Hon. Mukasa Fred Mbidde is described on his Wikipedia profile as a lawyer, a human-rights activist, a mass communication specialist, a motivational speaker and a politician. Indeed, an apt description of him, except, perhaps, the “mass communication specialist” accolade. This I doubt, purely on the basis of Hon. Mbidde’s use of the English language in communiques that he intends for Ugandan masses.

Take for instances his glowing eulogy of our Right Honourable Speaker Jacob Olanya, now rested.

“RIP RT HON JACOB OULANYAH. It’s all glum, melancholy and doleful times to the country, parliament and family, at the quietus of the honcho and sachem of the empirian grubhub. His oratory virtuosity, finesse and / or magniloquence shall greatly be missed. Heaven is the terminus 🙏🙏” Hon. Mukasa Fred Mbidde

While the spirit of Hon. Mbidde’s eulogy of late Rt. Hon. Oulanyah is undoubted, as a communications expert myself, I had to use the thesaurus to fully understand its content. Not even the thesaurus was enough, for some of the words were not covered by it. I had to do Google searches as well. Here is my word-meaning-fact-check of the eulogy and with recommendations of other words similar in meaning that Hon. Mbidde could have used to make his message more accessible to Ugandan masses:

• “It’s all glum, melancholy and doleful times to the country, parliament and family – glum, melancholy and doleful are synonyms of each other and they communicate the same meaning really. In the context of the eulogy, doleful would have done better on its own.
• At the quietus (eternal rest) of the honcho (chief) and sachem (title adopted by leaders of the Tammany societies) of the empirian (empirical – experience or observation) grubhub (a relationship that only revolves around food). So, the use of honcho and sachem together was seemingly unnecessary, since they carry a similar meaning. In the context of the eulogy it is doubtful that “grubhub” adds meaning-value to it. Or have I missed the point?
• His oratory (debating) virtuosity (technique), finesse (skill or expertise) and / or magniloquence (use of high-flown language – grandiosity or pomposity) shall greatly be missed. It seems an apt description of the late, albeit my having doubts that he practiced magniloquence in his oratory, to the level that Hon. Mbidde does, for example.
• Heaven is the terminus (limit or the end)🙏🙏”

While many in Uganda remain in awe of Hon. Mbidde’s magniloquence in his use of the English language, I pray that the spirits of our ancestors gone before give the spirit of “Sachem” Jacob Oulanyah a full welcome as he joins them in peaceful eternal rest.