GET RICH OR DIE TRYING

The busy streets of the dusty Kampala city throng with people from all walks of life. Somewhere in the corner of the narrow backstreet is an old music store decorated in the most welcoming colors in the world. The sound systems from the music store are at their best and a common song is playing loudly; so loud that the noise deafens the noisy hooting of some old passenger vehicles running up and down the street. The song continues loudly.............................get rich or die trying. Though no one is dancing to the beats of the song, it is evident that the message is sinking home. Well, who does not agree with this type of message, anyway? At least not the young but anxious youths walking in couples and dressed to kill. And mostly, not the ones from the Great Lakes Region.

Resting under an avocado tree, a band of young, noisy ragamuffins with unkempt hair and shabby clothes chat loudly. The air nearby is rich in smoke. They are busy smoking marijuana. A distance away, another group is playing draught, a popular old time game. There is no bhang-smoking in the second group but their physical appearance is more or less like that of the first batch. Some metres away from the two groups, smoke is rising to the sky. A dirty pot full of blistering water is simmering loudly in the fire. An elderly lady in tatters is busy preparing meal. This is the common scene in the world of refugees in Uganda.

It has become the passion now. The average delusioned African youth has finally found a door to heaven in the name of securing a resettlement to live a posh life overseas. Thank God for UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations because this is the latest and almost the cheapest mode of swimming to affluence and wealth.

In Uganda, there are thousands of refugees and asylees from Rwanda, Burundi, D. R. Congo, Southern Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and even Kenya. About 80% of this refugees from are young men and women aged from 16 to 35 years. Most of them left their homes with their minds duly focused on living abroad. They are single, semi-illiterate people hoping to get a better form of life through the now popular UNHCR’s process of resettling refugees. Since this is a long process, they are ready to play the waiting game.

Jean Paul is a 23 year old refugee from Burundi. His refugee identity documents read that he is aged 17 years old and from D. R. Congo. Though he left his parents behind alive and kicking in his hometown of Ngozi in Burundi, he has registered as being parentless, and that Mayi Mayi rebels butchered both his parents before he fled his country. This, together with reduction in age, is a tactic meant to earn sympathy and that is the catch. Jean Paul has been to Tanzania as a refugee but he was not lucky to get resettlement from there. Frustrated, he left for his home after two years of fruitless waiting. Seven months later, he is trying his luck in Uganda. If unlucky, he will not go back home. He will proceed to Kenya and then link to Ethiopia. His passion in all this is one…………to get rich or die trying.

Maombi Furaha is a relatively young brown girl. She is only aged 26 with a striking beauty. She is a Congolese refugee in Uganda. Maombi left her Goma home in 2005. She abandoned schooling and eloped with her boyfriend. They decided to come to Uganda and seek for a chance to settle abroad. Though they have separated of late due to biting economic difficulties, they still meet and chat happily. Maombi hopes to go back to school once she gets to America. She also have high hopes of assisting her poor parents back in the Congo villages.

In her case, she reported that her parents were both killed in an ethnic fighting. She also claims to have been raped severally by Banyamlenge rebels. Well, she is a person of concern to UNHCR. After all, she is only 18 and unaccompanied. She has filled out forms for resettlement and she prays day and night that soon she will be resettled in America.

Nshengimana is another refugee. He is from Rwanda. He is 33 years old. On his face is a long scar that reminds one of a fierce sword battle. Unlike the younger refugees, he is proud of his age and his refugee identity documents reflect that passion. Though his life in Uganda is full of misery, he shows no desire to be considered for resettlement, and he has no desire to go back home. He left hsi country after almost getting lynched for breaking into somebody's house. He was a dangerous thief at home and he is still on the wanted list for his crimes. Because of this, he has changed his name and other particulars, but the ugly scar on his face stays on.

Down the sprawling Kisenyi slums, Abdi Isma chews khat as he plays a game of monopoly with his friends. It is almost two years since he left Eastleigh, Kenya for Uganda. Like most of his peers, he is angry with the Directorate of Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister. They have not yet processed his Refugee Status and he is tired of waiting. He cannot believe his misfortune because his friend Mohammed left for USA almost a month ago yet they arrived in Uganda together.

Though he has been leading a hassle-free and comfortable life in his new home, he won't rest until he is finally resettled in USA. But as his uncle in USA noted, it may take another three more years. He sips his soft drink, throws the dice and counts the spaces to move on the board. Like any other of his peers, he will wait for that final day when he will finally fly to the Land of Dreams. If only the OPM knew this......................

As the sun sets in the west, thirty more youths register at the Refugees Desk in the Old Kampala Police Station. A quarter of them are females. Twelve are Congolese, eight are Somalis, five are Burundians, three are Rwandese, and two are Ethiopians. Almost two thirds in the group are aged below twenty six. They look weary and worn out. But a look in their eyes tell a different story. There is resettlement at the end of refugeeism.