Uganda ready for CHOGM: No one can prepare enough for a guest
Nov 15, 2007
WHEN Uganda was to host the 12th summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1975, there was no state-of-the art conference centre for the 30 or so heads of state. With barely eighty months to the conference, president Idi Amin laid the foundation stone for the now Serena International Conf
WHEN Uganda was to host the 12th summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1975, there was no state-of-the art conference centre for the 30 or so heads of state. With barely eighty months to the conference, president Idi Amin laid the foundation stone for the now Serena International Conference Centre. George Laghu takes us through Uganda’s experience in hosting high profile events
The history of Uganda is laced with memories of the positive and negative effects of high profile visits and conferences that have left indelible marks on the country and its people.
The Madi have a proverb: Amu ka eya ta nya jo, asi laza ani ahwa ni, which translates into: “A visitor comes so that people may eat, it is only sad for the livestock.â€
This proverb comes appropriate as Uganda hosts the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
While the CHOGM cows and chicken are still fattening, Ugandans are already eating the greens removed by the roadside so that dew does not wet the visitors.
Many hotels and conference facilities have sprung up, new street lights shine at former dark spots, which were a den of thieves and increased security surveillance has put the thieves out of business.
Hundreds of people would get a taste of what it means to be employed though for a few weeks. The beggars would be relocated as the roads will show scars of a recently-healed, but painful stitched, in an operation called repair.
The houses shout the smartness of their new coating, while neat plasters of showgrounds are put over the rotting wounds on the body of mother earth in a failed grafting, now awaiting a new operator.
As any honest housewife will say, no one can ever prepare enough to host a guest.
Paskali Sebirumbi of Zana, Kampala recalls how in 1957 they had worked day and night to construct the Queen’s Way from Najjanankumbi to divert the Queen’s entourage from the unsightly African district of Kisenyi.
“It was an arduous work for which we earned 30 cents a day,†says Sebirumbi, who was a driver in the Public Works Department then.
The Queen’s visit was responsible for the tarmacking of the Entebbe Road as opposed to the old road that ran through Zana, Nateete and Ndeeba,†he said.
Built at the entry of downtown Kampala, the Clock Tower (Ssaawa ya Kwini) donated by the Asian community, was hurriedly built in three weeks, Sebirumbi recounted.
Kezia Namakula of Lungujja says: Window-dressing is not a new phenomenon.
“Everybody who is hosting a guest will go an extra mile to impress, but the guest, who might have already known or heard of your capability, will know what is within and out of the ordinary,†Namakula said.
“Although political activities were smothered by the dreaded Police, the Queen got to know of the situation on the ground. The result was her gift of Mulago Hospital and the British government’s gift of a new Parliament.
Mzee Jokama Pelle of Kitooro in Entebbe and a former worker at the governor’s residence (now State House), says it is impossible to talk about Entebbe without mentioning the Queen.
Entebbe or Port Florence as Mzee Yokana calls it, is the right place for the Queen to stay, he argues.
“She slept here in 1958, all the governors slept here and the official State House is here. Kampala only has a State Lodge. I am glad the Queen has remembered her roots!†Pelle said.
When Pope Paul VI visited Uganda in 1969, it was an eye- opener of Uganda’s ability to host a large number of visitors. Fairway Hotel is a landmark that came up as a result of the Pope’s visit.
“The left wing of Fairway Hotel was my private residence, but seeing the lack of accommodation for the visitors, I vacated it for the guests,†said Jaffar Bandali, the proprietor of Fairway Hotel.
Since then, Bandali, who happened to be the first Asian in the Ugandan Parliament, has never returned to his house.
Pope Paul VI Hotel in Ndeeba, Nateete was also built in memory of the Pope’s visit.
The Island at Namugongo shrine, which was designed for the Pope’s high mass to avoid the risk of congestion on the alter, has become a spectacular tourist attraction, where Pope John Paul II also celebrated mass. The Pope’s visit has christened Uganda as the country of the martyrs, turning the shrine into a tourist destination.
When Uganda was to host the 12th summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1975, the conference centre was built using prefabricated material from Israel.
It was completed within five months,†said Massimo Ebil, who worked as an electrician at the site.
“We worked day and night, using flood lights. Prisoners planted grass and watered it day and night. Within a week, it was as if the grass had been there for ages,†he said.
Eng. Louis Mabaraza, the former director of engineering at the now defunct Uganda Television (UTV), recalls how Amin, in a bid to impress the delegates sent him to Germany to purchase equipment for UTV. The move made UTV the first station to screen colour South of the Sahara, apart from South Africa. Today, the serene Serena Conference Centre is a formidable landmark in the city.
Peter Maiko, who was a resident of Kampala then, recounts how, on the negative side, the OAU summit became a security nuisance.
“The State Research Bureau security operatives arrested people and put them into boots of their infamous UVS-registered vehicles, which were dreadfully called: “Uganda is very seriousâ€
“At the conference, the Gabonese president, Omar Bongo, arrived in a flared trouser with high-heeled shoes and dark glasses. Many young Ugandans immediately copied his style and named the shoe Gabon,†Maiko said.
The visit of former American president, Bill Clinton, did not only leave behind improved communication equipment and a refurbished William Street and Kafumbe Mukasa Road, but also opened avenues for improved trade between US and Uganda.
Increased security surveillance by the Special Police Constables (SPC), which Ugandans, as usual, are quick to translate as “Stupid Police of CHOGMâ€, is a phenomenon of high profile visits the world over.
While Ugandans are at the moment suffering the inconveniences of CHOGM, its real benefits as those of other high profile visits are yet to be felt.
Yes, Uganda is ready for CHOGM, to the extent that no host can totally be ready for a guest, for something will always be lacking. Besides, our guests know who we are and what we can afford. The lack of certain facilities will show who we really are.
The history of Uganda is laced with memories of the positive and negative effects of high profile visits and conferences that have left indelible marks on the country and its people.
The Madi have a proverb: Amu ka eya ta nya jo, asi laza ani ahwa ni, which translates into: “A visitor comes so that people may eat, it is only sad for the livestock.â€
This proverb comes appropriate as Uganda hosts the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
While the CHOGM cows and chicken are still fattening, Ugandans are already eating the greens removed by the roadside so that dew does not wet the visitors.
Many hotels and conference facilities have sprung up, new street lights shine at former dark spots, which were a den of thieves and increased security surveillance has put the thieves out of business.
Hundreds of people would get a taste of what it means to be employed though for a few weeks. The beggars would be relocated as the roads will show scars of a recently-healed, but painful stitched, in an operation called repair.
The houses shout the smartness of their new coating, while neat plasters of showgrounds are put over the rotting wounds on the body of mother earth in a failed grafting, now awaiting a new operator.
As any honest housewife will say, no one can ever prepare enough to host a guest.
Paskali Sebirumbi of Zana, Kampala recalls how in 1957 they had worked day and night to construct the Queen’s Way from Najjanankumbi to divert the Queen’s entourage from the unsightly African district of Kisenyi.
“It was an arduous work for which we earned 30 cents a day,†says Sebirumbi, who was a driver in the Public Works Department then.
The Queen’s visit was responsible for the tarmacking of the Entebbe Road as opposed to the old road that ran through Zana, Nateete and Ndeeba,†he said.
Built at the entry of downtown Kampala, the Clock Tower (Ssaawa ya Kwini) donated by the Asian community, was hurriedly built in three weeks, Sebirumbi recounted.
Kezia Namakula of Lungujja says: Window-dressing is not a new phenomenon.
“Everybody who is hosting a guest will go an extra mile to impress, but the guest, who might have already known or heard of your capability, will know what is within and out of the ordinary,†Namakula said.
“Although political activities were smothered by the dreaded Police, the Queen got to know of the situation on the ground. The result was her gift of Mulago Hospital and the British government’s gift of a new Parliament.
Mzee Jokama Pelle of Kitooro in Entebbe and a former worker at the governor’s residence (now State House), says it is impossible to talk about Entebbe without mentioning the Queen.
Entebbe or Port Florence as Mzee Yokana calls it, is the right place for the Queen to stay, he argues.
“She slept here in 1958, all the governors slept here and the official State House is here. Kampala only has a State Lodge. I am glad the Queen has remembered her roots!†Pelle said.
When Pope Paul VI visited Uganda in 1969, it was an eye- opener of Uganda’s ability to host a large number of visitors. Fairway Hotel is a landmark that came up as a result of the Pope’s visit.
“The left wing of Fairway Hotel was my private residence, but seeing the lack of accommodation for the visitors, I vacated it for the guests,†said Jaffar Bandali, the proprietor of Fairway Hotel.
Since then, Bandali, who happened to be the first Asian in the Ugandan Parliament, has never returned to his house.
Pope Paul VI Hotel in Ndeeba, Nateete was also built in memory of the Pope’s visit.
The Island at Namugongo shrine, which was designed for the Pope’s high mass to avoid the risk of congestion on the alter, has become a spectacular tourist attraction, where Pope John Paul II also celebrated mass. The Pope’s visit has christened Uganda as the country of the martyrs, turning the shrine into a tourist destination.
When Uganda was to host the 12th summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1975, the conference centre was built using prefabricated material from Israel.
It was completed within five months,†said Massimo Ebil, who worked as an electrician at the site.
“We worked day and night, using flood lights. Prisoners planted grass and watered it day and night. Within a week, it was as if the grass had been there for ages,†he said.
Eng. Louis Mabaraza, the former director of engineering at the now defunct Uganda Television (UTV), recalls how Amin, in a bid to impress the delegates sent him to Germany to purchase equipment for UTV. The move made UTV the first station to screen colour South of the Sahara, apart from South Africa. Today, the serene Serena Conference Centre is a formidable landmark in the city.
Peter Maiko, who was a resident of Kampala then, recounts how, on the negative side, the OAU summit became a security nuisance.
“The State Research Bureau security operatives arrested people and put them into boots of their infamous UVS-registered vehicles, which were dreadfully called: “Uganda is very seriousâ€
“At the conference, the Gabonese president, Omar Bongo, arrived in a flared trouser with high-heeled shoes and dark glasses. Many young Ugandans immediately copied his style and named the shoe Gabon,†Maiko said.
The visit of former American president, Bill Clinton, did not only leave behind improved communication equipment and a refurbished William Street and Kafumbe Mukasa Road, but also opened avenues for improved trade between US and Uganda.
Increased security surveillance by the Special Police Constables (SPC), which Ugandans, as usual, are quick to translate as “Stupid Police of CHOGMâ€, is a phenomenon of high profile visits the world over.
While Ugandans are at the moment suffering the inconveniences of CHOGM, its real benefits as those of other high profile visits are yet to be felt.
Yes, Uganda is ready for CHOGM, to the extent that no host can totally be ready for a guest, for something will always be lacking. Besides, our guests know who we are and what we can afford. The lack of certain facilities will show who we really are.