The long awaited independence jubilee celebration came and went in a flash! How time flies when one is having fun…
Just like in the case of a football
game or any other incident, spectators tell different stories about the
same football premised on their mood, location and expectations. My
mood was already exuberant, my location was prime and I was open–minded,
I was ready for any action…
The evening before the event got a lovely surprise of a splendid array of fireworks from I believe Sheraton.
I happened to be driving through town at around 8.30pm purposively to
see first hand the splendid make–over that the Kampala City Authority
had accomplished in record time.
As I drove on Kampala road, I
paused a little to take in the breathtaking view of Mapera House and a
traffic lit city, its as if I had seen what 2062 may look like! If
someone took a photo of the same place two years ago and then took
another yesterday - it would be hard to be convinced that its indeed the
same location. This points to how much can be changed when the
environment is right – vision, focus and concerted effort.
The rest of the night of October
was surprising quiet, I had expected ululations and fireworks at
midnight but in vain or did I miss the action? The morning of October 9
was beautiful, the sun shone brightly and maybe too brightly at around
10am which signalled that it could rain later that afternoon.
By 10.30am I had my way to Kololo
after a brisk walk with some friends and colleagues from Hotel Africana.
Part of the fun was seeing colleagues I had not seen for awhile.
It was a privilege to be at Kololo
considering that so many who may have wanted to be there could not make
it. Entertainment by Juliana, the Police band and Pablo was well
received. The arrival of president after president caused a lot of
excitement for I guess various reasons.
The arrival of the host President
Yoweri Museveni was exceptional, the crowd was ecstatic and a thunderous
welcome awaited him every time he was sighted. The fly–over of the
fighter planes and those that exuded the black, yellow and red streaks
in the strikes
were a marvel. Every time they flew
over Kololo one could feel them in the depths of their souls – it as
if the grounds was literary shaking.
An expected group of musicians who had accompanied President of Egypt requested and was granted leave to entertain the guests.
Their Arabic music mixed with an oriental tinge made the celebrations even more Unique.
The march past by security agencies in their smart attire and show put
on by several entities and innovations especially the Kiira EV car
manufactured Makerere
University students were phenomenal to say the least. The presence of
Prince Edward who handed over instruments of power at Independence on
October 9, 1962 to the then Prime Minister Apollo Milton was nostalgic.
It must have evoked many memories
for those who were present then. The fact that he celebrated his 77th
birthday on the same day points to the fact that anyone who is 27 years
has the potential to celebrate the Uganda’s independence centenary!
To crow it all, President Museveni
made one of the briefest speeches ever, brief as it may have been, it
was pregnant with facts and figures on achievements and a clear vision
on where Uganda will be in 20 years an in 50 years time.
He noted that – with the
anticipated revenues from the oil sector, Uganda’s development in the
next century will be unstoppable. The President predicted that “Uganda
will become a middle income country in the next 20 years and a first
world country in 50 years time.”
This conviction on based on the
firm foundation of development of agriculture, hydro power, tourism and
the services sector which will be catalyzed by the discovery of oil.
Evidence of work executed in these
areas is excellent, Uganda was declared of the Number Tourist
destination for 2012. The construction of Bujagali dam has catapulted
Uganda’s capacity to generate power from 180 megawatts in 1954 to 810
megawatts in 2012. Our target is 20,000 megawatts.
Generation of power will in turn
promote industrialisation and demand for skilled labour which will
address the challenge of unemployment.
After the president’s speech more
entertainment ensued – Alex Mukulu’s troupe did a master piece show
casing Uganda’s excellent talents. One particular aspect of the
entertainment that has stayed with me is that there were several themes
of
religious themes interwoven in the entertainment.
This was captured in the lyrics of the song ‘Amazing Grace” ; ‘The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want’
and another that based on Ecclesiastes 3 – ‘A time for everything’
clearly captured our motto - ‘For God and my country’. On reflection, a
question that stays with me is - what is my role as a Ugandan and an
East African?
How can you and I facilitate realisation of our nobel vision?
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