Return home, all ye innocent
Oct 18, 2005
FORMER FIRST Lady Miria Obote is lamenting a life wasted in exile. <br>Speaking at her husband Milton’s funeral service in Lusaka, Zambia, Miria who returned to Uganda yesterday for the first time in 20 years, told of her dread of being a stranger in her homeland.
FORMER FIRST Lady Miria Obote is lamenting a life wasted in exile.
Speaking at her husband Milton’s funeral service in Lusaka, Zambia, Miria who returned to Uganda yesterday for the first time in 20 years, told of her dread of being a stranger in her homeland.
Miria has spent 30 years, half her life, abroad as a refugee. She first fled in 1971 when the army overthrew her husband’s first government in 1971. She did not return for 10 years, till 1980. She had to leave hurriedly when yet again the army ousted Obote in 1985. She has not been in Uganda since.
There is a whole set of reasons why Ugandans have fled into exile in our short post-independence history. The politics of the moment might dictate so; the culpability of individuals in the chaos they leave in their wake; the vindictiveness of succeeding regimes; the emotionalism following loss of patronage that came with wielding statepower.
Many Ugandan exiles have belonged in the last category.
Without any personal culpability, they have gone on to live miserable lives away from their loved ones, in countries that have at times been hostile, in situations where there are no familiar faces to turn to. Technically refugees cannot secure jobs, so idleness is common. For those with the finances, investment is never a strong option since one’s long term stay is not guaranteed. The offspring, too, have reported second-class treatment at school. This life is no good.
Yet many exiles have picked up skills that they could apply usefully at home.
President Levy Mwanawasa, whose country offered abode to Ugandans, many of whom went with Obote, has echoed the call for the exiles to return home from Zambia. As host, his call should be heeded.
There is a great sense of reconciliation in Uganda now. Even before Obote’s death last week, a number of senior members of past regimes - including former President Godfrey Binaisa and ex-Vice President Mustapha Adrisi - had returned and settled. Why should smaller fry keep away, if they are innocent?
Speaking at her husband Milton’s funeral service in Lusaka, Zambia, Miria who returned to Uganda yesterday for the first time in 20 years, told of her dread of being a stranger in her homeland.
Miria has spent 30 years, half her life, abroad as a refugee. She first fled in 1971 when the army overthrew her husband’s first government in 1971. She did not return for 10 years, till 1980. She had to leave hurriedly when yet again the army ousted Obote in 1985. She has not been in Uganda since.
There is a whole set of reasons why Ugandans have fled into exile in our short post-independence history. The politics of the moment might dictate so; the culpability of individuals in the chaos they leave in their wake; the vindictiveness of succeeding regimes; the emotionalism following loss of patronage that came with wielding statepower.
Many Ugandan exiles have belonged in the last category.
Without any personal culpability, they have gone on to live miserable lives away from their loved ones, in countries that have at times been hostile, in situations where there are no familiar faces to turn to. Technically refugees cannot secure jobs, so idleness is common. For those with the finances, investment is never a strong option since one’s long term stay is not guaranteed. The offspring, too, have reported second-class treatment at school. This life is no good.
Yet many exiles have picked up skills that they could apply usefully at home.
President Levy Mwanawasa, whose country offered abode to Ugandans, many of whom went with Obote, has echoed the call for the exiles to return home from Zambia. As host, his call should be heeded.
There is a great sense of reconciliation in Uganda now. Even before Obote’s death last week, a number of senior members of past regimes - including former President Godfrey Binaisa and ex-Vice President Mustapha Adrisi - had returned and settled. Why should smaller fry keep away, if they are innocent?