Preserve kabamba statue
Ghana, the first black African country to gain independence, marked its golden jubilee this week. Here is a lesson for Ugandans. <br>
Ghana, the first black African country to gain independence, marked its golden jubilee this week. Here is a lesson for Ugandans.
Ghana has had many presidents but one of them, Kwame Nkrumah, the first president, impacted greatly on the political, social and economic lives of Ghanaian that he remains a reference point decades after his death.
This is why his statue stands undisturbed in Accra. Ironically, some Ugandans featuring on radio talk-shows vowed to pull down the statute unveiled in Kabamba garrison last month as soon as there is a regime change – as was the case with Saddam Hussein’s in Iraq.
Yet despite a spate of military takeovers in Ghana, nobody has ever thought of even throwing a stone at Nkrumah’s statue.
Ugandans don’t appreciate their leaders’ contributions in changing their society for the better. This should change. The Kabamba statue is in a military barracks where any ill-intentioned person would not reach it easily. But once we learn to appreciate our leaders’ contributions in bettering our lives, statues will be erected in public places with no fear of them being pulled down.
In Kenya, for example, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s statue stands safe outside the Parliament and October 20 is Kenyatta day. Is it that Kenyatta and Nkrumah made no mistakes when they were in power?
Hopefully, we can soon join other civilised nations and have statues in open places with no fear of them being destroyed. Then we shall be able to have a statue of Dr. Milton Obote, who received the instruments of power at independence, in public places like Kololo airstrip.
And that of Uganda’s first president, Edward Mutesa II, being erected on Speke Road near Standard Chartered bank, will be safe.
Ghana has had many presidents but one of them, Kwame Nkrumah, the first president, impacted greatly on the political, social and economic lives of Ghanaian that he remains a reference point decades after his death.
This is why his statue stands undisturbed in Accra. Ironically, some Ugandans featuring on radio talk-shows vowed to pull down the statute unveiled in Kabamba garrison last month as soon as there is a regime change – as was the case with Saddam Hussein’s in Iraq.
Yet despite a spate of military takeovers in Ghana, nobody has ever thought of even throwing a stone at Nkrumah’s statue.
Ugandans don’t appreciate their leaders’ contributions in changing their society for the better. This should change. The Kabamba statue is in a military barracks where any ill-intentioned person would not reach it easily. But once we learn to appreciate our leaders’ contributions in bettering our lives, statues will be erected in public places with no fear of them being pulled down.
In Kenya, for example, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s statue stands safe outside the Parliament and October 20 is Kenyatta day. Is it that Kenyatta and Nkrumah made no mistakes when they were in power?
Hopefully, we can soon join other civilised nations and have statues in open places with no fear of them being destroyed. Then we shall be able to have a statue of Dr. Milton Obote, who received the instruments of power at independence, in public places like Kololo airstrip.
And that of Uganda’s first president, Edward Mutesa II, being erected on Speke Road near Standard Chartered bank, will be safe.