The two bomb blasts that I heard on Sunday night in Kyadondo didn’t register much in my mind. Although my sister had phoned to let me know that there was a bomb blast in Kabalagala and many people had been killed. Later when I heard the two blasts in Kyadondo I argued with my other sister whether the sound was that of grenades or an accident as we continued to watch Spain and the Netherlands battling for the world cup. It was only until the next day that I learnt that about 64 people had been killed and the number has now reached 74 after a number of causalities who had been rushed to hospitals died from extensive injuries. I did not envisage the impact of the twin bombings however much I stretched my mind. Even the many years of war in northern Uganda, my home area, had not taught me that senseless killings still existed. For me, active war was in Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Central African Republic where combatants fight with artilleries. Kampala is peaceful and would always stay peaceful. Now, I know I am wrong.
‘I have never been so scared in my life’ this has become a common saying in Kampala. So far, the police have been called many times because people were suspicious of abandoned bags. I am now very conscious of every kavera, black polythene bags that contain rubbish around Kampala. I wish that Kampala City Council could be more vigilant cleaning the city so that any other bomb can be detected immediately.I dont want a repeat of what happened that Sunday night as people watch the final of the world cup. I am so scared that every time in my head I hear blasts and I wonder how I will fall on the ground or who would recognise me in the mortuary. Pictures and stories of people killed in the bomb blasts make the headlines on all daily newspapers. I am very attentive as I watch news on the television, something that I often skipped. I want to know where the unexploded bombs have been found. Then I make a mental note where I won’t go but each day list keeps getting longer and longer and may be one day I will have nowhere to go to, but that cannot be.
I guess what has triggered my fear is that every time I think that it could have been me. I have been to these locations, the rugby club and the Ethiopian restaurants so many times in my life. My sister-in-law used to work at the rugby club until about two years when she resigned and I used to go there for the barbecue, after shopping in my favorite shopping mall just opposite the club and my home is about two kilometers away from the club. I ate injera in the Ethiopian restaurant. I know a lot of people who go there as well. On that fateful night, a friend had insisted we go there but somehow my instincts instructed me to stay at home and I am glad that I listened. He did not go there either.
To make matters worse, the President Museveni has said that the government has said that the government will pursue the terrorists and bring them to justice, whatever that means. From the pictures of the Al shabab, who have claimed responsibility of the attacks, I don’t want to mess with them. It looks like justice is the last thing on their minds. The people with no RPGs in the streets of Kampala don’t stand a chance. I am a great disciple of Ghandi but I don’t think that is the right way to fight terrorism. I think a peaceful way would reduce our risks to getting attacked and innocent people dying. I find it hard to believe that as a non combatant I am position to defend myself from attacks from Al Shabab. As the security situation in Uganda is being tightened I wonder if there won’t be a repeat of the Sunday attack. If it happens, where will it find me?
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