By Charles Ochen Okwir

15^th Oct 2012:

Guests at the London event - October 6

London – The bright autumn day of October 6 was only matched by their silver-white grey hair, and perhaps, one might add – the nostalgic warmth that exudes from their beaming faces whenever they bumped into anyone who looked Ugandan in their piercing blue eyes.

Here, at The Royal Over-Seas League, located in the middle of London’s posh St James Street, you would be forgiven for thinking you had strayed into an old people’s home where ‘White Ugandans’ in the departure lounge of their chequered lives are being looked after.

That wouldn’t be far from the truth – because this was, after all, ‘The Uganda Society UK’.  Here were a bunch of nearly 80 British pensioners for whom Uganda, a 50 year old black sovereign nation-state, still occupied a special place in their frail hearts.

Their sentiment is truly special – especially when you remember, as one of them said, that the last time they met in Mbarara was on 9^th October 1962 when the Union Jack (the British flag) was being lowered, and the new Ugandan flag hoisted to signal Uganda’s independence.

There was no better demonstration of that infectious nostalgia than the fact that all British pensioners, and Ugandan guests alike, proudly wore name-tags which showed the exact period they were in Uganda; the areas they worked in; and in what capacities.

Welcoming guests at the registration desk at the entrance of India and Pakistan Hall where Uganda’s golden jubilee celebrations took place for example, was an elderly, tall and friendly English gentleman whose name-tag read: Keith Arrowsmith, ADC (Asst. District Commissioner) Kitgum – 1957 – 1965.

Coming from Kitgum, I couldn’t resist having a chat with my former District Commissioner – never mind that he served in Uganda before I was born.  I was curious to know how things were then – just so I get a rough idea of how far we have progressed or degenerated after 50 years of relative independence.

In those few minutes, Keith had, in his unadulterated Queen’s English, eloquently transported me to the 1960s – painting a picture of peace and tranquillity that is, by all standards, a far cry from the cruel realities that are self-evident in the war-ravaged district of Kitgum today.

He talked proudly of the medals he had been awarded for his service to the people of Kitgum.  “Would you flog them at antique auctions today”, I asked?  “No chance”, Keith replied swiftly, his eyes dimming ever so slightly – unable to comprehend the audacity of my question.  “No amount of money can buy them”, he warned.

A quick scan on the name-tags worn by the British pensioners in the hall revealed that nearly 75% of them had served as Colonial Officers in pre-independence Uganda – from Gulu to Mbarara; and from Fort-Portal to Butaleja, Soroti and beyond.

Most of them spoke very warmly of Uganda.  Not that they didn’t know the political mess that Uganda finds itself in today – with opposition protests being violently crashed at every twist and turn.  Rather, one got the sense that these old folk were holding on to beautiful memories and refusing to contaminate it with the political traumas of post-independence Uganda.

“This is purely a day for celebration…you are not going to get me to say anything else”, one British pensioner told BBC Journalist Lewis Machiphisa when the latter attempted to get his reaction about the “walk-to-freedom” protests of that week that saw opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye arrested twice in as many days.

But the voluntary amnesia didn’t last very long – it couldn’t have, not after the speech that Uganda’s outgoing High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Joan Rwabyomere gave.  It was a speech that Sam Akaki, the International Envoy to the UK of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party would later describe as “nauseating”.

A more independent minded and non-partisan observer would probably have described it as the kind of speech that you would expect from un-altruistic people who, for their privileged status and proximity to the centre of power, are totally oblivious of the pathetic fate of the suffering majority.

“Ugandans can now expect to go to the polls every five years to elect their leaders”, Rwabyomere proudly asserted – never mind that the Supreme Court of Uganda has consistently found fault with the conduct of most Ugandan elections – holding that they are often marred by state-inspired violence and massive vote rigging.

Like many of her kind, Rwabyomere couldn’t complete her speech without throwing in some rosy, but wholly utopian statistics about Uganda’s “impressive” economic growth.  In her view, Uganda was now “one of the fasted growing economies in the world”.

Being “a day for celebration”, common decency demanded that she be left to rumble on – and rumble on she did, telling all and sundry how the oil discovered by her ruling NRM government will ensure that Uganda achieves middle income status record time.

Two elderly women had sat quietly next to me – intently listening to Rwabyomere’s speech.  One of them suddenly broke her silence with a probing whisper.  “Your brother here (a chap called Edward Bisamunyu from Kigezi) has been shaking his head in disbelief…do you believe a word of what the High Commissioner is saying”, she asked?

“It is her job to say what she said”, I replied.  “I see”, was her reply – and we never returned to that subject.  As this particular celebration of Uganda’s golden jubilee celebration drew to a close, it seemed clear that many of the guests had chosen to reserve their judgement on Uganda’s 50 years of independence.

But history will not be that timid – and it seems likely that its judgement, if one can imagine it, will say that the principle reason for Uganda’s failure lay in the persistence of a single-party authoritarianism that has proved to be incapable of, or totally unwilling to reform itself.  END.  Login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories mid-week for our updates

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This article was first published by Think Africa Press under a different title