guilty untill proven innocent!

If a law is broken, it is appropriate that a reasonable punishment is prescribed; at least in legal terms. However, before such a punishment is meted on an individual, it is important to acknowledge that legally, at least according to the human rights declaration, an individual is ‘innocent until proven guilty!’ This should be the case in any normal circumstances, in any country and at any time.
If you’ll think that for a second such a thing could be applicable in any normal African state, then be ready for a reality check. In Kenya, and the neighbouring country; Uganda, the two countries am so much conversant with, the above statement is an opinion. You are actually ‘guilty until proven innocent!’ This is a statement of fact! May be I should also clarify the term ‘fact’ which I can only define as ‘any verifiable statement that is true, independent of time and space.’ In this part of the world, any person who has never seen the door of a court room on suspicion of a crime and proved otherwise is in all sense of the word, a criminal. This is not a mere opinion; it is a true and factual statement.
Recently, I had a pleasure of taking my girlfriend ‘out.’ This was a very normal outing with very normal and necessary accompaniments. After visiting the source of river Nile, arguably the second longest river in the world, after Mississippi river, we had to have a refreshing time at the banks the river, enjoying the beautiful scenery of what is now Bukaya and just gazing at the water that was just starting its three months journey to Egypt. Since for me carrying my babe or feeding her is not part of showing romance, I made it a point to give her a little history of lake Victoria, its catchments, how the water flows into the Nile and just how useful this water was to the people of North Africa. I also tried, in the best way possible, to give her the history behind the Nile, telling her that Egypt had, during the colonial time signed a treaty with the East-African countries on regulating the use of this water, which too me was more of enslaving the local people. I was at the middle of the most romantic gesture of my caliber, fetching the water using my right hand and explaining the chemistry behind this compound when two Kanyamas (heavily built men) suddenly appeared. That is when I realized that being a foreigner in your own country can be too costly!
The two slugs first lectured me to something that sounded close to the constitution of Uganda; they told me how Uganda is a sovereign state and how such a state has her own laws and regulations! To me, this was, in the words of Immanuel Kant, what I call synthetic aposteriori knowledge, because I was literally conscious of everything they were saying. They went ahead and told me that apart from being a public land, the place we were enjoying ourselves from, was also a governments private land in which trespassing was prohibited. This did not make sense to me at all; I took into my hands, the trouble of trying to explain to these constitutionally innocent soldiers that my girlfriend and I had all the constitutional rights to enjoy ourselves at such a spot. I also let them know that being a citizen of this country, by registration; I was a property of the state liable to my constitutional rights. It was at the middle of such an explanation that the whole saga started, in one second, I was counting hezillions of stars in my eyes and in the other, I was trying to apologize for having been so stupid as to argue with the government officials. My face was already swelling due to numerous blows and lacerations I was receiving. It was only due to my girlfriend’s cry that the beating stopped. For costing the government officials’ energy, I was forced to part with Ugshs 50,000. In addition, I had to spend over 200,000 on treatment.
Lessons…never take some laws so literally for this may cost you heavily. Secondly, know that in Africa, at least in most African states, you are free until proven guilty and that all public officials are always right. Thirdly, never be so over courageous because of a girl because, due to her physical strength, a girl cannot save you as you suffer physical pain. Lastly, learn to inquire on the possibility of having freedom to walk and seat wherever you feel like, this is very essential.
Remember, you are never at liberty to do what you feel like and what you call innocence in one state may be a vice in another! This is 21st century...