Happy New Year! This is my first post this year. It was published 2 weeks ago by The Sunday Monitor though I’ve been very slow in publishing it here. I do have 3 other articles I’ve been equally slow to publish. *Hides*.  I’ll publish them this week, one each day starting tomorrow. *scouts promise*

Also, starting next week, I’ll start to expand my writing to cover topics outside my comfort zone. I intend to start writing about manhood, marriage & spirituality. I’ll have a separate mailing list for those just in case that stuff isn’t your cup of porridge. Kale, here’s ‘This year, be a hero‘.

A happy new year to you dear reader. I hope the festive season allowed you to spend some time with your family. Going by the smooth-flowing traffic, the holidays are still going on for some of you. For many of us though, the year has already begun to show its hand. Only a few days in and we’ve seen the resignation of a Presidential Adviser, sadly lost prominent Muslim leaders in a gruesome manner, and  heard of an individual without transport to meet the Head of State only for them to be seen together a few days later. Though it’s shaping out to be a year bent on playing hardball, it’s a great one to be writing humour and satire; our politicians seem to be falling over themselves to give us material.

The year’s hardball notwithstanding, focus on doing a Batambuze. A resident of Kaliro district, Mubarak Batambuze’s pregnant wife was eaten by a one-tonne crocodile last week. I can’t begin to imagine his grief but here’s how he reacted,

“I went to a blacksmith and paid him Shs. 20,000 so that he could make me a very sharp spear.”

It is one thing to see a scripted Jason Statham react to the loss of a loved one by going after their killer and after initially being beaten-up, eventually wiping the make-believe blood off his lip and beating the guy to a pulp. It’s another for a Batambuze in Kaliro to attack a 25-foot crocodile with just a “very sharp spear” and slay it.

Who are Batambuzes?

They see the grim situation but vow to take deliberate steps to address it.

They aren’t bogged down by the size of the beast they are up against. What is your beast? An unhealthy weight? Bad spending habits? Debt? An unhealthy lifestyle?

They don’t play blame games. The village leaders claim that they’d called the authorities several times to capture the crocodile to no avail; Batambuze could have licked his wounds and blamed those authorities till the croc belched.

They pay the price. For Batambuze, it was Shs. 20,000 to get a spear. For you, is it gym membership? School fees to go study? Going for counselling? Letting go of some friends? Moving to a humbler abode? Selling the car?

They need a team but it isn’t an excuse. The crocodile is believed to have eaten five other women and children in the village; Batambuze could have organized a team to attack it with. He, however, went the journey and, here’s the clincher, called five other fishermen to haul the crocodile with him after the kill. Are you waiting for a team before you can slay your crocodile? Are you waiting on running buddies to start your healthy workout?

This year, be a Batambuze. A true hero. Do even better, do a (insert your name here), slay the crocodile before it strikes. Happy New Year

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