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Many young people of today may not easily appreciate the critical significance of the fact of the Independence of Uganda, and the changes that have taken place since 1962.The overwhelming majority of Ugandans are less than 50 years old, and need to be helped to appreciate that October 9 is the most important day to celebrate on the national calender of Uganda.

I was born and lived the first 23 years of my life in colonial Uganda. I am very appreciative of the palpable difference between life in the colonial state of what was then called “the Protectorate of Uganda”, and what later became the Republic of Uganda. The British rulers of Uganda were all over the place. There was no time or place anywhere in the “Protectorate” where you would be allowed to believe that foreigners were not in control of the lives of the people of Uganda.

The British governor in Entebbe, the provincial commissioners in Fort Portal, Gulu, Jinja, and Kampala, and the district commissioners in all the districts – were extremely powerful people. The Protectorate Police Force, was extremely efficient. The local governments in every district were also distinct, and fulfilled their responsibilities very well. All the schools were run by British staff, the few hospitals were run by British staff and businesses were run by Indians everywhere.

Ugandans lived in the country, but they did not own the country. You can not imagine that even agriculture officers, forest officers, and game officers were British. Everything that was done in the Uganda Protectorate was done in the names of the Royal Monarch of England. We even sang the British Anthem in schools and churches, and on all major public occasions. There was no Uganda currency, and of course no Bank of Uganda. Even the Uganda Transport Company, the famous UTC with its double-decker busses, was a branch of the London Bus Company. The Uganda Argus (New Vision!) was British. The British owned Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika. Every where you looked; there was a British flag and a British officer looking at you.

Much more needs to be said about colonialism, for young Ugandans to appreciate why all of us felt ashamed of being so closely managed by a foreign power, and totally disabled from controlling our own resources in the interest of the people of Uganda. Whatever was done in the Protectorate of Uganda was not only in the interest of Britain, but mostly also against the interest of the African people of Uganda. The only crops that had commercial value in agriculture were those to be exported to Britain. All agricultural research was to advance British knowledge, and Ugandans hardly were told of any discoveries made on their own ground at Namugongo or Bukalasa.

The yearning for self government in all parts of Uganda was palpable, and it is difficult to tell you what a joy it was to celebrate the Independence Day of Uganda. I was a student at Makerere in 1962, and the events that took place at Kololo are indelibly embedded in the conscience. The whole of Kampala was on fire with jubilation, and indeed there were jubilant celebration in every district of Uganda. It was a day of national unity; an achievement long looked for, and needs to be celebrated like that every year.

Ugandans are much more in control of their economy today than they were ever during the colonial days. The first Five Year Development Plan, (1962-1967), the Second Development Plan (1967-1972). Those plans were fulfilled almost to the letter.  The objective was to put the “commanding heights” of the economy of Uganda in the hands of Ugandans – the Bank of Uganda, the Uganda Commercial Bank, The Cooperative Bank, the Uganda Development Bank, the National Trading Corporation, the schools, the hospitals, the extension of the Railways and Roads, National Insurance Cooperation, etc were the elements of the new economic and social infrastructure, to put the economy of Uganda firmly in the hands of Ugandans.

But have Ugandans been able to manage their economy well? It is possible to say that only a few people have capitalised on our independence at the expense of the majority. That will have to be a perennial political question. All Ugandans must work to claim their rights as citizens of Uganda, and not to carelessly give room for a handful of people to usurp our independence. The fact of our independence, however, must be celebrated and honoured, because it is the one moment when all Ugandans have stood together to assert their being.

On social integration, we have gone a long way towards a socially integrated Uganda. This too is a continuing process. What needs to be overcome is to avoid dependence upon any one group of people or family. Total independence of Uganda will come as every citizen attains the kind of respect that is due to every human being. When governments in Uganda will begin to be servants of the people, rather than corrupt usurpers of power, then Uganda will move a long way towards social integration. People must never be ruled by fear, but by respect.

The level of poverty in Uganda today is so deep that it would be unfair today to claim that we are moving forward. The rich are so blinded by their gains that it is difficult to see better days, unless there was a dramatic change in the governance and leadership of Uganda soon.

Any one who has been to Lake Katwe, in Kasese district, or to Jinja in Busoga, may have been embraced by the way things have moved backwards in the last two decades. That however must not distract us from celebration of the 9th October 2009, to mark our Independence from colonial British rule of Uganda. With better leadership and governance the future offers brighter days.

-Prof. Kagenda Atwooki is based in El Centro California, USA.

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