speed is common topic of conversation between the
researchers I am helping to train and me. Two of them enjoy that I walk
quickly, so when a researcher asked if I’d like to go walking after lunch, I
was game. He said his cousin’s sister lived down one of the roads nearby, and
we could go visit her. Given that it was Sunday, our only day off this week, I
figured a brisk walk would do me good. 2.15 miles later I was hot but happy
after the number of waves and shouts from kids far outnumbered the strange and
questioning glances I got.
Henrietta, his cousin’s sister, came out to the road to
greet us, with one baby on her back, and a young boy, about four and a half,
running along beside her. We settled into her living room, for what might have
been called a social call in the Old South. We simply took our seats and
chatted about everything from the weather to local politics to U.S. politics
(they’ve got their fingers crossed we re-elect Obama) to culture in Uganda and
in America, with them asking if America has any
culture. I explain some of the things that currently form part of the American
culture, while emphasizing that many people also continue traditions from the
culture of the place their families are from.
She then set out a meal for us, white rice, chopped greens,
and meat in soup (unidentified... I’ve got my money on liver). While my
colleague and I ate, she sat to the side, but continued the conversation. She
is an assistant district attorney, and began to share some of the stories of
what she had seen pass through the courtroom.
In one story, there was a boy who ‘hacked’ his grandfather
to death, in front of his mother (the daughter-in-law of the man killed) and
his grandmother (the wife of the man killed). This boy was immediately arrested
and kept in jail for two years, pending his hearing. The evidence was
overwhelming, but the testimony of the eyewitnesses was key to a conviction. However, as the mother came up to
testify, Henrietta could tell that the mother was having great difficulty
testifying against her own son, who had killed his grandfather. The wife of the
deceased was asked what she wanted the outcome of the trial to be. She
responded that since the incident, her daughter-in-law and grandson had barely
seen her, nor had they every apologized for the incident. She said that what
she really wanted was an apology, and enough money to start a business, since
the breadwinner of her household had been killed. She asked for 300,000 Ugandan Shillings, or $136 USD. The
parties left to try to mediate the case. They returned the next day, the mother
of the boy who had killed his grandfather bringing the money, and the two
parties reconciled, as the grandmother was glad to be able to start a business
and the mother was glad her son would be released from jail. This is an
interesting instance of pursuing reconciliation in the name of peace and
harmony in a community, rather than pursuing punishment in the name of justice.
What if you were one of the people in this scenario? What would you prefer?
What would usually happen in a case like this where you live?
“And what caused this boy to ‘hack’ his grandfather to
death?” was my first question at the end of the story. The boy’s father was
sick and in the hospital, and had a very high fever. When the boy went to visit
him in the hospital he heard his father crying out “My own father is killing
me, he is doing this to me!” The boy interpreted this to mean that the
grandfather was a wizard, or someone with special powers, often believed to be
conferred by the devil, and had put a curse on the father in order to make him
suffer and die. Following this line of reasoning, the boy encountered his
grandfather with the intention of killing him, in order to release his own
father from the spell, thinking he was saving his life.
