Treasures from Uganda's past

By Joe Nam Travel back 93 years in time and you will find your self a silent spectator inside Deputy Commissioner George Wilson's office at Entebbe, in the morning of January 15, 1908. You watch as a white lady secretary rattles the typewriter, while he dictates the words for a letter. He is pacing across his office, with a tobacco-filled smoking pipe in his hands. He pauses to puff at intervals, to giving time for the completion of a sentence. The long letter instructing every British administration unit in the land to buy all items of antique and cultural value and send them to Entebbe, the protectorates capital, finally comes to an end. From his office, travel 93 years into the future. You are in the Uganda museum in March, 2001, gazing at a copy of the letter Wilson sent out to all Government agents in the protectorate. Some of the things he worked hard to preserve for posterity are still around today. The others were spirited away to the London museum, which houses the priceless treasures of nations that the British plundered from their over seas empires during the golden years of British imperialism. Wilson's plan was implemented and the first Museum was established in 1908 at Fort Lugard Hill, on the site where the towering Old Kampala Mosque now stands. Later, in 1942, the Uganda Museum was transferred to Makerere Hill, in a building constructed that year, which is near the present Faculty of Education. The current museum along Kitante Road in Kampala, was opened in 1972. Among the items that remained from Wilson's collection are spears, iron tools and other items. But not everything in the museum came from Uganda. There is the printing machine which Mackay used to print the first religious material and stamps in Uganda. Then there is the gun that Kakungulu used to conquer Eastern Uganda for the British. These were brought from Britain. The list of antique items includes the first vehicle in Uganda, a Rolls Royce, which belonged to the Protectorate governor. Rare species of snakes and fish, which have since become extinct, are on exhibition. Head gear worn by Ugandan tribes for beauty are on show. African architecture is displayed using model huts. An assortment of iron ware made by the smiths of old, King Mutesa's letter to Victoria Queen of England and Mwanga's personal Bible–– given to him by a missionary–– are on display. These items, all tucked away behind glass screens, are enough to provide a full days feast for the eye. Preoccupied with the present, Ugandans apparently do not appreciate the value of these items of antiquity. Uganda Museum receives but a trickle of visitors. Dr E.R Kyamuhangire, commissioner for antiquities and museum, said that they expect more visits to the museum than are being made now. He said the average number of visits made annually is 30,000, mostly from the student community, who visit for academic purposes, and from tourists. Kyamuhangire has worked here in various capacities since 1975. The museum itself is in dire need of renovation. Thanks to the World Bank that it has come in to foot the renovation costs, and refurbishment has begun. But there is another hurdle for the department: The Uganda Museum is set for divestiture. This is not an easy thing to do. Kyamuhangire was quick to point out that divestiture does not mean privatisation. "This is a measure to make this department autonomous and self sustaining. It does not mean we are going to sell off our national heritage," he said. The thorny details of how the peoples treasure will be married to private interest is still being negotiated. Kyamuhangire sees better times ahead for the museum: "We intend to promote eco-tourism and cultural tourism under the new arrangement and management. We also intend to establish craft shops and recreation facilities. With these in place, I think we will be productive and self-sustaining." Some of the priceless items in the museum seem to have been lost through deterioration, or in other ways, during the years of civil strife. Kyamuhangire says however, that these treasures have remained intact because the museum was never broken into during the looting frenzy that gripped the country in 1979 and 1985, or at any other time. When you next visit the Uganda museum. You will find Kabaka Mutesa I's impassioned letter to Victoria, queen of England, waiting for your attention at the entrance of the chambers of antiquities. His letter reads: "I wrote this letter to remember you that I and my people we want to make friends with England. That the things of Uganda to England and the things of England to Uganda. But I do not like to make friends with Khedives because I was mohamedan at first but now I am to Christian religion. May god of our savior Jesus Christ establish our kingdoms and let him only be our helper and let no god prevail against him. From Mtesa King of Uganda, January 1878 (sic)." Ends