In recent ancient history,

So influential was the poet that Nigerian poet Ken Saro-Wiwa was hanged by General Sani Abacha's military dictatorship in Nigeria.

In these orphaned times, we are not clamoring to be hanged. Nor does the poet have to run for office in order to walk that extra mile.

Instead, the poet can rescue nations from the brink by the sheer force of words. As Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “we govern by words.”

And what is poetry if it is not words in their most intense and purest form?

The passionate poet Pulse Live Uganda

Kened B. Ngise III knows this only too well, being one of Uganda’s greatest purists when it comes to using poetry not only as an art but as something of a martial art.

“My name is Kened Bwambale Ngise iii. I was born and bred in Kasese District at the footsteps of the great Rwenzori Mountain. I was born in a staunch Catholic Church family of five,” he says.

“I went to St. John’s Seminary, Kasese for Level and later on joined St. Mary’s Vocational School Kyamuhunga, Bushenyi for A ‘level. For higher education, I did a bachelor's degree in arts with education at Kyambogo University.”

Kened teaches literature in English and English language at Tororo Girl’s School, where he also doubles as a co-poetry trainer.

It has been a long and arduous journey for this teacher-poet, a journey which started innocently.

“I grew up with my grandmother who was a great storyteller and singer. She told me stories around the fireplace every night and dared me to tell her stories too. Whereas she had tens of folktales to tell, I had none to give in return and so I started jokingly concocting stories to pay back whenever she demanded for one. Sometimes I got stuck and ended stories in halves,” Kened recalls.

“I only managed to put them to paper when I joined senior one. I wrote and performed poetry and drama throughout my O’level.”

This was the start of his poetic initiation, but his poetic budding was spawned by a baptism of fire.

“I was inspired to write by the many puzzles my sad childhood left unanswered. Born in the nineties, Kasese was battling an ADF insurgency that saw us spend our childhood sleeping in the bush. The many questions I asked mum during that time and so I am writing to find them by myself. One, I asked mum why we were in the bush and she said we were running away from rebels. I first thought they were animals until she explained. When mum told me that they were killing us to hurt the government I cried. I felt like we needed to meet them and explain that we were innocent. Everyone laughed and today I still feel cheated. I am inspired to write by my disappointment in mankind.”

A purist taking the world of poetry by storm Pulse Live Uganda

Although Kened was wet behind the ears at the time, he has since matured into a poet to reckon with.

Highly prolific, he has written countless works.

Recently, he published his first novella, Stranded Hearts, which mocks the absurdity of love as it is perceived by society.

“I am working on three poetry books . One is titled, Tumbavu, a satirical collection of poems on the absurdity of democracy in Africa. The other poetry collection is When the last Tree Dies, and this one is for the environment. The third one is an anthology, Before another Harvest of Skulls which features several writers from across Africa. I have also written three plays, The Chief Guest, Beneath the Temples and The Missionary Thighland. There is also a novel, Martyrs of Megalomania that is still in its raw state,” he says.

Although his literary output is vast, he feels he has not done enough and so he wants to give back to society by promoting poetry in Kasese.

This way, he will promote dialogue over destruction so that his childhood does not repeat itself in other childhoods across the district.

“I hope to establish a poetry night in Kasese that is well blended with our Rwenzururu oral literature. I will count myself successful if poetry gets consumed by people upcountry. We have also established a vibrant poetry club at Tororo Girls School that will change the school into a shrine for all poetry pilgrimage,” he asserts.

“I also want to dedicate much of my time to nature given the fact that the fight for it by humans is partial and hypocritical. Our primitivity as humans is reflected by our behavior towards nature.”

Through such ambitions, Kened, the purist poet, is planning to return poetry to its Homeric power and tradition through a singular African lens.

He is surely on a path to give poetry and words the significance he feels they deserve.

In the process, this significance can help cleanse the world of the impurities of hate and conflict he once experienced.

“I have great hope that the world will turn to poetry for healing someday. The poets are doing great work and all they need now is to create more audience,” he states.

With his characteristic ability to turn literary base metal to poetic gold, we are sure he shall achieve everything he sets out to achieve