On 3 January 2025, Nalongo Nana Mwafrika, an activist, who has stood the taste of time as she has been in prison for standing up for human rights on different occasions, accused Balaam Barugahara, the State Minister for Gender, Labour, and Social Development in charge of Children and Youth Affairs of rape.

In an acrid confession, Nana says that she has carried the burden of ‘that’ night for years, and now that she cannot do it anymore, she casts it onto the ground—perhaps, hoping for relief. She recalls when she broke down in Amsterdam in 2023 after she had read about Balaam's Doctorate in Humanity, even when she knew that the man was nothing but a beast.

“Many women live with the burden of silence about sexual violence because of the shame associated with it. I choose to drop this weight off me and hope a more recent victim gets the courage to report rape.” She says in her X post.

Nana says that if Balaam thinks he is being accused falsely, he should come out and deny if he didn’t call and request her to buy him food and deliver it to his location, where he said he had hidden for nearly two days for security reasons. So far, he has not come out to deny it.

However, there should be more questions: why is the victim coming out now? What has changed that she believes calling out her rapist can yield justice? Also, why should we believe this, especially when some women—self-seekers—are after blackmailing and breaking men of Balaam’s standards?

Conversely, it is hard to doubt Nana, especially when her rapist is known for his lack of respect for human rights and dignity—being associated with the National Resistance Movement and the Patriotic League of Uganda, which two movements have a record of violating people’s rights without an iota of humanity. [About the NRM, its leader is known for presiding over a regime that abducts and murders opposition leaders who disagree with his archaic ideologies; and General Muhoozi, the leader of the PLU, is no different from his father. He has tortured several dissenters.]

This is not the first time a woman is accusing the PLU gang of rape. In 2022, Sheebah Karungi, a Ugandan musician, came out and accused a member of this clique of rape, but like any other such case, everyone mocked her for coming out—they said it was her fault, that she was indecent. Not only her, but several people, including a house girl to one of their group members and a Member of Parliament, admitted to having been sexually assaulted.

Unfortunately, these cases die unattended as society turns against the victims, pinning them for trying to bring down their ‘perpetrators’. People always rush to ask for evidence, even when we know that by the time rape occurs, the victims are already overpowered by their perpetrators.

It is admissible that perpetrators, mostly, are well-positioned folks with resources and power at their disposal; so, they suppress their victims’ voices with threats, and often, the victims too, cease the fire for fear of endangering themselves in the process of pursuing justice.

But while this mayhem continues, feminist organisations remain silent, only to come out when a government official is scrutinised. Perhaps they are more focused on chasing the bag than fighting for women's rights.

“When will a woman be able to speak up against a man in power without being met with ridicule and attacks? The comments here are disgraceful.” Sofi Lundin, a freelance journalist and photographer, replies to Nana’s post on X.

It is undeniable that there are many such cases, especially by people like Balaam. But their victims fear coming out and speaking about it as they are scared of the stigmatisation and resistance meted out to them by their fellow women, society and those on the perpetrator’s side.

For instance, the comments on Nana’s post are degrading; some insist on evidence, while politicians like David Kabanda, who are at the forefront of running the PLU cult, insist that Nana’s accusations are political. He even brings in a photo of Nana posing with Bobi Wine. How sad!

Even so, we cannot refute these grave accusations—Balaam is known for taking advantage of the meek—he convinced the NUP political prisoners to confess that they were rebels with guns; he even paid some of them—and this brings us to the question: is it impossible for him to rape a woman? He is a prey, after all.

Having received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanity from Zoe Life Theological College, USA, for changing the lives of Ugandans, we wonder about the criteria they used to award such a prestigious qualification to our pseudo minister—because Balaam doesn’t deserve one.

As we look critically into this case, Nana remains a heroine who has glided over societal stereotypes—where victims don’t have to speak of the incident openly. She has been in trouble for standing up for human rights, and nothing will stop her from condemning her usurper. Nana is the voice of hundreds of victims who cannot speak out. Surely, these streets are yet to stumble and surrender to her nerve. Babylon must fall.