I struggled to sing the national anthem

The events on the night of October 9, 1962, are so fresh on my mind as if they happened just yesterday. We had our celebrations at Uhuru Park in Soroti. At midnight, the Union Jack was lowered and up went the Uganda flag. 

I have never seen such a sense of unity in this country. Mysteriously, the wind somehow did not blow to send the flag waving as expected. Energetic men volunteered to physically rock the metallic pole back and forth to unfurl it. In the heat of this excitement and anxiety, the organisers forgot to sing the national anthem.

When I reminded them, I was asked to lead by singing the first stanza only. However, I struggled with the opening stanza before the crowd came to my rescue to join in. I struggled because I was living in Trinidad and came back four years to independence. 

Entertainment

The function was held at Independence Park and there was lots of entertainment by traditional dancers. People also had record players and gramophones in their homes playing Elvis Presley and Jim Reeves’ classic hits.

People ululated, screamed themselves hoarse, dined and wined until the next day. Given the country’s wealth and favourable climate, independence brought lots of optimism. Ugandans had great expectations of self-rule.

The Uganda I found was all green; the  people friendly and accommodating. By then, my husband was the district agricultural officer of Soroti. 

When we were transferred from Soroti to Kampala, I used to drive from home in Kyambogo to the central business district in five minutes.

The shilling was a very strong currency. With our civil service wages, we could afford every basic necessity in life. On the night we returned from Trinidad, we were booked into Grand Imperial Hotel. The waiters were so happy to have black clients that day  by then, other than colonial rulers, there were few blacks booking into the hotel.

I made lots of friends while at the hotel. Many people spoke to me in Luganda, Ateso or Lusoga and they would frown when I did not understand a single word. Some mistook me to have Rwandese roots because of my facial features.

After independence

A few days after independence, my husband and I were posted to Serere Agricultural Research Centre, later to Kyambogo, and then Masaka, where I met friends like the late Kalimuzo, Okware, Oseku and Kintu.