Uganda has become a country of possibilities

trueBy Mwaka Emmanuel Lutukumoi

“It seems impossible until it’s done” Opined late Nelson Mandela, the father of reconciliation in the world. Yes, until the lion learns to tell its stories, the hunters will always take the credit! Yes, Uganda has a story to tell.

From Independence the coloniser ended up dividing the country into small tribal units consciously or unconsciously, calling some kingdoms and others chiefdoms, pitching one against the other.

Watching religious conflicts where Protestants fight Catholics and vise versa making Uganda a den of conflict. Even political parties were formed along religious lines with Democratic Party and UPC in the 1950s all formed along Catholics and Protestants faith respectively.

The British left a divided country with Buganda from 1962 having a stately feature and status’; a state within Uganda. This led to the 1966 crisis when President Obote abolished Kingdoms and abrogated the constitution. The Kabaka had to escape to Britain.

From that time, ethnic crises have rocked the country, with the north pitched against the south. Uganda was impossible, divided ethnically with a pseudo state. Uganda degenerated into a rouge state with a cocktail of dictatorship, latest Amin’s reign of terror.

When I was a child, I used to hear people travelling to Kampala referring to travelling as “Lam dogi” means you must keep praying to the gods for journey mercy. It means you will believe that you have reached when you are finally at your destination, which is Kampala from say Gulu.

After the NRA/NRM took power in 1986, it wasn’t bread and butter for the country. The north was left polarised by war with people living by chance and dying by design in the hands of rebels and crossfire.

The NRM government did everything to protect the people, including taking them to IDP camps. Life in the camps was not easy.

But clearing of homes and keeping people closed up in camp was bad and good. Good because it provided lasting solution of never giving safe haven to LRA to loot, reorganise, abduct and use the civilians as human shield. No one seemed right as opposition blamed the Government. However, the Government was defended. Now the history is a lesson.

It seemed impossible to move from Gulu to Kampala, from Gulu to Kitgum during the war. Efforts and priorities of the Government were to end the war.

After the war, northern Uganda is up and moving. But still, the Government and Ugandans must not forget so fast that development of northern Uganda can be at the same rate and priorities to the entire country. For northern Uganda to catch up, we need new strategies to avoid exclusions. If priorities besides PRDP and NUSAF are set up, the story will be different and the narrative of the North will change and Uganda will smile!

Over the weekend, several things happened in my eye! I travelled from Lira to Gulu at night on my way to Kamuli in Eastern Uganda the next day for an introduction of a friend. After the function on Saturday, I drove back to Jinja and straight from Jinja via Mbale to Lira at night.

Everywhere, almost every centre night life had pomp, people walking and celebrating all the nights across the country, a sign of peace. You travel without any fear of being robbed.

Back home in Lira, at night of Monday, June 22, 2015, at about 11:30 as I checked my mails and what was trending in social media, I saw a text coming “Please if you are awake help, thieves have entered my house” please send me airtel of even sh200 I call Police, I have ran out of credit in my phone” writes Immanuella, a friend I didn’t know on Face book.

I asked her location, telephone and exact place. She directed me to Entebbe Road, Kitende next to Rockford. I called 999 and a one cpl Ocho Sam responded. They quickly went there. In 15 minutes, the thieves were apprehended, a security guard rushed to the hospital. All sounded like a movie! But lives and property were saved, thanks Police, 999 works. Strange but true.

The writer is the deputy resident district commissioner of Lira district