This year, Uganda will be celebrating 57 years as an independent country on Wednesday 9th October. These celebrations are held annually by Uganda to celebrate its freedom from the British rule, which ended in 1962. So, come Wednesday 9th all roads will lead to Sironko district where national celebrations will be held under the theme “Consolidation of national unity, security, freedom and prosperity”.
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over the territory.
Independence in Africa has been variously defined and or interpreted by its beneficiaries. Some have understood it to be a mere victorious replacement of alien white colonialists, lowering of the colonial flag and the hoisting of that of the newly independent nation, by the Africans. Others interpreted independence to mean the return of sovereignty back to African chiefs to manage and allocate resources in the designed territories.
But much as these interpretations may bear some unarguable grains of truth, Independence is much more than this. It bears a noble meaning and deserves greater responsibility.
True independence enables the benefiting nations to build self-confidence, realize their full potential and lead a life of dignity and fulfillment, a life free from exploitation and or any social and political oppression.
Indeed, Uganda and many African nations are still yearning for the day they will attain full possession of their sovereignty and begin the journey to decide and shape their destiny through homegrown processes. This is what we have been denied by those that claim to have given us independence on 9th October, what we were given was an autonomy, not independence, for true independence has its tenets that are lacking in what we have today. As Mwarimu Julius Nyerere rightly said, we seem to have been given by the right hand and it was taken through the left.
True independence is one in which no one can restrict actions performed by yourself using any law or conditions.
You are allowed to go anywhere and also do anything you wish. In this stage of independence, the true nature and character of a person can be known very easily. Because you are allowed to do good as well as bad things too. This independence may also reveal our true character whether we are aware of it or not.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t mess up at times, if anyone has true independence definitely, they will misuse their opportunity. This is the reason why we have laws and order and conditions to be followed in society. You can stand and fall too.
To stand does not mean that you can’t or won’t fall, but to fall, rise, stand and move forward is what makes an indisputable achievement.
Indeed since 9th October 1962 to date, Uganda like many African countries have stumbled and even fallen, but we have taken it in our strides, risen, stood firmly and made fundamental steps forward. That doesn’t give a foreigner the right to interfere and even determine how deep or hard we fall and how faster we can stand, true independence means that we are left to be masters of our destiny (Juche), make our own mistakes, learn from them, come up with suitable and sustainable solutions that fit well within our capabilities, historical perspectives, cultural norms, value systems and beliefs of our people.
When you assign yourself the policing status, wanting to dictate how a nation and its people do things, you not only kill its ingenuity but the spirit of true independence with it.
True independence is when you make decisions without the interference of external factors, but rather on the basis of your own mindset. When you stop letting others influence your thought, when you start believing in yourself and in decisions you make, start discovering your own insights about the world, you will be truly independent.
For this to be realized across the continent, the west with their backers should know that Africans need to be let free, for the greatest gifts you can give a people are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence, this is what we ask.
It should be known that every human has four endowments; self-awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom; the power to choose, to respond, to change and these should never, under no circumstances, be interfered with yet this is what we see our former colonial masters and their allies do.
An independent country is said to be a truly independent, when every citizen of that country will do their work independently and help in the development of that country, without looking at their back, when they re not being second-guessed.
The origin of the struggle for Uganda’s Independence began in the 1940s when Ugandans staged various demonstrations against the colonial rule largely objecting to economic exploitations. They objected to the manipulative pricings of their cash crops that did not give the deserved benefits. Such bold and courageous face-up against the colonial rule later metamorphosed into political agitation leading to the formation of various political parties all agitating for self-rule.
This was attained on the famous night of 9th October 1962, however the issues have persisted, our product prices are determined by someone else at the international market place, the standards of exports too, you find that everything that is exported from Africa even if it’s right from the factories is of low quality and unacceptable in western markets while anything imported into our countries is of high quality including second and third-hand items and we are ok with it.
Recently when East African nations tried to put measures in place to reduce on the importation of old clothes and other items (mivumba), the region got a bashing and trade embargos were threatened, so anything from their dust bin is of quality for our markets, while anything from our factories is of poor quality and unacceptable in their markets. This trade and economic injustice are because we are not truly independent nations, though we claim to be and even each country individually has a national day of celebration.
It is only if as a people understand that we need this true independence, and that the route to it can’t be traveled by our leaders alone, but every one of us, that can we join other patriots and caring Ugandans who saw the wisdom in using lessons learnt since independence to fight for the restoration of the nation from ruins to new road to recovery and new hope to a once hopeless citizenry.
The resurrection and the restoration of peace and security of both person and property and of democratic and constitutional governance that we have enjoyed since then did not come on a silver platter and there is a need to jealously guard it and benchmark on this laid down foundation and strive for the desired independence for our nation and beyond. Appreciating the need for markets and the wisdom of living peacefully together on this global village, the world or our mother earth, having vigorously established and strengthened friendly relations beyond our borders, regionally and internationally Uganda is now in a better position to champion this quest for true African independence, our armed forces that were hitherto engaged in ending destructive civil wars in a number of countries, and are now proud combatants that are restoring peace in countries across the continent that are still grappling with armed conflicts.
This is the spirit of Pan Africanism that needs to be promoted and religiously preached across the continent and beyond the oceans so that we secure our own race and defend the independence we have as we strive for the true and desired one.
We must preach that true Independence is important for a country because it’s the very reason for the country’s existence, a country or a nation wouldn’t exist or have a distinct identity if it weren’t independent.
Concisely put, independence gives a nation the right to decide its own fate, initiate own development policies and governance ideas, establish its own education systems and set its own human development goals, run its own government, set its own rules and laws.
It is only through this true independence environment, that we can restore hope to our young generations, that all their issues will and can be resolved by themselves with their leaders as a campus, that their destiny can only be determined by themselves, that they need to believe in themselves, discourage them from always running for solutions that are foreign manufactured which can only provide perishable carrot (Libya), but not sustainability.
We should endeavor to teach the young generation how true independence creates a powerful reputation, lead to financial freedom, equips you with skills and capability to solve your own challenges. How one is able to work and earn a decent wage that allows them to provide for themselves and prepare for the future, that true independence is empowering, it helps increase your self-value and self-esteem, more so if becoming independent is one of your goals. The achievement of financial, emotional, social, career and personal independence gives you a sense of accomplishment that eventually changes how you rate yourself and how others view you. That by seeking foreign solutions only weakens your position and reduces erodes self-value and self-esteem.
Therefore, as we celebrate this year’s independence, we should reflect on this; true independence is still a dream and its everyone’s responsibility, and civic duty to achieve it, for we can’t realize its true fruits through prayer, wishes, and foreign solutions, but a little sacrifice.
Happy 57th Independence Day celebrations
Paddy D. Kayondo
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