The Privilege of a Name: When Justice and Opportunity Have Surnames
By Dr Mwelwa
Ecclesiastes 7:1 (NIV)
_”A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.”_
In this land of law and order, where justice is sworn to be blind, there exists a peculiar truth: a name is never just a name. It is a verdict before the trial, a judgment before the evidence, a key that opens doors or a chain that drags one to the docks. In the grand courtrooms, where justice is dispensed with solemnity and principle, the players are neatly divided—not by crime, not by guilt, but by the silent power of who they are and where they come from.
On one side, the judges, magistrates, and prosecutors names that have echoed through government halls, etched into contracts, and whispered with respect in closed meetings. They wear their robes not just with authority but with the security that comes from knowing their names do not belong in a charge sheet. These names are sacred, immune to scrutiny, shielded from disgrace. Even when the whispers grow louder, when the documents leak and the stories break, nothing ever happens. A name like this is not tried—it is *protected*.
On the other side, the accused stand, shoulders hunched, waiting for a predetermined fate. Their names familiar, common, heavy with history appear in every criminal docket, police registry, and prison logbook Their only crime, it seems, is bearing a name that does not belong to power. Their offenses may be trivial, a bar fight, an unpaid debt, a protest that got too loud, but justice is swift for them. Bail is denied. The sentence is harsh. The gavel drops.Six months, one year, five years—without much deliberation. Their names fit the profile. Their names belong in jail.
Yet outside the courtroom, in the corridors of opportunity, the same system plays out. Those with the right surname do not struggle. Contracts come easily. Licenses are approved before the ink dries. Tenders are secured before competitors even submit bids. A name alone is enough to bypass bureaucracy, enough to turn closed doors into open invitations.
The rules are different for those on the other side. They must queue in long lines, fill out endless forms, and provide proof upon proof of their worthiness, only to be told that their application is _still under review. A name like theirs requires extra scrutiny, extra patience, extra miracles.
How long will this last? How long before the weight of unfairness tips the scales? Perhaps one day, a judge will look at an accused and *see himself in that dock*. Perhaps, one day, tenders will be awarded for competence and not surname familiarity. Perhaps one day, we will truly live in a land where a *good name is earned by integrity, not by lineage.
Until then, let the wise remember: a good name is better than innocence, better than qualifications, better than justice itself.
March 8, 2025
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