Here cometh the Queen

Her Royal Highness, Inebantu Jovia Mutesi. Image source: Busoga Kingdom

If orientation did not produce a queen in the span of years that Namagunga has existed, I would swear on its 81 - years of existence as a hoax. In the first weeks of joining Namagunga, every senior one student's worry is orientation night.

"I hear people faint?"

"Is it true that we get our first punishment after orientation?"

So many questions are answered by the senior two students to these innocent babies that will soon be faced with a panel of ministers and officials. It's this night that a true Namagunga girl's journey starts. I bet it's this night that Jovia's journey to being a queen started.

"Social Graces" ministry was the next big office to the Head Girl's office. A Social Graces offender would risk suspension over a class dodger offender. If you think you know how to sit, pay close attention to how Namagunga girls sit. Jovia ranked highly in this field. She couldn't miss being talked about as a model Namagunga girl. Each day at the morning assembly, as we sang, "We shall always uphold Namagunga for all its beauty," it sunk in hard as if a reminder each morning that we shall uphold the ethics of the Social Graces Ministry.

They say that if you are not born with royal blood, you have nearly negative chances of becoming a royal. The royal blood is strong and runs among the few chosen. Wait a moment; who are we that we shared a plate and a cup with one of the few chosen? Clearly, we did not know that she was chosen, so probably, on some days, she missed a bun at breakfast because the rowdy senior one kids had doubled. Maybe someday she was made to carry wood as a punishment by the headmistress, as that was the norm in the school. Alas, she was made to stand in the hot sun in the freedom circle because the entire class did not complete Mr. Mutiibwa's pendulum ball physics work. Most definitely, she was subject to the haircutting that made it easy to distinguish a Namagunga girl during holidays when she went out with Gayaza girls. At this juncture, we say "sorry" to Your Royal Highness.

Dear Namagunga Girl. Image Source: MSMCN

For one thing, I am sure that the class responsible for reading the news this week during the Friday Assembly cannot wait to read this particular information to the gallant ladies adorned in high waist skirts of different colors. The news will ignore the fact that the school library exists and is updated with Newspapers daily that all students have read already due to the excitement. Unless the senior six class decided to hoard the newspapers till they all had a good read about the Inebantu. The news readers will talk of how she wore a red skirt and was once equated to a "red can." They will talk about her days on Red Brick and her shenanigans with ministers. They will marvel at how she kept a light blue skirt so clean that even Ministers carried her as an example for the entire school. They will be shocked to learn that some SMACK and Namilyango boys sent endless nights writing mail to her. They will talk about how she was in stream C and try to figure out her exact desk. This will be a busy week in the staffroom as well. Everyone will talk of her gracefulness, even as a student. I would want to be lodged in the corner closest to Mr. Otwao and listen to what he says. Let's say even Mrs. Kironde. They taught a whole queen. Indeed, God bless the Queen.

Do you believe in a glitch in the matrix? If I told you that the Queen acted in some play as a queen during an Independence show, would you believe me? At this point, I wonder where the girls who acted like witch doctors during our stage plays are. Probably, they are also somewhere becoming medical doctors or problem solvers.

Out of all the excitement for the Queen, I am very disappointed in one thing. Just one thing! The year Her Royal Highness left the college is the same year a true-hearted Musoga teacher, Ezra Kasango, joined the school. It would have been prideful for this teacher to have taught this lady. Literally, his lessons were Lusoga lessons instead of Literature in English classes. He would tell us about the king passionately so that we would feel like he was a royal guard. There is nothing he spoke about that didn't uplift the Busoga Kingdom. I wonder how happy he would be to hear of his student becoming a Queen. If I were granted a wish today, I would wish for this teacher to attend the wedding.

Be humble. Sit down. From the archives.

A typical Namagunga girl would have sworn that marriage to someone who didn't attend Namilyango or SMACK, at least, would not be prized. But here comes the bride, alongside the KING. For a school that has produced a Vice President, Attorneys at Law, Teachers, Doctors, and Engineers, it was time to produce something it had not done before.

An announcement about the Inebantu came out around midday, and my phone couldn't stop vibrating from all the Namagunga Old Girl's groups excited about the news. In 1 hour away from my phone, I had over 800+ messages regarding the Queen.

The closest I came to the Queen was through Fabiola's sister, Grace, who used to assist me with Math tutoring as they were close friends. If only we could tell the future; I should have cemented my relationship then and waited for this moment as I would know my invitation card to the wedding would be posted soon.

The current Chaplain at Namagunga would be so proud of the Queen as she is one of the people who lived by his poem, "Dear Namagunga girl." A poem about social graces and ethics ought to be upheld by a Namagunga girl. I recall one of the things we feared to do as athletes while at Namagunga was giving reports about games, especially if we lost to school x or z. The headmistress then, Sr. Seraphine, commonly called Sero, had a mantra that she always finished her speeches with nearly every assembly:

"When they stand, we stand out.

When they stand out, we outstand them.

When they try to outstand us, we set the standard."

I can affirmatively say her daily mantra is really working wonders across all fields for Namagunga girls.

The Busoga Kingdom has landed on a gem.

Here cometh the Queen. Image Source: Nile Post

Who could have predicted we were cleaning trenches in the name of self-reliance with the Queen? People who faked having dust allergies missed spending the time with the Queen mossing those Great Trek trenches.

God bless the Queen.