SIR— What is all this fuss about Independence Day for? I am told that it means the day Uganda got “freedom” from Britain, the colonial power in 1962. In my view, October 9 was the day we were plunged into poverty. Our former colonial master (Britain) is over 1,000 times more developed than Uganda. I envisage that if they had continued governing us, we would be far much more developed than living on 1,000 shillings a day. Our roads are full of potholes, hospitals full of mosquitoes and the civil cervants are poorly paid.

To me, we have gained nothing from independence.

Francis Onyait
Tororo