The Queen will not see the true Uganda

Nov 05, 2007

THIS month, Uganda will host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Heads of state from over 50 former British colonies will be gathering in Kampala to meet Queen Eizabeth II and British prime minister Gordon Brown. Both of them have confirmed that they will attend.

Chrissie Busiinge

THIS month, Uganda will host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Heads of state from over 50 former British colonies will be gathering in Kampala to meet Queen Eizabeth II and British prime minister Gordon Brown. Both of them have confirmed that they will attend.

If Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe shows up, the meeting will be very exciting because he will definitely talk about his controversial land reforms that have won him sanctions from the American government.

I wonder whether America, a former British colony, will attend because that will make the meeting much more interesting, since the two “friends”, Bush and Mugabe, will meet face-to-face after many years of talking through the media. If America attended, it would add more weight and value to the term Commonwealth and perhaps we will see more pledges like the G8 meeting did by allocating $60b to fight “malaria” in Africa instead of supporting industrialisation as a means for economic development.

Lately, I have been trying to understand what the term Commonwealth is all about and whether it means anything for the former British colonies in Africa, especially East Africa. We should instead be talking about common poverty.

The question is: What sort of agenda have the East African presidents prepared to discuss with our colonial masters? I would expect the presidents to table issues that are perpetuating poverty, for instance the issue of land and the need to pay reparations to some communities such as the Banyoro of Uganda, the Mau-Mau survivors in Kenya and other communities that suffered under British rule. In

I would expect the Kibaki government to present the poverty situation in Kibera, one of the biggest slums in Africa. I also wonder whether the same government has thought about the land issue since big chunks of land are owned by white settlers who have left many Kenyans squatters on their own land.

I would also expect the East African heads of state to allow their citizens to demonstrate about their colonial grievances when the Queen arrives in Kampala. We would rather present Uganda by way of “cosmeticking” yet inside, we are rotting. That is why our government has chosen to buy BMWs using taxpayer’s money, yet they will not be appreciated.

The writer is a citizen of Uganda

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