I mean the moment someone dies (especially if it is a public figure), all hell breaks loose. It’s like everyone gets the perfect opportunity to bring out all the dirty linen and wash it in all the public wrong places.
At first, it is the list of concubines who parade the offsprings for display like trophies. Then we have the drama kings and queens who just want to stir up arguments and chaos as if it is a pre-requisite to a burial. And finally, we have the sickest part which is dominated by the lot that takes photos of the corpse and further publishes them on the front pages of newspapers, or ensures they are shared on all the social networks to complete the assignment.
I thought this only happened here but we have had cases of such scenarios even at burials of international artistes like Michael Jackson(R.I.P) whose supposed other child was revealed then and Whitney Houston(R.I.P) whose photo was taken and published. Now when it comes to our local scene, I have no words. The current situation with the late Paddy Ssali (aka Paddy Bitama) is enough proof.
Which makes me wonder, what happened to respecting the dead? What happened to concentrating on only the positive side as opposed to hammering them harder until the point they are laid to rest?
For starters, what is so interesting about a corpse that makes one’s hands itch so badly to take the picture? Do such people ever consider these people’s families and friends who deserve to mourn their loved ones in peace? Why does the world insist on believing that just because someone has lived their life on the social scene, it gives them lee way to make everything about them public even when they die?
As for the “picture part” and telling all sorts of stories about “the rise and fall” of the deceased person – disgusting!
It is traumatising enough looking at a corpse, jeez! Now the likes who think that raising all sorts of issues upon one’s death is the right time; what is their story oba? I mean those who come up to make news from all shady angles like the guy who is claiming to be the father of late comedian Bitama’s or the many “widows” who turn up to expose the many children blah blah blah!
I just do not get it. One has all the time to claim for all of this and create the drama if they want to when the concerned party is still alive, right? So why should they opt for that last minute when one is dead, gone and evidently may not change much about the situation to raise all sorts of issues and stress the families and other concerned parties? For crying out loud, why mess up another’s memory when it is all they have to their name after death?
Think about it, we can raise issues with people when they are still alive as opposed to creating awkward scenarios when someone has passed on. As for the photos of corpses, these ones should just stop. It is a sick habit. Too abhorrent to be tolerated if you asked me!